Capitol Stereo CD

• When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
• Blue Moon
• S'posin'
• It All Depends On You
• It's Only A Paper Moon
• My Blue Heaven
• Should I
• September In The Rain
• Always
• I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
• I Concentrate On You
• You Do Something To Me

the following numbers are available on Capitol CD as bonus tracks and are not available on original LP

• Sentimental Baby
• Hidden Persuasion
• Ol' Mac Donald

all tracks recorded between August 22nd and September 1st, 1960

Thanks to Vincent for telling me about this CD! It's 2000% better than I had ever anticipated!!! I really wanted "Blue Moon", but this compilation has 14 other swingin' tunes. Nelson's outstanding arrangements, as always, are suburb!

"Hidden Persuasion" never heard before or "Ol' MacDonald". This one is a real hoot, and the lyrics delightful! And if you only think Nat Cole can do "Paper Moon", catch Frank's version!

If I may, like to just quote a little from Pete Welding:

"No one better epitomizes the ways these (jazzy) songs have been used than does Frank Sinatra, who has seamlessly integrated the very best of them into a recognizably personal style of great natural elegance and warm, easy-sounding expressiveness. For this reason he has been cited by many of jazz's leading performers as their favorite singer, and for many years he utterly dominated the "male vocalist" category in the critics' and readers polls conducted annually by the jazz magazines DOWN BEAT and METRONOME among others. While his merits as a "jazz singer" periodically have been debated in their pages, generally with inconclusive results, no one ever has questioned his abilities as a superlative interpreter of popular song, in the art of which he stands alone.

The swinging, jazz-infected side of his art is wonderfully showcased in the present set of performances, all of the bright medium-and up-temposed variety big-band singers of Sinatra's generation used to refer to as rhythum tunes.

They were recorded, with the sympathetic assistance of Nelson Riddle who crafted the zesty, buoyant arrangements and assembled and conducted the orchestra of crack LA musicians heard in bracing support of the singer, at four recording sessions in the 10-day period from August 22 to September 1, 1960, and for this reason posses a consistency of sound and emotion mood very typical of Sinatra's and Riddle's collaborations of this time.

The first 12 selections on this appealingly swinging sortie were originally released in album from a SINATRA'S SWINGIN' SESSION, and are here supplemented with the three additional performances recorded at the final of the four sessions that produced that album--SENTIMENTAL BABY and HIDDEN PERSUASION were previously included in Capitol album, OF LOVE AND THINGS, while the fetching updated version of OL' MAC DONALD earlier surfaced in the Capitol LP ALL THE WAY--the first time all 15 recordings have been combined in a single album."

It's a real "MUST HAVE" for any jazz lover, as well as any Sinatra true collector!!

Thank you, Vincent, just doesn't do it! I owe you, big time, my friend!!!

, and hugs,

This album has a great mix of standards. Some of them are quite old, even when the album was made.

The enjoyed the way Frank swings on Always. A much more upbeat tempo than he did with Columbia.

And Blue Heaven. Frank sounded like he was enjoying himself on that song.

He was terrific on Blue Moon. A great Rogers & Hart tune.

All in all, I think this is a really fine album to own. This album you can really enjoy listening to, especially when you're looking for the lighter side of Frank, without the emotional depth of a Close To You or Only The Lonely.

Dennis

has been criticized by some on this forum as being one of Sinatra's "rush" albums. It has been said: He was contractually committed to produce albums through the end of his tenure with the label and even 'sped up tempos at the session to get out of the studio sooner'. It doesn't - to these ears - sound like anything of the sort.

Sinatra sounds relaxed..and offers some of his more smooth, easy-going interpretations of fabulous American standards.
I never even cared for the song My Blue Heaven until I heard Sinatra sing it in this album forty years ago. BLUE MOON has Buddy Collette's Tenor Sax and Sinatra sounding amazingly similar in melodic interpretation. Best part of the album.

Hidden Persuasions was a single effort which sat around for quite a while. But is on the complete Capitol singles CD, too. It's SINATRA at his understated best!!

Welding's right..as he so often is..SWINGIN' SESSION is an absolute must!!

Nelson Riddle stated in an interview that Sinatra told him to speed up the tempos on this album when he walked into the recording studio. Why? We don't know.

Sinatra generally sang at a slow to medium pace, so the relatively quick gallop through this set is an unaccustomed treat. Neither serious nor heavy, this one's for fun. The band swings hard and the (instrumental) solos are top notch. Sinatra's voice and phrasing were impeccable, and he certainly was relaxed -- but relatively uninvolved compared to earlier Capitol efforts. He's breezing through this -- you can hear it. Two outstanding vocals, regardless, can be heard on "Blue Moon" and "September in the Rain." Great melodic variations on the first, emotional depth in the second.

Tom, I believe Plas Johnson blew tenor sax on "Blue Moon" -- not Buddy Collette. When Sinatra Archive comes back online, I'll check the complete session personnel.

P.S. Much of this album was a remake of "Sing and Dance with FS," released at Columbia 10 years earlier. Now there's an interesting comparison. What a difference a decade makes.

Oh, and Rick -- I love your graphics on this, the album cover superimposed on a b/w background of the recording session, Sinatra at his music stand. It highlights an important point -- the great production values. In his Foreward to Chuck Granata's book, Phil Ramone wrote:

<As I began to think about the process of recording, I knew that Frank Sinatra's albums set the industry standard. When I became an engineer, I studied those album covers that showed him in the studio (like Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! and The Concert Sinatra) and tried to imitate how the band and the singer were miked. When I finally got the chance to visit a Sinatra session, I looked at every microphone placement and memorized it.>

It was one of the first FS albums I bought. The tempo's fantastic, and there's something cheery about it.

<<Much of this album was a remake of "Sing and Dance with FS," released at Columbia 10 years earlier. Now there's an interesting comparison.>>

Interesting comparison indeed! I was convinced I'd hate SING AND DANCE, but to my surprise it's a real delight. I really like it a lot, and I've come to believe George Siravo's work is highly underrated.

Thanks for the kind words, Munchkin.

This has long been one of my favorite Sinatra albums, both for the breakneck tempo of the arrangements and Sinatra's casual, almost tossed-off vocals. Lately, though, I've begun to wonder if his singing here is not relaxed so much as uncaring. As Munchkin pointed out, the two songs where he really seems to be making an effort, "Blue Moon" and "September In The Rain," are the only songs he hadn't already previously recorded. Perhaps he didn't want to put any extra effort into re-recordings of old Columbia tracks for a label he desperately wanted to leave?

Any other opinions? Is this merely a tossed-off "contractual obligation" album, or a supreme Sinatra swinger? Or both, for that matter?

PJ

Look, I really think this is a very enjoyable album to listen to. Does it really matter (if it's true) that he asked Nelson Riddle to speed the album or that perhaps he didn't have his heart in it because of contractual obligation?

The bottom line: If you enjoy the album, so what! If you enjoyed it so much before, why would you enjoy it less because of some things you might have heard in the putting together of this album? Sometimes, maybe too much knowledge is no good.

Good Listening,

Dennis

Vincent,

I am very familiar with Mr. Schwartz from NY radio and his comments regarding this album. However, as we all know, just because somebody says something, it doesn't always mean it's 100 gospel.

However, what I was trying to say from my original post, assuming arguendo, and it is all true about contractual obligations, etc., if you enjoyed the album before, you should still enjoy it now, no matter the history of the making of the album.

I personally think it's a wonderful album to listen to, especially when you're looking for the lighter-hearted side of Frank. Some days I just can't listen to Only the Lonely or The Wee Small Hours.

Dennis

...for a recording artist who's starting his own record company to deliver three sub-standard albums in a row just to wind up a contract. Let's face it: that's the implication, but it just doesn't wash. I suspect this urban legend of how spiteful Sinatra risked carreer suicide by recording three rotten albums, to get even, is just another melodrama-that-never-was. Fact is, he had high professional standards when it came to recording, and would be be unlikely to compromise them at a crucial time in his carreer.

More suspect is Capitol's FS market-flooding campaign at the time.

I really LIKE his final Capitol efforts - especially this one - but maybe I've just got crap taste.

Rick,

You definitely don't have crap tastes. In my opinion, FS never had a bad album at Capital. And yes, I agree, FS had the highest standards when it came to recording, so there was no way he was going to sabotage his career, especially when he was about to start a new record company.

<I personally think it's a wonderful album to listen to, especially when you're looking for the lighter-hearted side of Frank.>

Absolutely.

<Any other opinions? Is this merely a tossed-off "contractual obligation" album, or a supreme Sinatra swinger? Or both, for that matter?>

BOTH. No, I'm not equivocating. Consider the album's brevity (12 songs, less than 30 minutes). And the singing? Perfunctory by Sinatra standards. In August 1960 he wanted to be somewhere else (not in a Capitol studio). Even so, he could not help but click with Nelson's marvelous arrangements and swingin' band. After all, the man loved nothing better than grooving with a bunch of talented musicians. The result: an exuberance that remains contagious... or in Sinatra lingo, a gasser.


Note to Tom: I checked the discography at Sinatra Archive. Buddy Collette and Plas Johnson both played on the session. So that settles nothing. As I recall, Friedwald cited Plas Johnson as soloist -- on a track from the Nice 'n' Easy LP!!! (Could it have been "That Old Feeling"?)



Oops. I think I goofed. You would know the difference between Johnson and Collette, so doubtless you are right... THIS time.



(Chalk up one for bubski!)

Thanks for pointing out a superb solo on tenor (short but sweet).

______
Andrea

[Nancy]

<< The popular opinion was born out of 1130 am wnew mr. j. Schwartz
sunday morning show. His comments are on recorded tape in N.Y. >>

Ah, yes. And we all know how Mr. Schwartz feels about the hand that has fed
him almost all of his adult life. He may just be one of the most unreliable sources
of FS info on the planet because of his negative attitude toward Frank.

Puhleeze, people. Wise up about this sniper.

We are keeping a flame here.

[DOUGofOHIO]

Good nice rainy morning (67degF) from TROY, OHIO-USA:

BANG ON, NANCY!!

Sitting here in The Midwest, I have never heard any of all that.
In my opinion, your wonderful
Father, could not trifle with any music....he ......I think all he did was try to improve anything he touched.....he had that particular sensitivity and I believe, only given to him.....

We're all just lucky he loved those classic wonderful old songs, written by incredible people...Just take the STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT album...look at all the great songs on there...old songs....

I just wish he would have done over and over through the years:

THE OLD LAMP LIGHTER

I WONDER WHO'S KISSING
HER NOW? (Is a "now" what I think it is??)

Oh, and by the way, just think of all the beautiful old songs on the ALL ALONE album...He knew they were beautiful...and he loved them.......!!!!!!!

Respectfully,

I've gotta agree with Munchkin -- even if the vocals are perfunctory by Sinatra standards, they're still rhythmic and witty and a whole lot of fun. And Riddle's work is fantastic throughout -- "I Concentrate On You" may be my alltime favorite Riddle arrangement.

And just because I wonder if Sinatra put his heart and soul into this particular album doesn't mean I don't love it nonetheless. I love all three "contractual obligation" albums, especially "Point Of No Return," which I think is one of the best he ever did.

PJ

[Ronald Sarbo]

Sinatra probably wanted these versions to be more swinging than the Columbia versions. The beat had become more prominent by 1960. He may have also been reacting to Bobby Darin's propulsive delivery on his records of the same period.

Nancy,

I agree with you that Mr. Schwartz was no true friend of your father's and that's why I intimated in my last post that you can't believe everything people say. I tried to be polite only because I didn't want to start a whole wave of replies like the last posts on Mr. Schwartz.

Oh, let's call the whole thing off!!

You flatter me, Munch. Thanks but I could easily be wrong.

In regards to Swingin' Sessions w/Nels being perfunctorily performed by Sinatra: maybe a little but who gives a damn. It's heaven - always was - from beginning to end. Every minute of its thirty.

I hear it in Come Swing w/16 brass blowers but not in Swingin' Sessions.

Holmes

<Thanks but I could easily be wrong. >

Oh, Tommy -- so sorry -- you ARE wrong after all.

(long pause while Munchkin sheds a few crocodile tears)

It was Plas Johnson who soloed on "Blue Moon," and also on "My Blue Heaven." Darn... I knew it. Never again will I back down from a statement without evidence. And do you know where I found the answer? In a book not ten feet away from my computer, one of the "Bibles" on Sinatra's musical recordings: SESSIONS WITH SINATRA, by the Chuckster aka Mr. Granata. With his approval (I hope?), let me quote from the book itself... a few paragraphs relevant to our discussion.

[Mr. Granata, should you not approve, just say the word and I will delete this material. You own it, after all. Do quotations like this -- and the one above -- infringe on copyright? Hope not. Do they encourage others to buy your book and read it? Hope so!]

<Before storming away on his self-imposed exile, Sinatra had recorded what is one of the shortest, yet probably the gassiest of all the Sinatra-Riddle efforts, the gut pounding Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! Armed with a slew of standards... the singer entered Studio A, and without so much as a run-through, immediately requested that Nelson increase the tempo on each of the arrangements. Whether he was thumbing his nose at the Capitol brass or whether he just wanted to finish the album in record time may never be known, but it had a profound effect on the album's overall excitement.

<Except for the beguiling "September in the Rain" and "Blue Moon," most of the tunes are taken at breakneck speed, adding mightily to the electricity that makes the barely thirty-minute collection irresistible. Especially appealing are two outstanding sax solos by rhythm and blues legend Plas Johnson: on the driving "My Blue Heaven," he turns in a set of rollicking, gritty licks; on "Blue Moon" the mood is bluesy and soulful.... The devilishly sexy "I Concentrate on You" [features] bongo drums in the rhythm section.>

SESSIONS WITH SINATRA, Granata, pp. 145-46

P.S. Granata also comments that Come Swing with Me and Point of No Return show no sign of being recorded under forced contractual obligation. My hunch: Sinatra the consummate professional was also a shrewd businessman (right, Mr. Holmes). Whatever he recorded at Capitol in 1960/61 would be used to compete against him at Reprise, and he knew that. So he gave Capitol good work but certainly not his best efforts, which would have been wasted. His body may have remained at Capitol, for the interim, but his spirit was soaring into the future at Reprise.

______
Andrea