I've updated the A Swingin' Affair webpage to include a clip from the new LP. Here's the audio clip from the new LP, thanks to @AxeD. For comparison, here's the same audio clip from an excellent, original D6 LP that @TLMusic shared some time ago. Finally, a clip from the 2014 MFSL hybrid disc. Lots of other clips are on the site, for those who are interested.
Anyone any clue why the European voucher will only give you download tracks specified as '1998 Digital Remaster'?
That is how they title the Norberg CD version on the digital download and streaming sites. Since they haven't released a hi-res download version of this album, perhaps they haven't prepared a newly-mastered 320K MP3 download version either?
I've received the Euro download files, but I don't have time to inspect them just now. You'll notice that these include the CD bonus track, "The Lady Is a Tramp." I'm 99% certain that these will turn out to the the ℗ 1998 (i.e. Norberg) files, not the ℗ 2014 versions from the new LP. To my knowledge, this is the first time UMe has issued downloads which do not match the vinyl sources.
Confirmed: The UMe download is the 1998 CD (mastered by Bob Norberg), ripped to 320K MP3 files. Don't buy the EU version with the expectation of receiving the vinyl source using the download voucher.
This has been corrected. Universal has sent out emails to customers who previously downloaded the incorrect files: Please note a new version of the audio download for this release is now available which contains the most recent remaster. You can access this latest version by logging into your account and clicking the download link for this title again. Many thanks Back to Black Support (Thanks to @NickB for this heads-up.)
On one hand, it's an advantage for us, on the other hand, it's a reason to worry a little bit that they save the download customers' email addresses. What will they finally do with all these addresses?
There may have been a box to check/uncheck to indicate whether or not you wanted marketing emails. Also, they might use your email address for customer service purposes if there are any issues with the download. I've had a couple download codes (non-Sinatra) that didn't work, but I was able to get new codes after contacting the company. Perhaps they used my email address to verify that I had already tried to use a code? Who knows. You could always create a new, free email address through Google or Yahoo and then use that address only for stuff like download codes, registering software, etc.
Today my wife bought me the Ume vinyl release of "Swingin' affair" as a Valentine's gift. (Perfect wife I may say) This release is a blessing!!! Brilliant sound! Just what I was expecting after Ume "Swingin' lovers". Another winner, as you all already pointed out. Sounds like they took the blanket away after all these years! I would almost say that you've never heard "Lonesome Road" until you've heard this record. Wow! (And this was a track that I used to like the least, now it's a highlight!!!) Everything is so much better nuanced and differentiated. You can almost hear every single instrument by itself. Great stuff! Whoever remastered this one did a great job. "At long last love" is clipped off early, isn't it? Or am I wrong?
You are correct. From my site: <<To my ears, the 2014 MFSL CD hybrid disc is just about perfect. The only two sonic concerns I have, and I’m almost embarrassed to say this, are that 1.) The fade of “At Long Last Love” is clipped off early; and 2.) I don’t care for how the rills (spaces between songs) are handled by means of a direct cut to “digital zero” (pure silence), rather than a tasteful, gradual fade, or even just leaving the hiss at full volume between tracks. I find the hard cuts to be distracting, but these are nit-picks regarding an otherwise exemplary disc, so kudos to Rob LoVerde and company at MFSL for finally giving this album its sonic due after nearly 60 years of attempts that fell short. >>
Friends, a question that I've been asking myself for more than 30 years now: "I got it bad and that ain't good". At the end is Frank singing "Lord above make her love me the way that she should" (the way it was written) or is he singing "the way that she shouldn't" ???! Which would have a much more delicate meaning and would fit his kind of humour. What do you think or hear?
“shouldn” I agree with your suggestion that Frank was altering the lyric intentionally for the double entendre. The final “t” is not enunciated, so it’s not so clear cut. (He may have been singing: “…the way that she should AND I’ve got it bad…”)
"Shouldn" is one of Sinatra's "attempts" at a Black or R&B inflection. Throughout "I Got It Bad" he seems to be subtly trying for this effect. In the 60's would emerge his "Ray Charles" approach. At the very least he was far more successful at approximating an R&B inflection than when he attempted to sound "Country" with an exaggerated drawl almost executed with contempt.
The Ume "I won't dance" has some more reverb to it than I was used to. Since I don't own the original 1957 release but only several re-releases can someone tell me if that reverb was on the original recording? Thanks
Original gray-label, MFSL CD, and UMe LP all have the same reverb levels, but your ears are not fooling you! It comes down to this old post: Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality: "A Swingin' Affair" - 1957 . What you are hearing is yet another ear-catching "knob twiddle" on A Swingin' Affair. The instrumental mics, the vocal mic, and the reverb chamber mic were all being balanced live, on the fly, and whoever mixed this album was (almost literally) constantly "knob twiddling." There is a somewhat heavy dose of reverb on the vocal for the first 28 seconds or so, then on the "you know what" lines that follow, the reverb knob is clearly twiddled in the negative direction, changing the effect mid-song.
