Customer Reviews

Great Songs From Great Britain

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amazon alerted us (Sinatra fans) that this classic CD is once again available and at a modest price (new copies had traded elsewhere for more than 100 dollars). It's been seven years since I obtained my 'used' (1993) "Made in USA" copy -- and wrote my own review; hope it's still "helpful." [At the time, Bob Farnon, a friend of my father's was still alive; he predeceased my Dad by one year, in 2005. I wrote to him to share this review with Mr. Farnon; he responded with a beautiful note of appreciation from his 'island home.' (2010/12/23)]

---

All the world's great arrangers -- most of whom got to work with Frank Sinatra (the rest wish they had)-- are (or were) American. A notable exception: Canadian-born Robert Farnon. At last report, Bob was still alive and well, and living at "La Falaise" on the Channel Island of Guernsey (a letter with only that address can reach him). Now 85, he still makes the occasional foray into London to do what he's always done best.

Andre Previn, told the late, great lyricist Johnny Mercer that "Robert Farnon is the greatest living string arranger in the world." The great ones who admit to Farnon's influence have included Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, Quincy Jones, Marty Paich, Neil Hefti, Torrie Zito and Johnny Mandel (just to name the best who worked with Frank Sinatra), plus, (among those who didn't, but wished they had) Henry Mancini, Roger Kellaway, John ("Star Wars") Williams, Patrick Williams and Jeremy Lubbock

Great popular singers who share that opinion, include Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett. The list of musicians who feel the same way is too long, but start with pianists Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing.

Sinatra's voice on "Great Songs from Great Britain" may be functioning at only 80 per cent (my estimate) but it's still better than on some of his later recordings, and no worse than on his roughest days at Capitol in the 50s. Listen again to the Billy May "Come Fly With Me" CD and the lone Nelson Riddle arranged song -- Cole Porter's "I Love Paris." Sure, it's "rough" (was Frank up all night?) but still, you love it, right? Same with this CD: Precisely because he's the greatest interpreter of popular song, Sinatra makes adjustments to his delivery, transforming weaknesses into strengths before your very ears. Fascinating!

So why wasn't this album released in America prior to year 2000? Having read all speculations here and elsewhere, I think the critics are simply uninformed. Because the singer has left true fans some `between-the-lines' clues to how much he loved these recordings.

Let's begin with the speculation that Sinatra had `second thoughts' about what his American fans might make of the material----obscure, almost quaint, English songs, some dating to the First World War, which have Sinatra "gathering lilacs" or keeping a stiff upper lip "until we meet again" i.e. songs that might not survive a trans-Atlantic crossing, let alone achieve posterity.

Well that ignores some important facts: Sinatra selected all these songs himself, in advance of his world tour (30 stops, the last in London, in aid of children's charities). Don Costa---Farnon's biggest booster in America (and the most heavily-influenced of his proteges) invested a lot of time, as Sinatra's `middle man,' cabling between LA and Farnon's island home, to ensure this recording `happened.' (In the end, Costa couldn't be there; but Nelson Riddle made it to one session at London's "CTS Bayswater" studios).

The singer's only objection was uttered as he sipped some "JD" and listened to the playback of "Roses of Picardy" (now considered by some critics to be the loveliest `rose' of the bunch). Sinatra said: "Scrub `Roses of Picardy'---I don't like it" (meaning, he didn't feel he'd done it justice). So "Roses" was not included on the original LP, released only in Britain).

The suggestion that Sinatra was in any way "embarrassed" by these recordings, is belied by his personal selection of "If I Had You" for inclusion among his 19, all-time favorite recordings, preserved on the 1996 compilation "Everything Happens to Me" (please see my review for that one). The singer himself approved the inclusion of two others, "Garden in the Rain" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" for the 4-CD Reprise box set. And the latest Sinatra compilations ("Romance" and "Love Songs") include this version of Ray Noble's classic, "The Very Thought of You."

Enjoy great liner notes? There's none better written for any Sinatra release: You get literate musician Benny Green's original, 1962 notes, plus American James Isaacs' superb, 1992 supplements, closing with thoughts about Sinatra's achievement on "If I Had You."

"If Sinatra's wistful, daydreamy first (take) in 1947 was truly in the subjunctive (IF I had you,) and if his cocky medium-bounce Riddle-arranged '56 take might be dubbed "I can have you," then this rendering, with its brandy-by-the-fireside feel and older-but-wiser protagonist, is more like "If I'd HAD you." Notwithstanding a lyric that's far more Tin Pan Alley than Tintern Abbey, Sinatra's (and Farnon's) conception is, to borrow from Wordsworth, "emotion recollected in tranquility."

When I bought a used copy of 'Great Songs from Great Britain', I had low expectations. Several writers had noted that Sinatra's voice was spent by the time he joined Robert Farnon in London to record the present set, and how the spare string arrangements had left the singer 'nowhere to hide.' Had Sinatra been about to record 'Come Fly with Me', the result no doubt would have been a disaster. But for these contemplative, romantic ballads, a thinner Sinatra voice works perfectly.

The dramatic acappella opening to 'The Very Thought of You' states the theme -- stately and romantic -- British, basically (!) The middle of the album, 'Gypsy', 'Roses of Picardy' and 'Nightingale', comprises some of the more heartfelt material from Sinatra's early Reprise era. The vulnerability in the usually powerful voice could not have shown up in a more fortunate group of songs.

I also question whether Sinatra was truly on his last legs. 'Garden in the Rain' displays the same remarkable breath control that enabled him to sustain long notes in a way that made his phrasing so natural. Sinatra may not have been at his vocal peak -- or anywhere near it -- but every time I listen to 'Great Songs from Great Britain' I'm left with the sense that Sinatra at 40 percent was like other singers at 80 percent.

Among the Reprise albums, I would highly recommend this one. The material is right up Sinatra's alley (tasteful, and of lasting value) and Farnon's arrangements seem more akin to Nelson Riddle's than to Gordon Jenkins' sometimes-too-heavy strings. All brilliant, but Farnon never lays the violins on too thick.

Why this album has not been remastered and re-released eludes me. Sound quality is fine for 1962, however, and interested listeners would be well served to find a used copy in the meantime. Sinatra was dissatisfied with these recordings when he made them, and reportedly never released them in the United States. Considering the availability of far lesser albums, it is high time to bring 'Great Songs from Great Britain' back to market (if you're reading this, Reprise...)

This long fabled collection of tunes from "across the pond" by Francis Albert Sinatra is definitely a point of interest along the road of collecting important works by one of the world's greatest singers. Much has been written about Sinatra's vocal condition being under par during the undertakings presented here. The astute Sinatra fan will remark that he sounds thin here and there, or he cuts off notes when he normally wouldn't; but it actually works in his favor on most of these songs, which are required to be sung with a tone of wistfulness and longing. Special mention must first be made, when reviewing this album, to the exquisite backings charted by one of Britain's favorite musical brainchildren, Robert Farnon (whose work with Tony Bennett years after this album merits some of that "other" Italian crooner's absolute finest) Nelson Riddle lent a minimal helping hand with chords and note changes, but this was all Farnon and Sinatra, the one and only time these two geniuses ever got together. All the stories are true; the piano really did break down that first night, and they went with the celeste, and it came off without a hitch. Yes, Frank did want to dump ROSES OF PICARDY, dreamily sad as it seems here; (Bobby Darin would team up with Billy May and give this one a great swing later on) Happily for us, ROSES OF PICARDY has been restored here. Everything you've heard about this album is true, except if you believe the story that this originally UK-only released gem finds Sinatra straining to get through the works. Just listen to the subdued intensity in his heartbreak version of NOW IS THE HOUR. A touching performance, as is the other great anthem of so-longs-ville, WE'LL MEET AGAIN. Believe it or not, the prettily-titled WE'LL GATHER LILACS IN THE SPRING comes off very well with Sinatra setting the scene along the lane beautifully, abetted by what I consider the finest chart written for this album by Robert Farnon. The slyness incorporated in both arrangement and vocal on the classic IF I HAD YOU is not to be missed, complete with referential brass section tipping their 'darby' to Nelson Riddle in that tight, sweet sound. Noel Coward's I'LL FOLLOW MY SECRET HEART is a fantastic closer on this very pertinent set, and differs greatly from the version Sinatra laid down with Axel Stordahl on the classic "Point Of No Return" package for Capitol in 1960. The soaring strings at the end of the chart show Farnon's exuberance once again, as if to remind us of just how wonderful each of the charts were in this album. You'll thoroughly enjoy this album.

The Chairman of the Board in the Spring of 1962 signed on to do a world wide benefit tour. In the works was a recording to be made with Robert Farnon, a legendary arranger and conductor in the UK. At the same time The Chairman had steadily been recording albums to keep the dream alive at Reprise. Since every recording was a personal work on his part, he was working hard. By the time the recording dates came he was in need of a rest, but didn't want to scrub the plans. And let's face it, he was always a pro and the show must go on.

The arrangements of the songs on this cd are simple marvelous. But you need to know The Chairman's voice is tired and not up to his usual form in the 60's. Having said that, on his worst day he sounds better than the rest of the pack. Mr. Farnon was at his best and it is beautiful fully orchestrated selections of "Songs from Great Britian'. Enjoy.

This CD is one of my absolute favorites. Sinatra was at the end of a long tiring European tour when he ended up in London, England to record this CD...concequently the only LP he recorded outside the US. It took three sessions spanning June 12-14, 1962, and the results were completely magical. We all know Sinatra as the "Chairman" who wasn't happy unless watching the sun some up with a glass of Jack and a cigarette in hand. In contrast, Sinatra's melancholy mood reflects the fatigue he felt by the tours end. "If I Had You" is the mack daddy of any ballad you will ever hear in your life, and "The Very Thought Of You" plays a close second. Do yourself a favor...get the CD, settle in your favorite chair, pour yourself a glass of red wine, and let Sinatra take you to that place you cherish the most.

This album ranks up with SINATRA AND STRINGS. Yes, Frank is a bit tired but it does not disturb the singing or dramatic effect in any way. Heck, I'll listen to this one over DUETS any day!

Farnon's charts are superb - he could make strings "sing." This is an easy to listen to album but not an easy listening album. There is plenty of feeling in the singing and the arrangement support it.

If you can't find it here, search the web..

Just received an alert from Amazon that this classic CD is once again available -- and for the modest price of 14 bucks. (New copies have traded elsewhere for more than 100 dollars). This "import" edition is sales-ranked a respectable 60,000 (among the 3 million or so CDs available at the world's biggest website). It's been seven years since I obtained my "Made in USA" copy and wrote my own review for this timeless classic. Hope it's still "helpful." [At the time, Bob Farnon, a friend of my father's was still alive; he predeceased my Dad by one year, in 2005. I wrote to him to share this review with Mr. Farnon; he responded with a beautiful note of appreciation from his 'island home.' (2010/04/30)]

---

All the world's great arrangers -- most of whom got to work with Frank Sinatra (the rest wish they had)-- are (or were) American. A notable exception: Canadian-born Robert Farnon. At last report, Bob was still alive and well, and living at "La Falaise" on the Channel Island of Guernsey (a letter with only that address can reach him). Now 85, he still makes the occasional foray into London to do what he's always done best.

Andre Previn, told the late, great lyricist Johnny Mercer that "Robert Farnon is the greatest living string arranger in the world." The great ones who admit to Farnon's influence have included Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, Quincy Jones, Marty Paich, Neil Hefti, Torrie Zito and Johnny Mandel (just to name the best who worked with Frank Sinatra), plus, (among those who didn't, but wished they had) Henry Mancini, Roger Kellaway, John ("Star Wars") Williams, Patrick Williams and (British born) Jeremy Lubbock.

Great popular singers who share that opinion, include Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett. The list of musicians who feel the same way is too long, but start with pianists Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing.

Sinatra's voice on "Great Songs from Great Britain" may be functioning at only 80 per cent (my estimate) but it's still better than on some of his later recordings, and no worse than on his roughest days at Capitol in the 50s. Listen again to the Billy May "Come Fly With Me" CD and the lone Nelson Riddle arranged song -- Cole Porter's "I Love Paris." Sure, it's "rough" (was Frank up all night?) but still, you love it, right? Same with this CD: Precisely because he's the greatest interpreter of popular song, Sinatra makes adjustments to his delivery, transforming weaknesses into strengths before your very ears. Fascinating!

So why wasn't this album released in America prior to year 2000? Having read all speculations here and elsewhere, I think the critics are simply uninformed. Because the singer has left true fans some `between-the-lines' clues to how much he loved these recordings.

Let's begin with the speculation that Sinatra had `second thoughts' about what his American fans might make of the material----obscure, almost quaint, English songs, some dating to the First World War, which have Sinatra "gathering lilacs" or keeping a stiff upper lip "until we meet again" i.e. songs that might not survive a trans-Atlantic crossing, let alone achieve posterity.

Well that ignores some important facts: Sinatra selected all these songs himself, in advance of his world tour (30 stops, the last in London, in aid of children's charities). Don Costa---Farnon's biggest booster in America (and the most heavily-influenced of his proteges) invested a lot of time, as Sinatra's `middle man,' cabling between LA and Farnon's island home, to ensure this recording `happened.' (In the end, Costa couldn't be there; but Nelson Riddle made it to one session at London's "CTS Bayswater" studios).

The singer's only objection was uttered as he sipped some "JD" and listened to the playback of "Roses of Picardy" (now considered by some critics to be the loveliest `rose' of the bunch). Sinatra said: "Scrub `Roses of Picardy'---I don't like it" (meaning, he didn't feel he'd done it justice). So "Roses" was not included on the original LP, released only in Britain).

The suggestion that Sinatra was in any way "embarrassed" by these recordings, is belied by his personal selection of "If I Had You" for inclusion among his 19, all-time favorite recordings, preserved on the 1996 compilation "Everything Happens to Me" (please see my review for that one). The singer himself approved the inclusion of two others, "Garden in the Rain" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" for the 4-CD Reprise box set. And the latest Sinatra compilations ("Romance" and "Love Songs") include this version of Ray Noble's classic, "The Very Thought of You."

Enjoy great liner notes? There's none better written for any Sinatra release: You get literate musician Benny Green's original, 1962 notes, plus American James Isaacs' superb, 1992 supplements, closing with thoughts about Sinatra's achievement on "If I Had You."

"If Sinatra's wistful, daydreamy first (take) in 1947 was truly in the subjunctive (IF I had you,) and if his cocky medium-bounce Riddle-arranged '56 take might be dubbed "I can have you," then this rendering, with its brandy-by-the-fireside feel and older-but-wiser protagonist, is more like "If I'd HAD you." Notwithstanding a lyric that's far more Tin Pan Alley than Tintern Abbey, Sinatra's (and Farnon's) conception is, to borrow from Wordsworth, "emotion recollected in tranquility."

"Age is just a number, what matters most is your outlook in life. Smile and the world smiles at you, frown and the world frowns at you. ~ Quote from my dear mother ~

The above quote was once said to me by my late mother, who used to be a teacher, during one of my birthdays when I whined about getting a year older ('cause I wanted to be "forever 21" LOL!). That was one of her philosophies in life, that's why she stayed looking young all her life until she was diagnosed with the Big "C" that took her life away. She would have been 86 years old today, July 29, 2006. My late parents were so musically-inclined and I would give credit to them when it comes to my musical tastes. When I was growing up, I would listen with them to their kind of music and I have learned to appreciate their music especially the songs of Frank Sinatra.

The only album Frank Sinatra ever recorded outside the United States, "Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain" is one of my late parents' favorite albums that they enjoyed listening to together. I started an on-going project about three years ago in replicating my late parents' collection of LP records into CD formats and before I could get a copy of this wonderful CD, a good friend of mine so kindly provided me with a copy. Thank you very kindly! I can't thank you enough.

This noteworthy album was arranged and conducted by one of Frank Sinatra's finest arrangers who was very impressed with the singer's musicality, Robert Farnon, whose arrangements were truly remarkable and beautiful works of art -- a trademark of excellence, I would say. It starts off with the Chairman's sentimental rendition of a classic song and my all-time favorite "The Very Thought of You" and wraps up with an obscure song but performed so nicely "I'll Follow My Secret Heart."

"If I Had You," "Now Is The Hour," "We'll Meet Again" and "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" are such great songs and Frank Sinatra's singing showcases his uniquely enchanting vocals as well as his perfect diction and phrasing. While recording one of my favorite songs "If I Had You," also a favorite of the legendary singer, the piano broke down and celeste was used instead, but still came out to be a masterpiece. Frank Sinatra first recorded this beautiful song in 1947 with arranger Alex Stordahl, and again in 1956 with Nelson Riddle.

Three of my late mother's absolute favorite songs (and mine, too) from this collection are "The Very Thought of You," "We'll Meet Again," a song that was personally chosen by the singer, and "Now Is The Hour," which barely made it to the repertoire since it's the only non-British song but the Chairman insisted, "It's near enough British."

I dedicate these great songs from this album to her - the best mother one could ever have -- a beautiful and elegant lady, so full of charms and generosity, very etiquette-savvy, and the one who instilled in my young mind the ABCs of right and wrong. I love you, Mama, more than you'll ever know. "We'll meet again!"

"We'll meet again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know we'll meet again some sunny day

Keep smiling through just like you always do

Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away

So will you please say 'Hello' to the folks that I know

Tell them I won't be long

They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go

I was singing this song

We'll meet again

Don't know where, don't know when

But I know we'll meet again some sunny day."

This is one of Frank Sinatra's finest recordings. Give it a listen and enjoy the great songs from Great Britain. Very highly recommended.

This record was impossible to get in the States in 1962. Impossible unless you walked into the Concert Room on Hollywood Boulevard. Jack Douglas, my dad, owned the store and he was a huge Sinatra fan, so he imported a ton of these and other Sinatra fans came out of the woodwork, made their way to Hollywood, to get this LP.

And one day The Chairman of the Board himself, having heard there was a place selling this record, came into the store and started autographing them, creating havoc on the most famous street in the world. After he'd autographed every lickin', stickin' Frank Sinarta record in the store, he started signing the Dean Martin LPs, "Dean Martin, by Frank Sinatra." Dino's records gone, he went on Sammy Davis Junior.

So, for me this was one of the ten best records of 1962. These ballads, combined with Robert Farnon's string arrangements and Sinatra's golden voice made a record you can to play again and again as the sun goes down when you're with the one you love and a glass of something good in your hand.

Some have said Frank's voice wasn't up to par on this recording, that he was tired after his arduous European tour. I don't buy it. He sounds every bit as good here as on anything he ever recorded. He was man who put out his best effort, whenever he sang, and he does so here. My musical tastes were going through a major transition around this time, but this record stayed with me, it's one I've come back to again and again when I've needed some quiet time or wanted to calm myself down. It's just great, one of Sinatra's best, no matter what anyone says.

This is a very unique, special album of exquisite English tunes and I've been moved to review this CD because I have not stopped listening to it since I purchased it recently. It is Frank at almost a perfect moment in his wonderous career - a voice that still has shadings of the "young" Frank - ardent, tender, and open-hearted - and the "older" Sinatra - tough, bittersweet, and poignant. Apparently, this recording was done at the conclusion of a successful European tour, timed to restore Sinatra's image after some controversy back in the States. It was the last days of the Kennedy era and there is a joy and optimism that seems to infuse even the bittersweet songs sung so beautifully here. This recording of all English songs is a revelation: from the acapella opening of "The Very Thought of You" (a classic) until the final, lovely, "I'll Follow My Secret Heart," what you have here are a unique collection of ballads that form a perfect work of art. The arrangements here are first class: the solo instrumental in "A Nightengale Sang in Berkeley Square" was described as "perfect" by Sinatra himself - and every orchestration is layered and smooth as silk, but always enhances the vocal. Yes, there are moments of some vocal thinness on some of these songs - but there are also moments of great feeling, depth, and warmth - for that, check out the perfect "Garden in the Rain" and "Rose of Picardy." It is, in some ways, a perfect "mood" album, which tells an entire story in a very well chosen song cycle. This CD is a MUST for Sinatra lovers - so different in mood and conception than anything else he recorded, with the exception of his brilliant collaborations with Jobim, it is close to a masterpiece - and marks an almost perfect dividing line of Sinatra as a vocalist, from the great Columbia and Capitol years - and the very good years yet to come.