Customer Reviews

Best of the Capitol Years

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When I bought this collection in 1991, I was not a Frank Sinatra fan. I much preferred Bing Crosby in style and substance and just tossed off Sinatra contemptuously. Boy, was I wrong and this collection single-handedly turned me into a Sinatraphile. Now I have over 100 of his CD's. If you don't know him or haven't listened to him seriously, you must buy this record, it will change your life.

Prior to buying this CD, my only listening experience with Frank were a half dozen 45's of "New York, New York," "Strangers in the Night" and a few of his other hits from later years. This CD introduced me into the real Sinatra, not the Top 40 Frank.

No one has ever phrased a lyric like his man. No one. You feel his pain, his pathos, his happiness, his despair and his loneliness. It is a completely joyous experience to listen to this man sing.

Others had greater range or greater voices. None had the inimitable gift that Frank Sinatra possessed and that was allowing you to understand a lyric and feel it deep down in your soul. There is only one Sinatra and this collection epitomizes his glory years. I also highly recommend the more complete three-disc "Capitol Years" collection, for even more great music.

If you're not sure which Sinatra CD to buy first, this is a great place to start. He really did get his style buffed to a high polish in the 50s, with a perfect balance of swing and romance. This collection highlights the best. I love the craft in the lyrics of songs like "Witchcraft," "How Little We Know" and "The Tender Trap"; the sheer enjoyment of "Learning the Blues"; the great build-up in the arrangement and performance of "I've Got You Under My Skin." I can't find a way to say it that isn't cliched: Frank Sinatra was a master. Just listen and see if you're not knocked off your feet. If you get as hooked as I am, you may eventually end up with all these tracks on other albums and collections, but you'll never regret this introduction.

In his liner notes for Frank Sinatra's box set "The Reprise Collection," author William Kennedy mentioned his "pluperfect" Sinatra tapes, where each song "made you climb the wall every time out." He even mentioned the tapes when he visited the singer after a Carnegie Hall concert, aware that Sinatra's labels had done the same compiling throughout his career.

It's hard to imagine a collection more "pluperfect" than "The Best of the Capitol Years." Distilled from the label's 1992 3CD set, it covers a career chapter as musically and culturally important as the artistic periods of any artist or author. Speaking of which...far better writers than I have addressed the musical quality here (among them Will Friedwald, whose essay in the set is essential Sinatra reading). But the sonic clarity, how you hear those precious Billy May, Gordon Jenkins, and Nelson Riddle arrangements, fulfills at least part of the promise the CD revolution was meant to keep. Next to meeting your spouse or best friend, "The Best of the Capitol Years" is one of the finest introductions anyone could make to anyone else. It will begin a deep, rich relationship not only with Sinatra but with, as Friedwald put it, "the three-layer cakes" of classic songcraft from popular music's finest years. HIGHEST recommendation.

I still remember standing in the record store flipping through the CD's trying to find something new. I sat next to an older fella at work, who hummed and whistled Sinatra tunes all day, so I picked up this CD.

I got it home, popped into the stereo, and Sinatra jumped into my living room! The opening track "I've got the world on a string" grabbed my attention, and still hasn't let go. Frank is dynamite with each tune, and adds his unique style to each song. My personal favorites are "South of the Border" and "Learning the Blues".

This was my first real introduction to Sinatra, and for me it was like opening a door to a whole new world of music. If you have never listened to a Sinatra record then this is a perfect one to start with. I have since gone on to buy many more Sinatra albums, but this one is my favorite, and I know that it could be yours as well.

A great starting point for anyone putting together a Sinatra collection, "Selections from the Capitol Years" provides a wonderful insight into the career of the 20th Century's greatest singer. What a voice -- tender, tough, vulnerable and honest! No wonder Sinatra's career spanned half a century. Culled from a large box set("The Capitol Years"), "Selections" trims the fat and provides the listener with a continuous array of classics. Highlights include: "Young at Heart", "I Get a Kick out of You", "Come Fly wiith Me" and "Night and Day". Many fans consider Frank's Capitol Years (mostly the 1950's) to be his finest. His golden voice was at its peak and the songs he covered, timeless beauties penned by the likes of Sammy Cahn and Cole Porter, were arguably the strongest of his illustrious career. Overall, "Selections" is a top-notch collection. While Sinatra completists will no doubt opt for the complete "Capitol Years" box set, casual fans will surely be satisfied with "Selections". This is, quite simply, some of the greatest popular music of all time. Highly recommended.

These Capitol recordings are the tip of an iceberg of fantastic Frank releases from his 1950's(mostly) output.These years were considered to be his peak years by many fans. The concept Lp's that spawned these wonderful recordings are fortunately availiable in "The Capitol Years" box set, and "Concepts". They are so expensive, and so extensive that this compilation serves as an excellent overview of mood, swing, and style from Hoboken's own!You will recognize most of the signiture recordings here. I own all the sets, but this one is with me in the car! If you only buy one Sinatra cd this is a good choice!

If you're like me, and you enjoy Frank Sinatra, but don't feel compelled to own every record each of these songs orginally appeared on, than this is the album for you. It contains clear and crisp versions of his "greatest hits" and its just enough Sinatra for my CD collection.

This disc is an attempt to skim the cream off of the top of the Columbia box set. The Capital years found Frank self-reinvented, no longer a teen idol crooner, now idolic swinging bachelor. This is not my favorite period of Sinatra's career (I prefer the Reprise era), but it certainly is representative of a significant period of FAS's career, including seminal versions of songs like "I've Got the World on a String," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Young at Heart," "(Love is) The Tender Trap," and "The Lady is a Tramp". The booklet also includes an excellent essay by Will Friedwald on the Capitol-era collaborations between Sinatra and arranger-extraordinare Nelson Riddle. Add the respective "best ofs" from the Columbia and Reprise eras, and you'll have a pretty good thumbnail sketch of the man's art.

I'm a 'rock fan', and I was just in awe of Frank Sinatra after hearing this CD. There's no substitute for talent, and this guy had tons of it. He may be gone, but his music is going to be with us for a long long time. And that's a good thing.

it's easy to see why Sinatra is the "reference standard" against which all singers are compared. After hearing this CD, you will not want to be without it in your collection.

This was one of the first Sinatra CDs I bought and, 60+ albums later, I still think it is the perfect introduction to the best popular music ever recorded. Best of the Capitol Years includes classics from the most celebrated albums in the Sinatra canon -- In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, A Swingin' Affair and others. YOU WILL WANT TO LISTEN TO THESE COMPLETE ALBUMS -- EVEN THIS COLLECTION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE.

If there is anything to complain about (and I'm really reaching!) it would be the omission of some of the most powerful tracks from Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, often considered FS' most impressive album. Angel Eyes, One for My Baby and Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry belong on ANY 'best of' collection. However, they probably work better in the mood of the Only the Lonely album and might have been left off for this reason. Be sure to check out that album as well.

Some of the highlights of the present collection include the definitive recordings of I've Got You Under My Skin, Night and Day and In the Wee Small hours of the Morning. I've Got the World on a String is a perfect first track, with plenty of the confident exhuberance of 1950s FS, and Learnin' the Blues is timeless -- his best recording of this tune.

Sinatra re-recorded many of his big songs for his Reprise label in the 1960s, but his 1950s recordings at Capitol are generally considered superior, making this set (and the 3-CD set) the best bets for first-time Sinatra listeners.

The bottom line is you can't go wrong with this album. Even after you become a Sinatra loyalist and toss the rest of your albums in the trash, this is a great collection to have on hand and a nice car album as well.