I love Sinatra’s Sinatra. I picked up early pressings in both mono and stereo, and I have to say I dig the mono more. But either way it’s a very enjoyable album.
So the FS catalog has been under one roof for quite a while now. Has that been a good thing or not? I say it's been a bad thing. The Mobile Fidelity releases were stopped. Some of the Ume releases have been very good - when they used the MF remasters. Otherwise not a good thing. Other opinions?
With UMe you either make money or you are out....See Bing. And the criticism of there lack of "finish" on product has raised the ire of a very prominent FS insider. But we can do nothing now. The dye has been cast.
I could see how it would be better in mono. The tracking and such is pretty apparent with good headphones.
Slight thread hijack here... Bing is not totally 'out' with UMe. There are two new CDs being released on December 8th, one being a 2-disc set of rarities: Among My Souvenirs New Tricks
Very very interesting that the mono is preferable. I'll have to buy one, haven't heard it yet. Always avoided to buy the mono because the slogan was "first time in stereo". So I thought the stereo version was the one they really cared for sonicwise. Very ironical thing that the mono is better! Lol!
If I remember correctly (and god knows my errors will be pointed out swiftly!) the mono version has a different take of “Pocketful of Miracles.”
Oh, thank you so much for this info!!! One reason more to buy it. My favorite record store has one there. Will be my next purchase. Can't wait!
Just listened to the 45rpm "Pocketful of miracles". Funny thing, the record reads "Frank Sinatra and His Orchestra". Nice!!!
Sorry to be a nag, but as the thread starter, I must remind once again: This thread is about new UMe releases. Sinatra's Sinatra was last released on vinyl in 2010 by MFSL. (There was a CD release in 2014, but that was just a reissue of the original 1991 Reprise CD.) [SOAPBOX] The reason this is important is that details of new UMe issues become obscured by all the off-topic posts, and no one would think to look in this thread for unrelated information. This thread should not be a dumping ground for all things Sinatra. A forum search will work wonders for many questions. [/SOAPBOX] Please forgive the lecture.
Narrowly restricting thread topics reduces overall participation. Though there may be some benefit to that, what you see most often is that narrower topics have fewer posts, become relatively inactive and overall communication is diminished. There can be benefits to a rambling thread that brings in many posters and frequent viewing. I must say, however, that I do seriously appreciate all you do for the forum on many threads.
Luckily the Sinatra threads here are plentiful. So there’s absolutely no reason to sully a thread that deals with a specific topic. Many of these things have been addressed elsewhere or can be brought up in a more appropriate thread. If there isn’t a thread, start one. We like to keep threads on track as it allows folks to find information quickly.
a good question, and one that i'm surprised the sinatra folks aren't pondering a little bit--there's been an interest throughout the industry over the last 20 years in releasing "deluxe editions" of some of the more successful, or legendary lps from the last 50 or 60 years, everything from boxed sets devoted to single records to 2 disc sets celebrating a noteworthy string of albums. so how is it that i still can't pick up a decent cd copy of in the wee small hours (preferably alongside a selection of singles from the period, an extended book of essays, alternate versions of the cover art, and any outtakes/count-ins that may exist of the remaining session tapes)? if the sinatra estate wants my money, they're welcome to it, but... smitquest
According to Universal NOTHING they put out makes a profit. They cite demographics...the Baby Boomers are either already Senior Citizens; like Bob, or about to become seniors; like me. They become more fearful and conservative in their spending. SONY is moving more and more into "On Demand" physical product. Perhaps Universal will follow suit but they feel even that is unprofitable in the digital age. I heard Will Friedwald describe his new book as basically a collection of his CD liner notes for posterity as the age of the CD with liner notes is fast moving to extinction.
My biggest false hope is that @Ronald Sarbo will become a fan of Watertown when he becomes a Senior Citizen.
If the estate really cared about quality first they would have let MFSL continue their release series. When they pulled the plug that said quite a bit to me. Thankfully it appears they used the MFSL remaster for the Wee Small and Swinging Lovers LPs (based on the high sound quality and the fact that Swinging Lovers sounds like the MFSL SACD). I wonder how that was worked out? Maybe MFSL was gracious? Or did the estate own the remasters for these 2 albums after paying MFSL to generate it? I suppose this information is not available based on the lack of transparency from Ume on sources, etc.
Correct, there has not been a MFSL released version of Wee Small Hours since the Silver Box in 1983. I was referring to the speculation that the Ume LP release in 2014 used an already remastered tape that MFSL may have had ready to release until the estate pulled the plug. MFSL had been advertising the release right up until then. And the subsequent Ume release sounded so good, perhaps it was the MFSL remastered tapes. Of course we will never know for sure given the lack of transparency from Ume. By the way, I think the 1983 release sounds pretty good.
Um...I was under the assumption (I know..I know...) that WSM, SFSL and SA UMe LP's were the MoFi masters turned over to UMe for part of the "Sinatra 100" campaign releases. Am I incorrect in that assumption? I thought it was decided that those 3 UMe's used the correct tapes, etc. and were as good as we could possibly get without an actual MoFi pressing of them.
But it does makes some sense to me that if MFSL was green-lighted to release Swingin' Affair, Wee Small, and all the others -- and did in fact get most of them out the door -- that it would be likely that all the announced material was in fact remastered by them, just not pressed and released. Otherwise the scenario implies that they only touched the masters as the releases became more imminent and therefore at vastly different intervals. It sort of makes more sense that all the remasters were done in a single stint -- and not so spaced out -- which would also mean they'd be in possession of the loaned material for a longer time. I would imagine they get the master tapes. Remaster them. And them stick them in the pressing plant outbox. I don't know, just a layman's opinion. We did see a somewhat similar scenario with the Beach Boys. Where UMe wound up releasing some of the Kevin Gray remasters.
