Sinatra / Reprise Sound Quality and General Discussion: "Sinatra and Swingin' Brass" - 1962*

It's a shame that the engineering (and subsequent remasters attempting to correct it) wasn't up to the prime Capitol era sonics. Though I have to remind myself that even prime Capitol years suffered from a number of engineering issues that detracted from the material. While "Songs for Swingin' Lovers" and "In the Wee Small Hours" remain two of the finest examples of Capitol at its best (with "Swingin' Affair" and "Only The Lonely" being fairly superlative as well) -- "Come Dance With Me", "Come Swing With Me" and even "Swingin' Session" aren't necessarily as flawless engineering-wise and start to reveal some of the blindspots several of the Reprise albums suffered from.

"Brass" is a particularly unfortunate case as the reeds especially suffer from the mic'ing used. Very thin and kazoo like ("Sinatra/Basie" veers in this direction at times too, though less glaringly). For a brassy, big band swing record, it's unfortunate we couldn't have had the engineering of a "SFSL" or "A Swingin' Affair" to really experience Hefti's charts and those players in full.

Frank's vocals sound largely OK here, if a bit dry in some releases. I believe he was still using a U47/48 at this point, right? Before Sonny Burke came along and insisted on using the dynamic AKG D24E. It's a very fine mic (especially for live performances as evidenced by the St Louis show) but definitely doesn't have the depth or roundness of the Neumann condenser. It shimmers, but it's not warm. I think Frank was using the D24 by the time he got to "It Might As Well Be Swing" (1964) and the 'thinness' definitely shows on that awful Concord 2014 set. Very flat and lacking depth/color!

 

Great research as usual, sir! I hadn't realized Frank dabbled with the U67 towards the end of his Capitol run. That might explain why his vocals sound a bit thin and boxier on that album, even when drenched in reverb (the U67 wasn't/isn't as kind to lower voices).

The ELAM 250/251 is a GREAT mic however for Frank's tone and timbre. And that album actually sounds pretty solid vocally with nice amount of warmth to it. Would be curious to know if "Ring A Ding Ding" was also the ELAM or whether he was experimenting with the 67 again there. Heck, maybe even a 47!

 

Found a 1962 UK Pie pressing in excellent conditions.

I agree on the verdict on the comparison page: it has lots of bottom end, a punchy rhythm section, it's a bit on the warm side. Vocals are a bit veiled and reverb-y for my taste, but overall it's nice.

I also have the 2014 LP which is nice too, but this one sounds more "old fashioned" and warmer in tone.

Both very different from my third copy, a 1977 US LP, which on the other hand is ultra brassy and even a bit nasal in the voice.


Oh, and IMHO it's a really nice album, a bit overlooked perhaps.