Review Summary: A sparse, skeletal album that exposes Frank's narrative and phrasing skills at their best.
As one of the six albums he released in 1957, "Close to You and More" came at quite a prolific time in his career; unfortunately, it came out the same year as (among others) "A Swingin' Affair" and "Come Fly with Me," two of his most acclaimed Capitol era concept albums. Perhaps controversially, I consider "Close to You and More" better than those two albums, but also the best of the six albums he cut that year, and possibly the best of his entire Capitol career.
Such a claim is lofty to make: it doesn't have the groundbreaking conceptual structure of "In the Wee Small Hours," "A Swingin' Affair," or "Only the Lonely." It doesn't have any songs that can be considered signature Sinatra songs like "One for My Baby" or "I've Got You Under My Skin." That said, "Close to You and More" is perhaps the definitive arbiter of Frank's most praised gifts: his voice and his narrative conviction that allowed his songs to ring with authenticity and pathos.
Backed primarily by a string quartet with the occasional subtle touch of a trumpet or a flute, the almost skeletal musical arrangements of "Close to You" give Frank's voice an immense amount of breathing room. Frank's voice almost never leaves his mid-range throughout the entire album, which really exposes how much natural warmth and charisma Frank had to his tone, not needing to belt out high notes at every turn or other forms of vocal masturbation to showcase the strength of his singing.
The best song on the album, for me, is "P.S. I Love You." One of Frank's greatest gifts is the audio-visual component of his singing, where he dictates the lyrics and meaning of a song so clearly you can almost envision the song as a movie. In this Mercer-Jenkins composition, Frank plays the role of a harried husband left to tend the house while his wife is out of town. Not accustomed to what was seen primarily as women's work during the time, he struggles with tasks such as cooking and washing dishes in a rather humorous manner. Frank puts little touches in his phrasing, diction and even his pauses between lines to underline the character's frustrations and longing that make it one of his most taut performances.
Other highlights include the title song, the forlorn "Everything Happens to Me," "Blame It On My Youth," the resigned, haunting "It Could Happen to You," and the closing "End of a Love Affair," but there are no real bad tracks at all on this album.
