5 comments about Artist of the Century.

1. it's exactly what it says it is. original tracks, etc. came in fine condition. on this occasion it was just what amazon said it was. if ya like da king, u need dis here album.



2. If you only want one Elvis Presley cd in your collection, the three cd "Artist Of The Century" is the one to get. Three discs filled with 75 classics from The King, from the bigs to the rare cuts.
   
   The collection spans Elvis's entire career from 1954 to 1976. You get all the standard hits, including "That's All Right", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Jailhose Rock", "It's Now Or Never", "Suspicious Minds", "Burning Love" and everything else. You also get a plethora of rare tunes known only to the massive fans who own every album. These songs are a great way to get a casual fan to get into Presley.
   
   There are a few flaws. One is that none of the discs filled the proper time limit. The first two disc don't even break 70 minutes and the third barley crosses over 70. Stuff like "Edge Of Reality", "Too Much", "Viva Las Vegas", "A Little Less Conversation", "Crying In The Chapel", "How Great Thou Art", "Let It Be Me", "Suspicion", "Ask Me", "(Such An) Easy Question", "Stranger In The Crowd", "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", "Way Down" and "Moody Blue" could've all been added to make the collection even stronger.
   
   Also, as someone pointed out, the packaging is awful. The booklets are difficult to read and the jewel cases leave something to be desired.
   
   The sound quality is very good and the set is surprisingly cheap. This is the perfect place for a beginning Elvis fan to start.



3. I read about this collection in a music magazine that was doing an entire issue on Elvis. It highly reccomended the collection and as all of my Elvis records are vinyl, I was very excited at the prospect of a collection of CD's featuring the cream of his life's work. I was not disapointed...
   
   This really is an excellent value for money package. 3 cd's (75 songs) featuring the king at his best. The collection really is an anthology covering the young Elvis on disc 1, (starting with the Sun years) and moving through to the "middle-aged" Elvis on disc 2 and finishing with the elder Elvis on disc 3.
   
   All the major hits are here, but what really sets the collection apart, are a number of lesser known blues and gospel inspired tracks. This really is the cream of Elvis and I was delighted to discover recordings I'd never heard before.
   
   With each cd comes a booklet providing notes on each song (very interesting reading) and quotes from various artists such as John Lennon and Bob Dylan.
   
   Elvis fans won't be disapointed and those who want to discover what an amazing and versatile performer Elvis was will love this too.



4. This three-CD set is a study in contrast.

   First, and most important, this is The King. Elvis Presley is presented at his versatile best, with foot-tapping, hip-swinging rockers, heart-tugging ballads, socially-conscious cerebral cuts from late in his career, and even a token appearance by a Christmas melody. The tracks are originals and the remastering is excellent. It's not an anthology, and his marvelous movie-music is conspicuously absent, but seems to have been replaced by very hard to find early offerings and excellent covers of other artist's hits, again from late in his career.

   The down-side to the set is the absurd packaging. The CDs are set in "base-only" jewel cases which are glued to a cardboard cover. The individual booklets (one for each of the three CDs) are also glued into place, facing their respective CD. The result is that the booklets cannot be removed for ease of reading, the jewel cases are basically useless, and the unwieldy cardboard package (10 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high) has the portability of a brick.

   That problem notwithstanding, the heart of this collection is the music, and that heart beats loud and strong. Considering the price, this set is a superior value.

   Just remember to pick up a few loose jewel cases when you order "Elvis Presley - The Artist of the Century." You'll need them.




5. The quality is so good on these tracks, you would never believe that some of them are 50 years old! This set really made me a fan. I'm only 34, but my mother used to play Elvis' 8-tracks in the 70's, I remember when he died and I even visited Graceland in '95 (my first visit), but these 3 CDs opened my mind to all that is "ELVIS". Put your headphones on and prepare to be blown away!

3 comments about Platinum Collection.

1. I have been wanting a Charles Aznavour collection CD for a while and thought that this would be it. I was particularly interseted in some key songs of his, such as L'amour cest comme un jour, which is not the original version I have on an old vinyl. This was particularly dissapointing. Overall the quality of the recording lacks the bass (tone) I associate with versions of Aznavour I have heard on older vinyl recordings.



2. I love Aznavour - this is its real deal. I have bought other Aznavour but this one is his original music in French. And it has its best songs



3. In French, that is. This doesn't include any of the English-language versions of his classics, but is otherwise an excellent overview of his 40+ year career. And even though my French is entry-level at best, I prefer to hear Aznavour in his native tongue.

5 comments about The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes.

1. This review is not about the packaging (besides, it's not the worst even though whoever decided to glue the acordion like disc holder to the metal box wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and whoever designed the art work wasn't the brightest bulb in the lamp).
   
   This is strictly on the music alone. If this was on the Verve & Cleff material only, this would be getting a 5 star rating. On the first 5 discs, she hadn't totally messed up her vocal chords on cigarettes and heroin yet. Unfortunately, Verve (originally owned by Polygram, now owned by UMG) also owned MGM, and to live up to the complete angle, they had to release the MGM (Ray Ellis conducted / arranged / produced) album simply titled Billie Holiday. This section got worst for 2 reasons. Instead of having really great jazz artists, you have strings (which just doesn't work). Also (Like Lady In Satin), her voice has had it.
   
   All the other discs (and actually the first 4 songs on disc 6) are all very good, but once you start to hear All The Way, it becomes dificult to listen to (another similarity to Lady in Satin). Is it worth the price for the poor packaging and the imfamous MGM album? From me, you'll get a resounding YES. On the other discs, Billie is in good voice, and the musicians are hot. This is perfect for the person who doesn't want all the alternate tracks that you get in the Complete Verve, and feel that the 2 disc set is too skimpy.



2. Yes, the music is wonderful. If you love Billie Holiday's music, then you'll love listening to this set. I'm enjoying it immensely.
   
   HOWEVER, as has been noted already, the packaging is the worst I've ever seen. This set is all about being completely uninformative and unusable. There is the fold-out accordion-style holder for the discs, which is very cumbersome. Want to know what the songs are on which disc? Good luck! First of all, the discs are not labeled, save for the tiny writing around the spindle hole in the center of the disc. Once you figure out which disc is which you'll then need to extricate the booklet from the first leaf of the fold-out accordion holder. I was not able to get my booklet out, it seems that it was glued in place and is now worse for wear after a tug of war getting it out.
   
   And, if the annoyances of trying to actually use this set is not enough, what is with the completely inappropriate design? There is the worst photo of Billie Holiday ever taken that you will see when you open the tin box and then there is the colorful motifs of daisies and sunshine on each of the discs which begs the question, what was the designer thinking? UMG, owner of Verve, has invested a lot of effort, and is presumably charging you, the buyer, a lot of money for gratuitous and inappropriate design indulgence and impulsive whims of clueless designers. I give this two stars - the music deserved five stars but the packaging is so insulting and unusable that I have to knock it down to two stars. Now that I've ripped it into iTunes, I will not be struggling with trying to play these CDs.



3. The music is absolutely great and I love these disc.
   
   BUT, the tin box and the packaging is beyond my worst imagination. The picture they choose for Lady Day and the way they put it---I am so angry with it that the first thing I did was to repachaging these discs myself....
   
   It is a crime against the great music.....



4. The last phase of Billie Holiday's career is captured here in great sound (the very slight hiss means they didn't take off a layer of sound just to get pristine silent background, a good sign, a mistake Japanese issues often make). With a return to great jazz backup, as in her 30s recordings (arguably the greatest jazz/popular recordings ever made), Holiday isn't in great voice and she sometimes isn't up to the material, which is much better than the material she was handed in the 30s. But that's a rare sometimes, and her take on anything is always interesting. And often great. She completely remakes "Love for Sale" (which was a rather silly risque Porter number til she took it on) or "Solitude", unearthing colors the composers likely didn't realize they'd buried there; much as her daughters Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone would do so often after her. The damage she had done to her instrument and herself, as well as the damage the world inflicted on her, shows and sometimes she is using it and sometimes it is using her. On a few cuts you're listening to a woman in great pain, and it's not art; it becomes voyeurism. In the end, it's an essential collection, and preferable to the fuller complete collection - her false takes in this period aren't useful, as the 30s outtakes were, where nothing she did was the same twice. The packaging is silly, and has nothing to do with her style; the photo on the inside front cover is just ugly, though there is an Aztec quality to it that would be interesting if there was anything Aztec about Holiday. She was also very beautiful and a chameleon (at different times, she looked Chinese, African, patrician, no two photos from different shoots look the same), which highlights her essential nature as an actress. The greatest singing actress, in fact. But the perfumed soap tin box doesn't disguise the unique music inside.



5. Okay, the music is flawless. Nothing needs to be said.
   
   And yes, the packaging is horrible. However, it's not the functionaliy of the packaging the irks me (even though this is also poor). My wife and I are both designers, and nothing about the packaging is aesthetically cohesive. The disc art looks like it can also be used on an XTC or Theivery Corporation album (or maybe it was stolen from one). The photos are very unflattering. All of this would not be such a crime if it wasn't coming from a period and label that wasn't known for classic, trend-setting and influential album covers. It honestly looks as if different people designed parts of the package without seeing what the other was doing.
   
   Oh well, it's going right on my iPod anyway where I'll swap out the art for something nicer. Here is a great hint/trick for fellow iPod jazzers....
   
   Change your encode settings to MONO on anything recorded before 1958. Stereo wasn't used until 1958, and changing the setting to MONO will make the file half the size with 0% loss of quality. (The "automatic" setting in iTunes cannot differentiate mono from stereo, so you need to do this manually.) If your entire iPod is pre-1958, you will get twice as much music on it.

5 comments about Just for the Record....

1. What a grand collection this is of the legendary Barbra Streisand, full of unreleased verisons of Barbra's classics, landmark events in her career, unreleased studio and live tracks, original demo recordings, TV appearances, never-before-released show tunes, live nightclub performances, award nights and duets with Judy Garland, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond and more. This collection is approximately 4 hours long all together, it comes with a collector's book of rare photos and a song-by-song personal commentary by Barbra. "Just For The Record" covers every song that had a important impact in Barbra's career up to the point of releasing this boxset. The collection includes Barbra's first song that she recorded at 13 years old called "You'll Never Know". It also includes live songs from her first appearances on TV shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Johnny Carson Show", "The Judy Garland Show" and many more. It also includes Barbra winning the best actress Oscar for "Funny Girl" and winning the Oscar for best song "Evergreen" which she wrote. It includes Barbra winning the 1965 Emmy for "My Name Is Barbra", Barbra singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Neil Diamond at the 1980 Grammy Awards. This collection also includes Barbra's famous songs most of them live versions like "A Sleepin' Bee", a live solo version of "Happy Days Are Here Again", a live "Cry Me A River" and many many more that Barbra is known for. Demos include "What Are Doing The Rest Of Your Life (duet with: Michel Legrand), "Evergreen", "Papa, Can You Hear Me?", "The Moon And I", "A Piece Of Sky" and even a score from "Nuts" that Barbra composed herself. This is a must, a absolutely for any Barbra fan.



2. If the Streisand fan in your circle doesn't already own this slice of heaven, what are you waiting for? With 4 discs covering 96 tracks, all the hits, non-hits, and even rehearsal demos are here, some of which have never been released. The elaborate booklet alone is like buttah. If you ever wondered why Babs was named the finest female pop vocalist of the 20th century, this audio biography of song should satisfy your curiosity.



3. Barbara Streisand is truly one of the Most Versatile Artists Ever. this Box set captures Her Career&showcases her Range in so many styles&different arrangements with different producers,Arrangers,etc.... but like all the truly great Artists Streisand has always had Her Musical stamp all over whatever she has released through Her Career.she was able to connect with her Music in so many areas&Yet maintain Her Idenity.



4. ... I came home and stayed up all night listening to every song, and loved them, and my respect and admiration for Barbra only increased all the way to the final note. This box set is absolutely magnficent! Not only does it have all the hit songs from 1961 to 1991 that we all know, it also has out-takes and never-released songs that are just as wonderful as any other she's ever sung. The 60s, the 70s, the 80s, it's all here and much, much more. No wonder Barbra Streisand is considered to be the greatest female singer of the 20th century-- no one else even comes close. Her vocal range, her variety of songs she has sung over her career-- over 40 years now! --she is simply amazing. And here it is the year 2003 and she is still as popular as ever and is on the verge of releasing what probably will be her most acclaimed work, "The Movie Album." Keep it up, Barbra! You will be the greatest female singer of the 21st century as well!



5. A four-disc collection of material that had mostly been previously unreleased, JUST FOR THE RECORD is a fascinating package indeed. Unlike most box-sets, this is not an extended "greatest hits" repackaging with a few rarities to pull in longtime fans. Sure, there are a few well-known recordings present ("People," Guilty"), but over 85% of the tracks on JUST FOR THE RECORD had never seen the light of day. This is exactly what many of Streisand's dedicated fans had been hoping for.

   The first two discs are dedicated to material recorded in the sixties, and they include many live recordings from the decade when Streisand gave the most public performances. Live performances culled from Streisand's appearances on "The Jack Paar Show," "P.M. East," The Garry Moore Show," The Tonight Show," "The Ed Sullivan Show," and "The Judy Garland Show" are all absolutely priceless. Eight tracks from Barbra's legendary "Bon Soir" performances (which were initially intended to be her first record) are included, and they present the then-twenty year old singer at her rowdy best. This is the Streisand that many of her sixties fans dearly miss.

   The two sixties discs also cover her years on Broadway (previously unreleased live performances from FUNNY GIRL), performances from her first four television specials (including three songs from the still- unreleased BELLE OF 14TH STREET soundtrack album), and a terrific live medley from her performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, which includes her only recorded performances of "When You Gotta Go" and "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning."

   The remaining two discs (one devoted to the seventies, the other to the eighties) feature less live performances, but are just as enthralling. These two disc feature several great recordings that were released, but never appeared on a Streisand album. It's great to finally have Streisand's sizzling rendition "You're The Top" from WHAT'S UP, DOC? and "Cryin' Time," her wonderful duet with Ray Charles on disc. Even better are the recordings from unfinished projects, or the ones that were scrapped from finished albums and movies. Tracks from the aborted albums THE SINGER and BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW (also known as LIFECYCLE OF A WOMAN) finally surface, and I'm so glad they finally found a home here. The unused UP THE SANDBOX theme "If I Close My Eyes," The alternate theme song to THE WAY WE WERE (heard here in a live rendition from 1980), Barbra's rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" and the medley "A Quiet Thing/There Won't Be Trumpets" (both left off of 1974's BUTTERFLY), YENTL'S sensual "The Moon And I" (which was replaced in the film with the superior "No Matter What Happens"), and the absolutely phenomenal rendition of Tim Rice's "I Know Him So Well" (which just didn't fit onto THE BROADWAY ALBUM) all make their debuts here.

   Also included are the original demos of "Evergreen" (with Barbra playing the guitar) and "Papa, Can You Hear Me," as well as the instrumental theme from NUTS (the soundtrack of which is nearly impossible to find), and the Grammy-nominated "Warm All Over" (an intended preview of BACK TO BROADWAY that ended up not making the cut). In addition to the bountiful amount of unreleased material, Barbra provides detailed liner notes (which are worth the price of admission alone) and thousands of rare photographs. It all comes packaged in a lovely, cloth-covered box, with a beautiful rose motif carried throughout the entire set.

   Extremely rare for [a] box set, this four-disc collection hit a very impressive #38 on the Hot 100 and was certified Platinum in sales (and this before the RIAA had a separate criteria for multiple-disc packages). JUST FOR THE RECORD is proof that the material of Streisand's that has sat unreleased is every bit as interesting as what was officially issued. An essential purchase for any Streisand fan.

2 comments about The Engine Room: A History of Jazz Drumming from Storyville to 52nd Street.

1. This is a great CD that show a complete panorama about the
   history of drums and drummers. They are 4 CD's selected by themes like:
   1.New Orleans Style/ 2.Swing is Here/ 3.Big Band's / 4. Modernism.
   Have an excellent book with a short history of each drummer, with
   good pictures from the greatest drummers.
   It has great's drums solos from Ray Bauduc, Baby Dodd's, Zutty Singleton, Sony Greer(very rare), Chick Webb, Sid Cattlet, Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson and some others not so famous, but very important to the history of the drums. And good executions from Tony Sbarbaro (his name are incorrect on cd: "Sharbaro"), Cozy Cole, Krupa, Manzey Johnson, Art Blakey playing on a big band, and more...
   I miss more drums solos. That's the reason i gave "4" and not "5" stars. Unfortunatly dont have any solo from the greatest Dave Tough, Jo Jones and Lionel Hampton (Hampton don even appears on cd).
   But the people who select this collection knows about the drum and drummers history!
   Every drummer or lover need's to have this collection!!!
   Is an excellent and well done jazz drumming class!!!
   
   
   
   
   



2. Like the companion set, Hittin' on All Six (jazz guitar), this collection brings together a wide range of excellent records that date from the earliest jazz recordings going up though early modern. Some of the selections are predictable, some are obscure, but they all are interesting. Lots of Sid Catlett, for example, and excellent choices on the big band side in particular (Cozy Cole, Jimmy Crawford and Jo Jones, to name three). No Lionel Hampton, but the fabulous cymbal beat of Alvin Burroughs with a Hampton small group. And of course, Chick Webb's Liza, which features wonderful drumming but also a really fine trumpet solo by Bobby Stark (the 2nd solo).

5 comments about Best Of Columbia Years 1943-52 [4-CD SET].

1. Reading through the other reviews, there is nothing much I can add to the superlatives directed at this compilation of the work, at Columbia Records, of a man who can arguably be described as the greatest vocalist of the 20th Century. However, I notice too that the only two 3-star reviews to date have drawn a disproportionate number of negative votes, almost as if it's regarded as sacrilege by some to even dare cast a negative light on any compilation of Frank Sinatra songs. Well, I can see their point to some degree.
   
   A large part of my 5-star assessment relates to the near-flawless sound quality and the packaging, 4 discs contained in a book-like 5.5 x 10 inch case which also presents a 68-page booklet divided as follows: Introduction by Nancy Sinatra; At the Heart Of American Music by Daniel Okrent; The Essence Of Axel - An appreciation by Will Friedwald; Sinatra Standards by Roy Hemming; The Art Of Recording by Charles Granata; Sinatra In Transition by Will Friedwald; Frankly Speaking - personal recollections by Dave Mann and Matt Dennis; Here's To The Band - Orchestral personnel listing - New York and Hollywood; Alphabetical Song Title and CD location; Discography. Sprinkled throughout are some 78 rpm/vintage poster and advertisement reproductions and many candid photographs, including one delightful shot with a very young Nancy.
   
   As to the music contained herein, well, they do call it The Best Of The Columbia Years 1943-1952 after all, and when a collector like myself sees the term "best" - especially from that pre-LP era - they are thinking those songs that became national hits, since that was the whole idea behind popular 78 rpm releases, i.e., "sell as many as we can and get as much air and jukebox play as we can."
   
   And since, in the 1943 to 1952 period, Ol' Blue Eyes registered some 87 hits for Columbia, one might think that a 97-track box set so-titled would contain most, if not all, of those hits. But when you look closely you find that just 39 of those charted songs are here!
   
   Now, I can readily understand the producers selecting items that, while never actually hits for Frank, or perhaps were among his more modest chart entries, are nevertheless regarded as among his finest performances at Columbia, Standards such as April In Paris, Body And Soul, Always and She's Funny That Way (none of which charted), and I've Got A Crush On You (# 21), All Of Me (# 21), Autumn In New York (# 27), and The Birth Of The Blues (# 19 in late 1952 and his last Columbia hit), all of which were modest entries at the time.
   
   But it's definitely misleading to some to have just 42% of the contents legitimate hits in an album titled "The Best Of." Especially when no less than 14 TOP 10 hits were omitted: All Or Nothing At All (# 1 in 1943 with Harry James); You'll Never Know (# 2 in 1943 and the A-side of a record that included Close To You, a # 10 that IS included here); Sunday, Monday Or Always (# 9 in 1943); I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night (# 4 in 1944); You'll Never Walk Alone (# 9 in 1945); Don't Forget Tonight Tomorrow (# 9 in 1945); All Through The Day (# 7 in 1946); The Coffee Song (# 6 in 1946); That's How Much I Love You (# 10 in 1947); I Believe (# 5 in 1947 as the A-side to Time After Time, a # 16 which IS included); So Far (# 8 in 1947); The Hucklebuck (# 19 in 1949); Goodnight Irene (# 5 in 1950); One Finger Melody (# 9 in 1950); and Castle Rock (# 8 in 1951).
   
   What I would dearly love to see is a follow-up volume in the exact same format containing those and other missing hit singles. In the meantime, if you just enjoy the music of this legend, regardless of the title, you will definitely NOT be disappointed. It's a gem in that regard.



2. Frank Sinatra, son of a fireman, dropped out of high school as a senior to pursue a career in music. At 20, Frank Sinatra started out singing with the Hoboken Four, then as a singing waiter, but had his eye on bigger fish. In 1939 he signed with trumpeter and bandleader Harry James (The Complete Recordings Nineteen Thirty-Nine). The next year, he left to join Tommy Dorsey's band as vocalist (The Song Is You), until he set out for a solo career with Columbia Records in 1943. These early years were previously available on the excellent (and now-out-of-print) box set The Song Is You and the single CD reissue of The Complete Harry James and Frank Sinatra. However, a new Sony box set, A Voice in Time: 1939-1952, combines this pre-Columbia Brunswick material with Sinatra's Columbia gems and airchecks. If you're looking for a more complete portrait of early Frank, you're better off buying the new A Voice In Time release.
   
   The Columbia Years, 1943-1952
   
   Frank signed with Columbia in 1943, although the groundwork had already been laid for his first solo album The Voice of Frank Sinatra with several Cole Porter recordings in 1942 (arranged by Axel Stordahl). Throughout the mid-1940s, Sinatra appeared in numerous films and radio series. The Best of the Columbia Years conveniently lists songs by the film that they appeared in; nearly all of the Great American Songbook composers make appearances, including Gershwin, Berlin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Porter, Kern, Arlen, and Mercer.
   
   By the early 1950s, Sinatra was increasingly at odds with Columbia head Mitch Miller, who relied on having his stars record silly novelty songs to boost ratings. Miller was also in favor of overdubbing, where the technically exacting Sinatra preferred recording with a live band and backup singers. Miller's demands that Sinatra record the truly awful "Mama Will Bark" (thankfully omitted here), and his perception that Sinatra was already a washed-up teen idol, led to Sinatra's switch to Capitol Records in 1953, where he had the last laugh on Miller (and the rest is music history).
   
   The original Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years: The Complete Recordings was a massive twelve-CD, 285-track epic collection of Frank's entire Columbia catalog (hideous novelties included). This four-CD, 97-track distillation offers the highlights, including many memorable original recordings (as opposed to later Capitol and Reprise rerecordings) of seminal American Songbook classics such as Night and Day, All of Me, You Do Something To Me, Where or When, How Deep is the Ocean, etc.
   
   Packaging
   
   The Best of the Columbia Years comes in at least two versions: a longbox, and a more compact, traditional four-CD set in a slipcase. I own the longbox version. Two CDs are stored vertically on the front and back plates, and the nearly 70 pages of liner notes are full of rare photographs of Frank and family, essays by Sinatra expert Will Friedwald, orchestra personnel listings, alphabetical song listings, and a discography.
   
   It's clear that this was a labor of love, and it is a collection to be treasured, especially since the original Complete Columbia Recordings has been out of print for several years. The sound quality is impeccable, the songs themselves are a reflection on a simpler time long past, and the liner notes are full of personal recollections and trivia. Buy this while you still can; it's worth twice as much!



3. "Frank Sinatra was like the Mount Everest for a songwriter: if you got Frank to do one of your songs, it was done right." ~ Antonio Carlos Jobim ~
   
   This is *the* most comprehensive CD package I've ever came across in all Sinatra recordings. It's a 4-CD set consisting of his best recordings from Columbia Records from 1943 thru 1952, which includes ninety-seven songs, most are rare recordings and some alternate takes. With the package is a very detailed and informative booklet of 76 pages that documents Frank Sinatra's fruitful tenure at Columbia Records. The introduction was written by his celebrated daughter, Nancy Sinatra, who singled out the most outstanding quality of her father, his honesty - "honesty that comes through in the lyrics, in the music, in everything that he does. It's that feeling that enables him to take for example, a Sammy Cahn lyric - with Sammy's deepest, most profound feelings - and make it understood by everybody. That's the mark of a great communicator, and not many people are able to do that sort of thing in the honest way he does!"
   
   The booklet offers a chock-full of goodies such as photos of Sinatra with some of the musicians involved in these recordings -- mini photos of music sheets, album covers and single records; photos of songwriters Irving Berlin, Jonny Mercer, Rodgers & Hart, George & Ira Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn; alphabetical song titles and CD location listing; a discography; a complete orchestra personnel listing in New York and Hollywood studios; brief information on arrangers Heinie Beau, Sy Oliver, Ray Conniff and Percy Faith; and the following interesting articles.
   
   1. At The Heart of American Music by Daniel Okrent, Managing Editor of Life Magazine
   2. The Essence of Axel by Will Friedwald, Author
   3. Sinatra Standards by Roy Hemming, Classic Pop Historian
   4. The Art of Recording by Charles Granata, Author, Sinatra Historian and Archivist
   5. Sinatra In Transition - an appreciation by Will Friedwald, Author
   6. Frankly Speaking - interviews and personal recollections by Dave Mann and Matt Dennis, Composers
   
   One thing I admire about Frank Sinatra besides his many musical virtues was his deep sense of gratitude, he always gave credit when it's due especially to people whom he had worked with. And these are his thoughts: "I consider myself among the luckiest people in the world to have been able to make a career out of what I love to do - interpret wonderful music." It's a common knowledge that Sinatra's bright career started at Columbia and he declared that it was a "rare opportunity and a treasured gift having the opportunity to immerse himself in the talents of people like Axel Stordahl, the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Alec Wilder and Nat King Cole" while he was at Columbia Records. In addition, his pianist Stan Freeman commented that he only remembers Sinatra as "being very aware of what he wanted, and getting it! If he thought a flute or oboe part should be left out on one session, he would say so. He didn't have to take charge, but nominally he was in charge - and everybody knew that. He was always very pleasant, never any tantrums or anything."
   
   Listening to these CDs gives me a touch of nostalgia that takes me back in time when I was growing up and constantly hearing these same songs played repeatedly by my late parents. These are the original recordings and I guess Sinatra's renditions are more subdued and reserved as opposed to the second or even third recordings. In my opinion, there is that element of restraint in the way he interpreted them as compared to his passionate performances in the succeeding years from 1953 thru the last years of his recording career. But don't get me wrong, I still consider these CDs five-star materials. They are truly remarkable and the songs that stand out and the most wonderful from this set are as follow.
   
   Disc 1
   "Close To You," "If You Are But A Dream," "Stormy Weather," "Embraceable You," "Where Or When," "All The Things You Are," "Dream," "If I Loved You," "Someone To Watch Over Me," "You Go To My Head," "These Foolish Things," "Day By Day," "Put Your Dreams Away" and "I Should Care."
   
   Disc 2
   "Always," "Mam'selle," "Time After Time," "Try A Little Tenderness," "Full Moon And Empty Arms," "Begin The Beguine," "They Say It's Wonderful," "That Old Black Magic," "Five Minutes More," "The Things We Did Last Summer" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry."
   
   Disc 3
   "My Romance," "If I Had You," "Stella By Starlight," "But Beautiful," "All Of Me," "Night And Day," "The Song Is You," "S'posin'," "What'll I Do?," "Fools Rush In," "I've Got A Crush On You," "It All Depends On You" and "Some Enchanted Evening."
   
   Disc 4
   "You Do Something To Me," "When You're Smiling," "Nevertheless," "The Birth of the Blues," "Should I Reveal?" and "I Could Write A Book."
   
   This is Axel Stordahl's greatest contribution to Sinatra's rise to stardom. He was called the "Father of Modern Vocal Orchestrations" for his exceptional arrangements on most of the tracks. Nelson Riddle once said that Stordahl was his favorite arranger/conductor. He was Sinatra's very first conductor and musical director. He was described by Will Friedwald as "the man who helped popular music's greatest vocalist lay the foundation for his entire career."
   
   I agree with another great Sinatra arranger who was also very impressed with the works of Stordahl, Don Costa, when he said; "Nobody wrote ballads as pretty as he did until many years later when Nelson Riddle came along. I think he was really the "Daddy" that people began to learn from in the sense of writing orchestrations. He was really the most prolific of his time."
   
   Here's to the magic of wonderful music courtesy of Sinatra and his great orchestrators/arrangers in these recordings: Axel Stordahl, Sy Oliver, Heinie Beau, Ray Conniff, Norman Leyden, Mitch Miller, George Siravo, Alec Wilder, Jeff Alexander, John Guarnieri and Percy Faith. And not to mention the special contributions of his guest musicians: Nat King Cole (piano "Sweet Lorraine"), Johnny Hodges (alto sax "Sweet Lorraine"), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax "Sweet Lorraine"), Dinah Shore (duet "My Romance"), Felix Slatkin (violin "Always") and Ray Charles Singers ("I'm A Fool To Want You").
   
   The songs in these CDs are the very same songs that launched the bright career of the Chairman of the Board. These are the original recordings that speak of simple elegance and honest-to-goodness interpretations devoid of any technical tricks.
   
   To any serious Sinatra collector, this is an essential add-on.
   
   "I adore making records. I'd rather do that than almost anything else." ~ Frank Sinatra ~



4. As though to help his biographers, Frank Sinatra's musical career can be separated into clear-cut, chronological periods: the Tommy Dorsey years, the Columbia years, the Capitol years, and the Reprise years. These four CDs comprise the best of the Columbia Record years. The first is my favorite because of my familiarity with so many of the lyrics and songs, and the fourth segues nicely into the swinging and saucy style Sinatra adopted when he signed with Capitol Records (a sweet, nostalgic world-weariness alternating with a swinging, in-your-face sexiness, sometimes on the same record).
   The maturing, confident Sinatra of the Columbia years in the '40s and early '50s reveals a resonant and deepening voice (compared to the Dorsey years) that combines with a gentleness and tenderness that had to appeal not only to bobby-soxers (whose younger sisters, seduced by early rock, would not find the Sinatra of the Capitol years ten years later anywhere as appealing) but also to their mothers and older sisters who, lonely keeping the home fires burning, were waiting for husbands and lovers to return from war. Anyone who remembers the '40s with anything approaching fondness will find memories forcefully stirred, and those who know those heady times only second- or third-hand will be equally stirred by a musical master whose style and command of the standards matched Bing and Perry's and perhaps, for strength and intimacy, even surpassed theirs.



5. In comparison to his Capitol and Reprise years, Frank Sinatra's tenure at his first label, Columbia, is unfairly forgotten about by most. And at first glance, it's easy to see why, as artistically, it's easily his weakest period. There's nothing on here as memorable or as artistically impressive as, say, "I've Got You Under My Skin", and Frank's voice had not yet matured into the rich, provocative instrument it would become, nor had be begun to work with arrangers as talented as Nelson Riddle or Don Costa (though Axl Strodahl more than holds his own).
   
   That being said, the 97 tracks featured on "The Best Of The Columbia Years" are nothing to sneeze at. This is Frank in all his youthful glory. His voice isn't as resonant or raw as it on his later recordings, but his way of interpreting a song properly like no other past or present is in full bloom.
   
   For the most part, the songs are on the slower side of things, which for me is excellent. To hear Frank's voice in such a youthful, intimate manner is simply a thrill. It makes songs like "Close To You", "If You Are But A Dream", "The Things We Did Last Summer" and many others sound all the more endearing and passionate. Of course, the album does swing in many instances, and those tracks work just as well.
   
   Many of the songs here (such as, "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Put Your Dreams Away", "Nancy", "Where Or When", "Oh, What It Seemed To Be", "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry", "All Of Me", "Night And Day" and especially "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) were perfected at Frank's latter recording labels, without these, the excellent in their own right originals, as the foundation for those wonderful later renditions, it's unlikely those later versions would have been half as good (though I'm amazed at the striking difference between the lackluster 1947 version of "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" and the masterful 1958 rendition, as they're almost two completely different songs).
   
   The sound quality is fantastic despite some distant static, and the booklet and overall packaging are boh simply magnifcint. This a an absolute must have that all Sinatra fans should snatch up without hesitation.

5 comments about Strictly for Music Lovers.

1. Fun to listen to, but there are numerous duplications throughout the four disks, as if the producers just slapped the thing together without editing. And there are significant missing titles. For example, missing tunes include "Morpheus," "Chinese Mule Train," and "Ya Wanna Buy a Bunny?" All in all the music brought back fond memories of my childhood.



2. I just bought this 4 cd set couldn't be happier.Quality is wounderful.



3. This set had many more songs than I had collected before. The quality of the recordings was excellent.



4. This wonderful 4 disc set of Spike Jones material running from 1941 to 1947 is a set to be cherished by long time fans and a fantastic starter set for those trying to find out what Spike was all about.For 95 songs, four discs,a 23 page booklet and at a price like this you'd be foolish to pass up this bargoon!!
   The set features alot of his major material from his RCA catalogue with the rest made up from his transciptions,various live performances and V discs.Some rare,some not heard often,some heard quite frequently over the years but all a delight to the ears.
   Keep in mind that none of this material is direct from the major labels who own the masters but are derived from 78s culled from private collections.There are more than a few cuts that are of inferior quality and/or have had some annoying reverb added to the remixing but overall the sound is quite acceptable and generally satisfying.I recently reviewed another Jones CD by the name of "Fonk" put out by another similar company as this one(Proper Records) called Harlequin Records(another indie company),both coincidentally produced in England.To make a long story short I would take this CD set,sound wise, over that poorly and unevenly mastered one.And "Fonk"(one CD) is not that terribly less in price than this (four CD) set.
   One other minor criticism I should mention is that while each CD comes in its own protective cardboard sleeve I have had a devil of a time(every time) taking a CD out to be played.They seem to get stuck in the sleeve easily and I've had to learn how to carefully cajole them out without scratching the playing surface.If this should happen to you just keep practising you'll soon find out what works best for you.But indeed a minor annoyance.
   So if you're a Spike Jones fan like myself and legions of others what are you waiting for......Feetlebaum ??? Get out there and get this bargain priced set and enjoy every last loving "crash","fonk" and car horn honk that Spike and his zany but talented troupe have to offer up in this must get set.



5. If you are going to introduce Spike and the Slickers to somebody, pick one of the other "Best of" compilations that contain the final released versions of their hits! The reason for this is simple: those versions are the tight, finely tuned performances that made us fans. I consider this CD set an historical archive rather than a "best of collection". Although you'll hear many of the old favorites, they are "pre-release" (my terminology) versions: looser and not as, well, "good" as the final versions. For long time fans, like me, it is interesting to hear these recordings. But if you are brand new to Spike you will not get the true impression of just how great these guys were. Buy a plain old "best of" CD first, memorize it, treasure it, love it, then get this set. Incidently, this CD collection proves that not everything Spike did deserved presvervation, especially some of his "straight recordings". That was too harsh...I am glad I heard those numbers, but I am now trying to forget I heard them. 'Bye now.

5 comments about Just for the Record....

1. Released as a career retrospective in 1991, this collection of rarities, never-before-available tracks, and so on is fantastic. It has some remarkable tracks that any fan shouldn't be without.
   
   Disc one has many early 60s recordings, such as a beautiful version of "Moon River" (pre-Movie Album), "Miss Marmelstein" from her turn in I Can Get it For You Wholesale, and the highlight of the first disc, her beautifully harmonious duet with Judy Garland, "Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again." The second disc continues with the 60s, and we mostly get tracks we probably own elsewhere ("People," "Don't Rain on My Parade"), though it is interesting to hear some acceptance speeches from her Emmy and Best Actress Oscar wins. The 70s disc is probably the best disc, since it features not only wonderful never-before-released tracks, such as "The Singer," but also movie songs never available on a Barbra album, like her great cover of "You're the Top" for What's Up Doc, or the soundtrack version of "The Way We Were." The 80s disc, however, is the worst one, since it is almost all rehashed material from past albums, like "Over the Rainbow" from One Voice, or a bunch of tracks from the Broadway album. But it's still a great disc, if only for her duet with Neil Diamond at the Grammys in 1980, one of the biggest performances in the ceremony's history.
   
   This set is a great collection, but is not for the casual fan, or the person looking to discover her. There are better best of collections out there for them. This is, in fact, a truly great retrospective of Barbra Streisand's beginning, middle, and end (though she wasn't finished just yet). All fans of the singer should have this. It isn't perfect, but there is very little bad you can say about it.



2. What a grand collection this is of the legendary Barbra Streisand, full of unreleased verisons of Barbra's classics, landmark events in her career, unreleased studio and live tracks, original demo recordings, TV appearances, never-before-released show tunes, live nightclub performances, award nights and duets with Judy Garland, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond and more. This collection is approximately 4 hours long all together, it comes with a collector's book of rare photos and a song-by-song personal commentary by Barbra. "Just For The Record" covers every song that had a important impact in Barbra's career up to the point of releasing this boxset. The collection includes Barbra's first song that she recorded at 13 years old called "You'll Never Know". It also includes live songs from her first appearances on TV shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Johnny Carson Show", "The Judy Garland Show" and many more. It also includes Barbra winning the best actress Oscar for "Funny Girl" and winning the Oscar for best song "Evergreen" which she wrote. It includes Barbra winning the 1965 Emmy for "My Name Is Barbra", Barbra singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Neil Diamond at the 1980 Grammy Awards. This collection also includes Barbra's famous songs most of them live versions like "A Sleepin' Bee", a live solo version of "Happy Days Are Here Again", a live "Cry Me A River" and many many more that Barbra is known for. Demos include "What Are Doing The Rest Of Your Life (duet with: Michel Legrand), "Evergreen", "Papa, Can You Hear Me?", "The Moon And I", "A Piece Of Sky" and even a score from "Nuts" that Barbra composed herself. This is a must, a absolutely for any Barbra fan.



3. This collection is a must have for any one who considers themselves a true Barbra Streisand fan.
   From the beginning of her career to the height of the eighties, it's all here.
   Truly one of the best gifts I have ever received.
   There is NO one like Ms. Barbra Streisand - No One!



4. I am wowed by this 4-disc set. It is a wonderful career retrospective with a generous selection of songs from the 60s (2 discs), 70s, and 80s. Also comes with a beautiful booklet that illustrates the career history.
   
   There are many songs never heard on this album that are excellent. No cast offs here, just great stuff. I particularly enjoyed the songs recorded at the Bon Soir -- you feel as if you are there. One can see why Barbra caught fire -- this great voice and a wonderful New York personality -- and an infectious giggle. She was the real deal and bursting with life. No wonder people loved her. A breath of fresh air.
   
   My favorite disk is the 70s and the song "The Singer" which was never released. There is a duet with Burt Bacharach and some wonderful renditions of 70 classic songs.
   
   Woven in with the music are award ceremonies and the famous line "Hello Gorgeous" when Barb accepted her oscar with Funny Girl. Even original Funny Girl performance live on stage. The kid is giving it all she's got even if her technique wasn't perfected at that point.
   
   This is a wonderful retrospective on Streisand's record breaking career and a must have for any fan or newcomer to "The Greatest Star."



5. This box set has many surprises and good songs. A definitely must have for Barbra fans and a great introduction to new Barbra fans out there. Barb has been around for a few decades and she has kept her voice nicely without staying in the same stage. From the first song to the last of this compilation, one will understand why she is still around. She is a special entertainer with many talents. With the people who she collaberates with, one should understand she is not that difficult to work with. There are songs that may not be the best of hers but the booklet tells you why she didnt chose them for her album in the first place. She has made a good choice on songs, not too new but stuff that we have not heard of. It is not that those songs she put in this boxset is crap, it is just because they were not "right" for the albums. The historical and pictures are wonderful to look at. Barbra is simply a diva!

2 comments about Capitol Records Concept Albums.

1. First there was the original "Concepts" box set. Then a few years later they released another remastered (?) version of the same box set. And finally in 2004 they released this. Kind of. It was only available online or something? Also it's odd. Box sets of the "complete" type are typically for collectors. Yet this one appears to be more budget oriented and priced. Stranger still, this version is different from the prior two version because it doesn't include two albums: Tone Poems, and Jolly Christmas. Weird.
   
   But hey, it's more for the mass-market right? Budget priced, smaller package. Well...actually this one is really more collectable...why?
   
   Well, first of all it reproduces all the original LP jackets. Yes! Mini-LPs!! With all the original artwork, front and back -- Beautiful!! There's more -- there's no Concept busting bonus tracks!!! Hey, less is more. Remember these were Frank's concept albums. That means, the whole album was programmed from start to finish by Frank for damn good reasons. Bonus tracks, while nice, kill the concept. The other two versions of "Concepts - the box set" offered the exact same versions of these albums that Joe-Blow-not-the-collector could buy individually at any record store. The exact same ones. And those versions have bonus tracks and plastic jewel cases - Bleck - and big collector prices. They do NOT have the cardboard, mini-LP reproductions...with original artwork! They do not.
   
   So, that's why Capitol records is tough to collect. They're a mess. Other labels appear to have a good grip on their artists' catalog and a solid knowledge of what their clientele want. Capitol appears to be running around like the building is on fire. I guess the MP3-boom gave them a beating...who knows, I really don't know. But much of their catalog gets shoddy treatment.
   
   Anyway, this box set is great. It's affordable and has a collectors' charm. Its super slim packaging makes these 14 quintessential, must own, masterpieces quite handy. Put a copy in your glove compartment. Perhaps one in your purse. Sure, while I would have preferred a more luxurious and crafted package to house these works...hey...it's Capitol. More importantly, everything inside is done right. Well...
   
   As for the mastering job on these albums...who knows. There's no documentation. I'm positive it's the same as the 1998-2002 Entertainer of the Century "Bob Norberg remasters," that appear in the second version of "Concepts" and individually in stores everywhere. But remember, in THIS version of the box set, you get mini-LP sleeves, original artwork, and no intruding bonus tracks!!! - Not available anywhere else but here.
   
   So, they range from 20-bit to 24-bit and from "slightly-improved" to "slightly butchered." But hey, it's Capitol. You can read the reviews of the individual Capitol albums contained herein to learn more about the Norberg releases.
   
   In a nutshell, I don't find the Norberg releases to be very pristine. There's no room, no ambiance, and in many cases the noise reduction so shades the high-end, that strings sound horribly muffled and indistinguishable. In some spots I could mistake a string ensemble for some voices humming. On some albums the hi-hats and brushwork almost disappear. I guess there's some added texture and definition, probably the result of higher bit-rates and compression, but these are not hi-end, or hi-fi remasters at all. Hopefully this set will land in the hands of a Chuck Granata and crew, and get professionally restored and packaged. But hey, it's Capitol, and for now it's all we got and probably the best version of these albums on CD to date.
   
   (NOTE: The very first version of "Concepts," contained the versions prior to 1992, has better mastering then the Norbergs do, but uses older technology to do so...so it sounds a tad thin...but way cleaner. Yeah, fun isn't it? But they too use the same jewel cases, same bonus tracks as the Norbergs - and do NOT have the mini-LP sleeves.)
   
   But these performances are beyond essential, and if you don't already have them all...you're missing things. And for the collectors who do have these albums -- do you have the original LP artwork restored and the no-bonus track - just the facts - versions of these albums yet?
   
   You better get on it.



2. Unfortunately, the track information for each CD is not included in the Amazon summary, so it makes it hard to research this set. These albums are remastered re-releases of the original albums, which means that they are missing most of the bonus tracks that are on the 2000 box set and the individual releases. It might be that one or two albums had the full set, but most of the albums only had the originals from what I could tell.
   
   This set is also missing the Christmas and orchestral albums that have been included in previous boxes, which may or may not matter to you.
   
   That aside, both the packaging and the sound quality on this set are outstanding. The set is very compact, just a small black box with the fourteen CDs in reproduction sleeves of the original LP sleeves. I don't consider myself an audiophile or anything, but the sound was very clear and had the depth to it that is often missing in modern recordings.
   
   If you're looking for good remasters of the original releases, without any frills or bonus material, then this is a great set for you. If you'd rather have all 16 albums with bonus material, then you might want to think about spending the extra cash for the older release, which is still floating around.

1 comments about The Complete Rodgers & Hart Songbooks.

1. If you like the music of Rodgers & Hart done with a classical jazz theme you will like this compilation cd because you will hear familar music by unfamiliar arstists, as well as artists you know and love. It expands your knowledge of artists and their music. This cd is no exception. I prefer the music of Rodgers & Hart to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Listen to some sound clips and decide for yourself- you won't be dissapointed.