‘My Way’ 50th Anniversary and ‘Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman’coming October 2019

Not interested.

 

The quad My Way would have been nice.

 

I should mention that the Sinatra clip which has circulated is only part of the complete song as performed by Paul Anka on his 1979 album Headlines. Without the totally different (melodic) first part, Sinatra’s vocal seems strange (to these ears). It was overdubbed to its orchestral backing at his second-to-last Reprise session in early 1988, and he is not in very good voice (again, to these ears). Perhaps there is more to it that we haven’t heard? It’s going to be a long wait until October…

 

I always loved the recording of "Leave it all to me". To me it is Vintage Sinatra. And actually I love the sound of his voice on this recording. It has so much depth and wisdom to it. Also it is quite a unique lyric and the arrangement adds a mystical atmosphere to it. Almost as if Sinatra is playing the part of a market crier, or a circus director.
Will Friedwald wrote in his book that he believes the recording should have been released back then, it would have made a great single.
I also believe that. If they had released it as a single, to go hand in hand with the Ultimate Event promotion, things might have clicked.
Anyway, beautiful, unique recording.

 

As far as the 'unique lyric' from Paul Anka is concerned, the song text goes - according to my ears - like this:

Step right up and step inside,
you ain´t seen nothing yet.
Life´s a roller coaster ride,
one ticket´s all you get.

There are honky tonks and pleasure palaces ………

Long time ago, Frank Sinatra had been quoted saying "Why are they getting me to record **** like this?" It was also said that he wanted the master to be destroyed. When this allegedly quote was spread, the allegedly source immediately denied having ever quoted Frank Sinatra this way.

 

Pre-order listings are now up at Amazon.com:

Frank Sinatra - My Way 50th Anniversay Edition [LP] - Amazon.com Music - $19.98
Frank Sinatra - My Way 50th Anniversay Edition [CD] - Amazon.com Music - $13.95

Frank Sinatra - Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman [LP] - Amazon.com Music - $19.98
Frank Sinatra - Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman [CD] - Amazon.com Music - $13.95

(Initial retail prices shown above may decrease by release date, October 11, 2019.)

 

The Capitol logo just looks bizarre on that two-tone Reprise label.

 

Almost like "Bizzarro Jerry" (Seinfeld)

 

More details are supplied by Amazon’s Editorial Reviews for the CD editions…

My Way 50th Anniversary Edition

Amazon.com: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic recordings of all time! Reissued for the first time in decades is the album My Way, first issued in 1969 and featuring the hit title song as well as Sinatra’s indelible performance on “All My Tomorrows,” from the film in which he had a starring role, A Hole In The Head. My Way, arranged by Don Costa, and coproduced by him with Sonny Burke, also includes Sinatra’s versions of more contemporary material, from The Beatles’ “Yesterday” to Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson.” My Way gets the expanded treatment for CD, which adds two rare duet versions – from the acclaimed Duets sessions but previously available only in limited form – and two live versions from successive decades. The CD package includes am exclusive, brand new essay by author David Ritz, known for his awardwinning artist biographies.

Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman

Amazon.com: Alan & Marilyn Bergman, winners of two Academy Awards and members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, were husband and wife, and their professional collaboration produced memorable lyrics cherished by superstars from Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis, to Sting, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Sinatra. This LP, and expanded CD and digital releases, highlights their great songs as sung by Sinatra. “His readings were always on the money and more than what we heard in our minds,” the Bergman’s write in the liner notes. “He sang to us. He spoke to us. And we listened.” Frank Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman is a newly curated collection, including Sinatra’s timeless performance of “Nice ‘n’ Easy,” which the Bergman’s coauthored with Lew Spence and arranged by Nelson Riddle. There are four more songs written with Spence and arranged by Riddle, including the swinging nursery rhyme “Ol’ MacDonald” and the deeply affecting “Love Looks So Well On You,” and “Sleep Warm,” both of which were originally available only as a single release. The Bergman’s also collaborated frequently with Michel Legrand, and the album includes their songs “What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?,” “The Summer Knows,” “Summer Me, Winter Me” and the Oscarnominated “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” Rounding out the collection is “”L.A. Is My Lady,” a latterday Sinatra classic the Bergman’s wrote with Quincy Jones. The CD release adds three rare bonus tracks, with two of them unreleased: “Leave It All To Me,” coauthored with Paul Anka, from a 1988 session long sought after by fans, and an earlier version of “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” from 1983. Also included is the rare holiday song, “Christmas Memories.”

 

This overlooks previous US CD reissues in 1986 (Warner/Reprise), 2009 (Concord 40th anniversary edition), and 2014 (UMe rebranding).

 

^^^ Strike the 2014 UMe reissue. Although still listed by US Amazon, I just realized this never happened. There were, however, Universal Music rebrandings of the 2009 Concord 40th Anniversary CD in Europe/UK and Japan.

The Amazon review blurb probably meant to state, “Reissued on vinyl for the first time in decades…”.

 

My Way Exclusive 50th Anniversary Edition Green Vinyl

 

I'm concerned of no mention of a remaster or original mix in the blurb.

 

Par for the course. I hope we don’t have to wait until October to find out.

 

Personally, I believe the sound of the original Lee Herschberg engineered My Way album, the subsequent Reprise CD (1029-2), and the My Way material on the Sinatra Suitcase all sound quite good. Honestly, I’m not ready for another excursion into the modern sounding mixing and/or mastering techniques of Larry Walsh (if he indeed is or will be the engineer for these new releases)- it's just not for me.

 

My guess (and it’s purely a guess) is that My Way will use the Larry Walsh remix from 2009. The CD is nearly the same as the Concord 40th anniversary edition (except for three bonus tracks which have appeared on other issues). LP mastering is (as yet) an unknown (and Ron McMaster is no longer in the loop), but given FSE's track record, I’ll bet they went with the “modern” mix they already have in the can. I know that many will hope I’m proved wrong.

 

As a long-time FS fan, my initial reaction is that these are two very uninspiring releases. I think UME and the FS estate would be better off remastering and releasing previously unreleased FS concerts of which there are several that were professionally recorded**. There is simply too little in the way of of non-released studio recordings to get anyone excited. The only benefit of these releases is that they may attract the attention of some younger music fans who have not yet listened to these Sinatra recordings.

**In particular I would recommend the Caesars Palace recordings done by the in-house CP sound engineer (known as the "Caesars Palace tapes") from the late 1960s on, the FS portion of which are now owned by the Sinatra estate. Included in these tapes, which are of excellent audio quality, are some great FS concerts from the late 60s which have never seen the light of day.

 

Would have been a perfect opportunity to include his solo performance of My Way he recorded for the duets project. He sang the entire song except for one verse where he forgets the line, which is heartbreaking. But it’s a very poignant version.

 

Sure, there would have been better options (Caesars tapes-yes!!!, duets solos etc.). But I must say that I am pretty happy that they keep releasing at all. We've seen worse times!

 

I'll purchase My Way on vinyl. I want to support these new Sinatra releases in the hope that something more interesting (concerts or a compilation/box set of rare tracks) will eventually come our way.

 

Does anyone here have an opinion, when it comes to colored vinyl? Some seem to think that the sound and/or pressing quality is inferior to black vinyl? Usually I prefer the look of black vinyl, but I must say that the green vinyl looks mighty tasty.

 

Re: “Leave It All To Me”

Probably not: The track time of 3:20 (shown by the pre-order listing at iTunes) is 17 seconds shorter than the known version.

 

It’s been discussed in many threads; quite recently: Colored vinyl albums...

I’m no expert (and I wouldn’t encourage an extended discussion in THIS thread), but the consensus of many is that there is NO effect on sound quality due to color alone. Indeed, black vinyl is a color. The stuff doesn’t come in black to begin with.

BTW (just to stay on topic), these are the links I've found so far where the “exclusive” green limited edition of My Way 50th can be purchased:

My Way (50th Anniversary) Collector's Edition LP – Frank Sinatra Official Store
My Way (50th Anniversary) Collector's Edition LP – uDiscover Music Store (US)
My Way: Exclusive 50th Anniversary Edition Green Vinyl – uDiscover Music Store (UK)
My Way: Exclusive 50th Anniversary Edition Green Vinyl – The Sound of Vinyl (UK)