Customer Reviews

Portrait of Sinatra: Columbia Classics

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If you are looking for an album which will remind you how good things used to be, and still can be, you have found the right album. This collection features the most famous and loved tunes that Mr. Sinatra immortalized during the 40's. These are the songs you can listen to over and over again. You can hear and feel Frank's youth and innocence contrasted against the sometimes cold hardships of his life (and your own). If you are looking for the cream of Sinatra but don't want to pay $100-200 for a complete box-set collection, this is your set. Since aquiring these CD's I have not listened to anything else. They're that good!!

If you are a true lover of Sinatra's music you owe it to yourself to give this set a listen. These songs established his reputation as "The Voice" and shot him to stardom, yet many listeners ignore this period his career. The two discs here, which total about two and a half hours, contain an outstanding selection of Sinatra's songs from the 1940s. It is true that Sinatra's singing changed in the 1950s (mostly for the better). Nevertheless, the songs here are classic and virtually define pop music of the 40s. Sinatra's singing is flawless, and, way before The Beatles, these songs caused young women to scream and swoon. If you really take a liking to this period of Sinatra's career, you might move on to the four disc set A VOICE IN TIME, or perhaps even the enormous 12 disc box THE COLUMBIA YEARS 1942-52. This set, however, is the place to start if you do not yet know the early Sinatra.

These are some Frank Sinatra songs from the early years. His voice is very different from later on when he was singing "New York, New York" and "My Way", but he is very good: rich in color and texure; wonderful phrasing; Sinatra here is soothing, yet also quite touching in the subtle emotions he brings to the surface. No wonder the girls were swooning over him! Th early Sinatra will satisfy any fan. Miles Davis wrote in his autobiography that he was influenced by the early Sinatra recordings and attempted to bring that kind of warmth and sorrow to his trumpeting.

The price is right too. This set also comes with informative liner notes.