Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality: "Come Swing with Me" (1961)

That will teach me to look at something off-angle and too light...I thought that was a splay before. That doesn't seem right...maybe an instrument case?

 

I guess so. Gives a different enough look...

 

Is the newer HD download from Pro studio masters download the original stereo mix? It sounds that way to me, but wanted to be sure.

 

To my ears it sounds like the original mix. But the MFSL LP sounds a little drier in terms of reverb.

 

Been here before, but just felt like chiming in again. For s%^ts and giggles I pulled out a beautifully clean OP MONO of this LP. It is really, really good! You get the pressure of the "ping-pong" taken away and just enjoy the music. Groovy stuff.

 

I really need to track down a better copy of this album. It’s probably my least favorite of his Capitol albums, but still. I only have the Mastered for iTunes version, the UMe vinyl reissue, and the Norberg CD. The Walsh CD is on its way from the UK right now, but I see above that it’s a bit of a stinker.

The 1983 MFSL is probably a bit much for an album I don’t love. I’ll need to read the old scorecard pages to see what other version I should track down. The Alan Dell LP perhaps?

Yeah, okay, so I’m looking to acquire a FIFTH copy of an album that I’ve admitted is my least favorite in his Capitol catalog. That’s what this website does to you...That being said, a better sounding version could help me appreciate some of the finer aspects of this album that haven’t hit me yet. The darn ping pong stereo distracts me. I’ve never really noticed the percussion before.

 

"Come Swing With Me" is one of Fank's albums that I love the most. It seems psychedelic to me so very different from many of his albums. There are no Saxophones and no ropes suit, but the rhythmic section and the metals take a very warm swing. It's a sound that sounds sensual and exotic to me.

From the versions that I could hear of this album, the one I like the most is the 2015 Hi-Res. I think the sound is more balanced, the midrange and the bass are more valued than in the MFSL LP pressing and there are no tape transcript as in the CD remixed by Larry Walsh. From the original Mono and Stereo LPs I can not say why I've never heard them sound at all. The only one I do not like the digital edition is the drop-out that is at the beginning of the "Lover" track.​

 

If my memory serves me, on the digital version, the end fades are shaved off a bit, as our host calls it, 'helping the fade'.

 

Looking better, the digital version for me is on an equal footing with the MFSL LP of 1983. But the MFSL LP has a better audio transcription.

 

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Despite the compression, I'm sure this mix is from Larry Walsh because it has a tape transcription error at 00:20.

But I come to talk about this mix of "American Beauty Rose" for a reason: It is, possibly, the only one that corrects a volume error perceived in other stereophonic mixes, that occurred in the recording after the bridge of the arrangement. The error, if it were in the other mixes, would be between 01:56 and 02:02.

I advise everyone who reads this to try to listen to the various stereo mixes of this song and they will realize the flaw I am referring to.

 

I believe that the error at 1:56, which I noticed in the sound of the MFSL edition, is a matter of balance because, suddenly, Frank's voice is sonically on the same level as the orchestra. Then, the volume of the voice returns to normal.

 

Ya lost me in the technical...but there is a a "clam" in the trumpet section that prompted Mr. S to do an inner cut. Most noticeable by his singing "It's AH funny how a theme". My ears are growing old.

 

No...but the famous one for Come Swing is the blown trumpet note on "I've Heard That Song Before" and the edit shown to us for the 1st time in a CD era reissue of the recording.

My FAVORITE story from Point Of No Return is the classic documented by the late Robin Douglas-Home:

The only moment the atmosphere got tense was when the man in the control room said he wanted to re-record an improvised passage on the piano by Bill Miller, put in at Mr. S's suggestion. "Why?" asked Sinatra.

"I don't like it" boomed the the voice through the speakers.

"Well I do. Next tune" answered Sinatra.

And that was that...

My God! I loved that man. Still do. Always will. He had his many grievous faults, but God forbid anyone dared to get in the way of how he perfected the recording and final outcome of his "concept" albums.