Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality (and general discussion): Singles, Soundtracks, Etc.

My best guess? Fox or Todd-AO provided Capitol with more than one set of tapes in 1960, perhaps with the 3-track being a "fallback" in case anything needed a touchup, rebalancing, etc. Whatever happened, I don't see how the original stereo mix -- with Sinatra and MacLaine locked into the same space (just right of center), but with the orchestra in full-width stereo -- AND the 1989 and 2002 remixes -- with Sinatra and MacLaine in different stereo locations, but with the orchestra in full-width stereo -- came from the same 3-track source tape. If Fox/Todd-AO provided "finished mixes" *and* a 3-track tape in 1960, that would jive with all the mix oddities, including the different edits and the lack of the weird "click" sound in the 1989/2002 remixes. It could also explain why the vocals on the 1960 Can-Can stereo LP tracks are slightly right of center, something which is not typical for Capitol's in-house mixes.

Well said!

 

I've got eight masterings of Let's Do It posted: Non-Album Tracks, 1959

My take? I think that the 2002 In Hollywood remix is the way to go. Yes, it is technically a "shorter edit," with one spoken word ("Why") missing, and I'm not gaga about having Shirley MacLaine panned hard right, but those are pretty small nit-picks. The mix is clean and clear, dynamics are good, and tone is excellent overall. (Ms. MacLaine's voice sounds flutey/reedy, in the bad sense, on all versions, a bit like a vocal ocarina, which makes me question how it was recorded.)

The mono mix, at least on my D8 Can-Can USA LP, is on the dull side, although the vocals are tastefully dry, and everything gels nicely. The original stereo mix has too much reverb added (IMO), the 1989 Norberg remix is not bad, but is too processed, and the 1991 UK re-use of that mix is too (audibly) compressed.

Next up: The Frank Sinatra/Maurice Chevalier version of I Love Paris. There are not many releases of this, right? I've got the mono and stereo Can-Can LPs, and the 1989 Can-Can CD, the Australian EMI 3-soundtrack CD set, and In Hollywood. Am I missing any?

 

Continuing with the Sinatra/Chevalier duet of "I Love Paris" from the Can-Can soundtrack album:

As @Bob F mentions above, the "In Hollywood" CD version is "full length,"while the standard mono and stereo mixes found on other LP/CD releases are about 1:19 shorter. (Oddly, the 1989 Capitol Can-Can CD appears to be a mere remastering of the original stereo mix for this track, not a remix from the 3-track tapes, unlike at least some of the other songs presented there. More about this in a future post.)

Here's how the two versions appear to be edited:


The vast majority of the "standard" edit comes from the same material as heard in longer form in In Hollywood, but there are about 7.5 seconds (red and blue, above) derived from two takes not represented in the In Hollywood edit, meaning that the short version is pieced together from either 3 or 4 takes, while the longer version is a simple edit of two takes. [EDIT: See correction two posts down.]

 

Thank you for the kind words!

In many cases, including this one, it's largely a mechanical process: Take two recordings, dump them both into Protools, synchronize, pan recording #1 "hard left," pan recording #2 "hard right." Playback should sound something akin to Duophonic, i.e. not quite mono, not really stereo. Play both in sync, and listen for your two ears to spot something going off the rails (out of sync).

In this particular case, there was one extra step: To edit the long version to match the edits that are built-in to the short version, then sync the two up. Once I found the "off the rails" moment, I very carefully checked to make sure that errors in my own editing were not the cause. Ultimately, it came down to this:

•"take b" material, only for the words "Because my love." Here's audio (link), starting with the long In Hollywood cut, moving to the original stereo mix. Focus on Chevalier's part. On In Hollywood, he sings, in very straight/square/even fashion, "because my love," but on the second cut, he sings, "because my-eye love," with an extra little grace note on the word "my."
•"take c" material, only for the words "is here." Here's audio (link), in the same order as the other clip. Again, "Chevalier's the thing." In the first pass, he starts the word "here" markedly behind Sinatra's timing. On clip 2, he sings in absolute lockstep with Sinatra.

By the way, Kenny, going back and double checking those edits led me to confirm, too, that there is ANOTHER edit in the original mix that I had missed, at the very end of the song (right after the vocals end) that adds a subtle dash of "stretch" or grandiose rallentando at the tail end in the orchestral part. Here's a corrected chart:

The In Hollywood version finishes off in routine fashion; the standard version "milks the ending" a bit more, not unlike the difference in the two edits of the Capitol version of "The One I Love," with the stretchier string ending. With this newly-found edit, we now have five segments coming from a minimum of three takes comprising the standard (short) version. It could be as may as five takes used, but it's impossible to say for sure.

Yes, these edits come across as nit-picky, perhaps, but I think they are also spot-on, musically, and improve the performance overall. I suspect these came straight from Sinatra, possibly after hearing a test pressing based on the longer cut, but that's just speculation, of course. I also think that the long version really meanders, and the (severe) tightening up of things is a good move, even though it's kind of cool to hear the long version. (Neither version really floats my boat that much.)

 

The Frank-only remake certainly has more oomph, to put it mildly.

 

I've always had a sweet spot for Paul Anka's version, arr. by Don Costa:

 

Webpage finished for the duet version of I Love Paris: Non-Album Tracks, 1959

As far as what I think is a "best" version, I pretty-much think that this track is, more than most, a fielder's choice.

•There is significant distortion in spots (but not consistently) on the vocals on the long In Hollywood version. That is not the fault of Granata & Company, as I'm confident that it's that way on the 3-track tapes. I'm also not convinced that "more is better" on this track. Yes, there's an extra 1:18 or so in this version, but it's not exactly a stellar, inspired performance -- but that's just my opinion! On the plus side, this version has the best orchestral sound by a considerable margin, and in the non-distorted passages, the vocals sound very nice.

•Mono mix -- this one's a real dud. Might be a fold down. Either way, it's dull to the extreme, with the orchestra completely lifeless.
•Original stereo mix -- The vocals are a bit on the soupy side. Orchestra sounds okay. Nit-picky, corrective edits help the performance a bit. The Norberg release is too processed; the Australian CD is ok; I think I like my 1984 UK LP a little better.

When push comes to shove, I'll take the 1984 UK stereo LP as #1, and the Australian CD as #2, but no choice is all that good, which is too bad, since, as I've suggested before, the 6-track Todd-AO sound that was part of the 70mm roadshow theatrical engagements probably sounded great. Too bad the LP and CD releases are so compromised.

That wraps up the 1959 recordings. Next up: 1960 and the Nice 'n' Easy sessions.

 

Moving to The Nearness of You -- one of the great, under-appreciated Sinatra/Capitol tracks, in my opinion.

I have:
UK 1998 "Dell" Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things boxed set CD
UK 1984 "Dell" Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things stereo LP
Dutch 1984 "Dell" Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things mono LP
Original USA N4 Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things mono LP
Original USA D1 Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things mono LP
Original USA N2 Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things stereo LP
1980s USA SN-series J1#1 Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things stereo LP
1983 MFSL Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things stereo LP
*Mono Sentimental Journey LP
*Stereo Sentimental Journey LP
*UK My Funny Valentine mono LP
T3#2 Pickwick The Nearness of You mono LP
1991 Nice 'n' Easy CD
1998 Norberg Nice 'n' Easy CD
The Ultimate Sinatra 4-CD set

(*= in not-so-great condition)

If you've got other releases from which you'd like to submit clips, please contact me. Thanks!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^

i.e.,

(stereo or mono)

or any other pressings/releases not on my list in the previous post?

 

I'm sure it's from the same mixes as the stereo LPs, so no reason to expect any sonic miracles, eh?

 

Comparison of vocal reverb on five versions of The Nearness of You: https://app.box.com/s/n348649zgq4f1oztyve44i7cna2122i6

1. Original mono mix from 1984 Dutch DMM Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things LP
2. Original stereo mix from 1998 UK Sinatra Sings....of Love and Things CD (Thanks rangerjohn)
3. Stereo remix by Larry Walsh, 1991, from Nice 'n' Easy CD
4. Stereo remix by Robert Norberg, 1998, from Nice 'n' Easy CD (Thanks @rangerjohn)
5. The Ultimate Sinatra CD, mastered by Larry Walsh