Harry James and His Orchestra Featuring Frank Sinatra: The Complete Recordings, Nineteen Thirty-Nine (1995) Legacy/Columbia CK 66377

Columbia Legacy has rescued these tracks originally released on the Brunswick label from destruction, and has preserved a marvellous beginning: the pre-eminent singer of the 20th Century: Frank Sinatra.  Above the the bright brassy cushion of  Harry James' Orchestra, Sinatra's voice projected a warm, woody sound which complemented James's strong backing.  The songs themselves are the picture of romanticism: the mystical underpinnings of the orient in "On A Little Street In Singapore," the wistful sigh found in "Melancholy Mood," or the heart-on-your-sleeve sentiment of "Who Told You I Cared?" are all here, and Sinatra fills each moment with a remarkably realized realism, acting each song as though he truly feels each moment.  Granted, some listeners don't prefer this version of who would later become "The Chairman Of The Board," and it's true that on the uptempo numbers, such as "Ciribiribin (They're So In Love)" that he has none of the punch or swagger so typical of his later years; here, he makes every song a romance, and clearly some songs are not suited to the swooning approach that he brings to each number.  And there are moments when Frank really takes it over the top, like the strained, almost hystrionic ending of "All Or Nothing At All" [tr.14], but for sheer interest, you really can't beat the historical interest and strength of Sinatra's performance here.  The sound is very good, with very little distortion or hiss, and although the disc claims the recordings are complete, there are a few extant radio transcriptions missing, but that won't bother anyone but completists.  Recommended for those who want to see how "The Voice" began.

The Complete Original Radio Studio Transcriptions (December 3, 2001)  Swing Factory SWCD 66609

Taking off where the previous collection leaves off, this 16-track CD takes the seven radio transcriptions that the Complete set above carries, and then adds nine more to the running list.  Although nothing here is essential, this is what collectors and completists have been hankering for, since these sides are among the rarest Harry James/Frank Sinatra recordings out there.  The extra tracks included here are: "My Buddy," "All Or Nothing At All," "Melancholy Mood," "From The Bottom Of My Heart," "To You," "I Poured My Heart Into A Song," "Here Comes The Night," "On A Little Street In Singapore" and "Let's Disappear."  The sound is fair to good, considering the age of these recordings, and the historic nature of these radio transcriptions make them worthwhile purchasing if you're interested in Sinatra's beginnings, but again, if you have the Complete set above, you've got a great taste of the James/Sinatra era, where Sinatra was just beginning to take off vocally, but hadn't learned his circular breathing yet from Dorsey, and was singing against James's bright horn lineup, which didn't show off Sinatra's warm voice to its best advantage.  But if you are wanting more, then this set fills in the picture a little more completely than the set above.

Tommy Dorsey & Frank Sinatra: The Song Is You (August 30, 1994) RCA 07863 66353-2

Well this, as they say, is the whole enchilada.  There are literally dozens of Dorsey/Sinatra compilations out there, and if you're looking for just a small sampling, run far, far away from this behemoth.  If, on the other hand, you're drooling at the mouth for everything Frank, you can't turn your back on what is a treasure trove of some of the best music of the late '30's and early 40's.  RCA has lovingly collected every studio scrap and several radio transcriptions that these two perfectionists put out, and you're either going to love it, or shoot yourself in the head after plowing through it all.  Historically, it's the Mount Everest of pop music: this is where Sinatra learned his circular breathing (from watching Dorsey play), which allowed Frank to construct long, textual phrases which allowed the lyrics to speak; where he learned the art of playing off of the orchestra in a fine pas de deux of color and balance; and where Frank's star rose above that of the other singers, and even that of Dorsey himself, so that when he finally left in a storm of acrimony with the band leader, he was a bona-fide superstar.  So let's dive in, disc by disc:

CD one, documenting the complete studio recordings that Dorsey and Sinatra made together, starts out with Sinatra just being one of the band, lending his smooth baritone to the even-smoother sheen that Dorsey brought to his orchestratra.  Sinatra still is all velvety romanticism, but I'm immediately struck by how much better his voice is suited to the sound of the Dorsey orchestra than it was under Harry James's brassier sound at this point.  Frank sounds like a human counterpoint to Dorsey's trombone, which is exactly what he was intended to be, but he succeeds brilliantly; bringing a polish and professionalism to the sound that belies his still limited experience.  Just listen to him on "Too Romantic" and you'll hear how ideally Tommy and Frank blend their sound seamlessly.  Tommy sound is more rooted in the woodwinds and has a richer, mellower sound than Harry James', and Sinatra's voice just melts into it.  And when Dorsey lets the tempo swing a bit, as on "Moments In The Moonlight," Frank just eases his paddle in - as though unwilling to rock the boat too much.  These songs take the typical band-dominated approach, where the orchestra has the lion's share of the song, with the singer taking only a single verse; so the listener hears much more of Dorsey than Sinatra on these earliest recordings, but that will soon change, with Sinatra becoming more and more dominant and his popularity grew, and Dorsey being pushed into the background.  Some fans are less enthused with this period of Sinatra's recordings, since he sounds much the same from song to song - unremittingly sincere, with long, flowing phrases flowing in and out of a sheer soundscape of woodwinds and muted brass; but I enjoy it immensely - it's supremely romantic music, in the best sense of the word, and music this warm and tasteful you can't find in such abundance anymore.

CD two begins with a rich vocal blend of the Pied Pipers blending their incomparable voices with Frank's on the track "Whispering," and he allows them their full due; never getting in the way of the blend or the song.  The arrangements are more adventurous now, and Frank sounds even more confident; his breathing is more controlled, allowing him to stretch out his phrases to remarkable lengths, he's now able to sing a whole line of lyric without a break, and it makes a marked difference in the effect of the song as a whole.  Sinatra still doesn't have the confidence to let loose and really swing, even when the orchestra begins to let loose, as on the punchy "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" Frank keeps it low key, with just of hint of syncopation.  But it's the arrangements that really begin to catch the ear, with Alex Stordahl, Sy Oliver, and Fred Stulce taking the popular songs of the day and giving them subtle little twists to catch the ear, and allow Sinatra's voice to be punched forward in the mix.  For all the credit given Sinatra for his gifts, I can't give enough plaudets to the arrangements, especially of Stordahl, for allowing Sinatra's voice to be given the best possible framing for the listener.  And Dorsey is always present as well with his remarkable technique - his trombone almost sounding like a human voice, which brings each track up another level.  Included on this disc is the popular recording of "I'll Never Smile Again" which became Frank's signature song for many years.

Disc Three reveals Sinatra beginning to be given lighter, more humorous material, with "Dolores" kicking things off on a cute note, but novelty songs also begin to rear their ugly head, with the inane "Snootie Little Cutie" closing out the disc.  Sinatra also begins to change his sound here, with larger, more dramatic readings as on "Without A Song," which closes with an almost operatic intensity.  By now Sinatra was full front and center - his popularity forced Dorsey to make his role more prominent; no longer is he just sitting on the sidelines until the time for his chorus, he sings the entire song, and the orchestra is only featured in short interludes.  Tommy Dorsey didn't mind this - Sinatra was selling boatloads of records, and Tommy was making most of the profits, but this would inevitably lead to the growing friction between these two huge egos.  But also with success came greater opportunity: the songs being recorded are songs that would become standards: "Everything Happens To Me," "Let's Get Away From It All," "Blue Skies," "Violets For Your Furs" and "How About You" are all given gorgeous readings here, while the quality of the arrangements and performances remain top-drawer - even more adventurous, if anything with the Pied Pipers, Stordahl and others at the top of their game.  The sound is growing brassier too, just listen to the wild trumpet solo on "Let Get Away From It All" and you can hear the times changing.  That's what makes this series fascinating: to hear an aural document of socities attitudes and preferences shifting within the space of just a few years.

The final disc of studio recordings finds Sinatra closing his relationship with Dorsey on a consistantly high note, even though the silly novelty songs still are making an appearance ("I'll Take Tallulah"), but Sinatra sings everything with whip-cracking precision, and by now his sense of swing is beginning to rev itself up, allowing a sense of fun and relaxation to ease the otherwise careful control of his singing.  Sinatra is now on an equal footing with his boss, and each seems to fight for time on the singles of this period, but Sinatra is so comfortable in his role now, he sings as if he truly isn't aware of his popularity, and he still generously shares the mic with the Pipers and other artists.  The music is still lush and romantic, as it has been the entire era with Dorsey, but now Sinatra sounds in command of each song, lending each lyric a world-weary tinge that's not present on the first couple of discs.  Alex Stordahl is also writing more with strings, as on track 7 - "Take Me" - pointing toward the lusher, richer sound that the Columbia albums would have.  Stordahl would be the first of several arranger soul-mates that would be so crucial to Sinatra's sound.  The CD closes with several alternate takes of songs, and with the final studio pieces that Dorsey and Siantra recorded, "The Song Is You" and "Night And Day."

Disc five of the box set is a generous 27 tracks taken from various radio broadcasts of what began as an hour-long broadcast from the Hotel Astor in New York City, and eventually transformed into an amateur songwriting contest called "Fame and Fortune" and sponsored by Nature's Remedies laxative tablets!  It's here that listeners first heard the huge hit "I'll Never Smile Again" (which went on to sell more than 400,000 sheet music copies and over 500,000 records.  None of the other 26 songs featured here became hits, but they're all given strong arrangements, and Sinatra's readings are never less than absolutely professional.  The producers have intercut spoken interludes, which makes the disc flow like an actual radio show, making this perhaps the most listenable disc of the entire set.  Frank is simply stellar on songs like "Half-Way Down The Street" and "Marie."  The set closes with what I'm sure is supposed to be a fond farewell to Sinatra by Dorsey in pure Hollywood style, but knowing the firefights going on behind the scenes by this point make the listening filled with irony.  A fine finish to a stellar box.

The box set sounds very good, with clean clear sound throughout although it's been surpassed in sound quality by more recent releases, but there are no obvious crackles and little hiss.  The booklet is a marvel, nearly 100 pages long with loads of pictures and a thorough, scholarly essay by Sinatra expert Will Friedwald.  All in all a class act, and highly recommended for lovers of big band music, Frank Sinatra, and pop music.

The fourth batch of previously unreleased Dorsey/Sinatra sound-checks from live radio shows, this interesting disc follows the fifth CD of the Dorsey/Sinatra box, and the two Buddha releases reviewed above.  Although the sound isn't quite as startling as the aforementioned discs, some of the takes are breathtaking in their clarity and sparkle, "This Love Of Mine" and "Stardust are two such examples.  Also, you hear Sinatra tackle some truly rare songs, like "Prarie Night" and "June in January" - and his improvement on the otherwise intolerable "Snootie Little Cutie," which substitues the creamy-voiced Jo Stafford for Connie Haines, who sang the part in the studio version is also welcome.  But RCA does the disservice of trimming out parts of the Dorsey orchestra on the medleys in favor of an all-Sinatra program, which, although it might please Sinatra fans who don't care for Dorsey, creates a performance that isn't genuine, and relegates Dorsey to a subservient role that he certainly didn't play during his and Sinatra's time together.  Compiled and annotated by Will Friedwald, the set is professional and enjoyable, but unless you have to have everything, there aren't enough variations or surprises to make this set truly essential.