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Frank Sinatra: Beautiful Ballads & Love Songs

2 Ratings: -0.5

2008 CD release

It's not hard to collect a variety of superbly sung and orchestrated ballads by arguably the 20th century's most popular and accomplished singer, as this collection of Frank Sinatra classics amply illustrates. Sinatra's early recordings of Swing ... … see full wiki

Tags: Music, Albums, Pop Vocal, Pop Vocals, Standards

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Kick back, relax and enjoy some of the greatest love songs ever written.

Dec 4, 2008

by drifter51
posted in Music Matters

Rating:

While browsing through the CD section at my local bookstore the other day I stumbled upon this brand new Frank Sinatra disc from Sony BMG. "Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs" features 15 classic tunes recorded by Sinatra during the 1940's and early 1950's. Although I did have some of these songs in my collection already I simply could not resist. And believe me I was not disappointed!

"Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs" offers a virtual treasure trove of the very best of the Great American Songbook. You will hear a very young Frank Sinatra collaborating with the finest musicians and arrangers in the business and the result is pure magic! Without a doubt my favorite track on this disc has to be "Stardust". It simply does not get any better than this! This 1940 RCA Victor recording features Sinatra with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra backed by the legendary Pied Pipers. Sy Oliver's arrangement of this Hoagy Carmicheal classic is simply amazing. This is a tune I could never ever get tired of hearing. Most of the tunes featured on "Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs" were culled from Frank Sinatra's highly successful stint at Columbia records during the 1940's. At Columbia, Sinatra worked closely with arranger Axel Stordahl.

It didn't take Stordahl long to realize that he had an enormously gifted vocalist on his hands and he tailored his arrangements to Sinatra's magnificent voice. During his decade at Columbia Sinatra would record close to 300 sides and Stordahl would arrange nearly three quarters of them. Enjoy once again great favorites like George and Ira Gershwin's "Someone To Watch Over Me" and the haunting "September Song" from 1946. I also got a kick out of Frank's version of Cole Porter's "Begin The Beguine" from the Broadway musical "Jubilee". Frank also does a splendid job on Johnny Mercer's "Dream (When You're Feeling Blue)". That one is a personal favorite. Among the tunes I had never heard before I most particularly enjoyed "Autumn In New York". See if you agree.

"Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs" is just one offering from a new 10 disc series recently released by Sony BMG. This series features the music of artists as diverse as Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Earth, Wind & Fire. I think it would be safe to charactorize this series of reissues as budget offerings so don't expect many extras. There is minimal information on each track and no liner notes of any kind. Having said that "Frank Sinatra: Beautiful Ballads and Love Songs" turned out to be a disc I thoroughly enjoyed. Recommended.