Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality: "Come Swing with Me" (1961)

The Dell LP is very nice, but I do enjoy my D2#1/D1 mono 9-o'clock a bit more.

 

This is one LP I cannot imagine would sound good in mono. It was designed for stereo.

 

I felt the same way, but I picked up a mono on this a few years ago after 20+ years of hearing “Come Swing With Me” in stereo for a few bucks. I always liked the ping-pong effect, but the mono mix brought something new to this album—sort of like playing mono pressings of Esquivel’s “Latin-Esque” or Johnny Williams “Rhythm In Motion” (both designed for stereo as well). I’m not saying it’s the way you should listen to any of these albums for the first time (or the first 100+), but it becomes much more of an interesting experience in mono after countless times played in stereo....well, for me anyhow

 

And THAT, my friend is what it's all about! Enjoying the music...especially when Mr. S is involved!

 

Thanks Matt. Glad to see you're back at it!

This seems to be a title with no "dogs" among the various versions. The R2R, Dell, MFSL, etc. all sound quite nice.

As for the piano: why did they bother to do the overdub? The leakage is not bad and the overdub may in fact make the piano too pronounced.

P.S. I forgot how funny the Strangers on a Train reference was.....

 

Wow. The CD of this title from the EMI box is shockingly bad. Very tinny.

Its looking like I'll stick with my transfer of the MoFi vinyl and just sum it to mono, thereby having a good stereo version and a reproduction of the fold-down.

Thanks Matt!

 

Very interesting stuff Matt!

You're completely right on the mono being a fold-down.

I guess my go-to copy is the MFSL with the treble turned down a bit. Hitting the mono button allows me to have the best of both worlds.

Like the others members said...it's nice to see you back!

 

Also some extended tape playback dropouts on the left (Five Minutes More iirc... maybe a problem on EMI's dub). A low spot in that set for sure but the only copy this Joe has.

I enjoy this one, but not particularly Don't Take Your Love From Me (Keely Smith's Nelson Riddle arranged version owns the song to me). And Paper Doll...? Okay, but. Although the arrangement on Lover seems relatively rushed I particularly like what Frank does on that one.

 

"Lover" is, indeed, an audacious vocal.

These have strong performances: "American Beauty Rose," "Yes Indeed!" and
"On the Sunny Side of the Street."

"I've Heard That Song Before" is superb--thank God he got to that one!

The rest of the album is just okay, IMHO.

 

Matt,

I've checked my copy of Put Your Dreams Away and oddly enough no credits are given for those instruments.

20-March-1961 (Monday) - Hollywood.
Capitol recording session no. E-83 - Capitol Tower
Frank Sinatra with Orchestra conducted by Billy May
Mannie Klein, Johnny Best, Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano, Shorty Sherock,
Zeke Zarchy, James Salko, Maurice Harris, Joe Graves (tpt); Pete Carpenter,
Lew McCreary, Barrett O'Hara, Jimmy Priddy, Kenneth Trimble, Jimmy Henderson,
Richard Kenney (tbn); Fred Fox, John Graas, Gale Robinson, William
Culley (fr-h); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); Tony Rizzi (g); Joe Comfort
(b); Phil Stephens (tuba); Irving Cottier (d). Billy May, Heinie Beau (arr).

I have a 12 o'clock copy N5 on side 1 and N14 on Side 2 and an Alan Dell LP copy. By a hair, IMHO, the original copy bests the UK issue. Also, to my ears, the Dell LP bests the Dell CD.

However, your sample clearly shows the MFSL to be the winner.

 

Alan Dell LP is really nice. But the West Coast cutting LP issues best that. But only slightly. D3/D4 is nice. Wish mine hadn't gone missing, I bought the Alan Dell LP for a replacement.

 

Checking my copy of "Big Fat Brass" it lists Lou Singer and Bill Hansell as percussion on that "CSWM" inspiring LP. Perhaps one or both of them are on "CSWM". Just a wild guess....

 

Not all the stereo "D" cuts are created equal. Overall the best I've heard is a
D2 side two I have. Side one of the same pressing (a Scranton) is an N5, and
that side is just OK. I have another copy (pressed in LA) that D something on
each side, and it's not that spectacular from what I remember.

That D2 is overall my favorite for sound on this album. Next would probably be
the handful of tracks on THE CAPITOL YEARS, though I'd prefer less compression
than those mixes have. In some ways, those mixes are better than the original
stereo mix though.

I have one of those blue label abridged reissues here - I can't even remember
much about how it sounded. Probably decent enough to not offend or stand out...

I don't hear anything worthwhile about the mono LP samples. I don't even own a
copy.

The Norberg CD is just plain bad sounding. I can't believe that's the version
still available.

I didn't care for the Walsh CD, as its tone is "off". Still much better than
the Norberg.

The MoFi is too futzed with for me. It's not a bad sounding record or anything,
and it's better than the Walsh CD, but it sounds too phony. Matt's quote on his
site of "like it could have been recorded yesterday" is the impression I get of
what they were going for (yesterday in this case being 1983). I don't believe
in that sort of thing, and prefer one doing the least needed to make the
original shine, or at least not try to turn a recording into something it's not.

That said, considering how it seems there are quite a few not so great vintage
cuts of this album out there, I can see how someone would consider the MoFi a
good choice.

 

The Hollywood musicians on Sinatra sessions were a fairly close-knit group. Although there is no credit in the contracts for COME SWING, percussionist credits in this time frame usually went to Frank Flynn, Larry Bunker and/or Emil Richards. Take your pick. (Both Bunker and Richards are credited on SWING ALONG for Reprise, also led by Billy May, two months later.)

 

Richards seems the safe bet.

For what it's worth, Friedwald includes a quote from Richards during his discussion of this album, but it can be interpreted as merely a general comment about May's writing style, not necessarily anything going on with this album.

Funny that he - or whomever it was - was left off the contract.

Bob F: Are there any photos of these sessions with shots of the orchestra, similar to Swingin' Session?