Around here, it's rare to get a pristine copy of Sinatra album. I love those old Capitol rainbow edge labels, and was so excited to find a near mint copy of Nice'n'easy, a Sinatra album of lay back ballads from 1960. I was not disappointed. A little bit of noise in the lead-in grooves but otherwise beautiful sound from this "Capitol Full Dimensional Stereo Sound" recording. Perfect with a glass of wine, under a fan in the cooling afternoon of a hot day. This is the kind of find that makes it worth all those hours of diving through the charity shop bins
Saw one of these UK budget reissues at Freewheelin' Records in Abbotsford, BC, today: I was mildly surprised to see that it was pressed from USA-sourced metal parts, one from NYC, one from LA: N8/A22.
Very typically mid-late '60s "MFP", let me tell you...there are some baaaad Dean and Nat MFP covers as well.
I actually owned a copy of that at one time. God only knows where it wound up as I haven't seen it in decades.
Bob, was there ever a 2002 MFSL Nice n' Easy release, or are all the 1998/2002 releases on the back cover really 2008 releases? Just want to make sure I'm buying the correct when. I found a copy with a pink banner and says 1998/2002. Is this definitely the 2008 release?
Hey Matt...or anyone else... I just realized that the tune on this Sinatra album, Mam' selle', has vocal parts that sound remarkably similar to Frank Zappa's "The Duke of Prune's", on Absolutely Free. I think Zappa nicked ole Blue Eyes. Have you ever noticed ? It's uncanny.
And they both recorded at Capitol and had albums released on Reprise. And had sons named Dweezil. Oh, wait......
Mr. S was so incredibly busy at that point in his career it is astounding to think of all that he was doing simultaneously...and doing them well!.
I just narrowly missed winning a like new copy of the MFSL gold CD on eBay this morning. By $5. It would have been barely more than $20. I simply forgot when the auction was ending. Sigh.
How does the Dutch DMM pressing of this album hold up against the UK "Dell", and the other pressings being compared? Just found copies of the Dutch DMM "Close to you" and "Point of No Return", in practically mint condition, by pure chance in a small record store here in Sweden today, and they sound absolutely wonderful! Is it worthwhile to track down a DMM copy of "Nice n Easy" as well, or is the UK Dell preferable?
I picked up an original mono pressing for $5 or so. It's stamped N3 on both sides. It's probably not the greatest pressing and certainly not in the greatest shape (some occasional crackling throughout), but it's still an enjoyable listen. The mono mix did sound a little claustrophobic to me on this one.
1990 13-track CD release from Japan. Based on (what I can make out of) the fine print on the back, this is likely the 1988 USA CD with "The Nearness of You" tacked onto the end. I was unaware of this release.
From another thread: Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality and General Discussion: "Where Are You?" (1957 album)* Additional discussion about the Japanese CP28 and CP32 CDs follows in that thread.
So to follow up on my own question I ordered, and recieved a dutch DMM copy yesterday. Gave it I listen today, and this is one interesting record! Both the label and sleeve states that the record is in stereo, like the UK Dell and most other reissues, but the record actually is in mono! This isn't the first time that the label and sleeves aren't true to the actual content regarding mono/stereo, but I was quite surprissed that the DMM is cut in mono as this is the only later mono reissue as far as I know! Regarding how it sounds, I quite like it. My only comparison is a needledrop of the 1983 MFSL, and comparing the mono and stereo mixes I actually in some ways prefer mono. The stereo sounds a bit "left heavy" on some songs at least on my system, as the rythm section and most of the brass seems panned pretty hard to the left, and sometimes overpower the right panned strings. The mono obviously gives a more coherent presentation in this regard, and the reverb on both Sinatra and the orchestra doesn't seem to differ much (so soupy on both...), and is at least to my ears nicely balanced and dynamic. But my notes should be taken with a grain of salt as I'm comparing analog and digital playback, I'm going to by a UK Dell in stereo to make a more in depth comparison. But my first impression of the dutch DMM in mono is that it's a really good record, especially if you like this album presented in mono!