Frank Sinatra - Best Sounding CDs?

'In The Wee Small Hours' sounds really good to me.

 

You need to qualify that with which CD issue. The best-sounding was in the 1998 UK 21-CD box set, Sinatra: The Capitol Years, now out of print.

Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality and General Discussion: In the Wee Small Hours (1955)*
In the wee small hours - 1955
Capitol Scorecard

 

Am talking about the Standard Capitol 1991 version..I know some prefer the flatter sound of other masterings, but for me the bit of reverb/ambience on the 1991 'CDP 7 96826 2' sounds just right.Haven't heard the 1998 box set.In what way would you say it differs from other masterings?

 

Correct reverb per the original LP master. The 1991 (Larry Walsh) CD had extra reverb applied, a mistake which Larry has indicated was due to a misinterpretation of the levels written on the master tape box. See the second link I posted above.

 

Just great, thanks Bob!

 

Hi guys, do you know if Sinatra performed in live some titles of FSFOTL album, except "Make It One For My Baby" ? Would love to hear "What's New?" or "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" or... "Only The Lonely".
Thanks.

 

1. "Only the Lonely" : No.
2. "Angel Eyes" : Many times in concert and on TV, including at least 14 official albums or videos.
3. "What's New?" : Several times live, including the CD, Sinatra 80th: Live in Concert.
4. "It's a Lonesome Old Town" : No.
5. "Willow Weep for Me" : A few times live, including the CD, Live in Australia.
6. "Goodbye" : No.
7. "Blues in the Night" : Just four times in 1981; nothing official.
8. "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" : Many times, including in the New York and London boxes.
9. "Ebb Tide" : No.
10. "Spring Is Here" : Several times live, including in the Vegas box set.
11. "Gone with the Wind" : Twice on TV: the Timex Welcome Home Elvis show and FAS Does His Thing.
12. "One for My Baby" : Many times, including at least 10 official albums or videos.

Suggested thread: Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality, etc.: "Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely" (1958)

 

Thanks so much !
Just watched timex show (available on YouTube) and it's amazing ! Sinatra and his friends joked about FSFOTL album which only receives a "best cover award".
I own 21 cd capitol set and it's really amazing.

 

Its been sometime since Ive looked at this list. While there are still some Mr Sinatra Capitol jewels that need to be "audiophiled", things have improved.

Id say the big holes are having the MFSL (or some digital equivalent) of In The Wee Small Hours and Come Fly With Me.

Wouldnt it be fantastic if someone decided to do a fancy shmancy deluxe box set in best ever sound of Wee Small? Outtakes/rehearsals and all that jazz?

 

IIRC the HiRes downloads of "InThe Wee Small Hours" and "Come Fly With Me"
issued alongside the UME Vinyl re-issues in 2014 have received fairly good reviews here on the forum.

On the other hand (whilst we're at it): the MoFi mono of "Sings for only the Lonely" is fantastic of course, but I'd really like to see
a good digital version (and a vinyl re-issue) of "Sings for only the Lonely" in stereo (original mix, all tracks) ...

 

I know this thread is about CDs, but I wanted to follow up on the exchange above. Wasn’t it confirmed (or strongly theorized) that the Mastered for itunes versions of Come Fly with Me (mono) and In the Wee Small Hours were the same sources as the high-res download versions?

I would love a good stereo digital copy of Only the Lonely. My preference is for physical media, but I’d buy a download if that’s all that’s available.

 

Personally, I really like the 1987 remixed Walsh CD if you're looking for stereo. It was available new from Amazon UK at a really good price for quite a long time, but I don't know if it is still available. There also should be quite a few used copies around. As far as I know, there are no high resolution downloads available, and I have no idea what the iTunes download sounds like (assuming there is one) or what the source may be.

 

Yep, they do. Some even think that they may be the mfsl mastering. Coolbeans. I have both the lps.

But dadgumitt, if they are the mfsl masterings I want mfsl to put them out on sacd in their fancy packaging to match my other ones. There I said it!

Seriously though, itd be nice to have them on cd also with the HD download/new reissue lp mastering. Maybe fix that snafu at the beginning of Wee Small.

 

Meh, you got me all excited. The Wee Small on Amazon is the 98 crap mastering.

 

Can you tell what’s what by listening to samples on iTunes? I’d check it out myself, but I suck at this sort of thing.

 

Im worse than you are, I dont even have Itunes lol

 

True of the MP3 and streaming versions, but this CD is the non-crap Larry Walsh (1991) mastering:

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000DRCZ
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00000DRCZ

(To reach the correct Amazon site, be sure to: Opt Out of VigLink)

 

Thanks, Bob! At one one you had a post with Amazon UK links for all the Walsh CDs. Do you still have that?

Also, isn’t the Mastered for iTunes version of ITWSH *not* the Norberg? I could have sworn that at one point there was solid confirmation that it was a different mastering.

 

Above: Frank Sinatra - Best Sounding CDs? (post #185)

I thought that was the case, but I don’t do iTunes so I’m not certain. Looking here in the iTunes Store…

» In the Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra on iTunes ​

…I see “℗ 1998 Capitol Records, LLC”. If not a mistake, that would seem to indicate the Norberg mastering. Someone would need to download an identifiable track.

However, this one…

» Come Fly With Me (Mono Version) by Frank Sinatra on iTunes ​

…has a “℗ 2014” date and does indeed appear to be the UMe remaster (mono 12-track version).

 

Thanks, Bob! I’m considering picking up the rest of the Walsh discs, mostly just out of curiosity. I still need good digital versions of a few of the Capitol classics.

 

I have an EOTC CD of Wee Small that says its remastered by Larry Walsh and has “℗ 1998 Capitol Records, Inc” on the back cover. It also has "c 1991 Capitol Records Inc." on the back cover. Not sure if this impacts the question or not.

 

No. It’s a misprint on the 1998 EOTC (Norberg) CD, which wrongly copied the liner notes from the 1991 (Walsh) issue.

 

Thank you for the VigLink opt out page.

 

That is great if this is actually the MFSL mastering. Has anyone compared the Wee Small Hours 1998 UK cd box version to this HD version with the suspected MFSL mastering?