(apologies for incorrect thread title info)

Capitol CD compiles Frank Sinatra's first 2 Capitol LPs on 1 CD

arr Nelson Riddle

Original 1953 10" LP SONGS FOR YOUNG LOVERS Tracks 1 - 8
Original 1954 10" LP SWING EASY Tracks 9 - 16

1. My Funny Valentine
2. The Girl Next Door
3. A Foggy Day
4. Like Someone In Love
5. I Get A Kick Out Of You
6. Little Girl Blue
7. They Can't Take That Away From Me
8. Violets For Your Furs
9. Just One Of Those Things
10. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
11. Sunday
12. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
13. Taking A Chance On Love
14. Jeepers Creepers
15. Get Happy
16. All Of Me

"Songs For Young Lovers" was recorded in 1953, Sinatra's first album project for Capitol (=tracks 1-8). It was a 10" album released in January 1954 (not 55). "Swing Easy" (=tracks 9-16) was released in August 1954.

These two albums are how the "Sinatra-Capitol-story" began!

Bernhard.

[DOUGofOHIO]

Good muggy but better than winter morning from OHIO-USA:

Rick, this is a great idea and I'm trying to keep up on all of this but I just thought I'd mention that VIOLETS FOR YOUR FURS
is getting some attention over on the regular FRANK SINATRA FORUM.....just so everybody gets the word.....

I can't wait to start commenting on these albums....I've been living with these albums since they started showing up in
the stores in Columbus, Ohio in the beginning.....

But, it's going to take some time and I've got some golf to play and a million boxes to fill to get ready to move from GREENVILLE, OHIO to TROY, OHIO by the end of July....whew.....

Thanks for generating all this work....I think you have made yourself proud and also, made sure everybody knows about this incredible body of work in this one time event in our History.....

Songs for Young Lovers is still my favorite Sinatra album. It was the first concept album that I bought back in the mid 1960s.

The voice is close to perfection. The mature Capitol style is there in full bloom. The Siravo arrangements are full of charm and restraint.

As good as it gets. The original I get a kick out of you, with the lyric some they may go for cocaine. Never sung in the later versions. What about My Funny Valentine, with the classic line, Is Your Figure Less Than Greek........? And I just love his version of All of Me.

Dennis

[Edwin]

Sinatra's Capitol output starting with Young Lovers and Swing Easy is perfectionism plus.

In my post on "Favorite Sinatr Era" of a few days ago, I wrote that there's greatness in his records from 1939 to 1993 and that it's all one long era. However, for artistic consistency, his albums from '53 to '59 along with most of his singles from the same period (check out the 4-CD Singles Box), no other period compares.

There was much brilliance, even genius, before and after, but not with that consistency.

Ed S.

1. My Funny Valentine

2. Girl Next Door

3. Foggy Day

4. Like Someone in Love

5. I Get a Kick Out of You

6. Little Girl Blue

7. They Can't Take That Away from Me

8. Violets for Your Furs

9. Just One of Those Things

10. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself a Letter)

11. Sunday

12. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away)

13. Taking a Chance on Love

14. Jeepers Creepers

15. Get Happy

16. All of Me

The word that comes to my mind when thinking about Sinatra's singing on these two records is CRISP. Talk about exact, punchy and clear. These records drip it.

I agree...the vocals and phrasing were incredible on this album.

Did you know that this album was James Dean's favourite.

No I never knew that, neat fact....thanks for sharing.

If you are going to buy this disc and have the chance to get the 1987 pressing, then do. The 1998 Bob Norberg remastered one isn't as good and employs a fake stereo technique.

[DOUGofOHIO]

Good cloudy, cool, mild sort of end of Fall morning from
TROY, OHIO-USA:

Great bump up RICK!!

"But after pay day is my fun day, I shine all day SUNDAY, that one day, it's a fun day, SUNDAY is my day with you!!!"

If there's anybody out there who missed these treasures and that moment of great discovery, I wish I could see the look in your eyes when you hear this music.

I can't get over the fact that I was so close to all this and missed the whole thing and I was at 29 Palms Marine Corps base..So close but lost to me....I'm just glad I found it all later...

Respectfully,

I believe these two albums are interesting because they are not really anything but fleshed-out orchestrations by Nelson Riddle of Sinatra's "book" arrangements done originally by George Siravo. They are essentially, to my thinking, a continuation of his Columbia Records period/sound. It wasn't until Nelson took over arranging in his own style that the Capitol Records period really began.
Nice recordings, but not the peak yet to be obtained.

[Edwin]

Most of Young Lovers belongs to Siravo with obvious embellishment by Riddle. Riddle had acknowledged Siravo's work and Siravo was justifiably upset over lack of credit.

Swing Easy is another story. I understand that was all Riddle.

I strongly disagree with the statement that they are basically a continuation of Sinatra's Columbia sound. These two albums along with such early Capitol singles as I've Got the World on a String and Don't Worry About Me herald the mature Sinatra with added hormones and new comfort and ability to swing. And the musicians swing a hell of a lot more on the Capitol records, too. Compare them with the recently released Columbia gem, "The Voice." Or listen to the in your face, out there "All of Me" on Swing Easy versus the Columbia version of the same song.

Ed S.

[Marty]

There are releases in the field of popular music that make a difference, epoch making might sound pretentious but in some cases it's true, they aren't necessarily the best work of the artist concerned but they are usually the most important, in the Rock n Roll era it was the realease of Elvis Presley's first LP on RCA, after that everything changed, during the 60s it was Sgt Peppers or The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds which defined the direction the decade was to take musically. During the early years of the 1950s Capitol Records took a chance on a singer that had, the decade before reached the pinnacle of stardom but now seemed on the wane, anxious to prove what he could do, Frank Sinatra went into the studio with a very definite idea of what he wanted to achieve, eschewing the prevailing industry fads of over production and formulaic "hit" making, Gilmore, Riddle & Sinatra changed forever what the long playing record should be. As a result we may not have their best work but we have their most historic. Just for the record though I happen to love it.

Hi,

I just found an old copy of Swing Easy/ Songs for Young Lovers on vinyl. I'd like to get a hold of the albums on cd, but I've read elsewhere on the internet that you should avoid the American cd release of the two albums together and instead pick up the British release of each album released individually, because it's better mastered.
Does anyone know anything more about this?

[Edwin]

with both albums on one CD sounds great to me.

[russkish3]

I own the grey label Capitol LP containing both titles. Tracks 3-5 of "Songs For Young Lovers" establishes Frank Sinatra laying down the foundations of his Capitol era. "A Foggy Day," "Like Someone in Love" and "I Get a Kick Ouit of You" are just as Denny G. says, as good as it gets. I am especially in awe of "Like Someone in Love," one of the great, unheralded but very essential Sinatra numbers that clearly demonstrates why he was such a superior vocalist. I think it is a sterling example of his breath control. There seems to be a great deal of the tune that is executed on the strength of just one breath.

I should just say the entire album is worth having. Just re=checking the other tracks, "Little Girl Blue" and "Violets for Your Furs," reveals just as vald examples of everything I say about the middle three tracks.

"Swing Easy" is a great example of the master in a more intimate setting. It feels like an amped up version of "Close to You," since it has that much-lowered sense of scale. Nice work, but I do prefer the range shown in "Young Lovers."

Best regards,

Russell Kishi
Glendale, California