A fantastic deluxe edition with session material and alternate takes would be great. But it would be a plus even if all we get is a readily available well-mastered version of this album. It sucks that people just discovering Sinatra (at least in the US) still find the Norberg version most readily.
In my opinion, 2 of the best American re-issues of Capitol material were: 1. The Capitol Years - CDP 7 94317 2 (rel 1990 ) 2. The Collector Series - 1989 CDP 92160 Ron Furmanek was the producer, FIND HIM, he can do the job.
I hear WHERE ARE YOU? differently...it's mostly reflective on a relationship, sadly gone very bad, coming from the same person two years after the raw IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS. It's no surprise that it's the work of someone who is getting divorced very soon, when listened to with hindsight. Also, comparing Frank's 1951 Columbia version of "I'm a Fool To Want You", which is very raw, the '57 version now has Frank looking back in his mind over the moments of their relationship more.
No argument here on any of that, but if your relationship has gone that badly, perhaps you have not found "the right woman," as I put it.
Sinatra called "A Cottage For Sale" perhaps the saddest song of all because it's about the break-up of a marriage as well as a home. "Just One Of Those Things" was another that he singled out because it was about someone trying to convince himself of something that wasn't true....and that song was on "Swing Easy". However popular music was almost never specific. It was usually "I love you but you don't love me" or the end of a relationship but usually always about 2 SINGLE people. Dean Martin thought Country music was more REAL because they sang about husbands cheating on wives as well as wives cheating on husbands as well as what happens when the physical part of a relationship wasn't going well for someone in that relationship.
That was a great point about country music by Dino. Very astute comment and understanding of country music's realism. Now, I am a weird sort too, because my first love was country music, but over the years I have grown to love the Great American Songbook writers of their era too. Fantastic melodies and they were great storytellers as well, but I do appreciate Dean's perspective here, which again shows you that he was a lot more astute about his music career than some people give him credit for, unlike his esteemed friend, Mr. Sinatra, who we all know was rather meticulous about his music choices for the most part and given great and well earned credit by music critics for most of those choices over the years. A splendid quote, Ron, thanks for sharing it!
Out of place here I know but I had to repost the story: Dean was with the actor Peter Graves watching Mr. S rehearse for Gov. Ronald Reagan's 1st Inaugural Gala in Sacramento. As usual, he was putting the orchestra thru an intense rehearsal. Dean said to Peter, "I don't know why he gets so worked up about it...it's just singin'."
One more slightly off topic story that I think Frank and Dean both would have related to and comes courtesy of my late father when he was a director of a local television show in Tulsa, Oklahoma that featured steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe. The legendary Eddy Arnold was asked by a reporter why he sings "country" songs. Mr. Arnold quickly replied, "I do not sing country songs, sir, I sing love songs!" The interviewer than asked him, "Well, thats the difference?" and Mr. Arnold quickly shot back, "Millions of dollars son, millions of dollars."
That's a great reading of the differences between two magnificent recordings of the same song. The 1951 recording is so searing because he's drowning in the moment and the passion, but the 1957 recording shows a man who knows it's probably over and is trying to cling to whatever is left.
Not meaning to get off topic but as Eddy Arnold was mentioned Ricci Martin in his book about his father recalled that Arnold's albums were ALWAYS on Dean's turntable.
My father use to say that Dean was a genius at stealing great country songs from well known country singers and giving them his pop spin and he never ran out of great material that way!
OK...we'd better get this thread back to OTL expanded edition or we are gonna be in a bunch of trouble.
I love the album, but in general I am suspicious of "Deluxe Editions" . They rarely live up to expectations. When I look at a lot of major artists/bands that are re-releasing their catalog, one album at a time, with added material, I encounter only a few things that really excite me. If I were new to those artists, I would certainly buy the re-issues, but I do find it hard to justify buying them for the second time unless I know I'll get something truly special. I own every single official Sinatra release from his entire career, and lets say I am not a stranger to the unofficial side of things. So what will be in a deluxe version of this classic for me? Maybe interviews? Maybe some live performances of the albums songs on a second disc? I will reserve judgement until I see what they have, but as I said I am always a bit suspicious.