L.A. Is My Lady

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L.A. Is My Lady is a 1984 studio album by Frank Sinatra, produced by Quincy Jones. It was the last solo album that Sinatra recorded, though Sinatra recorded three further songs, which were unreleased until The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings.

The album came after an album of duets between Sinatra and Lena Horne, instigated by Jones, was abandoned after Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, couldn't wait to record. This was the first studio album Sinatra had recorded with Jones since 1964's It Might as Well Be Swing.

The sessions were filmed, with a small audience, and released as Frank Sinatra: Portrait of an Album (1985). The documentary shows Sinatra meeting Michael Jackson for the first time, with Jones affectionately calling Jackson "Smelly".

Eddie Van Halen, Donna Summer and David Lee Roth make cameo appearances in the video for L.A. Is My Lady, which in turn made moderate rotation on the fledgling MTV Network.

Despite its title, the album was mostly recorded in New York City. The album peaked at #58 on the Billboard 200, and #8 on the Top Jazz Albums chart.

Songs

• This was the first time Sinatra recorded "Mack the Knife". He re-recorded the vocal on October 30, 1986 (combined with the original orchestra track) for the album's 1986 release on compact disc. The musicians that Sinatra name-checks on "Mack the Knife" are; Quincy Jones, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, George Benson, Joe Newman, Frank Foster, and Lionel Hampton. The double bassist Major Holley scats over the opening bars of the song.
• Sammy Cahn wrote a new verse for "Teach Me Tonight", referencing Sinatra's many love affairs.
• Cahn also altered the lyrics of "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", with Sinatra claiming "I'd even punch out Mr. T for you".
• In the liner notes, Jones says he had a new arrangement of "Body and Soul" planned for the album, but Sinatra had nothing new to say with the song, and declined to record it. Nevertheless, Sinatra did record a vocal track for the song during the sessions, and Sinatra's vocal for "Body and Soul" from the L.A. Is My Lady sessions was added to a new arrangement by Torrie Zito and released as a bonus track on Nothing But the Best a 2008 compilation album.

Track listing

1. "L.A. Is My Lady" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lipton Jones) – 3:12
2. "The Best of Everything" (Fred Ebb, John Kander) – 2:45
3. "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (A. Bergman, M. Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 3:49
4. "Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn, Gene de Paul) – 3:44
5. "It's All Right With Me" (Cole Porter) – 2:39
6. "Mack the Knife" (Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:50
7. "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" (Mann Holiner, Alberta Nichols, Cahn, Saul Chaplin, L.E. Freeman) – 3:03
8. "Stormy Weather" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:38
9. "If I Should Lose You" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) – 2:36
10. "A Hundred Years from Today" (Joe Young, Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 3:04
11. "After You've Gone" (Henry Creamer, Turner Layton) – 3:15

• Quincy Jones arranged track 1.
• Torrie Zito arranged tracks 1 & 4.
• Dave Matthews & Jerry Hey arranged track 1.
• Joe Parnello arranged tracks 2 & 3.
• Frank Foster arranged tracks 6 & 11.
• Sammy Nestico arranged tracks 5, 7, 8, 9 & 10.

Personnel

• Frank Sinatra – vocals
• Harry Lookofsky – Concert Master
• Oscar Brashear – trumpet
• Randy Brecker – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Jon Faddis – trumpet
• Gary Grant – trumpet
• Joe Newman – trumpet
• Alan Rubin – trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet
• Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Snooky Young – trumpet
• Jerry Hey – trumpet, arranger
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• George Bohanon – trombone
• Urbie Green – trombone
• Lew McCreary – trombone
• Benny Powell – trombone
• Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone
• David Taylor – bass trombone
• Bill Watrous – trombone
• Michael Brecker – saxophone
• Buddy Collette – reeds
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
• William Green – reeds
• Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone
• Jerome Richardson – reeds
• Larry Williams – saxophone
• George Young – saxophone
• Frank Wess – saxophone, alto saxophone
• Frank Foster – arranger, saxophone
• John Clark – french horn
• David Duke
• Peter Gordon
• Sidney Muldrow
• Jerry Peel
• Henry Sigismonti
• Toni Price – tuba
• James (Jim) Self – tuba
• Margaret Ross – harp
• Amy Sherman
• George Benson – guitar
• Tony Mottola – guitar
• Lee Ritenour – guitar
• Lionel Hampton – vibraphone
• Ray Brown – double bass
• Gene Cherico
• Bob Cranshaw – bass
• Major Holley
• Marcus Miller – bass
• Neil Stubenhaus – electric bass
• Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums
• Irving Cottler – drums
• Steve Gadd – drums
• John "J.R." Robinson – drums
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Sy Johnson – piano, fender rhodes
• Joe Parnello piano, arranger, Fender rhodes
• Craig Huxley – synthesizer
• Ed Walsh
• Bob James – synthesizer, electric piano, Fender rhodes
• Hilary James – synthesizer, piano, fender rhodes
• Randy Kerber – synthesizer, piano, fender rhodes

Production personnel

• Quincy Jones – arranger, conductor, producer
• Joseph d'Ambrosio – production coordination
• David Matthews – arranger
• Sam Nestico – arranger
• Torrie Zito – arranger
• David Smith - engineer
• Gus Skinas – engineer, digital engineer
• Phil Ramone – engineer, mixing
• Jimmy Santis
• Stanley Wallace
• Allen Sides – engineer, assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Steve Crimmel – engineer, associate engineer
• Mark Ettel
• Cliff Jones – engineer, associate remixing engineer
• Ollie Cotton – associate engineer
• Bradshaw Leigh
• Roger Nichols – digital engineer, associate engineer
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Lee Herschberg – digital mastering
• Don Hahn – remixing
• Elliot Scheiner – remixing, assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Alan Berliner – photography
• Bill Ross
• Ed Thrasher
• William Warren
• Stan Cornyn – liner notes