Non-Album Tracks, 1953

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

December 9, 1953 - Rain, Young-at-Heart, I Could Have Told You

Song #1:

“Rain (Falling from the Skies)”

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: 45 & 78 RPM #2816, 5/17/54

Original LP Release: This is Sinatra, 1956

Original CD Release: Where Are You (bonus track), 1991

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1954 78

•1954 45

•1956 This is Sinatra LP

•1967 This is Sinatra Star Line LP

•1971 Holland Swing Easy LP

•1980s Japan This is Sinatra LP

•1983 Aussie The Rarities - Volume Two LP

•1985 UK This is Sinatra LP

•1991 Where Are You CD

•1994 UK This is Sinatra 1953-1957 CD

•1996 The Complete Capitol Singles CD

•1998 UK This is Sinatra CD

•2002 Where Are You CD

•2005 Young at Heart (Proper) unlicensed CD

•2014 HD This is Sinatra download

•2014 This is Sinatra LP

Recommended top choices:

•UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD

•1991 Where Are You CD -- has odd fade up in opening, and noise in closing fade

Very Close Second:

•1985 UK This is Sinatra LP - very slightly brighter

Not as good:

•1998 UK This is Sinatra - mildly compressed

•LP copies except for 1985 UK, plus 2014 HD download- “dark” tone and some degree of reduced dynamics

•UK Young at Heart unlicensed CD on Proper Records - needledrop, runs 2% slow, has fade-up opening (to avoid surface noise, presumably)

Avoid:

•2002 Where Are You CD and Complete Capitol Singles CD - Norberg (shared mastering)

•1971 Holland Swing Easy LP - Duophonic

NOTES

•The compression on the LPs is not quite as bothersome on this string-centric recording as on some of the more swing-style things we’ve looked at previously, but it’s still there.

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS

All clips posted here (with one two-second exception) mirror those freely available via iTunes. To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Audio Clips

NOTE: Not wishing to give away any “free music,” I typically start clips at the same starting point as the free samples available on iTunes. However, on this song, the far more varied/interesting section of the 90-second iTunes clip comes at the end - including Frank’s vocal and the soaring string section - so in this case I have used a later 45 seconds within the free 90-second iTunes clip rather than the first 45 seconds. It still falls within the free iTunes segment. (To access the free iTunes 90-second clip, use the window at left. Click “VIEW,” then “View in iTunes.”)

To hear a particular clip, click on the accompanying photo. (If you left-click, you can open the audio in a new window.)

Below: Original D7 78*, transitioning into a D1 45**, then the UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD. *courtesy “stevelucille,” **Arkoffs

Below: 1967 This is Sinatra Star Line LP.

Below: Dr. Robert’s 1980s Japan This is Sinatra LP.

Below: 1985 UK This is Sinatra LP.

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

Below: 1996 The Complete Capitol Singles Collection, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy “rangerjohn.”

(Same mastering appears as a bonus track on the 2002 Where Are You CD remaster.)

Below: 1998 UK This is Sinatra from the CD boxed set, courtesy “rangerjohn.”

Song #2: “Young-at-Heart”

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: 45 & 78 RPM #2703, 1/18/54

Original LP Release: Top Hits of ’54, Vol. 1, 1954

Original CD Release: Australian The Frank

Sinatra Collection, (link) 1986

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1954 78

•1954 D4 45

•1956 This is Sinatra LP

•1967 The Movie Years mono LP

•1967 This is Sinatra Star Line LP

•1968 The Sinatra Touch mono LP

•1971 Holland Swing Easy LP

•1973 The Works LP

•1974 NZ His Twenty Greatest Hits LP

•1978 UK Twenty Golden Greats LP

•1980 UK Screen Sinatra LP

•1980s Japan This is Sinatra LP

•1983 Japan The Hit Maker LP

•1983 Capitol/Pair All-Time Classics LP

•1985 UK This is Sinatra LP

•1986 Australia The Frank

Sinatra Collection CD

•1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD

•1989 Collectors Series CD

•1989 Gold CD

•1989 Japan Hit Collection CD

•1990 The Capitol Years CD

•1991 All-Time Favorites by Frank Sinatra CD

•1992 Aussie The Essential Frank Sinatra CD

•1992 UK Twenty Golden Greats CD

•1993 At the Movies CD

•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD

•1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD

•1996 The Movie Years (Mastercard) CD

•1997 Aussie The Frank Sinatra Collection CD

•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD

•1998 UK This is Sinatra UK CD

•2000 Classic Sinatra CD

•2002 Frank Sinatra in Hollywood CD*

•2004 Sinatra’s Swingin’ Session (only in mini-”Concepts” box) CD

•2004 Taking a Chance on Love CD

•2005 Young at Heart (Proper) unlicensed CD

•2006 Supreme Jazz unlicensed SACD

•2008 At the Movies CD**

•2009 UK 25 Classic Tracks CD**

•2014 This is Sinatra HD Download

•2014 This is Sinatra LP

BLUE = Shared mastering (*mildly adjusted)

Red = Shared mastering

Green = Shared transfer to digital (**widened)

Below: This is Sinatra D1 pressing, courtesy eharmonica.

Recommended Top Choice:

•UK Twenty Golden Greats CD

Essentially the same, with slightly less-warm vocal tone:

•1985 UK This is Sinatra LP

•Screen Sinatra CD

•Collectors Series and its re-uses in BLUE at left

•The Essential Frank Sinatra CD

•This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD

•Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD

Similar to top choice, but see notes at far right:

•2014 This is Sinatra HD download

•2014 This is Sinatra LP

Not as good:

•Star Line and original “D” pressing This is Sinatra LP and UK This is Sinatra CD - compressed, sub-par tone

•2008‘s At the Movies (and 25 Classic Tracks - shared mastering) - stereo widening, odd tone in spots

Avoid:

•D4 45: hollow tone; runs too fast

•Japan The Hit Maker LP and The Movie Years: wet tapes

•Supreme Jazz and Sings the Great Love Songs - Very bad EQ. “Sings” has stereo widening, as well.

•The Sinatra Touch mono LP - compressed with bad tone

•New Zealand His 20 Greatest Hits LP - buried in reverb (not just the usual “wet tapes”)

•UK Screen Sinatra LP - Duophonic, summed to mono

•UK Young at Heart unlicensed CD on Proper Records - needledrop, runs 2% slow

•1993 At the Movies - runs slow, with dropout at 1:11

•Gold, Classic Sinatra, 2004 Sinatra’s Swingin’ Session, and Complete Singles Collection CDs - Norberg

•Twenty Golden Greats LP, All-Time Classics CD, 1971 Holland Swing Easy LP, and The Works LPs - fake stereo

•1986 Australia The Frank Sinatra Collection CD - wet tapes

NOTES

•Supreme Jazz re-uses the Collectors Series mastering, but add shorrid EQ.

•Screen Sinatra and Hit Collection have mono tape playback on a stereo machine.

•D4 45 is surprisingly uncompressed.

•There’s an odd sputtering sound in the intro on both of the 2014 editions

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS

All clips posted here (except one two-second clip) mirror those freely available via iTunes. To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Below: This is Sinatra D1 pressing, courtesy eharmonica.

Below: Dr. Robert’s 1980s Japan This is Sinatra LP.

Below: 1985 UK This is Sinatra LP.

Below: 2005 Young at Heart unlicensed CD, courtesy “OldCoder.”

(Needledrop? Runs 2% slow.)

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

Below: 1996 The Complete Capitol Singles Collection, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy “rangerjohn.”

Below: 1998 UK This is Sinatra from the CD boxed set, courtesy “rangerjohn.”

Below: 1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD.

Below: 1989 Collectors Series CD. Mastered by Ron Furmanek and Larry Walsh.

(Reused in 5 CDs listed in BLUE above.

Song #3:

“I Could Have Told You”

Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle

Original Release: 45 & 78 RPM #2787, 4/26/54

Original LP Release: Look to Your Heart,1959

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

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1954 45

•1959 Look to Your Heart LP

•1959(?) UK Sinatra Sings Music for Pleasure LP

•1980s Australia Mr. Success LP

•1983 Look to Your Heart MFSL LP

•1984 UK Look to Your Heart LP

•1980s abridged Look to Your Heart LP

•1989 Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection, 1989*

•1991 No One Cares CD*

•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD

•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD**

•1998 UK Look to Your Heart CD

•2002 No One Cares CD**

*Same digital transfer, mastered differently

**Essentially a shared mastering. See “NOTES.”

Recommended top choices:

•1991 No One Cares CD

•1980s Mr. Success LP

Also excellent:

•Japan All the Way: The Hit Collection CD - see notes at right.

Tweaked, but enjoyable enough, from correct source tapes:

•Complete Capitol Singles and 2002 No One Cares CDs. See notes at right.

Avoid:

•Most vinyl pressings. 45s exhibit hollow EQ and mild compression; LPs use compressed, processed LP tapes, not session tapes (with the exception of MR. SUCCESS, listed as a “top choice.”

•UK Look to Your Heart CD and UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD - compressed (Same LP tapes?) .

NOTES

•Masterings for this song basically fall into two categories: those mastered from correct tapes, and those mastered from the processed “Look to Your Heart” LP tapes. Four masterings are of the uncompressed variety, and all are in the “recommended” box at left. All others are sourced from tampered-with tapes, and thus, to varying degrees, hard and harsh sounding.

•1989’s Japanese All the Way.... CD and 1991’s Walsh-mastered No One Cares CD appear to be sourced from the same digital transfer. In fact, the Walsh disc appears to use the right channel of the 1989 transfer, which was apparently done on a stereo machine, with quite a lot of fuzzy splatter on “s” sounds.

•The two Norberg masterings are extremely similar, with the 2002 version appearing to be a simple EQ-ing of the 1996 version. I prefer the EQ on the 2002 release by a slight margin.

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.”

Below: 1991 Where Are You CD, mastered by Larry Walsh

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS

All clips posted here (with one two-second exception) mirror those freely available via iTunes. To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

To my ears -- possibly the partial result of the song being placed at the end of an LP side -- all the LPs except the 1985 UK pressing sound slightly dull. Here is a clip that starts with the Japan pressing, then switches to the UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD. Click here: RainJapanLP-5357.mp3

The 1991 Where Are You CD has a unique fade in at the opening of the track. Here is a sample that starts with the non-faded UK 1953-1957 CD, followed by the Where Are You CD, then back to 1953-1957, then back again to the Where Are You disc. Click here: RainOpen5357-Walsh-5357-Walsh.mp3

Audio Clips

To hear a particular clip, click on the accompanying photo. (If you left-click, you can open the audio in a new window.)

Below: 1969 This is Sinatra Star Line LP.

At right: His Twenty Greatest Hits LP, as

released in New Zealand in 1974:

Ugliest Sinatra Album Cover Ever????

Click photo to hear audio that’s just as bad.

SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS

All clips posted (except one 2-second clip) here mirror those freely available via iTunes. To access the 90-second iTunes free samples, click

“View,” then “View in iTunes.”

Below: 1992 UK Twenty Golden Greats CD.

Below: 1989 Gold CD, mastered by Bob Norberg.

Below: 1989 Japan All the Way - Frank Sinatra Hit Collection CD, courtesy Chuck Granata.

Below: 1993 At the Movies CD, mastered by Larry Walsh, courtesy Bob F.

Below: 1992 Australian The Essential Frank Sinatra CD.

Below: 1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD.

Below: 2006 Supreme Jazz unlicensed SACD, courtesy “OldCoder.”

Below: 2008 At the Movies CD, courtesy Bob F.

•The 1989 Japanese CD All the Way - Frank Sinatra Hit Collection has a subtle mastering anomaly. Specifically, the song fades out rather than coming to a full conclusion. What follows is a clip that starts with this CD, then switches to The Capitol Years (with proper conclusion), then back to the Japanese release, and back once more to The Capitol Years. Click here: YoungEndHitColl-CapYrs x2.wav