For Christmas I received from my lovely wife some nice sweaters, some Godiva chocolate, a golf calendar, three books, and this, the highlight of my Christmas, a fourteen disk collection of Frank Sinatra's concept albums recorded between 1953 and 1962 for Capitol Records - some of the finest music ever recorded. I already had a few of the records but this package collects them all. After the festivities of the day we returned home last night and I lay down on the couch and listened to, in order:
Come Fly with Me
Songs for Young Lovers/Swing Easy
Songs for Swingin' Lovers
I'm fairly familiar with Sinatra at this point in my life so I knew I was going to enjoy these records. But I was surprised last night by how much. This music is simply superb - such perfectly chosen material, so tastefully conceived, so carefully arranged, so expertly delivered. To have it all in one box set is somewhat overwhelming. Normally when I have a large compilation of a single artist I'll listen through a few times over and then begin to make distinctions, picking and choosing what I like best and leaving the rest behind. I'm not sure that will be possible here. From what I heard last night I think the only distinctions I'll be able to make is between what is nearly perfect and what is simply perfect. I'll have to get to know it all. Any distinction I'll make will be which record best fits my mood, the whole idea behind Sinatra's 'concept albums' being that each of the records would have a different theme and feel. So I'll make my way through it slowly and attentively, and with great joy. Merry Christmas to me, and to you. Click on the link for an excellent overview of Sinatra's career by William Ruhlmann over at allmusic.com (Hat tip to Scott Johnson over at Powerline.)
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to Close to You.
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