New Sinatra Reissues - Concord

[whiskeycat]

I picked up a copy today of the 40th Anniversary Edition of "My Way" that Concord released a few months ago. I went online to find out more info on this reisssue campaign. Concord's website says the following:

[Frank Sinatra Enterprises announced an agreement today with the Concord Music Group to release select titles from Sinatra’s Reprise Records catalog, including an unreleased live recording. The agreement commences on May 5 with the first two titles: My Way 40th Anniversary Edition, which includes two previously unreleased tracks and the never-before-available Live At The Meadowlands, the 1986 live album that spotlights Sinatra back in his New Jersey stomping grounds, wooing a sold-out crowd.]

I'm wondering if anyone has any additional information on what other titles are going to be reissued and when we can expect to buy them in stores. Thanks!

[gmonahan]

I picked up a copy today of the 40th Anniversary Edition of "My Way" that Concord released a few months ago. I went online to find out more info on this reisssue campaign. Concord's website says the following:

[Frank Sinatra Enterprises announced an agreement today with the Concord Music Group to release select titles from Sinatra’s Reprise Records catalog, including an unreleased live recording. The agreement commences on May 5 with the first two titles: My Way 40th Anniversary Edition, which includes two previously unreleased tracks and the never-before-available Live At The Meadowlands, the 1986 live album that spotlights Sinatra back in his New Jersey stomping grounds, wooing a sold-out crowd.]

I'm wondering if anyone has any additional information on what other titles are going to be reissued and when we can expect to buy them in stores. Thanks!

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

[whiskeycat]

Thanks, Greg. I heard about that "Sinatra: New York" set as well, sounds interesting.

I have most of the Capitol stuff, so I'm really interested in this new Concord reissue campaign, since they are supposedly going to be putting out newly remastered copies of the Reprise Sinatra albums. I don't have all of those and many have gone out of print.

The packaging and sound for the new "My Way" reissue is nice, so I'm just getting excited that they'll do the same thing with albums like "Stranger in the Night", etc. I was hoping to find some sort of list of upcoming titles / release schedule or something.

[medjuck]

I just read in the Hollywood REporter that UMG had secured international rights to 38 Sinatra albums from Warners' Music Group. Perhaps these are the same albums but Concord doesn't own rights outside the US.

[Dave James]

I do love the term "new reissues". It sounds like something Yogi Berra might say if he was a jazz fan.

Up over and out.

[John L]

I do love the term "new reissues". It sounds like something Yogi Berra might say if he was a jazz fan.

Up over and out.

Well, given that CD reissues have been released over and over again for more than 20 years already, with changing technology, the idea of "new" and "old" reissues makes sense. No?

[gmonahan]

Thanks, Greg. I heard about that "Sinatra: New York" set as well, sounds interesting.

I have most of the Capitol stuff, so I'm really interested in this new Concord reissue campaign, since they are supposedly going to be putting out newly remastered copies of the Reprise Sinatra albums. I don't have all of those and many have gone out of print.

The packaging and sound for the new "My Way" reissue is nice, so I'm just getting excited that they'll do the same thing with albums like "Stranger in the Night", etc. I was hoping to find some sort of list of upcoming titles / release schedule or something.

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

[JSngry]

I hope they do 2-on1-s for the new Reprise CDs, because most of those ablums clock in well under 40 minutes, some barely make 30. In these days and at those prices...

[crisp]

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.

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.

[gmonahan]

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.

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

[JohnJ]

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.

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

Not to mention the 21 CD British 'Capitol Years' box which is generally regarded as having the best sound of all the Capitol CD releases.

[crisp]

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.

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.

[gmonahan]

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.

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

[crisp]

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

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.

[gmonahan]

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

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

[crisp]

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?

greg mo

Quite nice, but not worth buying a whole CD of material you already have in order to get it! Apparently it is a new (and newly recorded) Torrie Zito arrangement married with a 1984 vocal track for which the original arrangement proved unsatisfactory (so I really got my wires crossed when I misplaced it as a Capitol recording). There's a short video about the project here.

[whiskeycat]

I have the 14-CD "Capitol Concept Albums" box and I have to say that I love it. There are no bonus tracks, just the albums as was originally released. Nice mini-LP packaging too. The booklet isn't much (no useful track information, etc.) if I was going to find anything negative about it. But it is a nice, compact set and the price has come down pretty much in half (approx. $60) at the stores I've seen it in.

I'm hunting around for the Reprise stuff and hoping that more of these remasters come out soon. I noticed on iTunes they pretty much have everything on there, so I'm hoping that one-by-one, we'll get all of these released in nice CD copies, like the new "My Way" that just came out.

[vajerzy]

I have the Reprise Suitcase and the sound is "muddy"- so I'm hoping for a sonic upgrade.

[crisp]

I have the 14-CD "Capitol Concept Albums" box and I have to say that I love it. There are no bonus tracks, just the albums as was originally released. Nice mini-LP packaging too. The booklet isn't much (no useful track information, etc.) if I was going to find anything negative about it. But it is a nice, compact set and the price has come down pretty much in half (approx. $60) at the stores I've seen it in.

Good lord! You mean this? I completely missed it. Seems it was online only(?). Still, two albums are absent and you have to buy the Singles set to get the rest. Quite nice, though.

I have the Reprise Suitcase and the sound is "muddy"- so I'm hoping for a sonic upgrade.

I recall from Charles Granata's book that the Reprise sessions were not known for their quality control, so that might just be down to source limitations. Remastering technology is improving all the time, of course.

[gmonahan]

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?

greg mo

Quite nice, but not worth buying a whole CD of material you already have in order to get it! Apparently it is a new (and newly recorded) Torrie Zito arrangement married with a 1984 vocal track for which the original arrangement proved unsatisfactory (so I really got my wires crossed when I misplaced it as a Capitol recording). There's a short video about the project here.

Love the video--thanks for posting that! Kind of makes me wish they'd rearrange that whole album. I'll probably look for a used copy of the compilation cd. I'm hopeless when it comes to Sinatra. Have to have everything.

greg mo

[crisp]

I'll probably look for a used copy of the compilation cd. I'm hopeless when it comes to Sinatra. Have to have everything.

Perhaps hold out for this edition, then. It has a DVD of the 1971 Royal Festival Hall gig thrown in, so at least you might be getting something extra for your money.

[whiskeycat]

Good lord! You mean this? I completely missed it. Seems it was online only(?). Still, two albums are absent and you have to buy the Singles set to get the rest. Quite nice, though.

Yeah, Crisp...that's the box that I have. Good stuff. Just wondering -- what are the two albums that are missing from this set?

From my research it looks like it's missing the "Tone Poems" and "A Jolly Christmas" albums. Are those the only two? I can live without the Christmas disc, but I am very interested in the "Tone Poems" album. I'm hoping that's one that may get the reissue treatment sometime, but I'm not holding my breath.

[crisp]

Just wondering -- what are the two albums that are missing from this set?

From my research it looks like it's missing the "Tone Poems" and "A Jolly Christmas" albums. Are those the only two?

Yes, apparantly those are the two. Unfortunately, Tone Poems is oop.

[Teasing the Korean]

My Dad had a Capitol 78 of "I've Got the World on a String." As many of you know, late-era 78s that were recorded on tape and pressed on modern vinyl, with those wide grooves, had the potential of sounding incredible.

My Dad had this big tube mono hi-fi, and I swear to God this record used to JUMP out of those speakers, it was like Nelson Riddle's band was right there in the room.

I have yet to hear a version of this tune on LP or CD that sounds anything close to this experience. The version on the 3-disc Capitol Years box set sounded like they were trying to suffocate it with a pillow.

[gmonahan]

I'll probably look for a used copy of the compilation cd. I'm hopeless when it comes to Sinatra. Have to have everything.

Perhaps hold out for this edition, then. It has a DVD of the 1971 Royal Festival Hall gig thrown in, so at least you might be getting something extra for your money.

There's also a version with an older Christmas album with, of all people, Fred Waring! Have you seen that one?! I need to look and see if that material is on the Columbia Blue Box. Can't imagine when else it would have been recorded.

greg mo