DCC Archive Sinatra's Capitol recordings on CD

The following was posted on February 7, 2001. Some questions have been
edited for brevity's sake; Steve's replies are unabridged. All other posters'
identities have been omitted.

Q: What's the problem with the remastered "Songs For Swingin' Lovers"?

S: The problem with this tape is that there are two of them. One sounds
wonderful, one sounds bad. The bad one is marked "master." In 1962,
after Sinatra jumped ship, Capitol re-released all his old albums
minus two songs each (to save money on publishing). They redubbed
the old mono and stereo masters to NEW masters, with extra echo
and (bad) EQ. Of course they marked these new dubs "Master." So,
unless you ask for the right version of the tape, you get the wrong
version. The late Pete Welding of Capitol knew better, and all
the re-releases he worked on had the right tapes. BUT, when MFSL did
the Frank Sinatra box, they used all of the wrong tapes through no
fault of their own. One only has to listen to an old 1950's pressing
of "Songs For Swinging Lovers" to notice how much better it sounds
than most of the stuff out there on that title today. Darn shame, isn't it?

Q: Do you know which tapes were used for the MFSL CD of "Songs For Swingin'
Lovers"? (this question is unedited -- C.)

S: The bad ones, I'm sorry to say. Buy an original Capitol pressing for 8 bucks.
The sound will be much better; less echo, too.

Q: 1) It seems to me that the best sounding LP of the entire set (the MFSL
box set -- C.) is "No One Cares." I compared it to both the original
Capitol CD release and the digitally remastered Capitol LP; the MFSL
has less noise and the soundstage appears to be wider without more echo.
Am I right? 2) "Come Fly With Me": The top end of the high flute on
"Around The World" is awfully distorted on both the Capitol CD/remastered
LP and the MFSL pressing. It's not on the otherwise compressed sounding
EMI Centennial LP release. Is this due to deterioration of the original
master or did Capitol Records use the same "false" tapes for their
remastering? (Haven't heard the newer 20-bit version to this day, though)

S: "No One Cares" from MFSL is one that used the correct original stereo
mix. A keeper. The Capitol CD versions use a REMIX of the three-track,
with the stereo folded in towards the center! Bad news.

"Come Fly With Me." An interesting situation. Each song on the album was
recorded in mono and in multi-track. Since the mono is the version they
were "going for" in 1957, it sounds fine. The Binaural multi-track version
was recorded with SEPARATE mics and equipment. One of the Mic preamps
had a bad tube in it for several of the songs and that is what you hear
overloading and distorting. Only on the stereo version. Get it? The EMI
version used a British copy of the original mono (undistorted) tape.
That's probably why they used the mono instead of the stereo mix made
from the distorted multi-track.

I was bitching earlier and forgot to mention that the STEREO LP's in the
MFSL/Frank Sinatra Box are all the correct versions from the original
"fairy dust" two-track mixes. It's only the MONO's that were from
the re-echo'd tapes.... So, hang on to your boxes! =^)

Q: What's the deal with "Sinatra's Swingin' Session"?

S: "Sinatra's Swingin'Session" stereo master tape sounds just like it does
on the MFSL LP. That is the reason it was remixed from the three
track for the Capitol CD versions. Less hiss, more dynamics. The BEST
way to hear this great album is on the MONO Capitol LP. World of a difference!

Q: What's the deal with the stereo remixes?

S: Why they remixed the three-tracks in the 80's you mean? Well,
I think they were trying to improve upon the sound of the old
two-tracks. I think they felt that the old 1950's stereo mixes
were too compressed and didn't "resolve" enough for compact disc.
At least that is what Larry Walsh told us once. He did all the
remixing for CD.

 

Words of wisdom from Steve Hoffman!

This is why I LOVE this site. Nowhere else could you get information like this!

Now I know why I understand why my MFSL "Swingin' Lovers" sounds so crappy. I thought it was the fault of my cartridge or something.

 

Fortunately, the current crop of 20-bit and 24-bit CD remasters from Capitol are, IMHO, superior to both the 1987 to 1991 Capitol CDs mastered by Larry Walsh and the MFSL reissues as well. The best way to pick up the entire Capitol catalog is, if you can afford it, to purchase the 2000 "Concepts" box set which contains all of Sinatra's original Capitol 'theme' albums, along with the "Complete Capitol Singles Collection" 4-disc box set. They are all mastered in 20 or 24 bits by Bob Norberg and the "Concepts" box has just received the "Golden Ears Reissue" award from The Absolute Sound's Paul Seydor.

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: luke j chung ]