Released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Frank Sinatra?s passing (May 14, 1998), Nothing But The Best salutes "The Voice" with an essential single-disc compilation of hits. It features 21 legendary songs from "The Chairman Of The Board," plus a previously unissued version of "Body And Soul." The collection is part of an international initiative between the newly created Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE), Warner Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, Turner Classic Movies, and the United States Postal Service to honor Frank Sinatra, whose music and movies had an everlasting impact on popular culture. For a limited time, Nothing But The Best will contain a collectible, commemorative Sinatra stamp with official USPS first-day issue cancellation.
A 4CD/1DVD boxed set of unforgettable live performances, all previously unreleased!! Disc 1 - Recorded at the Sands, Las Vegas, NV November 1961; Disc 2 - Recorded at the Sands, Las Vegas, NV January-February 1966; Disc 3 - Recorded at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV March 1982; Disc 4 - Recorded at the Golden Nugget, Las Vegas, NV April 1987; DVD - Recorded at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV May 1978
Frank Sinatra "Classic Sinatra: His Greatest Performances 1953-1960"
$7.94
Multitalented Brazilian musician Jobim's talent was revealed to a larger world in 1959 by his and Luis Bonfa's score for the film Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) in 1959. Songs such as "A Felicidade" and "Desafinado" generated the bossa nova movement of the early '60s that inspired the likes of Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, and Miles Davis. This 1967 album features Jobim sharing vocals with Sinatra on "The Girl from Ipanema" and "How Insensitive." Three standards--"Change Partners" by Irving Berlin; "I Concentrate on You" by Cole Porter; and Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Alexander Borodin's "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads"--round out the program of seven Jobim tunes. This is a lovely taste of Latin melody and rhythm from two masters of relaxed swing. --Stanley Booth
The first of many artistic milestones in the long and illustrious collaboration of Frank Sinatra and arranger Nelson Riddle that began at Capitol Records, In the Wee Small Hours is a first in other notable ways, as well: it was the pair's first 12-inch LP; their first album devoted entirely to ballads; the first "concept album," a program of songs designed to be heard in a particular sequence that sustains a mood and suggests a story; the introduction of Sinatra's definitive "saloon singer" persona; and the first flowering of Sinatra's mature artistic sensibility. Oh, and it's a masterpiece, too. The cover portrait suggests the mood of late-night desolation almost as effectively as the music, with Sinatra in the corner, smoking a solitary cigarette on deserted street illuminated only by the a foggy, blue-green glow of lamplight. Loneliness, thy name is Frank! They say that memories of Ava Gardner caused him to break down after finishing this aching version of "When Your Lover Has Gone." Riddle's clarinet theme for "What Is this Thing Called Love?" is as haunting as Cole Porter's melody itself. And if there's a more devastating evocation of solitude than "It Never Entered My Mind"... well it must be on Only the Lonely. With songs like "I'll Be Around" and "Dancing on the Ceiling" to suggest at least the hope of hope, Wee Small Hours may flirt with despair, but never succumbs to it. It's the kind of comforting company that misery likes best. --Jim Emerson
Frank Sinatra "Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely"
$8.69
Look past the tacky, sad-clown velvet painting on the cover (a Grammy-winner for album design in 1959!), there's nothing cheap or sentimental about this record--the bleakest and blackest album of popular songs ever recorded, so quietly powerful it can leave you slumped in your chair with the ice cubes still rattling in your glass. Every single "suicide song" (as Sinatra liked to call 'em) on Only the Lonely is a stunner that will take your breath away. Nelson Riddle's arrangements are like shadows, almost colorless and motionless, so that all you hear is the ache in the singer's voice. "Angel Eyes" and "One for My Baby" each deserve an album to themselves-- so exquisitely moving that at the end of three minutes you feel like you've just heard a lifetime of loneliness. My only regret--and it's a big one--is that this flawless masterpiece doesn't include Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," which truly belongs here; Sinatra put it into an already overcrowded recording schedule and, when fatigue and the difficulty of the song defeated him after a couple takes, he gave up and never attempted it again. We got the chillingly lovely "Willow Weep For Me" instead, so I'm really not complaining--but that just adds to the pang of loss that this album expresses so vividly. Drink up! --Jim Emerson
The pundits claim that Ol' Blue Eyes did his best work with Columbia in the '50s, but there's more great '60s and '70s stuff here than you can shake a stick at. After all, Sinatra wouldn't start his own label only to sing schlock. This four-CD set was released to celebrate The Chairman's 75th birthday and it traces the mellowing of that tremendous voice like the aging of a fine wine. It also adds eight unreleased tracks to a staggering song list highlighted by biggies like "New York, New York," "My Way," "The Way You Look Tonight," "It Was a Very Good Year," and "The Song Is You." --Michael Ruby
The first of three albums that Frank Sinatra recorded with swing legend Count Basie, Sinatra-Basie is also the best. Sinatra's voice doesn't sound in great shape, but he pushes himself throughout to keep up with the jazzy twists and turns of Basie's band; the resulting tension makes for a thrilling listening experience, especially for those who think of Sinatra as more of a saloon balladeer than a jazz singer. "Learnin' the Blues," "I Only Have Eyes for You" and "(Love Is) the Tender Trap" are the highlights of the set, but all ten of the tracks are winners. --Dan Epstein
