Off-topic: Paul, what an impressive cup you have! I'm assuming there's a story to go with the picture??????
I had the GREAT pleasure of spending a few minutes with Lord Stanley's Cup last Friday at L.A. Live. The good folks at the Kings hosted a free photo-opp with a professional photographer and I was lucky enough to be chosen among maybe 1,000 others. It was a very moving experience for me just being able to see and touch such a sacred sports trophy. I am eternally indebted to the Kings organization for the meeting and preservation of the moment!
December, 1. is the next date for the vinyl UK re-release by UMe. I'm curious how the new remaster will sound.... Actually I'm happy with my UK-Box CD.
Has anybody seen/heard a promo LP for this album? What did the label look like? EDIT: I found this (below) in another thread from June of 2012: Thanks, Tom!
I have a grey label promo of this. It has the "sample album for Radio - TV program use" note on the label. I uploaded a photo. It's a D2#3/D3#3 copy. The record itself has seen better days, but I can upload a clip if you like.
Interesting! Here's Steve's photo (thanks): I've never seen a gray-label Capitol promo LP before, but I lead a shielded life. @tlmusic - any chance you can dig up a photo of your yellow-label promo for comparison (and because I'm curious)?
From another thread, in which "Close to You" was being mentioned: I've got that one, and it's very nice. Because I occasionally like to torture Paul, though, I need to toss this out there: Several of us here recently partook (is that a word?) in a BLIND listening test, comparing five versions of three full-length* tracks from CLOSE TO YOU (as opposed to just little 30- or 45-second clips), and the consensus winner was this hard to find version: http://www.discogs.com/Frank-Sinatra-Close-To-You/release/4816994 *(I did cut out a very brief intro passage from one track, as it included dropouts that may have given away its origins.) When I sent the files out -- all dubbed on the same turntable on the same day -- I randomly juggled the tracks and gave them titles that left no way to guess which was which. Nobody knew what the choices were at the time, but I can tell you now that the albums in the blind test were: •A clean D3 pressing •1983 MFSL •1983(?) French LP (that one labelled as "Duophonic") •1984 UK Dell •1984 Dutch DMM pressing (the one in the Discogs link above) IIRC, at least a couple of the participants were able to consistently pick the MFSL LP out of the bunch -- and they didn't care for it. (I can blindly pick it out of the bunch, but I like how it sounds, so to each their own. Point being: It has a unique sound.) Also, the French tracks (and remember, nobody KNEW that this was the French LP) received some negative comments IN COMPARISON to some other choices. Doesn't mean that it's bad (at all!), but that it didn't quite hold up in a head-on listening test with at least one version that seemed to sound clearly superior. (We're talking degrees of difference between five well-made choices here. No duds, in the general sense of the word.) I'm not going to "out" the participants in that little blind test, because 1.) I consider them to be friends and don't wish to break their confidence; and 2.) I hope to have them take part in some blind listening down the road again! I think it's safe to say, though, that it was a group of guys who are routinely involved in these Sinatra threads and whose opinions are pretty respected around here. (I will also add that there are a couple of pretty consistent contributors here who one might THINK were part of the blind test, but they were not -- or chose not to be -- involved, so don't jump to conclusions, eh?) One more thing: My favorite remains the 1983 MFSL LP. That said, based on the blind listening that went on, I am clearly in the minority! As I've said many times, I really dislike ever being in a position of "Matt says to get this version," because I'm just one guy with a pair of ears and a lot of patience. (That's why I routinely post clips, so people can get some idea of how something actually sounds.) My opinions amount to exactly one opinion, nothing more (although I do really strive to not just talk out of my hat based on one listen of something). This "blind listening" thing involving multiple full-length tracks (and no time limit) was a way to try to get some other informed input into that mix, and I found it to be quite interesting and rewarding. Nobody involved needs to confess that it was you! I'll never tell. EDIT: Congrats to Europe for finally gaining full-on status as a country, at least on Discogs.com: That's actually an LP from EMI in the Netherlands. SECOND EDIT: I had to laugh at the description from one of the Discogs vendors. Check out the last line of text:
After giving the Walsh CD another listen in my car this morning I'm really curious how the new download/LP will sound. The Walsh CD contains SO MUCH HISS it ruins the whole album for me. I also own the Dell box set and THAT LP sounds fantastic.
I've got a copy of Kenton in Hi-Fi (W-724) on the same label. The jacket still has a sticker on the front with the name of a Capitol Records distribution rep.
"Celebrating Sinatra and the Hollywood String Quartet" http://www.londonjazznews.com/2014/06/preview-close-to-you-celebrating.html and the follow-up review: http://www.londonjazznews.com/2014/06/review-close-to-you-matt-ford-at-pizza.html Also -- unrelated -- I thought this was kind of funny: "Frank Sinatra and Felix Slatkin during the recording of Close to you." No, that's from the sessions that produced Monique and a handful of cuts from Frank Sinatra sings for Only the Lonely, in which Slatkin filled in for Nelson Riddle.
There's a 90-second free clip of this posted at iTunes. Here's the first 60 seconds of that same passage, from two sources, LEVEL MATCHED by me: •2014 German iTunes (thanks @MarkusGermany ) - https://app.box.com/s/bli6b88y9t1ze8jtir70 •1984 Dutch DMM LP - https://app.box.com/s/71t0d4ulrvnqh40mbp18 Those Dutch pressings are not easy to find, but boy....it's a goodie on this album, IMO. (Again, that's the one that several of our Sinatra nuts here chose in a blind test as being their favorite -- and not just based on little piddly 3o-second clips. I see there's one for sale at discogs.com right now. Well worth the $$$, IMO.)
Haven't listened to the new one. Matt, would you say that the UK'98 CD is better than the new download?
I know you wrote that it was compressed on your chart, but it is the only CD version I have and I do listen to it often. I like it. The music and performances are simply sublime.
Matt, I'm curious, If you were to take a sample from the ProStudio Masters edition would it sound any different? They have the album available as well. The samples sound nice at Prostudio masters.
There is some compression on that UK CD from the boxed set, yes, but it's fairly mild. Last night when @MarkusGermany asked, I checked out that 1998 version and the new one, and it really jumped out how much better the 1998 disc was, and it was the tone that grabbed my ear. Looking at the numbers in that list from a few posts back: 1983 MFSL LP = -20.5 dB RMS 1984 Dutch LP -19.1 (our "blind taste test" winner a few months back) 1987 Walsh-mastered CD (wet) -19.0 1990 The Capitol Years CD (wet) -18.4 1956 D3 LP -18.3 1998 UK boxed set CD -18.1 2014 German iTunes download -15.8 The MFSL LP is viewed by many (not me) as being too bright, and that added treble may be buying that version a bit of extra dynamic range "by the numbers." Eliminating that one, we've got five versions that are all very much in the same ballpark, with only one measly decibel separating them all. My D3 LP (at -18.3) has that "nice" compression that is on virtually all Capitol LPs of the era, and the UK CD is right there in that same amount/style. Nothing bad -- just not 100% "wide open." It's a good disc.
I still vote for the multi-heritage "Dutch" LP as having the best sound. If I am not mistaken, that "Duophonic" thing has been out on the label of several countries but still keeps the same catalogue number.
Glad to see some love for that Dutch LP! I think it sounds great, too. I see that somebody snapped up that for-sale copy I linked a couple of posts back. Somebody from here, maybe???? If so, please report back after you've taken it for a spin. Yeah, they do sound pretty good, agreed. All I have to work off, in terms of comparing apples to apples, is the DON'T LIKE GOODBYES iTunes stuff that Markus sent, and the free clips available at ProStudioMasters.com, but I did take the same 90 second clip from each and dumped them both into ProTools for a listen and look, and both stem from the same digital transfer (they stay in perfect sync), but it sounds to me like there is a little mildly-steely EQ added to the iTunes version that is not obvious on the sample at ProStudioMasters.com. In terms of dynamics, the clip at ProStudioMasters measures out 2dB better than the iTunes clip, so there appears to be some compression added to the iTunes version that may not be on the ProStudioMasters version. (No surprise that these would be different, as we saw a similar situation with JINGLE BELLS from A Jolly Christmas.) I'm a little timid about putting out much of a general-opinion statement based on the clips, but what I'm hearing at ProStudioMasters for this album sounds pretty nice.
