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
December 13, 1954, with Ray Anthony -
Melody of Love / I’m Gonna Live Till I Die
Song #1:
“Melody of Love”
Recommended top choice:
•Collectors Series CD (reused in Sinatra 80th: All the Best)
Avoid:
All others.
Special notes on this front: •Supreme Jazz is a misguidedly EQd and processed clone of the Collectors Series release.
•Australian Mr. Success LP -- wet and Duophonic
NOTES
•The Furmanek/Walsh mastering in Collectors Series and Sinatra 80th: All the Best is the only sampled version that uses unprocessed, correct (“dry”) tapes. All other versions are either “wet” or Norberged.
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: 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: 1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD.
Arranger: Dick Reynolds
Conductor: Ray Anthony
Original Release: #3018, December, 1954
Original LP Release:
UK Look Over Your Shoulder LP, 1961(?)
Original CD Release:
Japan All the Way: Hit Collection, 1989
Releases sampled for this comparison:
•1961 UK Look Over Your Shoulder LP
•1960’s UK Look Over Your Shoulder reel
•1966 Forever Frank LP
•1968 The Sinatra Touch LP
•1980(?) Australian Mr. Success LP
•1989 Japan All the Way: Hit Collection CD
•1989 Collectors Series CD*
•1995 Sinatra 80th: All the Best CD*
•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD
•2006 Supreme Jazz unlicensed SACD
*Shared mastering
Avoid wet tapes: Here is a clip that starts with the wet The Sinatra Touch, then transitions to the Collectors Series CD (dry). Click here: MelodyOfLoveTouch-Collectors.wav
Song #2:
“I’m Gonna Live Till I Die”
Least-bad choices:
•MFSL - nicely tamed, conservative treble, but weak bass and not much sparkle
•1984 UK LP - Similar to MFSL, but mildly less-appealing tone
Not as good:
•1998 UK Look to Your Heart CD - Bright, with nearly-nonexistent bass
•This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD - even less bass
•1980s Look to Your Heart LP - rolled off treble, bloated sound
•Eee-O-11: The Best of the Rat Pack CD - bass sounds forced/futzed, and treble is grainy/pushed sounding. It is nice to hear full bass, but not at the expense of overall tonality, which is the case here.
Avoid:
•Look Over Your Shoulder - compressed and tonally hollow
•Complete Capitol Singles - a real Norberg mess
•2013 Best of the Rat Pack: brickwalled, stereo-widened
NOTES
•To my ears, this track has yet to have a truly sympathetic mastering.
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: Dick Reynolds
Conductor: Ray Anthony
Original Release: #3018, December, 1954
Original LP Release:
Look to Your Heart LP, 1959
Original CD Release:
UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957, 1994
Releases sampled for this comparison:
•1961 UK Look Over Your Shoulder LP
•1980s Look To Your Heart LP
•1983 MFSL Look to Your Heart LP
•1984 UK Look to Your Heart LP
•1994 UK This is Frank Sinatra 1953-1957 CD
•1996 Complete Capitol Singles CD
•1998 UK Look to Your Heart CD
•2001 Eee-O-11: The Best of the Rat Pack CD
•2013 Best of the Rat Pack CD
Above: 2001 Eee-O-11: The Best of the Rat Pack CD, courtesy “Bob F.”
Note about audio clips: The bass level on this song seems to vary from measure to measure. Listen to the entire clip before passing too much judgment where bass levels are concerned.