My new car stereo doesn't play cassettes so I find my self buying "car CD's " lately.

I am interested in advice on great Sinatra compilations - primarily interested in the 1955-1965 period.

Want to avoid poor sounding remasters if possible.

Thanks in advance

Carl

Carl,

Just get yourself a copy of Songs For Swingin' Lovers, it's a classic.


Paul.

And get In The Wee Small Hours as well.

In fact, anything arranged by Nelson Riddle.

-- Ian

Originally posted by sideshowbob


In fact, anything arranged by Nelson Riddle.




In fact, you could almost get anything by Nelson Riddle. Linda Ronstadt's What's New springs to mind.


Paul.

Thanks guys

I've listened to his music for quite some years now and have picked up many of the recordings on vinyl including the 2 you suggest. I find "Compilations"/"best of's"/ "At Budokan's"/"at BBC's" and equivalent perfect for car listening and was hoping to get advice on such from this period.

Regards
Carl

Hello

Prompted by this thread I thought I might buy "Songs for Swingin Lovers" and "In the Wee Small Hours" on CD.

I currently have a Sinatra compilation CD and the sound is not the best, I was wondering if the CD copies of the above albums are of good quality (they seem very cheap at Amazon). Is it worth looking out for remastered versions, if they exist?

Got 'my way - the best of Sinatra' today. Song list is fine but sound quality various a lot - way more than the variation of the original recordings. Although I haven't heard the cd versions my feeling is it's probably safest to stick to the individual cd's as suggested.

Carl

I’d go for original vinyl every time. There is something just ‘right’ about it, even the recordings which are obviously bandwidth limited are cut sympathetically so the music just works. A lot of the CDs I’ve heard sound really screwed. I can understand exactly what they have attempted to do (brighten the sound, make it 'punchy' and remove hiss), but frequently the feel, integrity and coherence is just wrecked. Ironically the thing that seems to get most damaged is his voice.

What to look for: original Capital albums have laminated flip-back sleeves and black labels with a ‘rainbow’ rim, original Reprise albums again have laminated flip-back sleeves and a yellow / green label with a photo of Frank on it.

Tony.

Originally posted by Tony L
A lot of the CDs I’ve heard sound really screwed.

Spun it at home tonight and it is safe to put this compilation in that category. It really sounds awful - the tapes made on the Walkman off vinyl sounds about a thousand times better.

Carl

My collection of Frankie is very limited, I have 'Nice and Easy' on vinyl, it's 'digitally remastered' (horror!) in the 1980's and sounds really, really good. I also have some collection on vinyl (with no mention of any digital involvment) with 'My way' on it that sounds crap.

So, a low budget hint would be to search for those 1980's 'digital remasters' on vinyl if the original ones are to scarse or to expensive.

JohanR

Originally posted by Carl Nyqvist
...the tapes made on the Walkman off vinyl sounds about a thousand times better.
Carl,

Just a thought. If the commercially available CDs sound horrible, why not make your own CD compilations from the vinyl albums you already have? Given its just for the car you shouldn't have to worry about about flash sound cards etc. Got to be worth a shot.

Regards,

Stuart.

I particularly like the Capitol period for Sinatra (coincides with your years of interest). Voice in great shape, swinging tunes, and fine phrasing. Lots of orchestration by Riddle and May.

Several years back, Capitol put out a 3 or 4 CD box set of selected tracks with extensive liner notes and good sound. Perhaps you can hunt that set down.

If that fails, A Swinging Affair is also very good in addition to Songs for Swinging Lovers.

By all means avoid Ronstadt's What's New. One listen to Sinatra's renditions of the same songs and you'll understand why Ronstadt should stick to country western oriented pop.:D

try the small combo recording on cd live with red norvo in australia i believe...i have the cd somewhere :confused:

Originally posted by Stuart Mason
Carl,

Just a thought. If the commercially available CDs sound horrible, why not make your own CD compilations from the vinyl albums you already have?
Hi Stuart, that's a good thought. I have no experience in this area so some basic advice is appreciated. Does CD copies sound any good? What kind of machine do I need and which are best or best value for money?

Originally posted by hockman
I particularly like the Capitol period for Sinatra (coincides with your years of interest). Voice in great shape, swinging tunes, and fine phrasing. Lots of orchestration by Riddle and May.

Several years back, Capitol put out a 3 or 4 CD box set of selected tracks with extensive liner notes and good sound. Perhaps you can hunt that set down.
My fav Sinatra is Come Fly with me - the original Capitol record is amazingly powerful and emotional. I cannot find the Capitol box - can you provide us with the cataloge number?

Carl

Carl,

I've not got any real experience in this area either. I've only copied one record to CD, and that was achieved simply by taking cable from the pre-amp tape out to the line in on the PC. Don't even recall what software I used but it was nothing flash. Just get someting that can record .wav format and can do basic editing to add track breaks.

Given it is just for the car, I wouldn't bother with any audio editing such as 'pop and click' removal etc. Just take a basic transcription from the record, break the track into seperate files and burn to CD.

You will probably find this fine for your application. If not, I'm sure there are plenty of people here that have some good experience in this field who can offer advice.

I will, sooner or later, research this more as I keep pinching my parents old records. They haven't listened to them for years as their 'table is in a cupboard. I'd like to copy their favourites to CD for them as they have a wealth of really good material that they'd like to listen to again. Just can't see them ever setting their record player up again.

Regards,

Stuart.

I found a real mountain of Frank today – some lovely condition 1st Capital reissues, the ones with the bilious green labels and nice laminated flip-back sleeves and also some 70s tan Reprise LPs. Will be flinging them up at 6:00 tomorrow in the other room…

Tony.

Originally posted by Carl Nyqvist
My fav Sinatra is Come Fly with me - the original Capitol record is amazingly powerful and emotional. I cannot find the Capitol box - can you provide us with the cataloge number?

Carl [/B]

Mine is C2-94777. Name is F Sinatra, The Capitol Years. Box set of 3 cds bound as a book. Do a search on Amazon. Not sure if the exact same set is still available.

BTW I saw some mint lps (probably 70s-80s pressings) of Sinatras today at the flea market for about 7 quid each. What's the going rate?

BTW I saw some mint lps (probably 70s-80s pressings) of Sinatras today at the flea market for about 7 quid each. What's the going rate?

I’m putting some 60s pressings (i.e. better) up for less than that! Genuinely mint 50s 1st pressings are worth about 15 quid, work downwards from that - I won't buy 80s pressings regardless of price!

Tony.

I scored a real nice batch of Sinatra today. Must have came from the same seller, all the records and covers were in very good condition. All records were original US pressings as far as I can tell. It's funny because just last week I set my mind to pick up some more Sinatra and then today I come upon this goldmine which was just purchased by the store owner on 3-31. I'm not sure if I'll like them all, but I couldn't pass them up given their condition and the fact that most of them are pretty early stuff of his which I tend to like.

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/8852/pict2889.jpg

To respond to Original poster's question:

This is the best single CD Sinatra compilation:

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Sinatra-Greatest-Performances-1953-1960/dp/B0000479AV/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239093155&sr=8-1