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

I quickly listened to parts of my gray label copies. One side 1 is a D5 (we already know that sounds lousy, though I confirmed with mine), and the other has a D4, which was basically more of the same. Both my copies have a D2 side two, which comparatively sounds quite a bit better than either of my side ones.

For whatever reason, I tend to play side 2 of this album a lot more than side 1. Sometimes just to hear the "new" songs on that side. I forgot how bad the side ones I have sound!

 

The side two of mine are D1 and D5. They are both gray labels.

 

Here's a photo of my LP.

 

I think I'm going to pick the British CD version, even though it's somewhat stuffy and I can hear what sounds like noise reduction.

Any of the "good" versions basically show what "Half As Lovely" should sound like, but for whatever reason hasn't been presented (in a source covered here) in the same quality...

 

I've got the 78 on an N2 pressing. I'll get it up with a photo tonight.

 

Before continuing to the next Capitol singles session (August 23, 1954), it should be mentioned that Frank Sinatra spent time during the summer of '54 doing movie soundtrack recordings. These are the film session accounts from my ongoing history series...

Monday, July 12, 1954

On this date, Sinatra began musical soundtrack recordings for the movie Young at Heart. One track was recorded at the Warner Brothers studios with an orchestra arranged and conducted by music supervisor Ray Heindorf:

• Someone To Watch Over Me
  (Music by George Gershwin; lyrics by Ira Gershwin)
  (First sung by Gertrude Lawrence in the 1926 musical Oh! Kay)
  
  FS had recorded this ballad a decade earlier with an Axel Stordahl arrangement—at a 1944 radio rehearsal for a V-Disc—and in 1945 for his first Columbia album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra. He would reprise this film recording with a beautiful Nelson Riddle arrangement two months later (September 23, 1954) for a Capitol single.

The film performance recorded today includes piano accompaniment only. (Film credits went to André Previn, but it was Bill Miller, who was present on the Warner soundstage from 2 to 4 P.M. this July afternoon, who is listed in the musicians union documents.)

A version with orchestral "sweetening" was discovered on the session tapes and is included in the box set, Frank Sinatra in Hollywood. The list of musicians (other than Bill Miller) is unknown.
__________________

Tuesday and Wednesday, July 13-14, 1954

On these dates, Sinatra was back on the Warner Bros. soundstage for additional soundtrack master recordings for the movie Young at Heart. The following songs are listed in the session reports, with orchestra conducted by Ray Heindorf:

• Just One of Those Things
  (Music & lyrics by Cole Porter)
  (From the 1935 musical Jubilee, sung by June Knight & Charles Walters)
  
  In contrast to the Nelson Riddle Capitol recording of three months earlier (April 7, 1954) for the upcoming album Swing Easy!, this Ray Heindorf film arrangement features a simpler and more subdued accompaniment by a jazz rhythm section quartet with solo piano intro by Bill Miller. (Warner Bros. incorrectly credits André Previn with the piano work.) This film soundtrack version appears in the box set, Frank Sinatra in Hollywood.
  
  
• Young-at-Heart (Opening and Finale versions)
  (Music by Johnny Richards; lyrics by Carolyn Leigh)
  (Introduced in 1954 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  This song was recorded by FS the previous winter (December 9, 1953) with a Nelson Riddle arrangement. The Capitol single was a major (#2) hit which was still on the pop charts at the time of this session, and it leant its title and music to the film. Sinatra's vocal performance which appears over the main and end titles of the movie was edited from the Capitol track, so the recordings on this date may have been for orchestral purposes primarily.
  
  
• You, My Love
  (Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; lyrics by Mack Gordon)
  (Introduced in 1954 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  This song—the major "opus" of Sinatra's character Barney Sloan—was written for the movie. The recording on this date probably consisted of just Frank's vocal with Bill Miller's solo piano accompaniment. The complete orchestration charted by Ray Heindorf, including Doris Day's duet part as heard in the film, would be recorded the following month (August 25, 1954). (An alternate mix of the orchestrated version with Doris Day is included in the Frank Sinatra in Hollywood box set.) FS would re-record the song with Nelson Riddle for a Capitol single the following September.

The complete orchestra personnel on these dates are unlisted, other than the quartet on "Just One of Those Things": Bill Miller (piano); Tiny Timbrell (guitar); Joe Mondragon (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums). (Union reports indicate that Bill Miller was present from 4 to 5 P.M. on July 13th, and the full quartet from 3 to 4:40 P.M on July 14th.)


[Frank Sinatra as Barney Sloan in Young at Heart]
__________________

Wednesday, August 11, 1954

On this date, Sinatra recorded another famous song rendition for the soundtrack of Young at Heart:

• One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
  (Music by Harold Arlen; lyrics by Johnny Mercer)
  (From the 1943 film, The Sky's The Limit, sung by Fred Astaire)

The Warner Brothers recording session credits Ray Heindorf as arranger and conductor, but the film version included just solo piano accompaniment. (Movie credits went to André Previn, but it was Bill Miller who played for Frank's character Barney Sloan.)

FS had recorded the song for Columbia seven years earlier with an Axel Stordahl jazz chart, and he'd been performing it in concert for the past year with Bill Miller and a rhythm section. This was the first studio recording with the Miller solo piano arrangement that would become a Sinatra trademark. He would record it again four years later for the Capitol LP, Sings for Only the Lonely, and it would become one of his signature "saloon songs" in future concerts.

This landmark version may be heard in the Frank Sinatra in Hollywood box set.
__________________

Wednesday, August 25, 1954

On this date, at a Warner Bros. afternoon soundstage recording session for Young at Heart, from 1:30 to 5:05 P.M.: Frank Sinatra and Doris Day completed their film duet with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Ray Heindorf.

• You, My Love
  (Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; lyrics by Mack Gordon)
  (Introduced in 1954 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  See also the earlier post about soundstage recordings on July 13–14, 1954. An alternate mix of the film version is included in the Frank Sinatra in Hollywood CD box set. (Note: Some sources place the date of today's recording as August 24th, but August 25th is the date indicated in the box set book.) FS would re-record the song with Nelson Riddle for a Capitol single the following month. The film would not be released until December.

[Warner photo by Jack Woods from MPTV]​

Musicians (39): Frank Sullivan, Hoyt Bohannon, Charles Cowpland (trombone); William Hinshaw, George Hyde, George Hofman (French horn); Leonard Posella, Robert Bladet (flute); James Briggs (saxophone/flute); Dick Anderson, Les Robinson, Teddy Krise, Percy Nichols (saxophone/clarinet); Lillian Lhoest (oboe); Lloyd Rathbun (English horn); Dan Lube, Harry Zagon, Joseph Livoti, Jerome Reisler, Hillard Lubie, Howard Griffin, David Berman, Sam Ross, Baldassare Ferlazzo, Noumi Fischer, Hans Wippler, Harold Wippler (violin); Maurice Keltz, William Hymanson, Donald Cole, Rubin Decker (viola); Eleanor Slatkin, Kolia Levienne, Maurice Amsterdam, Alexander Reisman (cello); Denzil Laughton (harp); David Klatzkin (piano); Joe Mondragon, Paul Gregory (bass).
__________________
~ Frank's Albums

 

Nice, Bob! Thanks.

 

I recall ( I am not near my albums right now) that the original gray label issue had the songs listed out of order on the rear jacket.

 

Paul is right. Was that ever corrected in the 16 song black/rainbow copies?

 

There was also a 16-track version of that LP. Sinatra must have approved the inclusion of his two tracks on the multi-artist collection.

 

I'll have a look around. I should be able to.

 

I have the 10" Japan red vinyl version of this. It has 10 songs, but both Sinatra sides. (it's missing the Yogi Yorgesson and Margaret Whiting tracks) I can upload samples and photos tonight.

 

Monday, August 23, 1954

Christmas in August: On this day, Frank Sinatra recorded three singles, including two songs for the upcoming holiday season. The session lasted from 8 P.M. to midnight at Capitol's Melrose Avenue studios. These were arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, accompanied by a 14-member choral group:

• When I Stop Loving You
  (Music by George Cates & Alan Copeland; lyrics by Mort Greene)
  
  This Sinatra pop single first appeared on LP in the 1959 compilation, Look to Your Heart.
  
  
• White Christmas
  (Music & lyrics by Irving Berlin)
  (From the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, sung by Bing Crosby)
  
  This was Frank's first and only Capitol recording of the Christmas chestnut which he first recorded at Columbia in 1944 (and again in 1947). This version was released on a 1954 Christmas single backed with:
  
  
• The Christmas Waltz
  (Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
  
  This Nelson Riddle arrangement was Frank's first recording of the song, written for FS by Styne and Cahn. It's been overshadowed by the 1957 Gordon Jenkins version which appeared in the LP A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra three years later. (He would record the song a third time in 1968 for the Reprise LP The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas.)

All three tracks may be found on compact disc in The Complete Capitol Singles Collection.

Both of the Christmas singles recorded this date were first issued on LP in a little-known Capitol multi-artist collection, Merry Christmas to You!. They fell into relative obscurity until the age of compact discs, when they appeared as bonus tracks on the CD reissue of A Jolly Christmas.

​

Musicians (27): Si Zentner (trombone); George Roberts (bass trombone); Vincent DeRosa, John Cave (French horn); James Williamson, Dominic Mumolo, Champ Webb, John Hacker (saxophone/woodwinds); Felix Slatkin, Harry Bluestone, Mischa Russell, Paul Shure, Walter Edelstein, Henry Hill, Victor Bay, Alex Beller (violin); David Sterkin, Stanley Harris (viola); Cy Bernard, Eleanor Slatkin, Edgar Lustgarten (cello); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (piano); Allan Reuss (guitar); Joe Comfort (bass); Lou Singer, Alvin Stoller (drums/percussion).

Vocal Chorus (14): Lee Gotch, Clark Yocum, Charles Schrouder, Mack McLean, Gil Mershon, Ray Linn Jr., Burton Dole, Allan Davies, Marie Vernon, Ginny Rees, Betty Noyes, Betty Wand, Norma Zimmer, Dorothy McCarty.
__________________
~ Frank's Albums

 

From the SFF:

 

Only those with Loulie Jean Norman.

(The two sopranos are often confused.)

 

What's the catalog # of the 16 song version of that? Also T-9030? That was only around for a year in full form, right?