Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (album)

Ring-a-Ding-Ding! is a studio album released by Frank Sinatra in 1961. The album was Sinatra's first under Reprise Records, and his twenty-eighth studio album overall.

Production
Sinatra recorded Ring-a-Ding-Ding! throughout the winter of 1960. Sinatra and the album's arranger, Johnny Mandel, recorded all of the twelve initial tracks and several others throughout three days of December, the 19th, 20th, and 21st. All of the tracks were recorded in Los Angeles, California.
 * "Ring-a-Ding Ding," "Let's Fall in Love," and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" were recorded on December 19, 1960.
 * "Be Careful, It's My Heart," "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," "A Foggy Day," "When I Take My Sugar to Tea," "The Coffee Song," "You and the Night and the Music," and "Let's Face the Music and Dance" were recorded on December 20, 1960.
 * "A Fine Romance," "The Last Dance," and "You'd Be So Easy to Love" were recorded on December 21, 1960.

Track information
Ring-a-Ding-Ding! is Sinatra's first, and the first album ever, to be released for his self-founded record label, Reprise Records. The album features several re-recordings of some of Sinatra's songs from Capitol and Columbia such as "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" and "The Coffee Song" respectable. "Have You Met Miss Jones?" and "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" were originally recorded for this album, but were removed from the final release.

Reissues
The album has been released multiple times, once in 1991, and again in 2011, both of which for the 30th and 50th anniversaries of the album respectively.

Original 1961 Album Release

 * 1) "Ring-a-Ding Ding!" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 2:44
 * 2) "Let's Fall in Love" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 2:11
 * 3) "Be Careful, It's My Heart" (Irving Berlin) – 2:04
 * 4) "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:17
 * 5) "A Fine Romance" (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields) – 2:11
 * 6) "In the Still of the Night" (Cole Porter) – 3:25
 * 7) "The Coffee Song (They've Got an Awful Lot of Coffee in Brazil)" (Bob Hilliard, Dick Miles) – 2:51
 * 8) "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" (Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, Pierre Norman) – 2:05
 * 9) "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (Berlin) – 2:58
 * 10) "You'd Be So Easy to Love" (Porter) – 2:24
 * 11) "You and the Night and the Music" (Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz) – 2:36
 * 12) "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (Berlin) – 2:52

Bonus tracks
The first re-release of Ring-A-Ding-Ding!, in 1991, included the following tracks:

"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (James F. Hanley) – 2:48

"The Last Dance" (Van Heusen, Cahn) – 2:46

"The Second Time Around" (Van Heusen, Cahn) – 3:03

However, when the album was re-released again on June 7th, 2011, the bonus tracks were changed to:

"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" [Outtake Bonus Track] (James F. Hanley) – 3:00

"Have You Met Miss Jones?" [Previously Unreleased Outtake] (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 10:18

Singles
Ring-a-Ding-Ding!, being Sinatra's first album under Reprise Records, offered Sinatra's first singles under the label as well. "The Second Time Around" was released as a single with Sinatra's recording of the song "Tina." The title track, "Ring-a-Ding Ding!" was later released as a single in late 1961.

Reception
Ring-a-Ding-Ding was given 3½ out of 5 stars by Allmusic, a slight above-average score. Mojo gave the album a higher score of 4 out of 5.

Ring-a-Ding-Ding!, even against Sinatra's 1961 Capitol album, Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!, still managed to stay 35 weeks on the album charts. While peaking at number 8, Ring-A-Ding-Ding! only lasted 9 weeks on the UK charts. Overall, Ring-a-Ding-Ding! has received numerous positive reviews and has been remembered as one of Sinatra's more memorable albums.