I found an original mono pressing at a cafe near me in DC that also sells records (don't ask) a couple of months ago. It was only $5. I brought it home, cleaned it, and then recoiled at the terrible surface noise. I tried again with an original mono pressing on Discogs for $7 + shipping. That copy has the craziest surface noise I've ever heard. I thought my stylus broke or my speakers shorted out! Yikes. So now I'm trying again. Many people on this thread like the original stereo pressing. Our host likes the mono. So I ordered them both for cheap on Discogs. I figure one of the two has to be in good shape!
Agree highly, the R9 Stereo is not perfect. But it sounds, so right and so balanced. Sure, the bass is lacking. But the rest of it is so much an organic whole, it does not bother this ear. It's musical and enjoyable, and Francis Albert Sinatra at his best in this era. For my money, this is arguably the best he ever sounded at United. I love it even with it's one tonal flaw. And it's one of the Sinatra albums I reach for often. It's an awesome top to bottom LP, not a duff track.
Gotta say: It's kind of cool that in Japan the CD was issued with the die-cut cover to match the original LP:
The Japanese are sticklers for reproducing the original LP sleeves accurately, but two things to note about that 2010 Sinatra Society of Japan SHM-CD issue: (1) There is no Reprise logo on the cover, and (2) the disc is digitally identical to the concurrent UMG issue in the EU (and the 1998 Reprise EOTC issue in the USA).
That is definitely cool. I’ve been listening to this album a lot this week. Don’t know why. Just felt the need. I love it, even if the sound isn’t the greatest thing ever.
I need to track that down. All I have is original pressings in mono and stereo, I believe. The last week or so I’ve been listening to the iTunes version.
Great album but why leave off “In the Blue Of Evening “ it’s one of the best recordings of the sessions, imho peace and love✌Dave
It was from the earlier sessions that year at Radio Recorders, which otherwise went unused when Frank put the album together from the recordings done at United, with different instrumentation/arrangements. Not sure why the song wasn't done again during the newer set of sessions...
My R prefix copy has deadwax etchings that I don’t understand. Side A says “10,038-16” and Side B says “10,039-16.” I’m used to see A1, B1, or 1A, 1B, and so on. What does the deadwax etchings on my copy mean?
@MLutthans It says “manufactured by Bristol Productions” on the sleeve. I see from posts above that this was a company set up by FS in the mid-50s. Not sure what this all means for the deadwax.
Weird. I’ll post the full deadwax info in a bit. And I’ll see if I can figure out how to post a photo.
Here are pics of the label on both sides. The only things in the deadwax are "R-1003-A 10,038-16" and "R-1003-B 10,039-16."
I’m not a huge fan of the mono mix on this one, but I wonder how much of that has to do with the particular record I’ve been listening to. If only there were someplace I could listen to samples...
