gmonahan

Sorry, Greg, my error. It's actually a Reprise version. But it's on the CD Nothing But the Best if you are looking for it. A better example of a recently released stray Capitol track would be the alternate of Nice n Easy which is on Romance: Songs from the Heart. In any case, there are others. I'd say the Capitol sessions have been treated adequately, but this is Capitol Sinatra! Adequate isn't really good enough. How is that version of "Body and Soul" by the way? I did some searching after I queried you and found the cd, but it's always aggravating to buy an entire cd just to get one track! It appears to come from the LA is My Lady sessions, but has been reset with a new arrangement? And yes, adequate isn't good enough when it comes to Capitol Sinatra! That said, I think their decision to issue the tracks in two boxes is defensible--keeping the Concepts albums together (albeit, as you pointed out, with occasional bonus tracks that don't quite fit the concepts), and issuing all the Singles on one set. My problem with the Reprise box is that it can be hard to isolate the original albums if one wants to, though I did once find a wonderful little website that helped me do that. The Columbia Blue Box, of course, is just way cool. greg mo

The Capitol albums badly need revisiting, I think. I'd like to see a boxed set along the lines of the upcoming Beatles ones: new mono and stereo remasters in mini LP sleeves. The RCA, Columbia and Reprise albums have all been handled perfectly in their respective boxed sets, but EMI's neglect of the Capitol albums stands out a mile. Well, they did do the Concepts and Singles boxes, which pretty well reissued everything. One can certainly argue with the quality of the sound (though it mostly sounds pretty good to me), and it would be way cool to have the mono pressings from the early stereo era, but those still strike me as pretty good boxes. Is your problem with the sound? greg mo Partly the sound, which is variable, but mainly the way the music is organised and annotated. With the other labels putting everything they have in one lavish box, in session order with excellent annotation and illustrations, it stands out that the Capitol material is sort of all over the place and carelessly presented. There are many odd tracks that are only available on "best of" compilations, such as Here Goes and Body and Soul, for example. Songs for Swingin' Lovers! still has that horrible band across the top of the cover explaining what a CD is ("Compact disc version of original full-length album"), Only the Lonely has a couple of bonus tracks that don't fit the concept, and so on. It's probably picky of me, but I think EMI's treatment of these famous sessions is kind of sloppy. It is true that the Capitol stuff is mostly concentrated in two boxes rather than one, and the bonus tracks could have been better organized. I'm curious, though, about the Capitol version of "Body and Soul." I don't think I have that one. What compilation is it on? I have the version Sinatra recorded for Columbia in '47 in the Blue Box, but I don't find the Capitol one. greg mo

One of my very favorite Monk tunes. greg mo

Thanks Chris! I think I understated my enjoyment of the blog. I'll enjoy it even more now that I can see it better! greg mo

The Capitol albums badly need revisiting, I think. I'd like to see a boxed set along the lines of the upcoming Beatles ones: new mono and stereo remasters in mini LP sleeves. The RCA, Columbia and Reprise albums have all been handled perfectly in their respective boxed sets, but EMI's neglect of the Capitol albums stands out a mile. Well, they did do the Concepts and Singles boxes, which pretty well reissued everything. One can certainly argue with the quality of the sound (though it mostly sounds pretty good to me), and it would be way cool to have the mono pressings from the early stereo era, but those still strike me as pretty good boxes. Is your problem with the sound? greg mo

That was my frustration with it--I even mentioned it in a comment. Love the photos and the stories about Lil Hardin Armstrong and others, and plan to read more, but for these increasingly aged eyes, the small print is sometimes very tough to read. I have to put on my reading glasses and get up close to the screen! As for the political stuff, I've never even clicked on that category. I can get politics in a zillion places. I come here to talk about, and more importantly learn about, the music. greg mo

I always blow hot and cold about whether to get yet another version of an album after I already have it. I have the Complete Reprise box, so the sound on the new issues would have to be really amazing--as amazing as the Original Master Recordings version of "Only the Lonely"--to get me to invest again! But I'm *always* up for some Sinatra I haven't heard before. Sure would like to see cd issues of some of the material he did for his TV shows. As you get and listen to the new Reprise reissues, I hope you'll come back here and tell us about them. greg mo

I'm trying REAL hard not to visualize that naked in church part. greg mo

There has been some discussion of upcoming Sinatra here: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=54214 All I know of is the expected 4-cd/DVD "Sinatra: New York" set discussed there. About the only Sinatra yet to be reissued are live things such as concerts and TV appearances. Well, those and the MONO versions of his mid-50s Capitol albums discussed in that thread. greg mo

Seems like Mosaic could try marketing them through True Blue. 'Course, that wouldn't create a lot more demand, but some at least? greg mo

I've just been listening to the Original Master Recording gold disc of the mono version of "Only the Lonely" we were mentioning earlier in this thread. It is simply gorgeous. Warm, intimate, beautifully mixed. I did a couple of comparisons between it and the stereo version in the Concepts box, and the mono wins hands down. I can hear the orchestra parts far more distinctly, Miller's piano seems closer, and Sinatra's voice, seldom better than on this album, sounds to me as if he's practically in the room with me. Indeed, while I (and a few gazillion others) have always been struck by his phrasing, what hit me here was his diction, the way he chose to pronounce ending "d's" and "t's" clearly in some cases and soften them in others. What a master he was. I don't mean to diss the stereo versions. I've been listening to them for a long time, but I would LOVE to have some of Sinatra's other albums from this period in this format (even if it is pretty spendy)! A thousand thanks to TTK for turning me on this one! Oh yeah, and the bonus tracks are *not* on this disc--just the original 12 tracks, as TTK said. Amazon was wrong again. greg mo

And assuming Mosaic is still with us in twenty years. Hope springs eternal! greg mo

You think?!

It's a 5-disc set due out in November: Sinatra: New York Thanks for this. Sounds great, I have Hollywood and Vegas and will buy this too when the price is right. Me too--and thanks from me as well for the link. I wish there was more from earlier periods, but this does sound interesting. Sure would be nice to have an audio multi-disc set of his TV shows. The third Duets album (taken from TV appearances) showed that there was a fair amount of unmined material there. greg mo

Speaking of Sinatra, I'm pretty sure I heard that there's another box set of cd concerts coming out (kind of like "Sinatra: Las Vegas"). Has anyone heard that? I think it was "Sinatra: New York" or something like that. I only caught the tail end of the story. greg mo

Thanks for posting this. Caused me to get out my Young Verve set and listen to "I Cover the Waterfront" again! greg mo

Complete Columbia Mildred Bailey, disc one. What a *fun* singer she was! greg mo

A double welcome from me as well! greg mo

I'm like Bev (I think it was Bev). I'll go "hot" on a given artist, pick up a bunch of stuff, listen, then move on, then come back. I did that recently with T-Bone Walker. But there are a few constants. I'm always on the lookout for something with solos by Frank Rosolino--and he was on a LOT of sessions. Toots Thielemans does it for me too. And Jack Teagarden. And Basie. And Bird. And........... greg mo

Harry James, Bandstand Memories set on Hindsight, disc 3. Good set with some fine James trumpet.

What an extraordinary life! I was just indexing the Louis Armstrong Mosaic set with his name and listening to him strumming away before I saw this. Rhythm guitarists were *so* important to the music. I worship at the altar of Freddie Green. greg mo

If I really take to an artist, I want to hear everything, including the less that perfect stuff, because I want to know him/her artistically. So I guess I am one of those looney completists. You don't want to hear the numbers. You'd conclude that I needed counseling. And you'd probably be right! greg mo

Louis Armstrong, disc 7. Great set! greg mo

Yeah, he and Bob Bush used to honcho a shop called "Campus Records" I think, just a few doors down from where Discount opened. I hung out there *a lot*. Bought a lot of RCA Vintage and (God help me) Stereo re-processed Decca Jazz Heritage LPs in those stores! Small world! greg mo Bob Bush was a great friend in the early '60s when I was there. Campus Records used to be around the corner, west of the Hamburg Inn. All my extra money (and some of my dad's) went into that shop. I imagine others are getting tired of reading our little stroll down memory lane, but I too remember Bush as a lovely, gentle man. He was very nice to me in the late 60s when I hung out there and helped guide me toward some better music than I was listening to then. To generalize this a bit (!), the loss of smaller, often independently owned record stores is a real shame. One can still occasionally find independently owned stores, mostly with used stuff, but they are largely a vanished breed. I guess they gave way to the big chain stores like Peach's and Tower, and then those folded to the internet. Of course, it's possible now to find material we couldn't dream of finding then (when we searched laboriously through Schwann catalogues, ordering and hoping maybe the record would get there in our lifetimes!), but the ambience and occasional educational value of such stores is sorely missed--at least by me! greg mo

Yeah, he and Bob Bush used to honcho a shop called "Campus Records" I think, just a few doors down from where Discount opened. I hung out there *a lot*. Bought a lot of RCA Vintage and (God help me) Stereo re-processed Decca Jazz Heritage LPs in those stores! Small world! greg mo