Customer Reviews

Classic Duets

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Finally, for the many fans across the world looking for unissued Sinatra products to come to light, Capitol brings us "Classic Duets," culled from Sinatra's television series in the 1960s.

The bookend tunes are fantastic - opening with Louis Armstrong on "The Birth of The Blues" and closing with Ella Fitzgerald on "Put Your Dreams Away". The remaining quality of song choices and duet partners are not always up to par with Satchmo, Ella, or even Sinatra for that matter, but still there's some great listening moments.

Sinatra, though perhaps less inspired by the television cameras, is still captured during the top of his game. And the arrangements are done with the usual top-notch flair of Nelson Riddle. So it's basically top-shelf vocalization by the best in the business.

The sound quality is probably about as best as you could expect, considering Capitol was forced to try and remaster the soundtracks from the dusty old television tapes. For fans who already have the underground bootleg CD, "Sinatra: The Television Years," the sound quality of the tracks with Ella Fitzgerald are not markedly different. However, as mentioned, we do get to hear Ella and Frank singing a lovely version of "Put Your Dreams Away." And let's all be honest - even hearing Sinatra and Ella singing together through an old Bell telephone during a thunderstorm would be a joyous occasion, so there is much to be thankful here.

The tracks with fellow Rat Packers (Dino, Bing and Sammy) are mildly disappointing. There's almost too much "yucking it up" with the Dino and Bing duets. Don't get me wrong, I love to see them having fun, but in my opinion their antics play out better on video than on just audio alone.

The "Me and My Shadow" duet with Sammy should not be confused with the more familiar and enjoyable Sammy Cahn-penned version that appeared during the '62 Villa Venice concert and in the Reprise studio. This "Shadow" isn't bad, but it's more of a work-in-progress version.

For me, the most affecting duets are with Peggy Lee. My, what a marvelous singer, probably more complex and multi-faceted than we will ever know. There's always been a weird tenderness exhibited between them - Lee the somewhat fragile one, Sinatra the obvious protector - and it's noticeable here as well. I'm telling you, the unspoken interplay between them is palpable and rather extraordinary.

Overall, I might not start with the CD to begin a Sinatra collection, but then again, I wouldn't think my already-established Sinatra collection would be complete without it.

This disc is a fun and heartwarming addition to the Sinatra collector's shelf. Though these performances would obviously make a top-notch viewing experience, as pure listening they're admittedly somewhat diminished. The sound quality is a bit spotty, as this stuff is all from television, and some of the performances are disjointed for the very same reason, mainly due to the performers and audience laughing or cracking wise about mysterious things that the listener can't see. Also, some of the tracks are hardly there, such as the Louis Prima one, which barely registers at a minute long, and the closer with Ella, which is quite pretty...until it suddenly fades out after 47 seconds.

Whilst this is not the pot of gold that an album called Frank Sinatra Classic Duets could be, there are many fine moments to savor. Frank's duet with Bing Crosby on September Song is absolutely spine tingling (There's a gold mine of great music to be explored in Bing Crosby, folks) and benefits from some of the best sound quality on the disc. The Louis Armstrong track, Birth Of The Blues, while rough, is still great by virtue of the combined energy of Frank and Pops. The medley with Dinah Shore is a charmer, with some truly funny ad-libbing, and a healthy 5:50 length. Of course Frank and Ella Fitzgerald are ALWAYS great together, as proven once again on Moonlight In Vermont/I May Be Wrong. The Harold Arlen medley with Lena Horne is nice, and really gets one thinking about that composer's talent. As another reviewer noted, there is a palpable emotional current running between Frank and Peggy Lee on their two tracks together, which is quite extraordinary. Of course the requisite goofing with Dean and Sammy is here as well, so the rat-Packer will not be disappointed. The remaining tracks run the range from funny, to moving, to just plain odd (like the Elvis duet), though Nelson Riddle wraps each one in his usual stellar arrangements.

I may have called this what it is, Classic Duets From The Frank Sinatra Show, but it was obviously a savvy marketing choice not to explicitly advertise the source of these recordings. I just hope that no one makes the mistake of thinking that these are pristine recordings from the studio. Aside from such trivia, the folks who put this collection together are to be heartily commended for giving the fans something new and truly worthwhile to enjoy.

Don't get me wrong, this is a wonderful set. But it's too bad Capitol sees the "Duets" concept as a money-maker. A better CD would have the best of these tracks along with Frank's many solo performances from the old TV shows. The success, both critical and commercial, of Rhino's recent "Sinatra in Hollywood" box shows that there is a market for a more complete record of his TV performances. Instead, we get this teaser, marketed to go on the shelf alongside the abysmal "Duets" CDs of the 1990s.

Still, any unreleased Frank is better than none at all, so let's get to the highlights. The Frank 'n' Bing "September Song" is wonderful, as is "Birth of the Blues" with Satchmo. The songs with Peggy Lee and Ella are not to be missed, either. Personally, I've heard the Frank/Elvis duet once too often--neither were at their peak there. All in all, though, some of this is great, some is fun, all of it is worth a listen.

Would it have killed Capitol to have included the original broadcast dates, however? For more info, go to sinatraarchive.com and look under "Television" in the Reference section. All of these date between November 1957 and May 1960.

A couple of notes while reading the other reviews. Capitol is merely the vessel-this collection comes via the Sinatra family vault(Nancy,Frank Jr.&Tina's holdings)and is pre-Reprise(Bristol)material,hence,no Jobim,which occured in the '60s. The liner notes are filled with recollections by the kids-OK,I guess,but I miss the sure and steady hand of Will Friedwald,a fan and critic, taking us through this material. Having said this,I suspect the "Duets" concept was used as a brand and adds another release of family material(often bootlegged) being made available through legitimate means,after the debacle of the Artanis gold recordings of a few years ago. The '90s "Duets"I&II were purchased by well-meaing gift givers and,sadly,served as an intro to Frank for many new ears but proved to be a very successful brand,hence the marketing people dusting it off again. As for the material in this collection-this will stand along my copies of the other Duets but will actually be played rather than gathering dust. Along with the many raves from others here(the words about Frank & Peggy Lee are quite insightful)may I cast a vote for the medley with Dinah Shore. Frank & Dinah allude to performing this same group of songs before,(probably on one of Dinah's shows)but,rather than sounding tired,they just seem to love this material and Dinah's voice is a fine foil to Frank's(IMHO-Keely Smith was the perfect duet partner for Frank). A pleasant addition to the collection,not a moment to feel ashamed by Frank or any of his partners. I'm ready for the next one,please.

I'm a die hard Sinatra fan, but it seems like Capitol is trying to wring every penny from him and just slap anything together. I was very disappointed in this CD. Considering it was put out by Capitol, I thought the audio quality would be much better than it was. As it is, the transfer of sound from TV to CD is very poor; in some cases the artist voices were pretty undistinguishable. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one.

I bought this as a gift for my husband. I though a lot more effort could have been done to try to clean up static, background noise, et cetera. Sound quality seems poor and you really have to turn the stereo up to hear the CD.

This CD is a superb collection of Frank and friends from a portion of Frank's career that's long been underrated; his ABC televsion work of the late '50's. All of Frank's buddies are here; Dino, Sammy, der Bingle, Lady Ella, Peggy Lee, and Louis plus some not to be missed song partners including Elvis, Ethel Merman, Lena Horne, and Dinah Shore. The impromptu, ad lib nature of several of the songs makes this album a lighthearted retrospective. The tunes are bright and lively and many benefit from Nelson Riddle's arranging genius. Frank and Dean are great, improvising and playing off one another as always. But wait until you hear "Together" in which Bing joins Dino and Frank for a happy, hilarious threesome. You'll love Frank and Dinah Shore as they wend their way thru a medley of great standards. Two artists of the highest caliber demonstrating how a product can be greater than the sum of its parts. Frank shares the microphone with Ms. Fitzgerald on three tunes. Ella's voice is at her best in each. These are classics to savor again and again.

Sound quality is surprisingly good, with the lone exception of Frank's duet with Shirley Jones. All in all there's nothing but great stuff here, including even the cover art. I can't wait for Classic Duets II.

The music is great but it really is a shame that the audio quality is so poor.

I realise there really is nothing that can be done about it, as the material came from old television videotapes. But the buyer should beware and go into this purchase knowing that they are not getting nicely recorded material. Its just above bootleg quality.

Although I loved "Duets" and "Duets II", "Duets III" simply does not make the grade. With 21 tracks, perhaps the producer thought that he'd make up for in quantity what the album lacks in quality. Quality is what is lacking in this album. The tracks are of poor acoustical quality compared to Duets 1 and 2. It sounds as though most of the tracks were lifted from TV and radio recordings - the sound quality truly suffers in the process. Oh, there are some brief rays of sunshine, but overall, the album only appeals to those who have to have every song Sinatra ever recorded.

I do not recommend this album. If you can get it used or at a discounted price it might be worth it, but even then, it is an album that disappoints.

Jim Konedog Koenig

Even though the classics will always be the classics, and Mr. "Blue-Eyes" can't be compared with anyone, it's a bit of shame that the sound in the record was not remasterized properly to give it its full glory. A nice buy, still