Watertown

Watertown (subtitled A Love Story) is a studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in March 1970 through Reprise Records. It is a concept album centered on a man from Watertown, New York. In a series of soliloquies, the nameless narrator tells his heartbreaking story of personal loss: his wife has left him and their two boys for the lure of the big city. Watertown was produced and co-written by Bob Gaudio, one of four members of the rock band the Four Seasons, with Jake Holmes also co-writing the songs. It is the only album where Sinatra ever voiced over pre-recorded orchestral tracks. The album was released to mixed critical reviews and poor sales, with it being Sinatra's only major album release not to chart in the top 100 of the Billboard 200. It has since been reevaluated and many consider it to be among his finest albums. History and recording In 1969, Sinatra's sales were low. To try to combat this, he agreed to record a concept album with Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons and singer-songwriter Jake Holmes. Sinatra was no stranger to concept albums, having done them in the past, such as In the Wee Small Hours in 1955. Gaudio and Valli brought Sinatra a fully written album that told the story of a man raising his two young sons in Watertown after his wife leaves him for the city. The album's orchestral tracks were recorded in New York at Columbia 30th Street Studio, also referred to as "The Church". Unlike previous work, Sinatra did not record with the orchestra, but he did attend the recording sessions for the music. He recorded his vocals over the pre-recorded tracks at United/Western Studios on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He would never again record his vocals without a live orchestra. (He overdubbed his vocals on pre-recorded tracks for "The Saddest Thing of All" as well as the songs with women's names arranged by Nelson Riddle including "Nancy", "Emily", "Linda", "Barbara", and "Sweet Lorraine". See "Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography" by Luis Carlos do Nascimento Silva) Recording for the music took place from July 14 to 17 and October 13. Tracks 5 and 10 were recorded on July 14, tracks 1, 4, and 6 on July 15, tracks 8 and 9 on July 16, and 3,7, and 11 on July 17. "Michael and Peter", "Lady Day" and "For a While" were rerecorded October 13.