Personnel includes: Frank Sinatra (vocals); Nelson Riddle (arranger, conductor); The Hollywood String Quartet (strings).

Producer: Voyle Gilmore.

Compilation producer: Pete Welding.

Recorded between March 8 and October 1, 1956. Includes liner notes by Pete Welding.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

This is part of Capitol Records "Entertainer Of The Century" series.

1950s Sinatra on Capitol with Nelson Riddle. You thought you'd heard it all, but the label's 2002 Sinatra remastered series came along to prove you wrong with the long-awaited reissue of CLOSE TO YOU. Unique among Sinatra and Riddle's legendary collaborations, CLOSE TO YOU found arranger/conductor Riddle slimming the orchestrations down to a small group fronted by the Hollywood String Quartet, making for an uncommonly intimate setting for Sinatra's already highly personal, communicative style.

The selection of wistful love songs is neither as bleak as the saloon songs of NO ONE CARES nor as bold as Sinatra's more swinging material. The heartbreakingly halting elocution exhibited on "P.S. I Love You," the precise, unpretentious detailing of life's travails on "Everything Happens to Me" and the aching emotional truth that shines through "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" all stand as testament to both the singer's uncanny interpretive abilities and Riddle's sensitivity. Improved fidelity and the addition of three songs from the same sessions never before included with the album make CLOSE TO YOU all the more irresistible. This one's a keeper, folks.