Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality and General Discussion: Come Fly with Me (recorded 1957)*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MLutthans, Nov 11, 2009.

  1. mikrt17

    mikrt17 Life has surface noise.

    Location:
    BROADSTAIRS UK
    I like the sound of the D7 pressing and to my ears sounds like a tube recording which it is, all the others seem to have some EQ added but in very small amounts and mainly in the mid range area as Sinatra's voice is slightly harder, the 'Catch Me If You Can' CD sample sounds compressed to me but generally all the Capital pressings are close in sound, I personally own the original 1962 mono British pressing which I like for it's warmth. Thanks for posting these comparisons.
     
    MLutthans likes this.
  2. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Thanks, mikrt17, for the input. I've added pics of waveforms as an animated GIF image at the same link: http://www.11fifty.com/Site_108/1958_-_Come_Fly_with_Me.html

    5 waveforms shown, rotating every 6 seconds.

    Matt

    EDIT: It's possible, I suppose, that the 1997 EMI Centenary pressing and the 2009 cut used the same digital source (except for the one different cut at the end of side one, of course). They sound quite similar, and the waveforms (shown at link above) are extremely similar. (They were of opposite polarity, so I inverted the 2009 G1 cut to compare apples and apples.)
     
    Bob F likes this.
  3. bferr1

    bferr1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    I think the word on the street is that the first 20 titles in the Centenary series was digital, which includes SFSL, but everything afterwards was analog, including CFWM. Maybe MMM can corroborate?
     
  4. bferr1

    bferr1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    ^ Sorry for the alphabet soup above, but I assume everyone knows what I'm talking about!
     
  5. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    No problem on the soup! (I assume you're a former SPEBSQSA member??)
     
  6. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    (Mono clips available here: http://www.11fifty.com/Site_108/1958_-_Come_Fly_with_Me.html)
    Anybody else have any thoughts on the mono version? I like the close miking, but the tone is a downer for me, as is the heavy reverb.

    One more thing: It still strikes me as odd that so many "N" copies seem to be out there where side one is concerned:


    Very strange, IMO.

    Finally:


    It seems to me that Capitol went all out to stick it to Reprise, and it didn't hurt sales, that's for sure. Check out this front-page Billboard Music Week (BMW) article from August 25, 1962:
    Screen shot 2012-11-16 at 1.26.20 PM.jpg
     
  7. jtaylor

    jtaylor Senior Member

    Location:
    RVA
    FWIW, I have a D6/D13
     
  8. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Make me wonder what the highest "D" stamper is for side one mono. Mine's a D7 on side one.
     
  9. rangerjohn

    rangerjohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    chicago, il
    I've expressed my appreciation for the mono FLY before. I love hearing all the instruments in balance, although I appreciate that the sound is does not have the depth of other Capitol mono titles.

    It would be good to know for sure whether the "Centenary" pressing is sourced differently than the "From the Vaults" LP. That would provide another altogether different, readily accessible mono option for this title.
     
  10. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    I doubt the British "Centenary" pressing is readily available nowadays. It was for years, but (even though I haven't exactly been looking for one - and bought one new back then) I don't think it or most all of the other LPs in those three series are commonly for sale anymore.



    The crazy thing is the executive at Capitol that has been given blame/credit for trying to "stick it to Reprise" - I think his name is Mike Maitland - ended up working for Warner Brothers, which is where Reprise joined forces. Together again for the first time. The details are in Stan Cornyn's book.
     
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  11. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  12. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    I'm working on overhauling this page to include brief stereo samples like back in the old days, but in brief enough samples this time so as to not catch the ire of any lawyers. I have:

    MFSL LP
    Yellow-label 1970's Capitol SM series
    1984 UK reissue
    Red (Orange?) label Capitol SY series
    Walsh CD
    Norberg CD
    UK Boxed set CD

    Please PM me (Sorry.....let's use the "Conversation" function in the new forum-speak) if you have clips of other sources that you could share with me. All input welcomed and encouraged; thanks!

    Matt
     
  13. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Sunday morning bump for the above post. Especially interested in clips from:
    9:00 Rainbow USA stereo
    9:00 UK stereo
    Blue-label Capitol reissue (late SM series, SM-920)
    Orangey-red Record Club Edition with catalog number SM 500920

    Thanks!
     
  14. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Thanks for the new page, Matt.

    I like the D7 mono best - not that it's perfect, but it's the most engaging, with decent overall tone and the tubey presence. The N19 is not very good, but it basically mirrors my experience with the NY cuts I have of this album - too low-fi, though not awful.

    The new/current mono LP from Capitol holds up pretty well. Not quite as good as the better originals, but closer to them than the lesser ones. I'd pick it second overall from your samples.

    The title track of the album off the CATCH ME IF YOU CAN soundtrack is pretty well mastered, with nice detail/resolution, but at the same time is also somewhat aggressive and hard sounding.

    I still don't care for the UK Centenary edition. At first blush, it sounds pretty nice, but it's not that engaging. It's a bit too revised sounding.

    The German pressing and the mono reel aren't that great to my ears..
     
  15. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    I'm onboard with you, Martin. Not really a "bad" copy in the bunch. (I think that there is a little narrow range of good-to-bad in my view of the samples, but basically the same order.) I agree, too, that the 2009 release is pretty good as these mono pressings go. I'm still just not sold on the sound of the mono mix overall.

    By the way, I think that the CATCH ME IF YOU CAN sample remains the only clip I've ever posted that was mastered by....dare I say it.... A WOMAN! What's with that???? It isn't like guys have cornered the market on ears or something.

    Matt
     
  16. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    McLover likes this.
  17. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  18. rangerjohn

    rangerjohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    chicago, il
  19. Gary C

    Gary C Forum Resident

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    " Make me wonder what the highest "D" stamper is for side one mono. Mine's a D7 on side one. "

    My copy is D8 and D13, sounds great to me.
     
  20. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    A note: Mono only US issues of Frank Sinatra Capitol material got the added reverb when the Capitol logo switched to 12 O'Clock on the label. The side logos should be dry, unaltered original mixes. Another note, the UK never issued the new reverbed versions, they stuck with the original dry mixes as did other European territories.
     
  21. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  22. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    MLutthans,

    Someone was discussing the Grey Label LP discs earlier in the forum and why they were sought after. I like the UK Alan Dell LP of "Come Fly With Me" a lot, I like the US original mono best of the LP options.
     
  23. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    I picked up a D-cut stereo LP today that was an ST- prefix rather than SW. If the liner is original, it's a circa 65/66 pressing. Anybody know when the SW prefix was dropped in favor or ST? It's a 12:00 rainbow label.

    Matt
     
  24. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  25. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Clips from three different CD masterings now posted. Same link as above.
     

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