Jazz Lines Publications

Recorded by Frank Sinatra

Composer: Cole Porter
Arranger: Nelson Riddle
Adapted by: Quincy Jones
Prepared by: Rob DuBoff and Jeffrey Sultanof
Format: Score and Parts
Instrumentation: Jazz Ensemble
Style: Swing
Level: Medium Difficult

In Los Angeles, CA on January 12, 1956 Frank Sinatra recorded Nelson Riddle's arrangement of Cole Porter's song, I've Got You Under My Skin. This turned out to be one of Sinatra's most popular recordings, and is widely recognized as one of the best examples of a big band treatment of a pop song in the history of the recording industry. When interviewed, Nelson Riddle said that Maurice Ravel's Bolero influenced his work on this arrangement. In his textbook Arranged, Nelson Riddle told of listening to symphonic concerts on his father's car radio and being spellbound by the music (and running down the car's battery in the process). His own music reflects his love for the music of Debussy and Ravel, so it is no surprise that he drew upon these influences often while writing arrangements during the 1950s and early '60s.
The story goes that Riddle was under such pressure to complete the arrangements for this recording session that he wasn't able to finish I've Got You Under My Skin before he had to leave home to get to the studio. His wife Doreen, who was to drive him to the studio, grabbed a leaf from the dining room table to be used as a desk in the car so that he could keep writing on the way to the recording session.

The 1966 Sinatra/Basie live concert recording Sinatra at the Sands is perhaps one of Sinatra's best known and loved albums. But, what isn't commonly known is that Frank Sinatra went out on the road with the Count Basie Orchestra in the summer of 1965. Among the dates they played together were a Newport Jazz Festival appearance on July 4, 1965 and a fundraiser with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis. It was during this tour that the band road-tested the many arrangements that were written. This collaboration culminated at a gig in Las Vegas, at the Sands Hotel in January of 1966. This appearance resulted in a double album of Sinatra and Basie, and an album of the Basie band alone that was released many years later. Quincy adapted the 1956 Riddle arrangement of I've Got You Under My Skin for the 1965/66 tour with the Basie Band. This arrangement follows Riddle's original closely; the main difference being that Quincy incorporated the string parts into the saxophones.
This publication is based on the original set of parts used by Sinatra for the 1956 session with Quincy Jones's modifications for Sinatra at the Sands concert. There are no saxophone doubles. An optional synthesizer part is included that is a reduction of the original string parts.