Frank Sinatra's Watertown (1970) is an undervalued classic. It is a song cycle (or concept album, if you prefer) written for him by Bob Gaudio (one of The Four Seasons) and Jake Holmes (most famous for writing the Led Zeppelin cornerstone, "Dazed and Confused") that deals with middle age in middle America. The story is a simple one: a wife leaves a husband and children behind, and the man goes through many emotional states as he tries to deal with it. The instrumentation is closer to rock than jazz, which is unusual for Sinatra. In fact, the sound of the album is similar to some of The Four Seasons' recordings. And it works wonderfully. It is poignant and honest, and it treats a time of life that is not considered often enough in popular music. Sinatra's performance is, as always, majestic. (Sinatra's consistency as a singer is unmatched.)

One writer said that the story is an allegory, with the wife standing in for Sinatra's audience having left him during the sixties, etc. (More detail on this is available if you search Watertown Sinatra in Wikipedia.) I'm not sure about this idea - for one thing, Sinatra didn't write the material - but if it is true, it's the audience that was wrong. Of course, we don't have to be now.

(Note to readers: I've started another blog. It's called Star of England: A Blog on Shakespeare. The link is on the right. Check it out, if you're interested.)