Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality: A Jolly Christmas (1957)

Dig the cover artwork on a (new?) Egea Music (EU copyright expiration) release:

 

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

No. The mastering is superior on the 1987 CD issue, which also includes two 1954 Capitol/Sinatra bonus tracks. (In fairness, the 2014 CD does have the dvd of the Christmas show with Bing, which is fun.)

For those considering purchase of the new 2014 CD or HD:

Here are a couple of additional clips (all within the free iTunes sample windows):

•Jingle Bells (again), this time transitioning from the 1987 Walsh CD to the 2014 CD (same as HD): https://app.box.com/s/w0z50wbs2j83umyquh1l
•The First Noel, in this order: 1987, 2014, 1987, 2014, in roughly 15-second increments: https://app.box.com/s/6lzcn2nhj37515kn3ekh

As I said in that quoted post, the side one tracks seem markedly tubbier or darker in sound than the side two tracks do. I'm guessing that anybody who listens to the above two clips has no problem spotting where the transition from one CD to the other occurs in the first clip (from side one), and a tough time finding the transitions in the second clip (from side two).

The new disc is definitely a "louder" mastering style, but as @Bob F said a few pages back, it's not "slammed." (Jingle Bells is leaning that way a bit, but is an outlier.)

If you are after the 1987 Walsh mastering, which appeared with two different covers over the years, here's an excellent guide to getting the right mastering:

 

I had a great Paul Mock Moment (trademark) today. I was on 2nd Avenue in downtown Seattle, having just parked the car in the pouring down rain, and was headed for a shop called Paper Hammer to buy a birthday gift for my sister-in-law, but basically this was my first shopping of the 2014 Christmas season (today being "Black Friday"). I walked into the store, and just at that moment, "The First Noel" from Jolly Christmas came on the stereo.

Kismet.

...and when I got home, my always friendly mailman handed me a package from Jolly Old England that contained that 1983 UK pressing of The Sinatra Christmas Album that I ordered recently.

 

I really feel a need to advocate for a "sleeper" edition of Jolly Christmas, and it's that oddball 1983 UK edition from which @AxeD shared photos a page or so back, #CAPS 1809871. (It was also reissued under the often-excellent MFP banner, probably using the same mastering. I say this based on photos I found online showing similar catalog info in fine print on the MFP labels, but don't quote me. When MFP re-issued The Rare Sinatra, they merely reused the excellent non-MFP stampers, and I think the same happened in this case, but can't confirm that.)

Here's one of AxeD's photos of the 1983 EMI/Capitol LP:

This is a great sounding LP: Not dark (like the excellent -- but tonally a bit on the dark side -- 2014 LP), with full-range tone and unencumbered dynamics, all on quiet vinyl in true mono.

Hearing is believing, no? My copy of this LP arrived today, so here are brief clips from each of the tracks on side one: https://app.box.com/s/79ynuv6rctca779v45kb

Please have a listen!

 

Nice photos I found online of an edition that doesn't turn up every day, but probably sounds pretty nice: