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

I would definitely like to hear more of the Dell based on your clips, and will seek it out as a viable stereo option for the LP.

 

I doubt anything with that label would be released beyond when the label changed to "12 o' clock" on the LPs, which seemed to happen in 1962.

I'll have to pull out the records I have like this, and check the dead area stamps, etc.

 

Wow, Matt. That's terrific detective work. A little duophonic is not a bad thing in an emergency, I guess. Mr. Walsh was a very clever boy back in the day.

 

Thanks Matt I like the SM 70s version and the MFSL stereo LP. I listened to both my LW 87 cd and my Uk 21 cd Capitol disc, using my Dad's old Rotel amp I can add a bit more bass to the sound and alter treble independently for L & R. If you up the bass a bit on the uk 21cd disc and reduce the treble only on the right hand side a bit you can get a nice sound. I still think the stereo cd can be improved with a bit of time and effort and to me that's more of a challenge, than going with the mono simply because its cleaner, but each their own.

 

The stereo is cool on most tracks (I especially like Brazil from Walsh's mastering). The thing to me is the distortion on Around the World. Usually I can shrug off a lot of distortion but that case kinda spoils the song for me. That's why I usually just play the mono; I never think of the sound, good or bad, when I'm playing the mono, just play it and enjoy the music.

 

Here's what I have (and found):

5 records from SWINGIN' SESSION!!! (I don't know if there was actually a 6th made to complete the album) - one side of the ten is an N2, the rest are all D1 or D2 - all with 9 o' clock labels

3 records from COME SWING WITH ME! - all either D1 or D2 - all with 9 o' clock labels

3 records from POINT OF NO RETURN - all D's as well, and with COMPACT 33 labels

1 duophonic THIS IS SINATRA - A1/A1 - COMPACT 33


Earlier LPs of SWINGIN' SESSION!!! with Scranton plating, etc. had "script" machine stamps. My stereo singles above have the newer, small block stamping. However, I believe SWINGIN' SESSION!!! was a relatively late Capitol LP to have the script stamping. Even my 9 o' clock stereo ALL THE WAY LP has a D1 side with the revised, small block type. So, the change to this still doesn't rule out these singles being issued in 1961, and matches with the later period these labels were used.

The SWINGIN' SESSION!!! and COME SWING! singles above have JBS prefixes in the dead area numbers. This prefix does not match any numbers on the labels. I wonder if that stands for JukeBox Service?

The POINT OF NO RETURN singles did away with the JBS, and matches the "X" prefix on the labels.

The THIS IS SINATRA single is likely from at least 1963, given the "A" lathe cutting.

 

Just picked up a gray label, which unfortunately did not clean up as well as I was hoping (pretty worn under the 50 years of dust) ... but even semi-tanked it absolutely mops the floor with the 9 o'clock rainbow I have. Wow. So punchy and huge! I am gonna have to try and find a better copy of this puppy now. The rainbow copy is in nice shape but sounds positively anemic in comparison.

FWIW, this copy is one of the hybrid N/D Scrantons. and not a particularly early one (N5 #2, D5 #3).

 

I think that's like the copy I played earlier today (at least the cuts)...

 

Yeah, it's not unusual at all here in the Midwest to see Capitol LPs with D on one side and N on the other ... particularly on albums that were big/long-lived sellers. Capitol continued mixing stampers willy-nilly into the '70s; I've been looking for a copy of Live Bullet by Bob Seger that's not a complete mish-mash of different mastering engineers for awhile.

The 9 o'clock mono Come Fly I have is a D on both sides, but it's from the era with hand-etched matrices.

 

The hand etched dead area should indicate metalwork made in LA. They didn't always do this, but did for a while. Is there an * there too?

 

the rainbow copy I have is indeed a Hollywood press, has the * ...

 

It probably is pressed there, but the * or anvil appears to me to have been an indication of where some portion of the metalwork was done. I have a copy of SWINGIN' LOVERS! (later 9 o'clock rainbow label) with an anvil on one side, and a star on the other. It has west coast labels (with the hat on the 1), D cuts on both sides, and IIRC (I'm not near the record) hand inscribed info.

 

Pretty sure this one's a west coast press all the way ... has the serif font for the "Side 1" indication, and the Scrantons of that era usually are sans serif "1". At least that's one way I usually ID the rainbows, though it doesn't work anymore once the other plants opened up.

 

Love the old reviews! Thanks, Bob.

Seeing Keely's review made me smile because I can hear Mr. S before he sang "I Wish You Love" at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City saying she used to pronounce the song "AWWW Wish You Love!"