Customer Reviews

The Voice of Frank Sinatra

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He was labeled "The Voice", and during the '40s that meant Frank Sinatra was on the airwaves. On this rare and collectible collection of previously unreleased alternate takes...also previously released alternate takes the way we should have heard them originally ~ expanded deluxe edition first time on CD ~ plus greated historic notes and original cover art, the liner notes are what collectors live for.

Stand outs are "YOU GO TO MY HEAD", "THESE FOOLISH THINGS (REMIND ME OF YOU)", "I DON'T KNOW WHY (I JUST DO)", "(I DON'T STAND) A GHOST OF A CHANCE", "PARADISE" and "THAT OLD FEELING", featuring the brilliant and classic arrangements of Axel Stordahl who gave class to all the Sinatra performances on this album.

Again hats off to Didier C. Deutsch, Charles L. Granata and Andreas Meyer who compiled all the pains taking tracks on this Sinatra must have. The clarity and quality on each track is a Sinatra collectors dream.

Total Time: 55:28 on 18 Tracks ~ Columbia/Legacy 62100 ~ (7/22/2003)

"The Voice of Frank Sinatra" is Frank's first full-length remastered concept LP from 1945, along with ten bonus tracks of alternate takes from 1945-1947. The original album was released as a four disc 78 RPM set by Columbia in March 1946. Featuring classically inspired orchestrations by Axel Stordahl, Sinatra's eight original songs on "Voice of Frank Sinatra" are timeless: many come from the Great American Songbook in the form of The Nearness of You, Someone to Watch Over Me, You Go To My Head, and These Foolish Things, along with Try A Little Tenderness, Why Shouldn't I, Ghost of a Chance, and Paradise.

The liner notes are a gem, featuring numerous studio photographs from the album's recording and subsequent releases, insightful commentary on the album's creation, and in-depth descriptions of the remastering process (rarely have I heard a WWII era disc sound so fresh). The ten bonus tracks are alternate and "safety" takes from the 1945-1947 sessions and include Mam'selle, Spring is Here, That Old Feeling, Fools Rush In, When You Awake, It Never Entered My Mind, and Always in addition to several alternate takes from the LP.

This is a young Sinatra just discovering the power of these songs, with a voice that hadn't yet become his trademark croon as later evidenced on Columbia and Reprise albums. The classically inspired orchestrations borrowing from Impressionist masters like Debussy, Ravel, and Delius, as well as Romantics such as Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikovsky, lend a buoyancy and timeless quality to the well-chosen standards. And in most places, the remastered sound quality is impeccable.

"The Voice of Frank Sinatra" is a true treat for any fan of WWII-era standards and of Sinatra himself, with stellar packaging (with original album art), in-depth liner notes, and excellent sound quality for a bargain price. If you're thinking of collecting early Frank Sinatra, but aren't quite ready to invest in the four-CD "Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952," consider this as an excellent first purchase in vintage Sinatra, along with "Young Blue Eyes: Birth of a Crooner," swinging Big Band sessions with Tommy Dorsey from 1940.

I'm an old f...,fogie. I've had the L.P. (pre-vinyl record, for you young lot) for almost 50 years. It is still my favorite; song selections, intros, orchestrations, renditions, vocals, everything! You can understand the lyrics, they tell a story, they evoke strong emotions, they set a mood, ah heck, you get it now. Or, you never will. Try it, you'll like it.

There's something special about Mr. Sinatra's voice. Every song he sings becomes magic to one's ears. Is it the song or the singer? Is it a song that makes the singer special, or is it a singer that makes the song special? Whatever it is, I know for sure that "if it's terrific, it's FRANK SINATRA!"

I truly believe that Columbia Records produced some of Sinatra's best from his earliest recordings. The original album (#1 on the Billboard charts) that was recorded in the forties has only eight selections, all impeccably arranged and conducted by Alex Stordahl, one of Sinatra's favorite arrangers along with Nelson Riddle. According to the liner notes (which is very informative & with a few nice photos of FS) written by Charles Granata, Stordahl's work was greatly influenced by classical masters such as Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff (three of my topmost favorite classical composers). There's no wonder why Stordahl's arrangements and orchestrations are so impeccable and enchanting! His inspirations came from these great composers of the Romantic Era.

In this CD, there are ten more tracks that were added and that's a wonderful delight to all FS fans! In my opinion, the very highlights of this precious CD are his performances on "Mam'selle" (previously unreleased and a bonus track) - makes you think of the most romantic city in the whole world... Paris, with its small cafés...the warm & sweet violins, Shapiro/Campbell/Connelly's "If I Had You" (previously unreleased and a bonus track), Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You," Gershwins' "Someone To Watch Over Me," Gillespie's "You Go To My Head," Marvell's "These Foolish Things," Brown/Clifford's "Paradise," Turk/Ahlert's "I Don't Know Why," and Irving Berlin's "Always."

On the liner notes, George T. Simon once said: "The way ballads should be done: simply, sincerely, musically."

And that's the way Sinatra rendered these beautiful ballads. He gave more than justice to these timeless and romantic ballads for our listening enjoyment of a lifetime.

Last year, 2009, saw the re-release of this CD in a 3-pack called "The Collection". It also includes the "Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra", and the Rodgers and Hammerstein disc. This 3-pack comes as a brick with an individual jewel case for each of the 3 CDs; also the original inserts from the first CD releases of these titles are duplicated. Each CD has the same track listing (with bonus tracks) as the original individual CD releases(Amazon's track listing for "The Collection" shows each disc having one less song, but this is not accurate.). Amazon currently has this 3-pack for 23.98 new; marketplace copies can be had for around $17-$18 plus shipping. Bottome line, don't pay an inflated collector's price for a CD copy of "The Voice of Frank Sinatra" when this 3-pack is in print and easily available.

With the possible exception of "Frank Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits", this is the GREATEST single disc collection of young Sinatra's Columbia recordings. Each song is gorgeous, and Frank's singing shows why he went on to last decades. The bonus tracks are splendid - "It Never Entered My Mind", "Always"...
If you want one disc of early Sinatra, make it this one or the aforementioned "Sings His Greatest Hits".

I have to add that you wouldn't go wrong with Columbia's "Love Songs" either. But "The Voice" was meant to be an album back in 1945 (spread out over four 78's), so it doesn't have the advantage of being a career-wide chosen collection, which makes it all the more brilliant, so extra points for "The Voice"! "You won't regret it/women don't forget it" (from The Voice)