Cover photo of the Italian version of Vol. 1 (from Nick in Toronto).

[The original Australian cover had Frank facing right, with a border.]

THE RARITIES, VOLUME 1
Compilation LP
Capitol [Australia] ST26784 (1981)
Capitol [Italy] 54 2601711 (1984)
20 Tracks

SIDE A

01 05/20/57 You're Cheatin' Yourself (If You're Cheatin' On Me) *
02 08/23/54 The Christmas Waltz *
03 04/05/56 Wait For Me (Johnny Concho's Theme) *
04 03/03/58 Same Old Song And Dance *
05 03/08/56 Don't Like Goodbyes
06 08/31/60 Hidden Persuasion *
07 04/04/56 Everything Happens To Me
08 03/07/55 How Could You Do A Thing Like That To Me? *
09 09/11/58 Where Or When
10 05/08/59 Love Looks So Well On You

SIDE B

11 10/17/55 You Forgot All The Words *
12 04/04/56 Blame It On My Youth
13 12/08/53 Why Should I Cry Over You? *
14 10/16/58 To Love And Be Loved [long arr.]
15 04/02/54 The Sea Song +
16 12/11/57 You'll Always Be The One I Love *
17 09/13/55 You'll Get Yours *
18 05/29/58 Monique *
19 03/14/57 So Long, My Love *
20 03/06/62 I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

(Recording dates as month/day/year)

All tracks arranged by Nelson Riddle, except:
Billy May (04)
Felix Slatkin (18)
Skip Martin (20)

+ Previously unreleased
* Released as a single

Original LP releases:

195? Merry Christmas To You! (02)
1957 Close To You (05, 07, 12)
1958 This Is Sinatra, Volume Two (01, 03, 11, 16, 19)
1960 Swing Easy! [expanded reissue] (08, 13)
1961 All The Way (14)
1962 Sinatra Sings Of Love And Things (06, 10, 18, 20)
1966 Forever Frank (04, 17)
1978 The Rare Sinatra (09)
1981 The Rarities, Vol. 1 (15)

THE RARITIES, VOLUME 2
Compilation LP
Capitol [Australia] ST26785 (1981)
20 Tracks

SIDE A

01 10/17/55 Weep They Will *
02 03/08/56 Love Locked Out
03 05/02/53 Anytime, Anywhere *
04 04/05/56 You're Sensational *
05 03/03/58 How Are Ya' Fixed For Love *+
06 04/04/56 I've Had My Moments
07 05/13/54 Half As Lovely (Twice As True) *
08 03/07/55 From The Bottom To The Top *
09 04/29/57 I Cover The Waterfront
10 08/23/54 White Christmas *

SIDE B

11 09/01/60 Sentimental Baby *
12 04/09/56 Five Hundred Guys *
13 12/29/58 The Moon Was Yellow *
14 03/03/58 Nothing In Common *+
15 04/10/57 Where Is The One?
16 09/23/54 Don't Change Your Mind About Me *
17 04/05/56 The End Of A Love Affair
18 03/07/55 Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love) *
19 04/04/56 Wait Till You See Her
20 12/09/53 Rain (Falling From The Skies) *

(Recording dates as month/day/year)

All tracks arranged by Nelson Riddle, except:
Billy May (05, 14)
Dave Cavanaugh (08, 18)
Gordon Jenkins (09, 15)

+ Previously unreleased on LP
* Released as a single

Original LP releases:

195? Merry Christmas To You! (10)
1956 High Society (04)
1956 This Is Sinatra! (20)
1957 Close To You (02, 06, 17)
1957 Where Are You? (09, 15)
1958 This Is Sinatra, Volume Two (07)
1959 Look To Your Heart (03)
1962 Sinatra Sings Of Love And Things (11, 13)
1963 Tell Her You Love Her (01)
1963 Sings Rodgers And Hart (19)
1966 Forever Frank (08, 18)
1973 Sinatra Like Never Before (12, 16)
1981 The Rarities, Vol. 2 (05, 14)

This pair of albums was released in 1981 by Capitol/EMI in Australia, in cooperation with the International Sinatra Society of Australia (a fan organization). Many of these tracks from Sinatra's Capitol era (1953-1962) were seldom-heard singles which had appeared on LP only in out-of-print compilations from years earlier. Notable is the first LP issue of the pair of duets with Keely Smith, and the first-ever issue of the mysterious "The Sea Song," which FS had recorded in early 1954 but never approved for public release.

All of the singles (and "The Sea Song") are available today in The Complete Capitol Singles Collection, and the non-single rarities from these albums may be found in The Capitol Years and/or the appropriate CD versions of their original LPs. However, before the proliferation of these compact disc reissues, these two albums from Down Under were coveted by FS collectors.

See also the following threads for more discussion of rare Capitol recordings:

SINATRA LIKE NEVER BEFORE 1973
THE RARE SINATRA 1978
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU! (Various Artists) Capitol LP
Oh, What I Found Today!
Why did Frank record "The Sea Song"?
By The Beautiful Sea (The Sea Song)

[Gonzalo Duque]

I got these 2 LPs from Gary Doctor's International Sinatra Society fan club before he passed away, if I recall I bought them in 1985, along with the British issue of "The Rare Sinatra". These LPs are still in mint condition, just like I bought them 22 years ago! Haven't had a need to play them for a long, long time since all these tracks are on CD as Bob mentioned.

Hi Gonzo,

Those are great to have, especially in mint condition! Any chance you could post or email me cover photos or scanned images?

[Gonzalo Duque]

Hi Bob,

I'll see what I can do, just recently I re-did my family room and placed all my vinyl, about 8-9 boxes worth, in a closet! I can get to it, just have to move heavy boxes around!

[Ed Potts]

Always great to hear from you! Are you doing any on air gigs these days?

[MMM]

That's a lot of content to cram onto 1 LP.

[Nick in Toronto]

My main interest in getting Volume I was the never before released version of The Sea Song. The controversy over it's merits aside, I really enjoyed the way FS soared into the High note(s).

Martin is sure right about cramming material into these efforts. They are among the longest vinyl efforts ever produced, and it was very difficult to program individual tracks. I only own the first one BTW, but I would assume the same would be true for Volume 2.

Originally Posted by MMM

That's a lot of content to cram onto 1 LP.

I just did a quick tally of the song lengths on Vol. 1, and it's just short of 30 minutes on each side!

For information about this particular rarity, see the following post in The Early Capitol Days thread:

Friday, April 2, 1954 - "The Sea Song"

The first time I heard this song I didn't like it but it has grown on me. It definitely holds some charm.

[stevied123]

Stumbled across a copy of Vol.2 a few days ago and bought it. Pretty cheap, and in excellent condition! I'd passed it a few times thinking it was something unofficial (ie. not Capitol) as it's got such a dull cover/sleeve.

I have to say it's really well mastered, and as such I am discovering a lot of these songs properly for the first time - having only heard them on the UK 21CD set before. On the cds they are smothered in reverb (in most cases), whereas this vinyl is very clean, and warm sounding. Would recommend it, and myself I will be on the lookout now for Vol.1.

Here's an image for Vol.2, as this thread only appears to have the first volume....



'You're Sensational' is just that!