The Joy of Living (album)

The Joy of Living
The Joy of Living
Studio album by Nelson Riddle
Released	1959
Recorded	1959
Studio	Capitol Records, Hollywood, California
Genre	Traditional pop
Length	34:01
Label	Capitol ST-1148
Nelson Riddle chronology

The Joy of Living is the sixth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, released in 1959.^[1]^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

William Ruhlmann reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that the arrangements "never get too lively or somber" and felt the casual, mid-tempo pieces were an assertion by Riddle of his stature with the popularity of Billy May and Gordon Jenkins. Ruhlmann felt the album was a precursor to Riddle's arrangements on Frank Sinatra's 1960 album Nice 'n' Easy as an "easygoing collection of small tonal joys".^[1]

Gramophone magazine described The Joy of Living as an "outstanding Riddle collection" upon its 1998 reissue.^[3]

Single

Capitol Records released the title track "The Joy of Living" as a 45 rpm single, backed with a Nelson Riddle composition, "Somethin' Special."^[4]

Track listing

Side 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries"	Lew Brown, Nacio Herb Brown, Ray Henderson	2:08
2.	"You Make Me Feel So Young"	Mack Gordon, Josef Myrow	3:14
3.	"Makin' Whoopee"	Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn	4:20
4.	"Bye Bye Blues"	David Bennett, Chauncey Gray, Frederick Hamm, Bert Lown	2:33
5.	"It's So Peaceful in the Country"	Alec Wilder	2:50
6.	"The Joy of Living"	Philip J. Davis	2:49

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"It's a Big Wide Wonderful World!"	John Rox	2:13
2.	"June in January"	Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin	2:13
3.	"Isn't This a Lovely Day"	Irving Berlin	2:46
4.	"Indian Summer"	Al Dubin, Victor Herbert	2:51
5.	"It's a Grand Night for Singing"	Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers	2:49
6.	"I Got the Sun in the Morning"	Berlin	2:43

Personnel

Nelson Riddle – arranger

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Joy of Living at AllMusic
^ "Nelson Riddle - The Joy of Living at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
^ Sir Compton Mackenzie; Christopher Stone (1998). Gramophone. General Gramophone Publications Limited. p. 120.
^ "Somethin' Special". cat45.com.

External links

The Joy of Living at Discogs (list of releases)

[Allmusic-1] The Joy of Living at AllMusic

[Discogs-2] "Nelson Riddle - The Joy of Living at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 17 March 2020.

[MackenzieStone1998-3] Sir Compton Mackenzie; Christopher Stone (1998). Gramophone. General Gramophone Publications Limited. p. 120.

[4] "Somethin' Special". cat45.com.

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v t e Nelson Riddle
Albums	The Music from Oklahoma! (Capitol, 1955) The Tender Touch (Capitol, 1956) Hey...Let Yourself Go! (Capitol, 1957) C'mon...Get Happy! (Capitol, 1957) Sea of Dreams (Capitol, 1958) The Joy of Living (Capitol, 1959) Sing a Song with Riddle (Capitol, 1959) Music of the Motion Picture "Can Can" (Capitol, 1960) Original Music from The TV Show The Untouchables (Capitol, 1960) Dance to the Music of "Tenderloin" (Capitol, 1961) Love Tide (Capitol, 1961) Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" (Capitol, 1961) Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Themes (Capitol, 1962) Love Is a Game of Poker (Capitol, 1962) More Hit TV Themes (Capitol, 1963) The Best of Nelson Riddle (Capitol, 1963) White on White, Shangri-La, Charade & Other Hits of 1964 (Reprise, 1964) Original Music from The Rogues (RCA Victor, 1964) Interprets Great Music, Great Films, Great Sounds (Reprise, 1964) NAT: An Orchestral Portrait of Nat "King" Cole (Reprise, 1966) Music for Wives and Lovers (Solid State, 1967) The Bright and the Beautiful (Liberty, 1967) The Riddle of Today (Liberty, 1968) British Columbia Suite (Capilano, 1969) Nelson Riddle Conducts The 101 Strings (Marble Arch, 1970) Communication (MPS, 1971) Changing Colors (MPS, 1972)
With Rosemary Clooney	Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle! (RCA Victor, 1961) Love (Reprise, 1963)
With Nat King Cole	Unforgettable (Capitol, 1954) Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love (Capitol, 1954) The Piano Style of Nat King Cole (Capitol, 1955) Ballads of the Day (Capitol, 1956) St. Louis Blues (Capitol, 1958) Cole Español (1958) To Whom It May Concern (Capitol, 1959) Wild Is Love (Capitol, 1960)
With Ella Fitzgerald	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book (Verve, 1959) Ella Swings Gently with Nelson (Verve, 1962) Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson (Verve, 1962) Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book (Verve, 1963) Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (Verve, 1964) Ella Loves Cole Dream Dancing (Atlantic, 1972) The Best Is Yet to Come (Pablo, 1982)
With Linda Ronstadt	What's New? (Elektra, 1983) Lush Life (Elektra, 1984) For Sentimental Reasons (Elektra, 1986)
With Frank Sinatra	Swing Easy! (Capitol, 1954) Songs for Young Lovers (Capitol, 1954) In the Wee Small Hours (Capitol, 1955) Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (Capitol, 1956) Close to You (Capitol, 1956) A Swingin' Affair! (Capitol, 1956) Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (Capitol, 1958) Nice 'n' Easy (Capitol, 1960) Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! (Capitol, 1960) The Concert Sinatra (1963) Sinatra's Sinatra (1963) Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners (Reprise, 1964) Strangers in the Night (Reprise, 1966) Moonlight Sinatra (Reprise, 1966)
With Keely Smith	I Wish You Love (Capitol, 1958) Swingin' Pretty (Capitol, 1959) Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Reprise, 1963)
With Ed Townsend	New In Town (Capitol, 1959) Glad To Be Here (Capitol, 1959)
With others	Shirley Bassey, Let's Face the Music (Columbia, 1962) Bing Crosby, Return to Paradise Islands (Reprise, 1964) Judy Garland, Judy (1956) Antônio Carlos Jobim, The Wonderful World of Antônio Carlos Jobim (Warner Bros., 1965) Peggy Lee, The Man I Love (Capitol, 1957) Dean Martin, This Time I'm Swingin'! (Capitol, 1960) Johnny Mathis, I'll Buy You a Star (Capitol, 1962) Oscar Peterson, Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle (Verve, 1964) Mavis Rivers, Take a Number (Capitol, 1959) Tommy Sands, When I'm Thinking of You (Capitol, 1959) Dinah Shore, Dinah, Yes Indeed! (Capitol, 1959) Phil Silvers, Phil Silvers and Swinging Brass (Columbia, 1957)