"Sinatra: Best of the Best" CD to combine Capitol and Reprise recordings

Casual fans have a bunch of FS CDs to choose from that pretty much has these songs already. There's lots of solid ground Sinatra material that they could have used instead of some of these tracks. I'd dump My Funny Valentine and replace it with Like Someone In Love or I Could Read Between The Lines.

They could have put a few of the standards on it and filled the rest with lesser know tracks and it would still be solid. Why don't they do something as fresh as The Capitol Collector's Series was when it came out almost twenty three years ago? That disc is still a standout Sinatra CD. When it was released it had quite a few tracks that were there on CD for the first time, and a few with little bits of studio talk. I always thought it should have had a second volume.

Now people are supposed to feel they're getting something special because a disc has one live song taken off an already existing bootleg. Are the studio vaults that dry as far as useable alternate takes go?

 

Looking at the tracklist of the new comp (s) there does seem to be a definite winnowing down of the material that keeps repeating itself. Much solid ground could be mined for fresher new comps, no more My Kind Of Town, please. Please, Jilly, everyone has heard those songs enough.

 

Yes. German Reprise/Rhino limited edition box with special cardboard inner sleeve. I understood the discs to be identical to the 2-CD release plus the LIVE IN PARIS CD.

 

Yuck! That's the one where the applause sounds like bacon frying. Sorry I ordered it.

 

Let's also not overlook the calendar. The single disc is aimed at the holiday gift-buying season. The 2-CD edition is the hook for more serious fans.

With Sinatra's Centennial birthday approaching in just four years, I find the linkup between FSE/Warner and Capitol/EMI to be most interesting. A portent of future, more significant cooperative efforts, perhaps?

 

But with the slowing sales of CDs that'll be even slower in four years, what big projects could they possibly be planning?

 

If they put some new effort into the sonics, I wouldn't mind seeing a complete career-spanning box set along the lines of the big SONY Tony Bennett 85th birthday box due out in November from Barnes & Noble. We can hope.

 

Yeah but we can tell the crowd was hot that night.

 

I would love it if Nancy chose to split the remastering assignments between Larry Walsh, Vic Anasini and Steve for such a huge project!!!

 

Wasn't that cover shot used on a Capitol or Pickwick budget release?

 

Bob, that's the exact same thing I was thinking. For me, the news of this collaborative effort is more exciting than the actual release itself. (Well, I'm also happy Seattle will become more accessible to fans.)

I honestly believe this will happen by December 12, 2015. I'd just like to see it extend to Sinatra's live performances.

 

It's been used a few different times. This is probably the one you mean—
Capitol/Pickwick SPC 3456, NEVERTHELESS I"M IN LOVE WITH YOU, circa 1968:

 

That's it!Passed that up in bins countless times,for good reason-duophonic.Kinda cheapens the new cover,but many of the great ones are already taken.
I can't do a visual ,but when Frank died,Warner took out an exqusite ad(you know this was in the file waiting for the day)and bought the middle two pages.They started with a famous shot of Frank in the studio with his fedora hanging on the mike stand.They cropped just the hat on the pole and blew it up to a grainy look for the entire two pages of Billboard.The original Reprise logo on the upper left. Lower right-"1915-1998. thank you for letting us listen."(No caps.)And that's it.Quite effective,since you knew anywhere that hat was,Frank was home.Don Draper couldn't have done it so well.

 

And the mini-series soundtrack used RCA,Columbia,Capitol and Reprise material on two discs.
Interesting little item over at Amazon.Someone placed the box lot cost from Capitol($12.04)forthe single disc under the "editorial reviews".Now that's not actual cost since percentage deals,preorder deals,dating,etc. lower the cost,but it's something the public isn't supposed to see.Someone a little too zealous reprinted that presale sheet a little too closely for the public's viewing eye.Someone could soon be unemployed at Amazon.

 

Amazon has made a number of overzealous mistakes with this release. They jumped the gun on the listing, before the title was even finalized by EMI and FSE. I placed my pre-order way back on August 18, for the great price of just $13.15—only 9% above cost as it turns out! Current price is $16.73.

 

I'm lookin' forward to this one! When I'm in the mood for a little Sinatra, I usually just put on one of the Capitol discs, so it'll be nice to have a compilation with some Reprise cuts as well. The concert with the 2 disc version will be a great bonus!

 

This is off-topic and probably suited for a separate thread, but speaking of Reprise: There's an interesting BBC radio documentary airing this week. Lots of Frank Sinatra stuff, including extensive commentary by FSE president Charlie Pignone and ex-Warner VP Stan Cornyn:

BBC - BBC Radio 2 Programmes - They Did It Their Way: The Story of Reprise Records​

 

Much better than what we are getting in the USA

 

And highly confusing, considering that international boundaries mean little when buying online. Let's hope they at least change the cover art to differentiate it from the US issue.

 

Bob, James Kaplan has that photo in his book, The Voice, and says it's Frank in 1953. That's not Frank in '53. I think it's from the session that also rendered the Come Swing With Me cover photo. What do you think?

 

Here's the visual:

Link to Google Books: Billboard - May 30, 1998 - pages 54–55​

 

The picture was taken at the Capitol Tower, which wasn't built until 1956, so to caption it in 1953 shows how clueless Kaplan's book is.

Yes, it's from the same session as the cover of COME SWING WITH ME!—circa 1961. The photo comes from the Sid Avery collection at MPTV.net (where it is also misdated):

​

 

Is that the intercom from the control room?

 

A picture of a smiling Frank during the "Come Swing with Me!" sessions? NEVER!!!!