Frank Sinatra Duets I and II opinions?

I've never heard these albums but I heard that he didn't even sing them with the artists (so the duets are artificial). Anyone have any opinions? Thanks.

 

IMO "Duets" is neither the best nor the worst Sinatra recorded in his career. Some of these recordings are quite good, some mediocre and some are just plain awful. Sinatra himself is as good as ever in his late years, but only few of his collaborators are up to the daunting task of singing a duet with "The Voice". For one, I do like the Sinatra/Streisand combination, but then they should have tried that 30 years earlier.

 

I thought that they were respectable. Sinatra did not have the range but he still had power and he was trying hard. That first duets sold a lot of cds.

 

There are a few good performances on the Duets CDs but overall I think they were a bad thing for Sinatra. Will Friedwald in his book "Sinatra! The Song is You" pretty much lays it bare in the final chapter where he rips apart the Duet CDs. You may not agree with Will (he can be quite opinionated and arrogant at times), but his premise is that the collaborating artists are simply not in Sinatra's league and their ignorance to this fact shows in the performances. I recall Bono, Carly Simon, and Barbra Streisand being specifically castigated, and for good reason.

I highly recommend this book (especially the last chapter) as it can be quite entertaining and enlightening. Will Friedwald is not a fan of Rock or Pop music and he in no way trys to hide that fact. But he is one of the most knowledgeable people out there in regard to Jazz singers and Sinatra in particular so his opinions are well founded.

If you are a big Sinatra fan (and already have many of his classic Capital and Reprise recordings) I would get the Duet CDs just out of curiosity and historical perspective. But if you really want a good performance of Sinatra post 1990 I would get the 80th Anniversary live CD.

 

My answer involves Phil Ramone, more than the fact that, Frank Sinatra was still trying to make music.

It is right HERE, with Sinatra's "DUETS" albums, that Phil Ramone jumped the shark and left behind a wonderful legacy, but only to move forward with some of the most boring, syrupy, Clive Davis worthy, pieces of crap, to ever behold anyones earlobes. Tell me if I'm not right, that if Frank was still around, that he would be on the 15th "Great American Songbook", with the "American Idol" singers, by now?

A duet is fine for me, but the way that Phil Ramone has milked these artists since and add in the fact that AMERICANS especially have bought this crap, is beyond my thinking abilities. To those that disagree, I say, "Kenny G to all and to all a good night"!

Chris C

 

I'm a HUGE Sinatra fan (from my mother who saw him at the Paramount). I've listened to these once. Not a fan of these..

 

Duets

Frank Sinatra belonged to an era where the artist stood in the recording studio with the band around him. Sinatra's records are absolutely authentic in this regard. My main problem with the Duets albums is that his partners literally phoned their performances in and Sinatra's vocals were a cut and paste job, I think, from some sessions done in the studio and recordings of his own live performances. they do not seem to me, then, to be 'the real deal' like most of the rest of Sinatra's catalogue. The authenticity of the way the music was made and the acoustic rhythm section is a big part of the attraction for me of the pop/jazz 'crossover' so Duets doesn't really score with me at all. Having said which, if it propmpts one listener to dig a little further and find his/ her way to Wee Small Hours or A Swingin' Affairthen mission completed!

 

Duets I is worth owning for the version of "One For My Baby" a stellar late performance by Mr.Sinatra, thankfully Kenny G's sax noodlings aren't too intrusive and easy to ignore.
I've gone back to these CD's again and again, looking for something musically redeeming that I might have missed the last time, and have yet to find very much.

 

Being a huge Sinatra fan (I own almost this entire catalog, both vinyl and CD), I find both Duets albums to be almost unlistenable. I got rid of them.

 

Second this. It's really terrible stuff, sappy as hell. Reminds me of American Idol.

 

Thirded. A lame way for the Chairman to have gone out, recording-wise.

Evan

 

There is a novelty value to these recordings (I only own Duets I - that was enough). Frank pretty well plays it straight on songs he had done a better job on in the past. The interest comes in the performances of the guests. Unfortunately, they are pretty hit & miss.

The best, IMO, is Bono as he is pretty playful about it.

I am aware of three Sinatra version of One For My Baby. All three are worthy in different ways. But the version on Duets is a keeper because you can hear every mile of that "long long road" in his voice.

If you are a casual Sinatra fan, Duets is not a good introduction. Get the single disc Capitol Collectors Series.

 

I might give these discs to my mom to listen to. But I'd advise any serious music listener to go elsewhere. If you want to hear late-period Sinatra, check out "L.A. Is My Lady".

 

My Grandfather, who's a huge Sinatra fan, loves the Duets albums. In spite of having a nearly complete collection of well worn original Capitol/Reprise LP's that he bought upon release, and obviously listened to a lot. So it's not for lack of knowledge that he enjoys Duets. Something else...

 

Well that's a loaded question. If Frank were around today and and lets say here was in his 80s or 90s then you may be right. As great musicians get old and elderly, they generally don't make the best decisions when it comes to stuff like this. Often times other people around them are calling the shots and providing "bad" advice. Now if Sinatra were in his prime today it's almost absurd to think that he would still be Sinatra. Afterall, Sinatra "was" the great american songbook. He existed in an era that was meant for him. To seperate Sinatra from his era (1940s-1960s) would be like taking The Beatles out of the 60's.

 

They're overall two uneven albums. A few good tracks here and there, with one standout ("One For My Baby", which "Duet" wise, is between him and Bill Miller, as it had been since the 50's). I still think they should have just issued one relatively stronger, 12 song or so album - just made up of the better stuff from what was eventually released over two albums.

 

I wonder if the presence of Bill Miller "grounded" him as it were, and made that performance so special.

 

I did like "You Make Me Feel So Young" with Charles Aznavour. While I didn't find Frank in that compelling on these, the biggest fault lies with his co-stars, a lot of them just weren't happening.

 

I'm in perfect accord with Ian's insightful assessment here.

Well it's not all as bad as that (though too close). I have to hand it to Frank for trying this, it was "game" of him in many respects. I'd agree that other folks involved, indeed this segment of the music industry, aren't on his level. That Americans buy it doesn't surprise me anymore; more than a few people I know actually bought Natalie Cole CDs instead of the real deal (Nat). That really baffles (and saddens) me. It seems they don't buy many records that aren't recent, as perhaps they fit the "lifestyle" pidgeonhole better. The music biz shares responsibility for that kind of consumerism though. That being so, I suspect it's even more a comment on the music biz than a comment on mass taste. Because people have shown some interest in the music, a wider range of music than a lot of the biz seems to give people credit for. The current biz ought to have been making better examples of the art for people to buy rather than seemingly reacting (poorly) to "fill a market" few in the biz have sincere interest in.

What Phil was doing in this I don't know. If he was sincerely interested in classic pop, it doesn't show.

Good post. Agree with your suggestion.

Well said.

 

RE: The 80th anniversary live CD. That is a must have. It's taken from concert peformances that were done around 1987 in Dallas TX, and elsewhere, putting it square in between L.A. Is My Lady & Duets. Sinatra is in great form and the band is swinging. Buy it, just don't be fooled into thinking it's a post 1990 performance. There's no information inside the CD telling you where or when it was recorded.

 

Maybe. IMO, it's basically that they'd done "One For My Baby" that way for so long, how could it not be good? On paper, it's not really different than the classic '58 version on ONLY THE LONELY. However, it's coming out of Frank who was then 77 years old, with some more long roads under his belt. Yes, it's the same man, and he'd been singing it live for the 25 years in between, but when you compare these two versions, it going to be a pretty different reading due to this. It's an amazing performance of the song.

 

Chris, do you have SESSIONS WITH SINATRA (which my buddy Chuck Granata wrote), or Phil Ramone's MAKING RECORDS (which Chuck wrote with Phil)? They both go into the making of these albums pretty well, and it's quite intersting (to me, at least), even if you're not a big fan of these two albums.

 

He relied a lot on Bill Miller, and I think that there was a "comfort" factor working there that enabled Sinatra to relax a little and give the best interpretation that he could offer. He went along with the Duets concept, but I think that he might have been a little scared and inhibited throughout the whole process of making the album.

 

There are tapes out there of Sinatra singing the entire songs before the duet partners were added. Although not Frank's best recordings, these complete songs could be added to a re-issue and end up making a nice deluxe edition.

 

No unfortunately I don't. I'd be interested anyway, yes. I'll see about getting my hands on them, especially Sessions.

It's too bad IMH that Frank didn't get more album projects in these later years. If there were other solo albums perhaps some of the pressure would've been off these, allowing them to be taken (perhaps more charitably) as the "bonus" project it feels like to me, if that makes sense.