[MAP 55]

A Keeper !

[Lynda L]

This has got to be the most romantic song of all. Especially when Frank sings, "you intoxicate my soul with your eyes". The whole album is fabulous, but I really love this song. I'm listening to it right now.

I have shuffle on, so the next song playing is My One And Only Love. Another song sung perfectly.

[Chuck Granata]

I've always thought that this was the best-sounding Sinatra album EVER. Even as a youngster (albeit one who was tinkering with sound equipment at a very young age) I could hear the depth, clarity, and superb stereo separation on this record. The sound is sumptuous, and this album remains one of the most played recordings in my entire collection.

In my opinion, "Nice 'n Easy" would have represented the perfect concept album, had they not inserted the title track at the last minute. Had "The Nearness of You" remained the title, and had it led off the album, it would have been a perfect "10." I usually program out the title song and listen to this strictly as a ballad album.

Compared to the balance of the thoughtfully designed Capitol album covers this one is a disappointment. It seems like someone said, "Uh, Frank - we need a picture for the new album cover now that the title has changed. Can you sit in that old chair and look kinda relaxed, so we can get a quick shot?"

Minor complaints - but who am I to carp? It's still in my Top 10 albums of all-time.

[MMM]

The back cover picture is great though, no Chuck?

I love the beautiful textured sound of this album too. You could almost sink into it...

I do believe that this was amoung Frank's biggest hits at Capitol critically and commercially, and that isa quite a feat considering that almost all his albums there were gurranted a high point on the Billboard charts for albums.

I suppose I can attribute this to the fact that there is nothing like it throughout Frank's vast output. All of his albums at Capitol seem to have just two moods: Saloon-ish or Swing-ish with varriations here and there. Nice 'n' Easy is an oddity in that it is a laid back, yet never lazy album with great re-recordings of some of Frank's prior hits at Columbia. I'm no sonic expert, but I must say that this is perhaps Sinatra's greatest sounding album at Capitol. I guess they had finally improved the sonic qualities of the recording studios in the Capitol building.

He never did record something like this again either. Certainly he recorded singles that could mesh well with the themes of this album and yet Sinatra doesn't do this small, intamate, laid back ballad album again.

But he does continue with ballad albums paving the way for his two masterpieces at Reprise, "Sinatra & Strings" and "The Concert Sinatra", which although they may not sound anything like "Nice 'n' easy" owe alot to this album.

[Chuck Granata]

Martin,

I love your description. The album does sound so plush that you can imagine sinking into it!

Dave, the reworkings of the songs he recorded for Columbia are magnificent. "You Go to My Head" is way beyond what anyone else has ever done with that song. It definitely paved the way for "SInatra & Strings" and "Concert Sinatra."

[Ronald Sarbo]

Perhaps the cover shot is a "Tip Of The Cardigan" to Perry Como.

Say what you will about the cover, I'm sure it (and the title song) helped sell a LOT of albums (and thereby introduce Sinatra's music) to many people who would not have otherwise purchased this.

Martin: I agree that the back cover photo is a very nice shot. Shame it's marred by the bouncy "nice 'n' easy" title font (with the silly asterisk dotting the "i").

Ron: He DOES look just like Perry in that photo.

[Chuck Granata]

Martin: the back cover shot - which was taken by Bob Willoughby at a rehearsal in Vegas - would have been PERFECT for the cover.

I'm surprised Willoughby is not credited on the back cover. His book, Sinatra: An Intimate Collection, contains a similar (but not identical) photo from the same shoot (page 155).

[Chuck Granata]

Willoughby took a lot of pics at the time, as I recall. The one on the back of Nice 'n Easy is cropped; the full photo had a group of showgirls surrounding Frank...

[russkish3]

Thanks, Chuckster, for adding fresh insights to this thread. I agree that "Nice 'N' Easy" ranks among the very finest sounding recordings ever made by Mr. Sinatra, regardless of the era one is talking about. I am even happier now that I was presented a Mobile Fidelity test pressing of this great album by Stan Ricker, the genius behind Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. What an awesome listening experience this album is, in any format.

Best regards,

Russell Kishi
Glendale, California

[Chuck Granata]

Russ,

It sounds excellent on LP. The bass is so damned deep and clean! Every recording should have the acoustic bass underpinning that Nice 'n Easy does. The tempo of the ballads is perfect: not ponderous - thoughtful. I don't think there's one second that could be criticized on this record, except that the title track does not belong there.

[russkish3]

Chuck, there are no words to describe the excellence of this recording. I am in total agreement with you. Thanks again for your perspectives. They make me appreciate this great album all the more.

Best regards,

Russell Kishi
Glendale, California

[MMM]

Originally posted by Chuckster Martin: the back cover shot - which was taken by Bob Willoughby at a rehearsal in Vegas - would have been PERFECT for the cover.

It really does seem to capture the mood, visually, of Frank recording the type of music on this album (except the title song), and including "The Nearness of You".

I love the title track, but I don't think I would have ever removed "Nearness" for it. I still think "Nearness" was the best thing recorded for the album. It is flawless to my ear, at least in what counts, and I truly feel it is one very very finest things Frank ever recorded in his career. Also, while some of the Columbia versions of these songs compare favorably, the Columbia "Nearness", nice as it is, can't touch the Capitol version, IMO.

[MMM]

Originally posted by russkish3 Thanks, Chuckster, for adding fresh insights to this thread. I agree that "Nice 'N' Easy" ranks among the very finest sounding recordings ever made by Mr. Sinatra, regardless of the era one is talking about. I am even happier now that I was presented a Mobile Fidelity test pressing of this great album by Stan Ricker, the genius behind Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. What an awesome listening experience this album is, in any format.

Best regards,

Russell Kishi
Glendale, California

Nice that you got to meet Stan, Russell. Do you have a story about it? From what I can tell from interviews, etc., he seems to me to be a very intelligent, nice man.

[russkish3]

I do not want to hijack this thread by getting too far off topic, but I was prvileged to spend an entire afternoon watching Stan Ricker while he was working on the Mobile Fidelity half speed master of "Rubber Soul." He was only barely beginning the remastering of this Beatles masterpiece. I was there watching because I was producing a TV segment about Mobile Fidelity for KCBS-TV at that time. This was 24 years ago now, which is almost scary to contemplate.

To make a long story short, Stan enjoyed our conversation so much that he led me to a back room at the Mobile Fidelity facility, a place where there were TONS of test pressings in storage. He went from bin to bin and picked out a few of his favorites. Naturally, one of them was "Nice 'N' Easy." I walked out of MFSL with a stack of test pressings under my arm. Stan was a real gentleman and an avid amateur musician. He enjoyed playing the cello when not at work for Mobile Fidelity.

Thanks, Martin, for your kind words.

Best regards,

Russell Kishi
Glendale, California

[MMM]

Thanks Russell. I knew Stan played bass - didn't know about the cello...

Whoever played the Sax solo on “That Old Feeling” gets my vote. Sultry, bluesy and the way he bends the notes as if he’s playing an electric guitar…A performance truly on par with the singer’s

<< Whoever played the Sax solo on “That Old Feeling” gets my vote. >>

That was Plas Johnson doing that great tenor work.