Sinatra / Reprise Sound Quality and General Discussion: "...Great Songs from Great Britain" (1962)*

Just treated myself to the original mono release and it's a beauty! I fell in love with that one immdiately. Sounds so warm and intimate. And the rhythm group is much more prominent. Never heard "If I had you" that good rhythm wise. And the heavy reverb is gone

 

Oh... I mean compared to my bad sounding 80's german stereo copy!

 

That went FAST after this post!

 

How nice that all concerned took the time to male sure the cover photo was not REVERSED prior to publishing the book!!!!!!!

 

That’s only half the photo, which spreads across the fold on pages 2–3 of Nancy’s book. I assume they reversed it to keep Frank on the right-facing side with the title text, instead of the bassist and grand piano which are on the opposite side.

 

You can see they "re-reversed" the CTS sign on Frank's mic back around to read normally (in this otherwise reversed image).

 

The Sinatra threads on this site are some of the best. And this one was especially awesome to read. I read it over the course of the past couple of days, and it was hilarious to see @MLutthans go from “I’ve never listened to this album despite having about four copies of it” (paraphrasing) to “HERE ARE MULTIPLE COLOR-CODED CHARTS OF SONGS FROM DIFFERENT PRESSINGS SHOWING EXACTLY WHICH TAKES THEY’RE ASSEMBLED FROM” (again, paraphrasing) in what, to me, seemed like very little time. I love it.

The Italian release is on my Discogs wishlist now for sure. I enjoy the UMe reissue, but it would be a treat to get a different version.

Frank definitely sounds weary on this album, but that works well with the material to my ears. “The Gypsy” is one of my favorite Reprise era tunes.

 

Does anyone here have the Japanese 1985 release P-7721 and can upload scans of the labels wither here or the discogs? I would but my copy is still factory sealed and I don't want to open it. Thanks.
Frank Sinatra - Sinatra Sings Great Songs From Great Britain

 

I’m not sure why you’re asking, since the Discogs link you provided already has images of the labels. Here they are as shown at Discogs (although darkening of the exposure would be an improvement):

 

…and from the SFF album thread, here is a clearer image of Side 1:

 

Yes I'm aware the link has photos, low quality cell phone photos. I'm looking for scans. but thanks for the A side photo.

 

The 2014 remaster from the London Box is horrible IMO: the vocals sound wrong and lifeless. What’s wrong with Larry Walsh today? I prefer my old CD from 1993!

 

I agree Markus. We normally expect remasters done more than 20 years ahead to be an improvement. Thankfully the new (bonus) material made up for it but I was disappointed by the core material.

 

This post is aimed primarily at the Sinatra experts out there.

In the 1970s I began collecting Sinatra records and was able to acquire most of his Columbia, Capitol and Reprise material, with the exception of "Great Songs from Great Britain." The only track in my possession for the longest time was "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" which was included in a collection of material from different albums ( A Man And His Music.) I also heard a rumor at the time that Frank wasn't happy with the album, so had it recalled.

In the 1990's I started to purchase the Sinatra catalog on CD's. I was pleased to see the Great Britain album was now once again available. In keeping with Frank's thematic approach, the record features all songs by British composers and arrangements by the distinguished British conductor Robert Farnon. Although happy to have a collection of classic songs that Sinatra had never recorded before now in my collection, I was a bit ambivalent about the recordings themselves.

The arrangements seemed a little too staid and proper somehow ( maybe somewhat befitting the provencal of the material, stiff upper lip and all ) but I'm not sure the talents of Sinatra jelled as well with Mr. Farnon as they did with Nelson Riddle, Axel Stordahl, Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, even Quincy Jones. Could it be just a matter of musical chemistry?

From what I heard, Frank admired Mr Farnon's work and thought he had done fine job on the album, but something seemed amiss and Frank even went back into the studio to re-record everything in different keys thinking that would help matters.

Anyway, I'm curious to know if anyone has information on the story behind this "red-headed stepchild"
of an album and why it seemed to disappear from circulation for quite a long while.

 

To get you started on your journey ... (don't know if it answers any lingering questions or not, but ... paging Bob or Martin M)

SINATRA SINGS GREAT SONGS FROM GREAT BRITAIN (Reprise) 1962 

 

Just fyi:

There is now a boxed set called Sinatra:London (3CD's and a DVD) for which this album and some sessions from the album are included along with the highly-prized 1962 London Royal Festival Hall Concert (DVD) plus two other London concerts from 1970 (DVD) and 1984 (CD).

And (someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but ...) I think it was not out of circulation as much as it was just not released in the U.S. initially. It was available in the U.K.

 

Fake news.

No correction needed. The album was intended solely for the UK market (sort of Sinatra’s “thank you” to his British fans), and that’s why it was unavailable in the USA. The 1962 LP was not even known on this side of the pond for several years, until it was listed in the Billboard special issue for Sinatra’s 50th birthday in 1965. It was the only Reprise concept album not first issued domestically.

As for the quality of Frank’s vocals: It should be noted that these London recordings came at the end of a strenuous world tour (for children’s charities), and that may have much to do with any perceived difference from other efforts.

I believe this is all discussed in the Sinatra Family Forum thread linked above, repeated here with two more:

SINATRA SINGS GREAT SONGS FROM GREAT BRITAIN (Reprise) 1962
Frank Sinatra: Album of the Month #29 (Jan 2010) "Great Songs From Great Britain"
SINATRA: LONDON (UMe) 2014

YouTube playlists:

Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain - YouTube
Sinatra: London - YouTube
Great Songs from Great Britain: BBC Light Programme with Track Introductions - YouTube
Great Songs from Great Britain: Sessions - YouTube

 

I should have pointed also to the thread here at SHF…

Sinatra / Reprise Sound Quality and General Discussion: "...Great Songs from Great Britain" (1962)*
[Moderator edit: threads now merged.]
…and @MLutthans’ website:

Sinatra Sings Great Songs from GREAT BRITAIN - 1962

 

It was also released in France, Japan, Holland (With Different Cover) and Australia. Different companies in the different countries could license Reprise product. This was before the merger with Warner Brothers.

 

Mine comes from the "suitcase" (remixed?) and since I've never heard any other version - I still think it sounds very fine (what audio problems?).

Still is one of my favorites from any label of Sinatra.