Non-Album Tracks, 1956

Thank you to SHTV’s “Bob F” for his invaluable assistance in compiling this information.

Ongoing discussion at the Steve Hoffman Music Forum (LINK)       Album Index

 

April 5, 1956, *with the Hollywood String Quartet

The End of a Love Affair* / It Could Happen to You* /

There’s a Flaw in My Flue* / With Every Breath I Take* /

How Little We Know / Wait for Me / You’re Sensational

Song #3:

“There’s a Flaw in My Flue”*

Top Choice:


The Rare Sinatra LP

Not as good:


•1987 Close to You - good tone; reverb added; not true mono; See NOTES at right

The Rare Sinatra CD - odd tone

Like Never Before LP - slightly hollow tone; Also, see NOTES -->


Avoid:

Great Romantic Memories LP - this is the 1987 CD, in jumbled order, cut to vinyl

•2000/2002 Close to You - Norberg

NOTES


•Oddly, there is a defect in the first release, “Like Never Before,” that is on no other versions.  The left channel drops in volume just prior to “and dream about you,” with an actual dropout across both channels on the word “dream.”

•Once again, the Walsh transfer is “wobbly mono,” meaning that a stereo tape head was used to play the tape, and the tape did not ride smoothly, nudging slightly “left heavy” with each rotation.  Regardless, if you have access to mid-side decoding and can extract just the mid element by itself, the 1987 CD can yield arguably the finest results of any release.

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: Like Never Before, 1973

Original LP Release: Like Never Before, 1973

Original CD Release: Close to You, 1987

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1973 Like Never Before LP

•1978 UK Close to You LP

•1987 Close to You CD

•1988 German Great Romantic Memories LP

•1998 UK The Rare Sinatra CD

•2000 Close to You CD

Audio Clips

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS


All clips posted here mirror those freely available via iTunes.  To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Above: 1987 Close to You CD, mastered by Larry Walsh.  (Reused for The Rare Sinatra CD.)

Above: 2000 Close to You CD, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy rangerjohn

Song #1:

“The End of a Love Affair”* - see Close to You pages

Song #2:

“It Could Happen to You”* - see Close to You pages

there’s a

flaw in my

flue

Above: 1978 UK The Rare Sinatra LP

Above: 1973 Longines/Capitol Like Never Before LP

Above: 1998 UK The Rare Sinatra CD, courtesy “OldCoder”

Song #5 (start of evening session):

“(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know”

Top Choices:


•1990 The Capitol Years CD

1989 Collectors Series CD (reused, with fade, on Sinatra 80th)


Second place:

All the Way: The Hit Collection

1998 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two CD

Not as Good:


•Original 45 singles - compressed, with mediocre tone (the EP is a marked improvement)

•2016 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP - OK sound, but last bass drum note is missing


Avoid:

•1984 Japan This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP - wet tapes; dull, dark tone

The Hit Maker and The Works LPs- Duophonic

Complete Capitol Singles Collection - Norberged

This is Frank Sinatra, 1953-1957 - mediocre tone; runs nearly 3 seconds slow

NOTES


•The two “top choice” Furmanek/Walsh releases are essentially clones of each other where the song itself is concerned.  The 1989 release includes some studio chatter both before and after the song, while the 1990 release, perhaps accidentally, includes just the word “next” (part of Frank’s request of “Next tune”) during the fade out.  Additional info here.

•There are many good masterings of this song.

•2016 LP is missing the last little “thump” from the drum set.

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: 45/78 #3423, April, 1956

Original LP Release: This is Sinatra, Volume Two, March 31, 1958

Original CD Release: Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection, 1989

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1956 45s

•1956 Hey! Jealous Lover EP

•1958 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1968 The Sinatra Touch mono LP

•1973 The Works LP

•1982 Japan The Hit Maker LP

•1984 Japan This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1985 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1989 Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection CD

•1989 Collectors Series CD*

•1990 The Capitol Years CD*

•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra, 1953-1957 CD

•1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD+^

•1996 Complete Capitol Singles Collection CD+

•1998 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two CD

•1998 36 All-Time Favorites CD+^

•2016 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

RED = Shared Transfer to Digital; mastered differently (Possibly originally transferred for use in 1985 UK LP issue?)

*Shared mastering, except for the handling of the studio chatter and a slight edit leading into the chatter at the very end of the song proper

BLUE = Shared Transfer to Digital; mastered and/or edited differently

+Sourced from Collectors Series, with different mastering and fades

^Shared mastering

Audio Clips

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS


All clips posted here mirror those freely available via iTunes.  To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Above: 1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD.

Above: 1958 D9 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1998 This is Sinatra, Volume Two CD, courtesy rangerjohn

Above: 1985 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy “rangerjohn”.

Above: Japan Hit Collection CD, courtesy “progrockfan”

Above: 1956 D2 45

Above: 1956 D3 promo 45, courtesy stevelucille

Above: 1968 G2 mono The Sinatra Touch LP

Above: 1989 Collectors Series CD, mastered by Furmanek/Walsh, essentially reused in The Capitol Years and Sinatra 80th: All the Best

Song #4 (conclusion of afternoon session):

“With Every Breath I Take”* - see Close to You pages

Above: 1956 N2#2 45, courtesy bozburn

Above: 1956 D1 Hey! Jealous Lover EP, courtesy bozburn

Song #6:

“Johnny Concho Theme (Wait for Me)”

Top Choices:


•1992 At the Movies CD (and it’s reuses, marked **)

•Japanese All the Way: The Hit Collection CD

2016 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Avoid:


Complete Capitol Singles Collection - Fake stereo, poor tone

The Golden Record - Duophonic

NOTES


•If all four releases in BLUE are not mastered from the same source, I’ll eat my hat.  They stick out, sonically, like a sore thumb (with their heavily warm tonality, especially evident on the LP), and have essentially identical waveforms.  (The CDs are definitely from the same digital transfer, and I strongly suspect the LP to be, as well.)

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: 45/78 #3469, June, 1956

Original LP Release: This is Sinatra, Volume Two, March 31, 1958

Original CD Release: One of the 1989 releases (See below)

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1958 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1974 France The Golden Record LP

•1980 UK Screen Sinatra LP

•1981 Australia The Rarities, Volume One LP

•1982 Japan The Hit Maker LP

•1984 Japan This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1985 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

•1989 Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection CD

•1989 UK The Great Films & Shows CD*+

•1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD*+

•1992 At the Movies CD**

•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra, 1953-1957 CD+

•1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD**

•1996 Complete Capitol Singles Collection CD

•1998 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two CD

•1998 36 All-Time Favorites CD**

•2002 Reprise In Hollywood CD**

2016 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP


*Shared mastering

+Shared Digital Transfer

**Shared mastering

BLUE = See NOTES section at far right

Audio Clips

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS


All clips posted here mirror those freely available via iTunes.  To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Above: 1958 D5 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1980 UK Screen Sinatra LP

Above: 1981 Australian The Rarities - Volume One LP, mastered by Otto Ruiter.

Above: 1982 Japan The Hit Maker LP

Above: 1985 UK This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1989 Japan Hit Collection CD, courtesy “progrockfan”

Above: 1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD (same mastering as 1989 UK Great Films and Shows CD)

Above: 1992 At the Movies CD, mastered by Larry Walsh, courtesy “OldCoder.”  Reused in Sinatra 80th, and In Hollywood.

Above: 1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD.

Above: 1998 This is Sinatra, Volume Two CD, courtesy rangerjohn

Above: 1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy “rangerjohn”.

A wealth of sub-par choices on this title.  Need extra warmth?  Choose a blue title.

Song #7:

“You’re Sensational” (re-recorded version)

Top Choice


•1983 Australian The Rarities - Volume Two LP


Second Best:


•Original mono High Society soundtrack LP

Subpar:

•1989 Australian Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter CD - way too much treble, and some mildly (essentially inconsequential) clipped waveforms on peaks)


Avoid:


All others, which are either missing 1:38 from the performance, or are in very bad fake stereo.  Life’s too short.

NOTES


•In terms of pure sound quality, the best sounding version is The Capitol Years, which, regrettably, uses the heavily edited single version.  You can hear a clip: SensationalCapYrs-RaritiesVol2.mp3 that starts with the The Capitol Years CD, then transitions to The Rarities - Volume Two LP.


•As far as I can find, there have only ever been three releases of the full-length version that are not in fake stereo. (Possibly a fourth -- see here.)

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: High Society soundtrack LP, June 25, 1956

Original CD Release:

    High Society soundtrack, 1989

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1956 45

•1956 78

•1956 mono High Society soundtrack LP

•1964 UK My Funny Valentine LP

•1983 Australia The Rarities, Volume Two LP

•1982 Japan The Hit Maker LP

•1989 Australia Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter CD

•1989 High Society soundtrack CD*

•1989 Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection CD

•1990 The Capitol Years CD

1991 Japan High Society soundtrack CD*

•1991 Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter CD

•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD*

•1997 Australia High Society soundtrack CD


RED = Singles edit, cut from 3:54 to 2:16 (!)

GREEN = Full-length, mono

BLUE = Full-length, awful fake stereo

Audio Clips

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS


All clips posted here mirror those freely available via itunes.com

Above: 1983 Australian The Rarities, Volume Two LP, mastered by Alan Parsons.

Above: Original D13 mono High Society soundtrack LP

Above: 1984 Japan This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1984 Japan This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

<---- 1955 Sessions  1956 Singles:  Jan. 6    Jan. 12                            Jan. 17   Jan. 20   March 8   April 4    April 5    April 9                        Nov. 26                          Dec. 3  ----> 1957 Sessions

Above: 2016 This is Sinatra, Volume Two LP

Above: 1989(?) Australian Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter CD