Sinatra on Reprise: 'Single' CDs vs. the suitcase

I realize, there's been extensive discussion on sound quality on various Sinatra releases (mostly focusing on his Capitol albums), but I think there's never been a thread on this: the 1995 (and 1998) "Complete Reprise Recordings" box set has been released after two dozen or so Sinatra albums had already been available on CD. In consequence, the box set features some new masterings - and some that were copied from the previous CD releases. Has anybody a listing of the masterings NOT included in the set?

There are some obvious choices like "Swing Along With Me", "I Remember Tommy", "Great Songs From Great Britain", "September Of My Years" and "She Shot Me Down", because they differ in content to the versions included in the box set.

 

Good question, and one which has been asked many times. I have all the CDs needed for a definitive answer, but I've thus far avoided the necessary tedious comparisons, except in cases where the takes are unique to the suitcase/box set.

Note that, when talking about the 'single' CD releases, there were a dozen albums that were remastered AFTER the complete Reprise box as part of the "Entertainer of the Century" reissue series. These were all different masterings than the original CD issues (and, I think, the box set versions).

 

Hello Bob,

many thanks for your reply. I've to confess that I've been rather reluctant to buy the individual CD releases - seeing that most of the material is in the suitcase anyway. I'm aware that the EOTC are definitely to get - that is if you are collecting all different masterings of the albums. I'll try my luck with a few of the old ones

 

Some have been tested and match the 20CD set, even where they do have different content - ex. the original SWING ALONG WITH ME disc should match the tracks in the big box, except for "Granada".

 

Many thanks for the info, Martin. I'll check out this evening. I currently have on order RADD ( EOTC), IRT (EOTC), SAS (EOTC), Greatest Vol. 2, Strangers and Jobim (can't tell which one until its arrival; I don't care too much since either one should be new to me).

 

Interesting thread, I've just started collecting the Reprise era after mostly completing my Capitol collection.I did have a lot of them from the recent Sinatra Family reissues, but as I've grown more disappointed with modern remasters have sold them all and decided to track down original cds where possible.

Yesterday I picked up the following...

It Might As Well Be Swing (7599-27027-2) - German release? No listing for this cat. no. on Discogs. Slightly more echo to the voice than the latest remaster (probably in line with the fashion back then), but I do prefer the sound of this one overall.

Sinatra at the Sands (7599-01019-2) - German non-remastered, circa 88/90? Love the sound on this one, feels like they're in the room with you. I don't have other versions to compare to though.

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1021-2) - US first issue circa 1988? Again sounds great, and again, I have no other version to compare to.

The only other title I have is Watertown, so will continue searching for the others.

 

I thought this would be a good place to drop in a list of the CD issues of Sinatra's original Reprise vocal albums, all of which are now available individually on compact disc.

In addition to the US releases shown below, most of these have been reissued by Universal Music Group in the EU, both singly and in a comprehensive box set. (A number of titles were also pressed on SHM-CDs in Japan.) See these posts in the UMG box set thread for covers and track listings (excluding bonus tracks in earlier issues):

The Reprise Years: Albums
The Reprise Years: Disc Contents​

Columns in the list below (left-to-right):

LP Date (and Reprise Catalog No.)
CD Date (and UPC Bar Code) (See also notes below about dates and numbers)
Album Title
(CD track count; No. of bonus tracks, not on LP)
[CD Label, if not Warner/Reprise]
* if EOTC reissue / † if Concord reissue​

Original CD Issues of Frank Sinatra's Reprise Albums

1961 (#1001) 1991 (7599-27017-2) Ring-a-Ding Ding! (15 tracks; 3 bonus) *†
1961 (#1002) 1989 (7599-27018-2) Swing Along with Me [Sinatra Swings] (12 tracks) *
1961 (#1003) 1991 (7599-27019-2) I Remember Tommy (13 tracks) *
1961 (#1003) 1993 (9362-45267-2) I Remember Tommy (14 tracks; 1 bonus) *
1962 (#1004) 1991 (7599-27020-2) Sinatra & Strings (12 tracks; 2 bonus) *
1962 (#1005) 1992 (7599-27021-2) Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (15 tracks; 3 bonus) *
1962 (#1006) 1993 (9362-45219-2) Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain (11 tracks; 1 bonus)
1962 (#1007) 1992 (7599-27022-2) All Alone (12 tracks; 1 bonus)
1963 (#1008) 1988 (7599-27023-2) Sinatra–Basie (10 tracks) *†
1963 (#1009) 1987 (7599-27024-2) The Concert Sinatra (8 tracks) *†
1963 (#1010) 1991 (7599-27025-2) Sinatra's Sinatra (12 tracks)
1963 (#2015) 2000 (9362-47775-2) The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre: Finian's Rainbow (13 tracks)
1963 (#2016) 1992 (9362-45014-2) The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre: Guys and Dolls (15 tracks)
1963 (#2016) 2000 (9362-47775-2) The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre: Guys and Dolls (15 tracks)
1963 (#2017) 2000 (9362-47775-2) The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre: Kiss Me Kate (13 tracks)
1963 (#2018) 2000 (9362-47775-2) The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre: South Pacific (17 tracks)
1964 (#1011) 1987 (7599-27026-2) Academy Award Winners (11 tracks)
1964 (#2020) 2010 (602527-28078) America, I Hear You Singing (12 tracks) [Universal]
1964 (#2021) 2000 (1096-38104-2) Robin and the 7 Hoods (16 tracks; 4 bonus) [Artanis]
1964 (#2022) 2008 (8122-79883-3) 12 Songs of Christmas (12 tracks) [with Nothing But the Best 2-CD set]
1964 (#1012) 1987 (7599-27027-2) It Might As Well Be Swing (10 tracks) *†
1964 (#1013) 1989 (7599-27028-2) Softly, As I Leave You (12 tracks)
1965 (#6167) 2010 (602527-28088) Sinatra '65 (11 tracks) [Universal]
1965 (#1014) 1987 (7599-27030-2) September of My Years (13 tracks) *†
1965 (#1015) 1989 (7599-27031-2) My Kind of Broadway (11 tracks)
1965 (#1016) 1987 (7599-27032-2) A Man and His Music (32 tracks on 2 discs)
1966 (#1017) 1987 (7599-27034-2) Strangers in the Night (10 tracks) †
1966 (#1018) 1991 (7599-27036-2) Moonlight Sinatra (10 tracks)
1966 (#1019) 1987 (7599-27037-2) Sinatra at the Sands (21 tracks) *
1966 (#1020) 1991 (7599-27039-2) That's Life (10 tracks)
1967 (#1021) 1988 (7599-27041-2) Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (10 tracks) *†
1967 (#1022) 1991 (7599-27043-2) The World We Knew (10 tracks)
1968 (#1024) 1988 (7599-27045-2) Francis A. & Edward K. (8 tracks) *
1968 (#1025) 1987 (7599-27236-2) Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits (12 tracks)
1968 (#1026) 1999 (1096-38103-2) The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas (10 tracks) [Artanis]
1968 (#1027) 1991 (7599-27048-2) Cycles (10 tracks)
1969 (#1029) 1987 (7599-27049-2) My Way (10 tracks) †
1969 (#1030) 1991 (7599-27050-2) A Man Alone (12 tracks)
1970 (#1031) 1994 (9362-45689-2) Watertown (11 tracks; 1 bonus)
1971 (#1033) 1991 (7599-27053-2) Sinatra & Company (14 tracks) †
1972 (#1034) 1987 (7599-27237-2) Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (11 tracks)
1973 (#2155) 1987 (7599-27209-2) Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back (9 tracks)
1974 (#2195) 1991 (7599-27215-2) Some Nice Things I've Missed (10 tracks)
1974 (#2207) 1987 (7599-27219-2) The Main Event (12 tracks)
1980 (#2300) 1988 (7599-27477-2) Trilogy (26 tracks on 2 discs)
1981 (#2305) 1991 (7599-27251-2) She Shot Me Down (9 tracks)
1984 (25145) 1997 (7599-25145-2) L.A. Is My Lady (11 tracks) [Qwest]


* "Entertainer of the Century" (EOTC) Remasters

1998 (9362-46933-2) Ring-a-Ding Ding! (12 tracks) †
1999 (9362-47242-2) Swing Along with Me (12 tracks)
1998 (9362-46969-2) I Remember Tommy (13 tracks)
1998 (9362-46970-2) Sinatra & Strings (10 tracks)
1998 (9362-46971-2) Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (12 tracks)
1999 (9362-47241-2) Sinatra–Basie (10 tracks) †
1999 (9362-47244-2) The Concert Sinatra (8 tracks) †
1998 (9362-46972-2) It Might As Well Be Swing (10 tracks) †
1998 (9362-46946-2) September of My Years (13 tracks) †
1998 (9362-46947-2) Sinatra at the Sands (22 tracks; 1 bonus)
1998 (9362-46948-2) Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (10 tracks) †
1999 (9362-47243-2) Francis A. & Edward K. (8 tracks)


† Concord Records Remasters

2011 (88072-32929) Ring-a-Ding Ding! (14 tracks; 2 bonus)
2011 (88072-33152) Sinatra/Basie: The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (20 tracks from 2 LPs)
2012 (88072-33302) The Concert Sinatra (10 tracks; 2 bonus)
2010 (88072-32415) September of My Years (15 tracks; 2 b0nus)
2010 (88072-31910) Strangers in the Night (13 tracks; 3 bonus)
2010 (88072-32026) Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings (20 tracks from 1½ LPs; 3 bonus)
2009 (88072-31404) My Way (12 tracks; 2 bonus)


Notes:

1. Some of the earliest Reprise CDs, dated above as 1987, may have been issued in late 1986.
2. Leading zero and trailing check digit are omitted in bar codes listed above.
3. Foreign pressings were identical to US versions, often with the same bar codes but different catalog nos.
4. For consistency, bar codes are shown instead of CD catalog numbers. Pre-1993 US Reprise issues (7599- bar code prefix) used the LP catalog nos. with -2 suffix; later US issues use a 9 in place of the 9362- bar code prefix. Non-US issues typically use the full bar code as catalog no.

__________________
~ Frank's Albums

 

Many thanks for the numerous replies.

I've now had the chance to have a closer listen to "Swing Along With Me!" and "I Remember Tommy" (I don't have "Ring A Ding Ding" in the old Reprise incarnation since the detailed thread on this title revealed that the mastering is the same as in the box set). The two mentioned titles sound the same to me, but are clearly NOT 1:1 copies of the individual CDs since neither the checksums nor the peak levels do match. The tracks have at least been normalized to match the other tracks in the box set. So, we are back to our hears to judge whether one is the same as the other- EAC logs won't be of any help.

For the first three we have:
Ring-A-Ding-Ding: Reprise CD/suitcase - EOTC CD - Concord CD (the only acceptable Concord remaster I've heard thus far, btw.)
Swing Along With Me: Reprise CD/suitcase - EOTC CD (you'll "need" all three versions anyway to get three versions of one of the best songs ever put on record - "Granada")
I Remember Tommy: Reprise CD/suitcase - EOTC CD (both individual CD releases and the original LP have a reprise track that is missing from the box set!)

I don't have any idea whether the "first" and "second" edition of "IRT" are the same mastering-wise, but I would assume so. Also notice that there are actually two different versions of "RADD" - one having erroneously the album version of "The Second Time Around" in the bonus section; and a corrected version with the single version.

 

They are identical, save for the added bonus track and expanded liner notes. It's the only original Reprise CD which had two different releases with different catalog nos. before 1998. I'm not sure why

 

This is why I called the process "tedious," and it's why I've avoided making the comparisons to date. It can't be automated. Waveform comparisons and dynamic range measurements (after aligning volume levels) can be helpful, but they must be performed on a track-by-track basis, and there are a lot of tracks in the suitcase.

I applaud your efforts in starting this thread, Stefan, and I'll be happy to answer any questions about CDs you don't have. Maybe we can get the question resolved by the time this thread ends...

 

The two Greatest Hits CDs are an exception to that note about catalog numbers. Those have (US) CD catalog nos. 2274-2 and 2275-2 (instead of the expected 1025-2 and 1034-2). This is because the original LPs were reissued in 1978 as Reprise #2274 and #2275, respectively.

 

2274/75 seem too early of a catalog # for 1978, unless they were withheld using that catalog # for a few years for some reason. Should be more like 1974 or '75.

There was also a cassette version that combined GREATEST HITS and GREATEST HITS VOL 2. It was part of a "2 on 1" series of tapes that Warner Bros had for a while.

 

Martin, I'm fairly sure 1978 was the correct year. The two Greatest Hits albums were reissued on LP as FSK 2274 and FSK 2275. Following those was MSK 2276, a reissue of Smash Hits by Jimi Hendrix Experience.

See: Reprise Album Discography, Part 6: MS-2200 to FS-2305 (1974-1981)

 

Thanks Bob!

Interesting that list also has HERE'S TO THE LADIES included...

 

Yes, they're showing the assigned catalog no. for HERE"S TO THE LADIES. The unfinished LP was scheduled to be released as FS 2259 in April 1977. Ten orchestra tracks were laid down by Nelson Riddle in March, but only half of these had vocals completed by FS before the project was abandoned. This was the planned track list (with recording dates for finished tracks contained in the suitcase):

Side 1

1. Barbara (3/14/77)
2. Laura
3. Sweet Lorraine (3/14/77)
4. Nancy (3/09/77)
5. Emily (3/09/77)

Side 2

1. When Joanna Loved Me
2. Tina
3. Linda (3/14/77)
4. Stella by Starlight
5. Elizabeth

Using earlier Reprise versions of "Tina" and "Elizabeth," "Laura" from Capitol, "Stella" from Columbia, and a live version of "Joanna," this album could be reconstructed today. It might even be nice to get a CD from Frank Sinatra Enterprises with mastered versions of the orchestra-only tracks (or overdubbed by Frank Sinatra, Jr.), if they still exist in the vaults. Just an idea...

 

I'm currently having a try on "Greatest Hits" - and it's though. Some tracks are the same - others I think are subtly different.

BTW, has anybody ever noticed the chatter on the right channel at the beginning of "The World We Knew"? Almost like the chipmunk effect in Matt Monro's "From Russia With Love"

 

Yeah, they're saying "play the mono version".

 

Well, I would instantly buy it if MoFi ever did such a disk - better yet with both stereo and mono on one disk.

What happened to the Reprise re-issue project anyway? Ended abruptly due to public demand? I just did some listening to the three Keith Blake disks I received this week. Makes me wonder why the Concord disks don't sound that way - or even better. If Larry Walsh did it for Capitol - what's the matter with Reprise? "Creative" input by the producers or right owners?

 

The GREATEST HITS CDs may not be the best for comparisons to the suitcase, as many of those songs appeared on other albums. If the mastering of some tracks is different, it may be that they match the versions on other CDs instead.

 

Can I ask if this release: http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Sinatra...id=1370796597&sr=8-2&keywords=sinatra+reprise

is the Reprise equivalent of the 3CD Capitol years set? And if so, how's the mastering on the 4CD Reprise set?

Thanks!

 

It is. It was also released to sync with Frank's then 75th birthday. The sound overall is fine - not mind-blowing great, but nothing to worry about either. It's a very good introduction to the period - it was the first Sinatra/Reprise release I ever bought myself (though I was exposed to some of the music before).

 

Thanks!

So the sound isn't as good as the Capitol Years set?