20 years on...did "Sinatra Duets" succeed in what it set out to do?

Frank Sinatra Duets II was released 20 years ago this month. I am listening to the LP now. I wonder what history is now saying about what the project of both albums set out to do and what it has accomplished.

Discuss...

 

What exactly did these albums set out to do, Paul? To show Frank singing duets with other heavy-hitting musicians? To take another crack at some of his old songs? To add some 'modernization' to his legacy? I guess I'd need to understand what the goal was, if any, to evaluate this further.

 

As much as I love the Chairman of the Board, that was like nails on the chalkboard. It was tantamount to bringing out Dick Clark to do New years after his stroke. Hopefully Sir Paul will avoid this kind of embarrassment before he leaves us?

 

The point of those Duets albums was to generate excitement for Sinatra in the 1990s, singing songs he was known for singing alongside contemporary stars. I don't think they are good albums in an artistic or entertainment sense, the second especially is unpleasant to listen to, but they did deliver strong sales and raised Sinatra's profile just as his old labels were re-releasing music Sinatra had recorded decades prior.

 

It set the trend for older performers to cash in with some big selling albums late in the game. e.g Tony Bennett, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Davies, Barbara Streisand, Ray Charles etc. The formula works! Maybe not critically but certainly in terms of commercial sales.

I suppose the best thing that can come from it is to bring some legendary artists back into the social conscience, think of how much the BBC's 'God Only Knows' single must have raised Brian Wilson's profile!

 

I'd say yes, it did achieve its goal, which was to reach a new generation of fans by pairing Frank with current established artists from a wide range of musical backgrounds. I was 18 when I first listened to The Capitol Years comp, and, as much as I loved it, it did strike me as "old" music from "a long time ago"-- timeless maybe but not relevant to 1990, if that makes any sense. I was 21 when Duets I came out, and, being a diehard U2 fan, my hook for that album was Bono. Frank and Bono together? No way was I going to miss that! Duets was the first new Frank album I ever anticipated and bought as a new release, which was very exciting to me. Frank releasing an album in the '90s!!!

Maybe I was too easy to please, maybe I didn't know any better at the time, but the album worked some magic on me. To me, he became less a historical figure and a more of a real, flesh-and-blood entertainer, someone alive and still making music. I bought Duets II a year later and even saw Frank at probably his last-ever Boston concert, at what was then called Harborlights. I could finally connect this disembodied discography to the man himself. After that, the floodgates opened-- his back catalog was no longer a relic from the past and instead was vibrant and exciting.

I feel that way now more than ever.

 

I'm in no position to answer, as I wasn't in what appears to have been the target market: I was already perfectly open to acts of Sinatra's vintage and didn't need - or want - it with a spoonful of Generation X-approved sugar. I had some of his classics before then and I have since bought many more; but I've never bought either of the Duets albums and I'm pretty sure I never will.

 

They certainly sold in large numbers, but I've never been a fan of them. Maybe if they were real duets recorded with FS and the various singers together in the same studio, at the same time it would have been a better project. I know that wasn't feasible, but I just don't like electronic duets.

Once in awhile, I do play the solo recordings of FS that were used to make the albums. Even in the 1990's he sounds good.

 

I was managing a CD store during the "Duets"era and we were already established as a magnet for old fart music.Basically,it was because the owner and I were old farts.The local "indie" shop lowballed everything while advertising bootlegs and the mall stores snickered at many potential customers who came out of the woodwork looking for their old music in this new-fangled format.Grown upswith some disposable income were our niche and Duets was tailored to our store.And we did pretty good with it,selling it to Frank fans(hell,we usually played Sid Mark's Sinatra radio show on our overhead system)and to giftgivers.Duets and a gift certificate was a nice present from the kids.Personally,I wasn't so down on the album at the time-I was always a big fan of arranger/conductor Patrcik Williams work and still have a first issue vinyl LP and a promo CD.The owner,however, immediately loathed the album(s),but it certainly rung through the register and it wasn't the first time he sold keerap to the masses.In fact,if you're not selling a certain percentage of keerap to the mases,you better close doors.All in all,a perfectly timed release.
I'm sure some insiders involved were hoping the old man would pass this mortal coil during the hoopla.
While it may be on urban myth, I was told Capitol kept a plan of attack pending Frank's passing and I do own a brochure touting catalog product that would lend some creedence to that.Capitol had already relinguished almost all of their Sinatrs titles to a third party.I think the company was called Gold Somethin' I forget and had ties with what would eventually become Alliance Entertainment(Abbey Road,Bassin,Encore and a few more distributors).These third party discs were exactly the same Capitol product but used a prefix of(7)62185 on the UPC bar code on hundreds of Capitol's lowest sellers(early product had the new barcode pasted over the old Capitol one till new product was printed) .

 

Yes. Frank made money.

 

Well, Barbara made the money, Frank only earned it; but the point is valid.

 

Huge Sinatra fan here, however I never listened to the Duets albums.

 

What it accomplished is attested to by all the "Duet" albums issued since up to this very minute.

 

If it set out to make product that looks backward, rather than forward, it's usually Zzzzzzzz.

IMO, an awful trend.

 

It inspired a SNL skit that was somewhat humorous.

 

I think it certainly raised his profile with a younger audience, but oddly, for the last set of studio recordings he released, they have dated the most. I doubt there is a music fan alive who would choose, say, a duet with Kenny G, over the original. I don't think it would be the starting point for anyone attempting to get into his music and artistry.

 

Duets 1 was the first Sinatra disc I bought in February of 1994. I listened to it, I liked some of the songs, but I wasn't so hooked that I wanted to buy Duets 2 when it came out later in the year. It wasn't until February of 1998 that I bought my second Sinatra disc (Sinatra Sings Rogers and Hammerstein from Sony), and then a second (Best of the Reprise Years) about a month after that. I wasn't fully roped in to Sinatra, though, until later that summer, when I heard the original Capitol version of I've Got You Under My Skin. So even though Bono is still a huge name now, Sinatra's 1956 recording was far better (IMHO) than what he did in 1993.

There may be a couple of items in Duets that can compete with the orginals, but for the most part, the original recordings are where you can really appriciate the music and artistry.

 

When I was 12 (It was a very good yeeeeear...), I bought Duets on cassette and the Best of the Reprise CD. I've Got You Under My Skin from the CD (from Sinatra at the Sands) is what really hooked me on Mr. Sinatra's music.

 

That would do it.

 

I think the goal as much as anything was to get another studio album out of him when he probably wasn't up to it. In that respect it succeeded.

 

I would love to hear these - his chops may have not been as good as they were in the 70's or 80's, but to hear his readings and interpretations of these favorites as he past 75 years old would be great.

This is likely a coversation for another thread, but it is too bad that he only released one new studio album after SSMD. I completely understand that as the 1990's began, he would have been reluctant to try to learn new songs, but he was still in good enough vocal shape throughout the 80's that it is too bad he only recorded LA is My Lady (a great record, BTW).

 

I see that the PAULA FERNANDES CD that includes the DUET on "Brazil " w/FS
has been released.

 

GAWD AWFUL!!!!!

 

Bing Crosby "Rediscovered" CD has the TV version of "The Oldest Established" with Frank and Dean from Bing's 1964 TV show.

 

I have seen the documentary and it is beautiful!