Songs For Swingin' Lovers!

Must thank my mum (RIP) for playing Sinatra, Louis Prima, Evans, and all the other excellent musicians while growing up in the 1960s. In fact she was eclectic in her listening choices. One day it was Hank Williams, the next a classical session. The gift she gave me was the lifelong ability to enjoy all kinds of music. Of course I love the great 70s rock music, but always had a little place to put some classic jazz in. Funny, while working with music snobs who mocked my jazz choices, seems I always was missing a Sinatra, or Prima cd at the end of every year. Great recording sounds fine on my humble little audiophilette system. In fact, very fine indeed. The songs are classic, and knew the words from long ago listens. Recommend this album, and this recording. I now know Making Whoopee was indeed a little naughty. Whomever engineered and mastered this album did an outstanding job. First time I played it, had the system set loud by accident. Good grief, it sounded like Frank was in my living room. In the twilight of my life, when hearing Sinatra or any of the other greats of the time I daydream of a different America. The background support band for Sinatra gets a tip of hat. Perhaps someday we will return to a time when we employed hundreds if not thousands of musicians. One of the better concerts I ever heard was the underattended university invites. Always liked free, so I grabbed a seat for Doc Severson. What a treat! Oh, old man rambling, great price, get it.

Sinatra is the indisputed voice of a generation. In perfect pitch, every word is clear, Nelson Riddle is the master of orchestration. Sound of the recording is fresh and clean.

This CD of Songs for Swingin’ Lovers is excellent. For once the shipping process didn’t crack the CD case, and the packaging was good as well. The artwork on the album is great. Now for the main reason of buying this, the songs on this album could be some of the best Sinatra has recorded. Personal highlights for me are You Make Me Feel So Young, Pennies From Heaven, It Happened In Monterey, and I’ve Got You Under My Skin. Though believe all of the songs are great. Sinatra’s voice is in good form, and Nelson Riddle’s arrangements are great as usual. The sound quality on this CD is great, I would recommend this CD.

There are at least a half-dozen classic Sinatra recordings, this is one of them. This is "the top of the heap" (as Frank would say). Nelson Riddle's magnificent arrangements and production spotlight Sinatra's vocal's in a timeless fashion. Must own, especially on vinyl.

My Dad was a Sinatra fan. We twice thoroughly enjoyed watching a tape I made of a PBS Great Performances broadcast of Sinatra's best television appearances (sadly unavailable on DVD). My own appreciation of Sinatra has grown over the years. When our library purchased this CD, I was eager to audition it. I agree that Sinatra was at a peak vocally when he recorded this album. Some of his live performances are more loose, but in later years his voice was not up to par. It's a matter of taste. I am perfectly happy with the subtle yet expressive variations that Sinatra uses to perform these songs, many of them classics. I was less happy with the Nelson Riddle arrangements. They seem excessively busy. They call attention to themselves when they ought to lay back and let the focus be on the soloist, i.e. Sinatra. Riddle infuses his charts with little ornamentations, flourishes that strike me as a bit hokey, even clownish at times -- invention and variety for its own sake, rather than supporting and deepening the underlying rhythm, chord structure, and melody of the composition. My description here perhaps makes them sound a little more annoying than they actually are. Certainly some songs on this album evidence these flaws more than others. I am far from having encyclopedic knowledge of the big arrangers of the era gone by, but I've heard many by Claus Ogerman, and as a point of contrast, I think he was more serious and at the same time laid back in his charts. Here again, it is a matter of taste. I thought the orchestra called too much of the wrong kind of attention to itself too often on Songs for Swingin' Lovers. In the final analysis, with great songs and Sinatra himself in great form, I still have to dock one star off a perfect five for the arrangements, which distract me from time to time with their obtrusive, pointless, sometimes silly little flourishes. On the topic of sound quality, although I have not heard the original CD release, the remastered version truly does sound sub-par. Sinatra's upper registers, brass, strings, all seem to suffer from some subtle distortion that smudges detail and creates a sort of odd, artificial electronic haze. Really, hearing-impaired people should not be involved in mastering classic albums. Whoever did the job on Songs for Swingin' Lovers should probably be doing something more suited to his talents, like driving a cab. Although it is hard to put your finger on it exactly, there is something most definitely "wrong" with the sound. I'm fairly familiar with what recordings from the mid-50s sound like, and I can't believe the original master tape of this Sinatra record ever sounded as bad as this. I may buy this album -- its reputation as a classic is deserved (with my reservation about the arranging) -- but if I do, I will seek out the early release, not the later remastered CD.

Great album, it was new & was well worth the cost. I am old school & like hard copies, I don’t trust online copies.

Love the old school stuff as well, it’s nice to change it up and add some swing. Packing was great no problem with anything.

Let it suffice that this MFSL issue rivals an unplayed gray label Lp and then somel! I have one (an old school gray label capitol) bought new in 57 and owned only by us, played only on the best money could buy, and nothing comes closer to that rich tube mastered sound, and in some cases this takes it to another level if you can even imagine that! The 1st MFSL is nice but from a tape that had been remastered with some echo and reverb. Take as you will but both sound so fantastic. Because this one is so true to form, if you can only have one, clearly this is it. Sinatra did so many great albums and captured so many moods, this one is up and happy, and when you play it you will be too!

Songs for swingin lovers is probably Sinatra's seminal album from the 50's. Released in 1956 it contains some of the chairman's best material. Ok so some of it may sound a little old fashioned,especially compared to his late 60's and 70's work but good songs are good songs and this album has them ad-infinitum ! "You make me feel so young" "ive got you under my skin" are the 2 biggies here that most people will already know but tracks like "too marvellous for words" "Your getting to be a habit for me" "swingin down the lane" "It happened in Monterey" and "Pennies from heaven" are almost as good and there's many more like that. Im a huge Sinatra fan but i normally skip a track or 2 on his albums but this is brilliant from start to finish!!,there's not 1 duff track on this album!. Nelson riddle's arrangements are on top form and Sinatra's voice was perfection in this period. During the 60's his voice would develop a deeper timbre which i also liked but Sinatra is at his smoothest on this album. For me this is the best Sinatra album of all time and there's a lot i like very very much like "strangers in the night" and "Francis albert sinatra and Antonio carlos jobim" but as much as i dig those albums they never quite hit the heights of this one. If your new to Sinatra then I'd recommend this be one of your first purchases. The only downside to the CD is that it's one of the few Sinatra CD's that hasn't been digitally remastered. In fact the pressing available is one of the earliest CD's released coming out in 1987 so it's in desperate need of a decent remaster. horns can sound a little tinny at times and the volume needs to be boosted somewhat on a few tracks. still these are minor nitpicks and when the quality of music is this good you can forgive things a bit. 5/5

Smooth purchase

Posiblemente el mejor disco de sinatra...

Trés bon disque, classique et classe, ambiance glamour, swing et jazzy. Frankie au sommet de son art, accompagné de trés bons musiciens.

ＢＳ-ＴＢＳの番組 「SONG TO SOUL～永遠の一曲～ 」でマイ・ウェイを特集していて、 この曲は高校時代の英語の授業で題材になったなぁ～と思い出しながら和訳を見ていると、 当時と解釈が違う。 あれ？と思いながらも、シナトラのベスト盤が欲しくなり２枚のＣＤを購入。 なにより安いし、車のコンポに入れておくには最適。 時代を越えて残ってはいるけれど、最近のメディアやＣＤショップで紹介されていない曲やアーティストを丁寧に紹介してくれて、 Ａｍａｚｏｎでの購入時には信じられないほど安い洋盤には本当に感謝。 クリーム、エリッククラプトンの回から毎週録画に設定し、気に入ったアルバムは購入しています。