Les Baxter perhaps. Baxter was the master of this sort of thing; theatrical, mood, themed orchestral music -- but also with sophistication and elegance. Baxter had a huge hit with the High and the Mighty theme, but there's a lot more Les out there -- exotica, lounge. Fantastic stuff.
While Les Baxter is probably more what you're looking for, there's also the fantastic mood-music by the likes of Jackie Gleason (yes, that Gleason!). More easy listening, but I love this stuff. He sold a truck load of these records in the 50s and they're just oozing with 1950s elegance. Music For Lovers Only is one of his most late-night sleepest for sure, but its a favorite and sold like a million copies or whatever.
Thanks Pants Party! I love the Jackie Gleason albums as well! They're my favorite music to drink by! But Tone Poems goes more into classical music. The only comparable album I could find was Artie Shaw Modern Music for Clarinet.,which has a similar approach
Newbie help needed. I’ve tried wading through this thread. Could someone do a quick and dirty summary on the UMe reissues? Which titles are recommended and which titles are to be avoided?
I always thought Les Baxter's music was overwrought and too pushy, but it could be I don't know it well enough. However, he wrote one movie score that knocked the ball out of the park and across town, so far as I was concerned. Evil is noble in The Dunwich Horror title theme: Check it out.
Okay, I'm listening to this album on your link and quite enjoy it. Forgive my ignorance, but Jack Gleason plays what? the trumpet? the xylophone? does he conduct? what exactly does he do on these albums?
MLuthans will be here in a minute to answer your question. He has all the albums and CD's figured out and he's always right. Matt knows. If you're prone to vinyl, be sure to get the UMe reissue of In the Wee Small Hours. That one I can definitely vouch for.
And Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! That one is universally hailed. The 10” reissues of Songs for Young Lovers and Swing Easy are nice. Some minor issues on one of them (see Matt’s scorecard), but I’ve never noticed them personally. (For what that’s worth!) Come Fly With Me is in glorious mono, and sounds fantastic. This is Sinatra Vol. 2 scores well with Matt and others here. I also enjoyed the first volume, as well as All the Way. The reissues can be found cheap, and they’re nice to have. Some Reprise era UMe reissues I’ve enjoyed and recommend getting are Ring-a-Ding Ding, Great Songs From Great Britain, Sinatra and Swinging Brass, Sinatra at the Sands, Watertown, and She Shot Me Down.
The discs inside are very common, of course. Paying all that money for a box, and a booklet that doesn't teach you anything you don't already know, isn't worth it.
Neither. That’s the 1998 UK 21-CD box set, Sinatra: The Capitol Years. It uses a couple of the Walsh remixes, but most of its CDs are unique to the box and not available separately. Best CD mastering ever of In the Wee Small Hours.
My impressions of the LPs I've heard are here: Frank Sinatra's Capitol and Reprise recordings now under one roof, and since I posted that, I've purchased and reviewed (?) the UMe All the Way LP, which is a well-mastered version of the original mono All the Way compilation album, which is a mediocre sounding album to start with. There are many better-sounding versions of that compilation album (but none is all that great, and there are just some releases that are a "better version of so-so"). See here. Some are also listed on the Capitol Scorecard. Happy hunting!
That set simply gathered together most (not all) of the existing USA CDs, put them in a wood box, added a pamphlet, and charged a premium price. That is why relatively few people bought it. The Tone Poems CD in the box, with no FS vocals of course, was not hard to obtain seperately
Thanks. I picked up the Count Basie (1962 LP) and Jobim reissues yesterday. I thought they sounded really nice but I don’t have anything to compare them to. I really enjoyed the Basie album.
There are several copies of this for $180 to $220 on Discogs. If the Euro dealer offers reasonable shipping cost, those are decent prices now. But shipping may be too high. Vinyl Records, CDs, and More For Sale at Discogs Marketplace It was once a clearance item in the USA. I got my new copy very cheap. That'll never happen again
I bought mine in 2003. It taught me to love the music of Frank Sinatra. I'm very fond of this box-set. I zeroed in on In the Wee Small Hours right away. It quickly became one of the important albums in my life, even though I discovered it in my mid-forties. Right now I want to know which Capitol Concepts box is the Walsh mastering that I should get? because I'll be getting it from the gettin' place on payday.
Bob F. and Matt L., ¿ would you kindly link me to the best CD box and LP box of The Capitol Years > Concepts that has the preferred Walsh masterings ?
The black wooden “breadbox” with the sliding tray is the 1992 (Walsh) box. The later issue of Concepts (remastered by Norberg) was a cardboard box with discs in binders (not jewel cases) in 2000. There was no 2008 product, although there was a limited edition mini box set, Capitol Records Concept Albums, in 2004, with discs in cardboard LP-style sleeves (also Norberg). These are links to the SFF Discography pages: Concepts 1992 Capitol 7 99956 2 Concepts 2000 Capitol 23004 Capitol Records Concept Albums 2004 Capitol 724359889627 A couple of corrections: There was more than just a “pamphlet.” It was a substantial paperbound book. (Will Friedwald, I believe; I don’t have it handy right now for a detailed description or page count.) The Tone Poems of Color CD (Walsh mastering) was released ONLY in the box set. It was not available separately, except for some surplus sales on eBay. It was VERY hard to obtain outside the breadbox. The breadbox also contained the first CD issue of A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra with the original (black) cover. (Although the disc and liner notes were identical to The Sinatra Christmas Album, released earlier with red cover.)
Now that my wish for "The voice of Frank Sinatra" has come true on Sony Legacy, I now wish for a vinyl Lp release of the "Sinatra-Jobim" 1969 album with the Greyhound cover for 2019!!!!!
As I recall, Rick Apt had much to do with the booklet (I call any stapled item a pamphlet). Initially, Rick sold copies of the Concepts booklet at a reasonable price for those who did not want to lay out big bucks for a wood box. Other Sinatra dealers (like Chick) had copies for reasonable prices. When Rick ran out (and started to raise the price), I even sent him a copy. Maybe because I frequented the NYC shops and knew these people, I found it fairly easy to obtain Tone Poems at typical prices ($8-15), and came across a bunch of copies over time (most of which I gifted). I suppose it was hard to get during the first few weeks of release, but later it was not hard to get.
