Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality (and general discussion): Singles, Soundtracks, Etc.

It's either a tape flaw (a very short patch of 'violining' on the tape head) or an error by one of the strings, perhaps the first-desk violin closest to the mike. I don't hear it as a 'beep'

I'll have a listen to one of my vinyls or a CD, rather than the mp3 posted here, and report back.

 

Unless they had a DeLorean handy, there was no way it could have been anythng like either of those in 1957.

 

Some info anout the song "Love and Marriage" in the thread —> Cheesy TV theme songs.

 

Bob, they used the Capitol version on MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN.

Most of the seasons on the DVD sets remove Sinatra though.

 

Doh! My dumb mistake. Following is a corrected version of my post in the other thread...

 

No, they used an abbreviated version of the real Capitol Records recording by Sinatra, with a couple of overdubbed sound effects, notably the "door slam" at the end:



Sinatra recorded "Love and Marriage" in 1955, for the Producers' Showcase TV musical version of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" in which he starred along with Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. The (mono) song was first released on the Our Town soundtrack EP, and as a hit single which charted for 17 weeks (peaking at #5). It was included the following year on the Capitol singles compilation LP, This Is Sinatra!...

—> http://youtu.be/q18aELkIDQk

Ten years later, Sinatra remade the song (in stereo) for his Reprise Records label. The first release was for the 1965 double-LP anthology, A Man and His Music, but it was edited down to just a minute-and-a-half on the album. The full recording went unreleased until 1990, when it appeared in the 4-CD set, The Reprise Collection...

—> http://youtu.be/g13VZIdOVkc

Aside from the mono-to-stereo update, the latter Reprise recording may be identified by its shorter length (2:12 vs. 2:37 for the Capitol version), absence of a choral accompaniment, and spoken "No, sir!" at the end. The two versions may also be differentiated early in the song (22 seconds in):

Capitol: "This I tell you, brother..."
Reprise: "This I'll tell you, brother..."

The first is the version heard in shortened form as the "Married with Children" opening theme.
__________________
~ Frank's Albums

 

For the sake of completeness, are we aware of any other sources for stereo versions of the other tracks recorded during those two sessions in Nov/Dec 1957, besides Norberg's 1996 Complete Capitol Singles for "I Believe," "Time After Time," and "You'll Always Be the One I Love," and Walsh's 1995 80th: All the Best for "Time After Time"? Additionally, I am only aware of mono releases of "Everybody Loves Somebody" and "It's the Same Old Dream," period.

 

"Everybody Loves Somebody" and "It's the Same Old Dream" are stereo on the 3CD THE CAPITOL YEARS set that Ron Furmanek produced. The mixes heard there were made for that set.

 

I believe that "If You Are but a Dream" has never appeared in stereo on compact disc.

In fact, up until Romance: Songs from the Heart in 2007, it was the only originally-released Capitol LP track which had never been issued on a commercial USA CD. (Qualified with "commercial" to exclude the MasterCard Series promo CD, Deep in a Dream.) It was supposed to appear as a bonus track in the 4-CD Complete Capitol Singles set, but it was omitted due to an oversight.

The other six tracks from the Nov/Dec '57 sessions have all appeared in stereo on CD, and—until the LP discoveries outlined in Matt's post—most of us believed the 3-track recording and/or stereo master of IYABAD must have been damaged or misplaced. It is still unknown if anyone knows where to find those today.

 

Unbelievably sloppy on my part. That's what I get for only consulting online discographies and not tracklists of CDs I actually own! Thanks Martin.

 

In addition to The Capitol Years 3-CD set mentioned by Martin, "It's the Same Old Dream" is in stereo on Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Sammy Cahn (1996).

 

Those seven "orphan" tracks from late 1957 are interesting for having been (1) recorded early in the stereo era, and (2) released on a compilation LP instead of a pure concept album. Since they are coming up in Matt's series —> Non-Album Tracks, 1957, as well as on their 58th anniversary, I think it's appropriate to drop in these posts from my old "50 Years Ago, Frank Recorded..." thread —> at the SFF:

Monday, November 25, 1957

On this date, Frank Sinatra held a recording session at the Capitol Tower for an album which never fully materialized. Four tracks were recorded, with Nelson Riddle arrangements, which were remakes of songs FS had recorded originally for Columbia in 1946 and 1947. Three of these were songs he sang in the film It Happened In Brooklyn.

• I Believe
  (Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
  (From the 1947 movie It Happened In Brooklyn, sung by Jimmy Durante & Frank Sinatra)
  
  
• Everybody Loves Somebody
  (Music by Kermit [Ken] Lane; lyrics by Irving Taylor)
  (Popularized in 1948 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  See the following thread for an extended discussion of this song: Everybody Loves Somebody.
  
  
• It's The Same Old Dream
  (Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
  (From the 1947 movie It Happened In Brooklyn, sung by Frank Sinatra)
  
  
• Time After Time
  (Music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
  (From the 1947 movie It Happened In Brooklyn, sung by Frank Sinatra)

Musicians (33): Conrad Gozzo, Shorty Sherock, Mickey Mangano, Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet); Ed Kusby, Jimmy Priddy (trombone); Juan Tizol (valve trombone); George Roberts (bass trombone); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee, Buddy Collette, Babe Russin, Joe Koch (woodwinds); Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Marshall Sosson, Mischa Russell, Gerald Vinci, Victor Arno, Alex Beller, Victor Bay, Paul Nero, Ben Gill (violin); David Sterkin, Stanley Harris, Alvin Dinkin (viola); Edgar Lustgarten, Eleanor Slatkin (cello); Kathryn Julye (harp); Jimmy Rowles (piano); Bob Bain (guitar); Joe Comfort (bass); Alvin Stoller (drums).

The album project for which these recordings were intended was never completed. A second session was scheduled two days later but was cancelled. Another session two weeks later yielded three more songs. These seven "orphaned" tracks were released the following spring on a compilation LP titled This Is Sinatra, Volume Two. The four songs recorded at this session may be heard on various CD collections (in stereo, although the original release was in mono only).

Wednesday, December 11, 1957

On the eve of his 42nd birthday, Frank Sinatra recorded three more tracks for an unfinished album of 1940's remakes. From 9:00 p.m. to midnight at the Capitol Tower, these songs were recorded with orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle:

• You'll Always Be The One I Love
  (Music by Ticker Freeman; lyrics by Sunny Skylar)
  (First popularized in 1946-47 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  Sinatra finally produced a studio version of this song, which he first sang in 1946 on his Songs By Sinatra radio show but never recorded for Columbia Records. It was reused for the B-side of a Capitol single in 1960 and appears in The Complete Capitol Singles Collection.
  
  
• If You Are But A Dream
  (Music & lyrics by Moe Jaffe, Jack Fulton, & Nathan Bonx)
  (Based upon Anton Rubinstein's Romance #1)
  (First popularized in 1941 by the Delta Rhythm Boys)
  
  This classically-inspired ballad was a Columbia hit for FS in 1944, and he used it in his award-winning 1945 short-subject film, The House I Live In. Until recently, this Capitol remake remained a very elusive track, as it held the distinction of being the only official Capitol recording not released on a commercial CD in the US. This was remedied in early 2007 with the issue of the compilation CD, Romance: Songs From The Heart. (See this thread: If You Are But A Dream.) Unfortunately, this is the only track in this group which has not been reissued in a stereo mix.
  
  
• Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)
  (Music by Stephan Weiss & Paul Mann; lyrics by Ruth Lowe)
  (First popularized in 1942 by Frank Sinatra)
  
  Sinatra's closing theme song on his 1940's radio (and 1950's TV) shows, this Capitol remake joins earlier 1944-45 V-Disc and Columbia versions. A nearly-identical copy of this Nelson Riddle arrangement was recorded later for Reprise in 1963, for the album Sinatra's Sinatra. This Capitol version first appeared on CD (in stereo) in the 3-disc US box set, The Capitol Years.

These three tracks joined the four other "orphans" recorded November 25, 1957, on the 1958 compilation LP This Is Sinatra, Volume Two. They may be heard together in the monaural CD reissue of that album which is included in the 21-disc UK box set, The Capitol Years.

Musicians (33): Pete Candoli, Conrad Gozzo, Shorty Sherock, Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet); Dick Noel, Jimmy Priddy, Russell Brown (trombone); Juan Tizol (valve trombone); Skeets Herfurt, Harry Klee, Bill Green, Babe Russin, Joe Koch (woodwinds); Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Israel Baker, Murray Kellner, Alex Beller, Henry Hill, Victor Bay, David Fisina, Paul Nero, Ben Gill (violin); David Sterkin, Stanley Harris, Alvin Dinkin (viola); Eleanor Slatkin, Kurt Reher (cello); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (piano); Bobby Gibbons (guitar); Joe Comfort (bass); Bill Richmond (drums).
__________________

This would be the final recording session of the year 1957. We won't be returning to the Capitol Tower again until next March...
(Happy Birthday, Frank! )

 

Which is most sensibly the reason why they exist in stereo (underlined emphasis from me).

 

Does anyone know anything about the SQ of this disc?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...tra&qid=1447441857&ref_=sr_1_6&s=music&sr=1-6

 

From the sound samples provided, it sounds like someone clacking their music stand with a pen, hard part of a bow, a baton, possibly while turning a page of sheet music over. Maybe a ring someone was wearing was clicking against the back of a music stand while page turning. (I can also make out what sounds like shuffling or some kind of moving around.) I've heard similar sounds that were just that.

 

On the inner sleeve of the UK version of The Sinatra Touch, it says that some of the sides are "processed stereo" (which I take for Duophonic). Look at the 2nd pic here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frank-Sinat...167192?hash=item2ee823f8d8:g:oXIAAOSw9r1V9bq1

But on the US version, it makes no mention of it - see 3rd pic here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-SINATRA...521733?hash=item2ee847e645:g:zrcAAOSw5ZBWQ1wE

Are there 2 different versions?

 

It certainly does - I just missed it! Sorry...

 

Two different covers, certainly. For when the eBay images disappear, UK vs. US:

 

Thread: —> Seduction- Sinatra Sings Of Love
Much SQ discussion starting here: —> The FRANK SINATRA recordings thread (post #249)

 

Thanks!

 

You know, I don't think I've ever more eagerly awaited a future website update than the 25 November/11 December 1957 Sinatra Non-Album Tracks on 11fifty...