A collection of Frank Sinatra music cds and videos as well as compilation of his greatest hits.
2010 issue UK 11-track digitally remastered CD album – ‘Great Songs From Great Britain’ was recorded June 1962 in London. The album consists of songs by British composers [classics such as 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square' and 'We'll Meet Again'], performed with British musicians and recorded in Britain, while Sinatra was on tour, using arranger/conductor Robert Farnon’s ambitious, lush and sweeping arrangements. Universal.
Just received an alert from Amazon that this classic CD is once again available -- and for the modest price of 14 bucks. (New copies have traded elsewhere for more than 100 dollars). This "import" edition is sales-ranked a respectable 60,000 (among the 3 million or so CDs available at the world's biggest website). It's been seven years since I obtained my "Made in USA" copy and wrote my own review for this timeless classic. Hope it's still "helpful." [At the time, Bob Farnon, a friend of my father's was still alive; he predeceased my Dad by one year, in 2005. I wrote to him to share this review with Mr. Farnon; he responded with a beautiful note of appreciation from his 'island home.' (2010/04/30)]
---
All the world's great arrangers -- most of whom got to work with Frank Sinatra (the rest wish they had)-- are (or were) American. A notable exception: Canadian-born Robert Farnon. At last report, Bob was still alive and well, and living at "La Falaise" on the Channel Island of Guernsey (a letter with only that address can reach him). Now 85, he still makes the occasional foray into London to do what he's always done best.
Andre Previn, told the late, great lyricist Johnny Mercer that "Robert Farnon is the greatest living string arranger in the world." The great ones who admit to Farnon's influence have included Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, Quincy Jones, Marty Paich, Neil Hefti, Torrie Zito and Johnny Mandel (just to name the best who worked with Frank Sinatra), plus, (among those who didn't, but wished they had) Henry Mancini, Roger Kellaway, John ("Star Wars") Williams, Patrick Williams and (British born) Jeremy Lubbock.
Great popular singers who share that opinion, include Sarah Vaughn and Tony Bennett. The list of musicians who feel the same way is too long, but start with pianists Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and George Shearing.
Sinatra's voice on "Great Songs from Great Britain" may be functioning at only 80 per cent (my estimate) but it's still better than on some of his later recordings, and no worse than on his roughest days at Capitol in the 50s. Listen again to the Billy May "Come Fly With Me" CD and the lone Nelson Riddle arranged song -- Cole Porter's "I Love Paris." Sure, it's "rough" (was Frank up all night?) but still, you love it, right? Same with this CD: Precisely because he's the greatest interpreter of popular song, Sinatra makes adjustments to his delivery, transforming weaknesses into strengths before your very ears. Fascinating!
So why wasn't this album released in America prior to year 2000? Having read all speculations here and elsewhere, I think the critics are simply uninformed. Because the singer has left true fans some `between-the-lines' clues to how much he loved these recordings.
Let's begin with the speculation that Sinatra had `second thoughts' about what his American fans might make of the material----obscure, almost quaint, English songs, some dating to the First World War, which have Sinatra "gathering lilacs" or keeping a stiff upper lip "until we meet again" i.e. songs that might not survive a trans-Atlantic crossing, let alone achieve posterity.
Well that ignores some important facts: Sinatra selected all these songs himself, in advance of his world tour (30 stops, the last in London, in aid of children's charities). Don Costa---Farnon's biggest booster in America (and the most heavily-influenced of his proteges) invested a lot of time, as Sinatra's `middle man,' cabling between LA and Farnon's island home, to ensure this recording `happened.' (In the end, Costa couldn't be there; but Nelson Riddle made it to one session at London's "CTS Bayswater" studios).
The singer's only objection was uttered as he sipped some "JD" and listened to the playback of "Roses of Picardy" (now considered by some critics to be the loveliest `rose' of the bunch). Sinatra said: "Scrub `Roses of Picardy'---I don't like it" (meaning, he didn't feel he'd done it justice). So "Roses" was not included on the original LP, released only in Britain).
The suggestion that Sinatra was in any way "embarrassed" by these recordings, is belied by his personal selection of "If I Had You" for inclusion among his 19, all-time favorite recordings, preserved on the 1996 compilation "Everything Happens to Me" (please see my review for that one). The singer himself approved the inclusion of two others, "Garden in the Rain" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" for the 4-CD Reprise box set. And the latest Sinatra compilations ("Romance" and "Love Songs") include this version of Ray Noble's classic, "The Very Thought of You."
Enjoy great liner notes? There's none better written for any Sinatra release: You get literate musician Benny Green's original, 1962 notes, plus American James Isaacs' superb, 1992 supplements, closing with thoughts about Sinatra's achievement on "If I Had You."
"If Sinatra's wistful, daydreamy first (take) in 1947 was truly in the subjunctive (IF I had you,) and if his cocky medium-bounce Riddle-arranged '56 take might be dubbed "I can have you," then this rendering, with its brandy-by-the-fireside feel and older-but-wiser protagonist, is more like "If I'd HAD you." Notwithstanding a lyric that's far more Tin Pan Alley than Tintern Abbey, Sinatra's (and Farnon's) conception is, to borrow from Wordsworth, "emotion recollected in tranquility." -- On any serious Sinatra fan's "Top 10" list (it's that good)
The Chairman of the Board in the Spring of 1962 signed on to do a world wide benefit tour. In the works was a recording to be made with Robert Farnon, a legendary arranger and conductor in the UK. At the same time The Chairman had steadily been recording albums to keep the dream alive at Reprise. Since every recording was a personal work on his part, he was working hard. By the time the recording dates came he was in need of a rest, but didn't want to scrub the plans. And let's face it, he was always a pro and the show must go on.
The arrangements of the songs on this cd are simple marvelous. But you need to know The Chairman's voice is tired and not up to his usual form in the 60's. Having said that, on his worst day he sounds better than the rest of the pack. Mr. Farnon was at his best and it is beautiful fully orchestrated selections of "Songs from Great Britian'. Enjoy. -- Beautiful Arrangements and A Heroic Effort
Last Update: 24 hours ago
I have had this album (CD) for many years. It is one of my favorites. I have heard Sinatra had “tired pipes” when he did it but honestly I have never noticed it and I have all Sinatra’s music on Capital and Reprise and Warner Bros and most of it during his Columbia era. So this comment is not from a limited perspective. The arrangements and orchestrations are outstanding and Sinatra is in command throughout. “London by Night” “A Garden in the Rain” and “The Very Thought of you” are exceptional performances. For those who have not heard this CD you have missed a great 30 (plus) minutes of great popular music.