Non-Album Tracks, 1954
Non-Album Tracks, 1954
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 <---- 1953 Sessions 1954 Singles: March 1 April 2 May 13 August 23 September 23 December 13 ----> 1955 Sessions
September 23, 1954 - Don’t Change Your Mind About Me /
Someone to Watch Over Me / You, My Love
Song #1:
“Don’t Change Your Mind About Me”
Recommended top choice:
•The Rarities: Volume Two LP
Not as good:
•Like Never Before and Frank Sinatra (German) LPs - duller tone, lesser dynamics
Avoid:
•Complete Capitol Singles CD - Norberg processing to the point of distortion in spots
•Look Over Your Shoulder - Wet tapes used
NOTES
•Both the 45, the German 10” LP, and the Like Never Before LP are 3-4 dB RMS less dynamic than the Australian LP
SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS
All clips posted here mirror those freely available via Amazon.
Audio Clips
Above: 1998 UK Songs for Young Lovers CD, courtesy “rangerjohn.”
Above: 1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD, mastered by Bob Norberg, courtesy “rangerjohn”.
Above: 1983 MFSL Look to Your Heart LP, mastered by Jack Hunt
Above: 1984 Look to Your Heart UK LP, courtesy “Sinatrafan”
Above: 1980s N-series Look to Your Heart LP, mastered by Jay Maynard.
Above: 1955 N1 45, courtesy “stevelucille”
Above: 1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD.
Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle
Original Release: #3050, 2/55
Original LP Release: Germany Capitol Records Presents Frank Sinatra LP, 1961, or UK Look Over Your Shoulder LP, July, 1961
Original CD Release:
Complete Capitol Singles, 1996
Releases sampled for this comparison:
•1955 N1 45
•1961 UK Look Over Your Shoulder LP
•1961 German 10” Frank Sinatra LP
•1960’s UK Look Over Your Shoulder reel
•1973 Like Never Before LP
•1983 Australian The Rarities - Volume Two LP
•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD
Above: 1973 Longines/Capitol Like Never Before LP
Above: 1955 N1 45, courtesy “stevelucille” (Tone may be adversely affected by groove wear)
Above: 1983 Australian The Rarities: Volume Two LP
Avoid wet tapes: Here is a clip that starts with the quite-wet Look Over Your Shoulder reel-to-reel tape, then transitions to the The Rarities: Volume Two LP (dry). Click here: DontClipWetReel-DryRarities2.mp3
Song #2:
“Someone to Watch Over Me”
Recommended top choices (essentially tied):
•UK Screen Sinatra LP
•1984 UK Songs for Young Lovers LP
•The Capitol Years CD (reused for At the Movies and All-Time Favorites)
Also excellent, with barely-audible technical flaw:
•Taking a Chance on Love CD - see notes at right
Of those four choices, Screen Sinatra and The Capitol Years have slightly wider dynamic range.
Not as good:
•1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD, 1991 Nice ‘n’ Easy CD (reused in All the Best set) - audible compression
Avoid:
•Original 1962 Songs for Young Lovers expanded 12” LP - reverb-added tapes
•Complete Capitol Singles and 2002 Nice ‘n’ Easy CDs - Norberg processing to the point of distortion in spots
•Classic Sinatra - see notes at right
•1998 UK Songs for Young Lovers CD - tubby EQ, audible compression
NOTES
•Original release information is uncertain. See discussion here.
•Uncharacteristically, the 1991 Walsh mastering for the Nice ‘n’ Easy CD is quite compressed. This is made odder still by the fact that the track already appeared, uncompressed, in 1990’s The Capitol Years set, which Mr. Walsh engineered. The 1991 release appears to be a fully-new transfer from analog tapes.
•UK Screen Sinatra CD is another “mono tape played on a stereo machine” transfer. UK Songs for Young Lovers CD appears to use the same transfer, but in true mono (either summed, or just one channel, split), with bad EQ and compression.
•Classic Sinatra has a defect in the form of heavy static in the left channel at 1:27. Taking a Chance on Love uses the same transfer, but only the right channel. The static is just barely audible on the latter. You can hear the defect at the tail end of the clips below (especially on Classic Sinatra).
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.”
Audio Clips
Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle
Original Release: Probably EP #EAP 1-#571,
Frank Sinatra Sings Songs from his Warner
Bros. Picture Young At Heart, Nov. 1954
Original LP Release: 12” expanded
Songs for Young Lovers, 1962
Original CD Release:
UK Screen Sinatra, 1989
Releases sampled for this comparison:
•1954 45
•1962 Songs for Young Lovers 12” LP
•1980 UK Screen Sinatra LP
•1984 UK Songs for Young Lovers 12” LP
•1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD*
•1990 The Capitol Years CD**
•1991 All-Time Favorites by Sinatra CD**
•1991 Nice ‘n’ Easy CD***
•1992 At the Movies CD**
•1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD***
•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD^
•1998 UK Songs for Young Lovers CD*
•2000 Classic Sinatra CD^^
•2002 Nice ‘n’ Easy CD^
•2004 Taking a Chance on Love CD^^
*Shared digital transfer; different mastering
**Shared mastering
***Shared mastering
^Shared mastering (slight dynamic adjustments)
^^Shared digital transfer; different mastering
Click photo above to listen:
1990 The Capitol Years CD, reissue produced by Ron Furmanek, engineered by Larry Walsh, courtesy “Old Coder”
Click photo above to listen:
1989 UK Screen Sinatra CD
Click photo above to listen:
1984 UK Songs for Young Lovers LP
Click photo above to listen:
1980 UK Screen Sinatra LP
Click photo above to listen:
1991 Nice ‘n’ Easy CD, mastered by Larry Walsh
Above: 2000 Classic Sinatra CD, courtesy “Bob F”
(See NOTES above)
Above: 2004 Taking a Chance on Love CD, courtesy “Bob F”
(See NOTES above)
Song #3:
“You, My Love”
Recommended top choice:
•Complete Capitol Singles CD - “Widened,” but uncompressed dynamics and good tone. Suggestion: Listen in mono via a single channel or via the mid component after mid-side processing.
Second Best/Different Style:
•Original EP release. It is compressed (at the cutting stage?), but not with that Look to Your Heart style of compression. Finding a mint copy may be challenging.
Not as good:
•1984 UK Look to Your Heart or My Funny Valentine LPs - compressed, true mono, less-inviting tone quality
•1983 MFSL and 1980s (green label) Look to Your Heart LPs - even more compressed
Avoid:
•Both UK CDs - harsh tone, heavy compression
•Mr. Success LP - fake stereo, dull treble.
NOTES
•Original release information is uncertain. See discussion here.
•As with all of the Look to Your Heart tracks thus far examined, compression is a problematic and audible concern. Apparently, the only release to use the uncompressed session tapes is the Norberg Singles Collection mastering. Sadly, it’s stereo widened, but if forced back to mono by mid-side processing or by monitoring a single channel, it sounds quite nice and “breathes” far more than the compressed versions.
SAMPLE AUDIO CLIPS
All clips posted here mirror those freely available via Amazon.
Audio Clips
Arranger/Conductor: Nelson Riddle
Original Release: Probably EP #EAP 1-#571,
Frank Sinatra Sings Songs from his Warner
Bros. Picture Young At Heart, Nov. 1954
Original LP Release: Look to Your Heart, 1959
Original CD Release:
UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957, 1994
Releases sampled for this comparison:
•1954 D1 45
•1954 D2 EP
•1962 UK My Funny Valentine LP
•1980(?) Australian Mr. Success LP
•1980s Look to Your Heart LP,
•1983 MFSL Look to Your Heart LP
•1984 UK Look to Your Heart LP
•1984 Dutch Look to Your Heart DMM LP
•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD
•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD
•1998 UK Look to Your Heart CD
Above: 1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD, mastered by Bob Norberg, but just the “mid” component, after going through mid-side processing
COMPRESSION
As with all of the Look to Your Heart tracks looked at thus far, it appears as though 1.) An LP master was prepared that included a strong degree of not just compression, but ugly-sounding compression; 2.) most masterings of this track were prepared from that LP master, not from uncompressed session tapes. Below is a comparison of the “mid” section of the Norberg Singles mastering (uncompressed) and the MFSL LP (compressed). There is nearly 6 dB RMS difference between the two, which is very audible:
Above: 1961 German Frank Sinatra 10” LP. (This one.)
Above: 1962 UK My Funny Valentine LP.
Above: 1954 D2 Young-at-Heart EP #EAP1-571
Click photo above to listen:
1954 D1 45
Above: 1954 D1 45