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 4, 1956, with the Hollywood String Quartet -

I’ve Had My Moments / Blame It on My Youth /

Everything Happens to Me / Wait Till You See Her

Song #4:

“Wait Till You See Her”

Top Choice:


The Great Films & Shows CD

Not as good:


•1987 Close to You - great tone; reverb added; not true mono; See NOTES at right (Reused for The Rare Sinatra CD)

•Aussie The Rarities - Volume Two LP - true mono; great dynamics; subpar tone

...Sings Rodgers and Hart LP - compressed; subpar tone


Avoid:

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

•2000/2002 Close to You - Norberg regalia on full display.

NOTES


•The top choice is a very rare CD, and is the only CD that is in true mono.  If you are willing to tinker with sound files, the easily found Walsh CD sounds quite nice and quite dry if fed through a mid-side decoder, as the stereo reverb seems to be all in the “Side” component.  The 1996 Rodgers & Hart disc can be tweaked with similar results, as it stems from the same raw digital transfer, but while Walsh added stereo reverb, Norberg added “fake stereo” processing.

•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.  However, 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: Frank Sinatra Sings Rodgers and Hart, December, 1962

Original LP Release: Frank Sinatra Sings Rodgers and Hart, December, 1962

Original CD Release: Close to You, 1987

Releases sampled for this comparison:

•1962 Frank Sinatra Sings Rodgers and Hart mono LP

•1983 Australia The Rarities - Volume Two LP

•1987 Close to You CD*+

•1988 German Great Romantic Memories LP

•1989 UK Great Films & Shows, Vol. 4 CD*

•1996 Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Rodgers & Hart CD*

•1998 UK The Rare Sinatra CD*+

•2000 Close to You CD


*=Shared digital transfer

+=Shared mastering

Audio Clips

Above: 1996 Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Rodgers & Hart CD, courtesy Bob F.

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

Songs 1 through 3 from this session,

see the Close to You pages

Above: 1962 Frank Sinatra Sings Rodgers and Hart D5 mono LP

Above: 1983 Australian The Rarities, Volume Two LP.

Above: 1989 UK The Great Films & Shows, Volume 4 CD

<---- 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