Gordon Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American composer and arranger who worked primarily with lush and melodic string arrangements. Jenkins began working with Frank Sinatra in 1957.
Biography[]
Jenkins was born in Webster Groves, Missouri and moved to St. Louis, Missouri to begin his early career. Jenkins, approaching his late career, worked under several record labels, working several artists, most famously Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald.
In the early 1980s, Jenkins suffered an automobile accident, making him very weary and debilitated. He later died in 1984 of Lou Gehrig's disease.
With Sinatra[]
Jenkins's first collaboration with Sinatra was in 1957 for Sinatra's holiday album A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra.[1] Soon after, the pair recorded Where Are You? album,[2] Sinatra's first album to be recorded in stereo, and No One Cares.[3] Afterward, Jenkins went on to record several other albums for Sinatra under Capitol Records. Sinatra aimed for Jenkins to arrange his 1958 Only the Lonely album, however, Jenkins as the time was busy working with Nat King Cole and his The Very Thought of You album.
Under Reprise Records, Sinatra didn't call for Jenkins to return to making charts for him until 1962 with All Alone.[4] Sinatra later wanted Jenkins's strings to soar again in 1965 with September of My Years.[5] This album proved to be one of Sinatra's greatest accomplishments in the 1960s.
After retiring from music in 1972, Sinatra longed to return, and doing so, he made his 1973 comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, with Jenkins.[6] The pair then went on to record several singles into the 70s, and even work on the Future portion of Sinatra's 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future.[7] For this very controversial and experimental section of the album, Sinatra had Jenkins not only arrange the pieces, but write them as well. Sinatra called upon Jenkins works once again in 1981 with his saloon album, She Shot Me Down.[8] This was one of Jenkins final albums he had recorded in his career, arranging the album with a nearly broken back.
Discography[]
- Below is a list of all albums Frank Sinatra recorded that were arranged by Gordon Jenkins:
- A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra[1]
- All Alone[4]
- Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color
- No One Cares[3]
- September of My Years[5]
- Some Nice Things I've Missed[9]
- The World We Knew[10]
- Trilogy: Past Present Future[7]
- She Shot Me Down[8]
- Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back[6]
- Where Are You?[2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra personnel listing
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Where Are You? personnel listing
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 No One Cares personnel listing
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 All Alone personnel listing
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 September of My Years personnel listing
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back personnel listing
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Trilogy: Past Present Future personnel listing
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 She Shot Me Down personnel listing
- ↑ Some Nice Things I’ve Missed personnel listing
- ↑ The World We Knew personnel listing