I was just amazed when Frank Sinatra released his “Strangers In The Night” 45 rpm back in in 1966. The story of the album itself is retold in all it's glory in the CD liner notes of the 2010 Strangers In The Night CD reissue on Concord Records. This release is quite a major coup for the Concord Music Group, as the original release and even the first CD reissue was on Frank’s own Reprise Records label. Looking back on it, how Sinatra was able to reach the teenyboppers was through that amazing “Strangers In The Night” single that shot right to the top of the charts, knocking off “Paperback Writer” off as a number one. Sinatra was clearly an icon from my mom’s generation, yet with the single “Strangers In The Night” he was able to do something quite unique back in the swingin' sixties. Also, credit must go to the single’s producer Jimmy Bowen, who as you can read in the in depth liner notes here, literally broke the sound barrier for Frank! So, as the story goes, Sinatra had a huge smash with the single as well as the entire album of the same name. Also cool here is that the Concord CD reissue uses that original iconic album cover art—maybe Sinatra’s most famous ‘60s album cover. Concord’s 2010 reissue of Strangers In The Night also adds in a couple of bonus live cuts, including Frank summoning up the title song live from Tokyo back in the 1980’s along with an alternate studio take on “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” recorded during the album sessions on May 11, 1966. My mom bought the Strangers Lp back when it came out in 1966 and it remained a fixture in my family's downstairs den for 35 years. Nearly 45 years later, Strangers, the song, especially the single, but also the album, informs me more as to why my Mom and her cousin Marilyn worshipped Frank so, way back when they were young back in the 1940's. www.ConcordMusicGroup.com

Attention Artists and Record Companies: Have your CD reviewed by mwe3.com. Send to: MWE3.com CD Reviews Editor Robert Silverstein, P.O. Box 630249, Little Neck, N.Y. 11363-0249 E-mail: info@mwe3.com