''Duets II'' is the 59th and final

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

. It was released in 1994, and was the sequel to the previous year's ''

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episo ...

''. Phil Ramone and Hank Cattaneo produced the album and guest artists from various genres contributed their

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

parts to Sinatra's already recorded vocals. Though not as commercially successful as ''Duets'', it still rose to #9 on the Billboard albums chart and sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. It also peaked at #29 in the UK. The album received mixed reviews from critics, although some viewed it as an improvement over its predecessor. However, the album won Sinatra the 1995

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album is an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented ...

, his last competitive Grammy Award. These would be the last studio recordings made by Sinatra, who had begun his recording career fifty-four years earlier. Both were packaged together in a "90th Birthday Limited Collector's Edition" released in 2005; North American pressings add an unreleased duet recording of "My Way" with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

, while international pressings have him singing with

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

Track listing

Unless otherwise indicated, Information is based on Liner notesSinatra, Frank. “Duets II”. Capitol Records. 1994. ;Notes *“For Once in My Life” arranged by

Don Costa Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including ''Sinatra and Strings'' and '' My Way''. ...

in 1969. *“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” originally arranged by

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

in 1957 for '' Pal Joey'' film soundtrack. *“Moonlight in Vermont” originally arranged by

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with '' Batgirl'' them ...

in 1957. *“Embraceable You” arranged by Nelson Riddle in 1960. *“My Funny Valentine” originally arranged by Nelson Riddle in 1957 for a

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

concert. *“My Kind of Town” arranged by Nelson Riddle in 1963 for '' Robin and the 7 Hoods'' film soundtrack. *“The House I Live In” music arranged by Don Costa in 1964.

Personnel

Information is based on Liner notes * Duet Partners - vocals (2-5, 7–14) * Frank Sinatra Sr. – vocals (1-5, 7–14, lead on 6) *

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

- lead vocals, intro music performer (6) *

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...

- vocals (1) *

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

– harmonica, piano, vocal ad-libs (1) * Ron Anthony – guitar *

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937), professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including workin ...

– bass, rhythm bass * Edwin Bonilla - intro music performer (6) *

Ed Calle Ed Calle (born ''Eduardo J. Calle'') is a musician from Miami, Florida. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Calle plays the saxophones, flutes, clarinets, EWI, and keyboards, engineers projects, and performs vocals. He also composes and arrange ...

- intro music performer (6) * Jorge Casas - intro music performer (6) *

Gregg Field Gregg Field (born February 21, 1956) is an American record producer and musician, who has worked with many well-known artists. He is a recipient of multiple Grammy and Emmy awards. Early life Field was born in Castro Valley, California, Unit ...

– drums * Paolo Jobim - intro music performer (6) * Juanito Marquez - intro music performer (6) * Bill Miller - piano * Jorge Noriega - backing vocals (6) * Clay Ostwald - additional keyboards (9) * Rita Quintero – backing vocals (6) *

Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his ...

- trumpet solo (7) *

Terry Trotter Terry William Trotter (born October 5, 1940) is an American jazz pianist and piano teacher living in Los Angeles. He has recorded with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Larry Carlton, and many others. Tro ...

- piano (9) Production *

Billy Byers William Mitchell Byers (May 1, 1927 – May 1, 1996) was an American jazz trombonist and arranger. Early life Byers was born in Los Angeles on May 1, 1927. He suffered from arthritis from a young age and was unable to continue his plans of a care ...

- music arranger (9) * Hank Cattaneo – producer (1, 3–14, music on 2) * Kiko Cibrian - vocal producer (2) *

- arranger (1, music on 14) * Frank Foster - arranger (11) * Tom Hensley - vocal arranger (14) *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

- mastering *

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

- arranger (4, 6) * Charles Koppelman – executive producer * Alan Lindgren - vocal arranger (14) *

Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...

- arranger (8) *

- arranger (2, 7) * Jose Quintana - vocal producer (2) *

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

- producer (1, 3–14, music on 2) *

- arranger (10, 13) * Don Rubin – executive producer * Eliot Weisman – executive producer *

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1 ...

- vocal arranger (9) * Patrick Williams - arranger (3, 5–6, 11–12), conductor, musical director * Bill Zehme – liner notes Engineers * John Aquilino, Bernie Becker, Paul Cartledge, Bill Cavanaugh, Mike Couzzi, T-Bone Demman, Charles Dye, Geraldo Fernandes de Souza, Jr., Carl Glanville, Larry Greenhill, Don Hahn, R.R. Harlan, Jay Healy, Charles Paakkari, John Patterson, Scott Perry, Csaba Petocz, Ed Rak, Paul McKenna, George Massenburg, Dave Reitzas, Eric Schilling, Al Schmitt, Rick Southern, Ted Stein, Ron Taylor, Larry Walsh, Frank Wolf, Tom Young Assistant engineers * Craig Brock, Scott Canto, Marcelo Anez, Bryan Carrigan, Jim Caruana, Sean Chambers,

Peter Doell Peter Doell is an American recording and mastering engineer known for his work with Miles Davis, Toto, Céline Dion and The Beach Boys. Doell has been a staff engineer at Capitol Studios, Sunset Sound Recorders and Universal Mastering Studios W ...

, Troy Halderson, David Hall, Sebastian Krys, Mike Mazzetti, Francisco Miranda, Jennifer Monnar, Marcelo Moura, Mark Ralston, Kevin Scott, Andy Smith, Chris Wiggins

Television special

On 25 November 1994, Sinatra recorded a television special which aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, titled ''Sinatra: Duets''. This was intended to promote both his previous album ''

'' as well as its successor, ''Duets II''.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Capitol Records albums Frank Sinatra albums Vocal duet albums Albums arranged by Don Costa Albums arranged by Nelson Riddle Albums arranged by Johnny Mandel Albums arranged by Billy May Albums arranged by Quincy Jones Albums produced by Phil Ramone Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Sequel albums