Customer Reviews

Sinatra & Strings

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Sinatra's first album with Don Costa is a spectacular collaboration that resulted in a timeless musical masterpiece. Frank is at the absolute top of his game, and it shines through one gem after another. These are songs that Duke Ellington characterized as "beyond category:" "Night and Day," by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern's, "Yesterdays," Erroll Garner's "Misty," and "It Might as Well be Spring," by Rodgers and Hammerstein. But it's Frank's interpretations of "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" that bestow the album with greatness. Costa's orchestra plays an understated introduction to "Stardust," and then Sinatra sings only the verse to the song and completely leaves out the chorus. It gives Carmichael's classic standard a spare, somber, and elegant feel that is almost beyond description. Equally brilliant is Sinatra's passionate, intense, superbly evocative interpretation of "Come Rain or Come Shine." It is the definitive version of that song and ranks among the best ballads that he ever recorded. Costa's lush orchestrations blend perfectly with Frank's deepening baritone, and the heavy emphasis on strings gives the album an operatic feel. You can't list enough superlatives about this album. It's an early example of his work with Reprise from 1961, and it is one of the ten top Sinatra albums of all time. It is classic. It is essential. It is a must-have purchase, and it is PURE SINATRA GOLD!

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 particularly on this moving collection of ballads.

The opening track, "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" is an old standard, sung hundreds of times by other singers. But no one can sing it like Sinatra, it's as if you are listening and understanding the lyrics for the first time.

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 ablum epitomizes his vocal range and showcases his beautiful genius with a ballad.

Listen to "Night and Day" and "It Might as Well be Spring..." they will send goosebumps through you. Yes, he was that good and for anyone who appreciates Sinatra or just great music, this is a must have.

Whoa, this is one outstanding CD and one of my favorites! This was one of Sinatra's best Reprise releases as he was still at his apex when it was recorded. The arrangements by Don Costa complement The Voice perfectly to create a perfect marriage. Sinatra was no stranger to melancholy tales of unrequited and lost love, such as "Spring Is Here" or "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry." Like those recordings, this release also features string accompaniment and a slow pace; in contrast, however, the mood here is hardly morose (for the most part). These are love songs, mostly sung directly to his lover. As such, this makes for the perfect CD to play during a romantic evening. The entire CD is exceptional from start to end, though highlights for me are, "Come Rain or Come Shine," "That's All" and the sensational "Prisoner of Love." The re-mastering has left these songs sounding flawless. As with most releases from this time period, however, the running time is only about thirty minutes. If your CD player supports repeated playing, this CD offers the perfect opportunity to use that feature. Buy it!

Frank Sinatra once said when asked that he thought he did best vocal work on the 1961 "Sinatra and Strings" album which teams him for the first time with legendary arranger/conductor Don Costa. It would be hard to disagree with his assessment after listening to this album of ballad masterpieces. By 1961 Frank Sinatra had been singing professionally for more than a quarter century and had mastered the art of singing the popular music ballad. The skills honed over the previous 25 years -- immaculate phrasing, long, luscious notes and sheer vocal power -- are all evident in abundance in what may be the high water mark of his spectacular career. You simply will not hear better ballad singing than this. His renditions of "That's All", "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" and "Come Rain or Come Shine" are the highlights of the album and have not dimmed in brilliance nearly 45 years after they were recorded. This album is the gold standard by which all other ballad LPs/CDs should be judged. It's hard to imagine it will ever be topped.

The early Reprise years are my favorite Sinatra period. He was still singing great songs, and he hadn't yet made any concessions to the pop market which would swamp adult pop music within a very few years. His interpretive skills were still improving from the Capitol Years,and his voice, while deeper and heavier, was more than sufficient to do whatever he wanted. To use a racing analogy; if Sinatra were in a horserace with other quality jazz/pop singers of the period, he was actually increasing his lead over people like Tony Bennett and Nat "King" Cole, who as good as they were, couldn't compete with Sinatra at his best.

"Sinatra and Strings" is Sinatra at his best. It's an extremely dramatic album, with a choice group of love songs, densely arranged by Don Costa. Some of the songs were a bit quaint even for the early 1960's. "Prisoner of Love," with its melodramatic declamation of loneliness and "Yesterdays" which baroquely rhymes "youth" and "forsooth." More recent tunes like "Misty" and "That's All" are some of the best love songs you'll ever hear. The crown jewel is the bluesy "Come Rain or Come Shine" in which Don Costa adds trumpets into a driving string arrangement and Sinatra just nails it. "We'll be happy together/unhappy together/now won't that be just fine." It's a love song for adults.

They used to say you needed to be old enough to buy booze to buy Sinatra. This is music for grownups. Listen and enjoy.

I bought this album when it was first released and it's been one of my favorites ever since. It was the first Sinatra-Costa collaberation and was the best of them all. The full arrangements are beautiful by themselves and Sinatra is in excellent voice, far better than on I Remember Tommy which preceded this album and Swingin' Brass which followed. It was a unique idea to record just the verse of Stardust, but I'd have liked the chorus to be included, too. It's a winner anyway, although composer Hoagy Carmichael didn't like the idea. Frank sent a pre-release copy of the album to Harold Arlen and asked him to play "Come Rain or Come Shine" LOUD. It's a thrilling recording, but so is the entire album. "All or Nothing at All" surpasses Frank's other 3 recordings of the song for soul, power and heart. Another highlight is his great ballad version of "Night and Day" that includes the verse. There are 5 Sinatra studio versions of "Night and Day." This is the only one that includes the verse and it's one of the loveliest verses ever written. There is far more time available on CD's than on LP's. Yet the people at Reprise chose to delete 2 songs on the CD version presently in release. "Don't Take Your Love From Me" and "As You Desire Me" were both recorded for the album but have been removed. I have the earlier CD release that includes both songs. If you can find that somewhere, even a used copy, get it so that you have the entire album. Reprise has deleted songs from several Sinatra CD's including Ring-A-Ding, Ding, I Remember Tommy and Swingin' Brass. Why? Ya' got me.

The title says "Sinatra and Strings" but what it should say is Sinatra and Costa, because this is the singer's first album with arranger Don Costa. Most of the songs are quite familiar: "Night and Day," "Misty," "Stardust," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "All or Nothing At All." What makes them different this time is Costa's arrangements, dominated not only by strings but by overall heavy orchestrations, that give these old ballads an attractive sensuality. This approach is matched by Sinatra's vocals, which are powerful in voice yet subtle in their phrasing. The less familiar songs might actually end up being more appealing to you (the arrangement on "Stardust," for example, might not be to your liking). The opening track, "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," along with "That's All" and "Yesterdays" are just as good as the more familiar hits. The result is that "Sinatra and Strings" is one of his best ballad collections as well as one of his most passionate albums.

this is an album with which i celebrate sinatras vocal power. i am almost proud of him, though not beeing related in any way... don costas orchestrations are so rich and deep and floating, and sinatras voice swims atop of them or takes a deep dive. given the melancholic and slow beat of "all or nothing at all",i think it is a brilliant idea to embrace that arrangement by a loud and soaring brass introduction and the vocal climax at the end of the song with the one delicious and high note i never get tired of listening to. such a great contrast! and hear the master of long breath on "come rain or come shine", where he holds the "shine" for very long seconds. also, this arrangement is a classic, and sinatra never changed it. "yesterdays" is so dark and again, sinatra joins two phrases by one superlong breath. usually strings tend to sound too kitschy, but these pure orchestrations celebrate the string instruments. the material is the best. strange that sinatra never got back to that concept. all the follow up albums with costa never reached that level of artistry again, and i almost feel a loss, thinking of the things that might have been. but then again, we have this great album, and who else did a comparable contribution to the music world? steffen, 23.

When it comes to sheer musical grandness and drama, only "The Concert Sinatra" from two years later surpasses this 1961 effort. His first collaboration with the marvelous Don Costa, this cd is a lavish affair that contains some of Frank's finest recordings.

Here is where will you find the best of Frank's many recordings of Cole Porter's immortal "Night And Day" (with the unforgettable verse "Like the beat, beat of the tom tom....," sung hauntingly by Frank as his voice rises with each line), as well as his passionate, intense and unforgettable rendition of "Come Rain Or Come Shine." These are the album's two most recognizable numbers, but are by no means the only ones worth listening to.

"Prisoner Of Love," for example, boasts one of Frank's strongest vocal performances. His phrasing here is magnificent, and he knocks out some of his most powerful notes on record, while the opening "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" is a fabulous love song with an absolutely luscious arrangement and a tender yet forceful Sinatra vocal. "That's All" is classic Frank, as is his unbeatable performance of "Misty" (sorry, Mr. Matthis). Oh, and for those who want to hear Frank at the absolute peak of his vocal strength, check out the last note at the end of the haunting reworking of his first hit, "All Or Nothing At All." One of the most unforgettable moments in the history of music.

The rest of the album is similarly excellent, and the arrangements by Costa as well as the sound quality are of equal quality. "Sinatra & Strings" is one of Frank's best albums and belongs in the collection of every music fan.

As conducters go with Sinatra, Don Costa was off and on. Mainstays were Riddle, Jenkins, May, etc. Don Costa, making his debut with Sinatra on this release, seemed to come and go. But, bruddah, was Costa ever "on" with this one.

The strings here sound amazing. They are so majestic and grand, yet at times, sound as if they are so light and delicate, they'll crumble as Sinatra takes his next breath.

Of all the talk you'll hear about this one, it'll probably involve the version of "Stardust" that is featured here. Yes, the version here wholly fails to include the main verses of the song. The mere introduction of the song (in the version, say, by Nat King Cole) is all that is sung here. Yet, along with the arrangement, it sounds complete and lavish.

Similarly, the versions of "It might as well be spring" and "All or nothing at all," are simply amazing. They are to be heard to be believed.

Definitely get this cd. Likewise, the other must haves are "When no one cares," "Wee small hours," "For only the lonely," "September of my years," and any of the Basie-Sinatra team ups, especially "Live at the Sands."