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Titles include "One Of These Days", "A Pillow Of Winds", "Fearless", and "Echoes". CD

A tripped-out Floyd classic – with cuts that include "Obscured By Clouds", "Childhood's End", "Stay", "Absolutely Curtains", "Free Four", and "Wots Uh The Deal". CD

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The smooth debut of Portrait – a soul harmony group with an approach that's just right for the early 90s years – often set to the kind of beat-heavy rhythms of the new jack generation, but with a way of coming together that goes back to the old school too! This approach seems to work best on the midtempo tracks, when the rhythms are turned down just slightly, and the vocals rise up in the mix – letting the group really show their vocal skills on cuts that include "On & On", "Precious Moments", "Here We Go Again", "Honey Dip", "Commitment", "Day By Day", "Feelings", "Down Wit Dat", "You", and "Feelings". CD

A stone cooker – and one of the best versions of Porgy & Bess recorded in a jazz format! It's a slightly-forgotten fact that at the time of the big late 50s film version of Porgy & Bess, there was a bit of trouble with the soundtrack – so the market was flooded with other versions of Gershwin's score in a hope to fill the void. This is one of the best of that bunch – a very well-done set of tunes arranged and conducted by Bill Potts, recorded with a strong set of soloists that include Al Cohn, Gene Quill, Zoot Sims, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Charlie Shavers, Bob Brookmeyer, and Harry Edison. Tracks are the usual batch of Porgy & Bess numbers – "I Loves You Porgy", "It Ain't Necessarily So", "My Man's Gone Now", "A Woman Is A Sometimes Thing", "Summertime" – all woven together wonderfully in a rich tapestry of sound, with some particularly evocative solos. CD

Two parts Duran Duran, mixed with one part Chic, and throw in one Robert Palmer. Includes "Some Like It Hot" & "Bang A Gong (Get It On)". Cassette

One of Billy's best, and it's got a pretty tight instrumental groove that's similar to some of Jimmy McGriff's work for the Sue and Veep labels. Billy's organ fronts some groovy and offbeat arrangements by Sly Stone – and although the set list includes a number of late 60s hits, the overall approach is pretty fresh. Titles include "Free Funk", "The Duck", "Hard Day's Night", "Uptight", "Ain't Got No Time To Play", and "It's Got To Happen". Also features one vocal cut – "Advice" – written with Sly. LP, Vinyl record album

If you've ever doubted that Vincent Price was a creepy guy, you've got to hear this album! The 2LP set is a mad exploration into the world of the supernatural – with Vincent speaking on topics that include "Witch Tortures", "How To Communicate With The Spirits", "The Magic Bloodstone", "Instruments Of Magic", "Witch Burning", and "How To Make A Pact With The Devil". The script was written by Terry D'Oberoff, with electronics by Douglas Leedy – but it's Price who makes the whole thing really work, reading in a dark, spooky tone, set in a really echoey space – really making us believe that he knows all about this weird stuff! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Louis Prima's greatest albums! The cover has a photo of Louie singing to a moose (wildest, get it!) – and that image really sets the tone for the album, which is a classic batch of swinging vocal numbers recorded with Keely Smith in tow, and backing by Sam Butera & The Witnesses. Titles include "Blow Red Blow", "The Pump Song", "When You're Smiling/Sheik Of Araby", "Birth Of the Blues", "Closest To The Bone", and "Pennies From Heaven". LP, Vinyl record album

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One of Louie's greatest albums ever – a hard-swingin batch of vocal group tunes, with all the sound that made him famous! The album was cut at the height of Louie's career back in the 50s – with vocals by Keely Smith on 2 tracks, and backing by the tight combo of Sam Butera and The Witnesses. Tracks include the classic medley of "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody", plus classics like "The Lip", "Nothin's Too Good For My Baby", "Oh Marie", "Jump Jive & Wail", and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Louie's greatest albums ever – a hard-swingin batch of vocal group tunes, with all the sound that made him famous! The album was cut at the height of Louie's career back in the 50s – with vocals by Keely Smith on 2 tracks, and backing by the tight combo of Sam Butera and The Witnesses. Tracks include the classic medley of "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody", plus classics like "The Lip", "Nothin's Too Good For My Baby", "Oh Marie", "Jump Jive & Wail", and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You". CD features 4 bonus cuts – including "Whistle Stop", "Five Months Two Weeks Two Days", "Be Mine Little Baby", and "Banana Split For My Baby". CD

2 Capitol Records gems from Louis Prima & Keely Smith – on a single CD, and with bonus tracks too! Hey Boy Hey Girl is a groovy little soundtrack recording – done for a rare film that starred Louis Prima and Keely Smith, working very much at the height of their 50s Capitol powers! The sound of the album's every bit as great as some of the better-known studio sets by the pair – and like those sets, the record's a mix of the duo's great duet numbers and some excellent solo tracks too – numbers that either have Louis in the lead, or Keely hitting a few warmer, mellower notes. Backings are by Sam Butera & The Witnesses – and titles include "Hey Boy Hey Girl", "Banana Split For My Baby", "Fever", "You Are My Love", "Oh Marie", "Lazy River", and "Nitey-Nite". Swinging Pretty is a classic album by Keely Smith – Louis Prima's one-time wife and classic singing partner, working here on her own! Arrangements are by Nelson Riddle – showcasing Keely as a great singer in her own right, able to work in that sophisticated jazz-based style that you'd find with the best Capitol singers, like Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, or Nat King Cole. Titles include "It's Magic", "Indian Love Call", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Stormy Weather", and "There Will Never Be Another You". Bonus tracks include "A Foggy Day", "Nothings Too Good For My Baby", "The Lip", and "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Louis & Keely – plus "It's Magic", "Don't Let A Memory", and "Don't Take Your Love From Me" by Keely Smith. CD

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A perfect example of the jamming style of Quicksilver Messenger Service at their best – as side one features a 25 minute extrapolation of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love", stretched out by the group into these wicked long guitar lines and pulsating rhythms that shift nicely over time! Bo's a surprising inspiration for a group that's better known for their psych output – but their use of that track, and his "Mona", on the live recordings here really helps carve a link out of two different generations of guitar innovation – and suddenly helps us understand links between them both. The set continues with some great original numbers – the very long "Calvary", plus "Maiden Of The Cancer Moon" – as well as a cover of "Happy Trails". CD

One of the most progressive albums on the American scene of the late 60s – a set that's definitely psych, but which has a put-together quality that's something else as well! The group still have plenty of the optimistic charms you'd expect from their placement on the SF scene of the period – but there's a way of stepping out and really letting loose instrumentally that's pretty great too – in ways that are different than the Dead on record, at least at the time – and captured surprisingly well by Capitol. Dino Valenti delivers some great lyrics – and titles include "Gold & Silver", "The Fool", "The Pride Of Man", "Light Your Windows", and "Dino's Song". LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "Just", "Nice Dream", "Bones", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Planet Telex", "The Bends", "High & Dry", and "Black Star". CD

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The last Capitol album from vocalist Sue Raney – and easily the most compelling of the bunch! Sue's in really great form here – shaking off some of the cooler west coast modes of earlier records, and going for a more lively, more fluid style that's sometimes touched with the R&B influences that were creeping into jazz vocals at the time. Backings are by Ralph Carmichael – tightly jazzy, but often with plenty of room for Sue to take over – and there's a really great sense of balance, poise, and power here that far surpasses most of Raney's other albums from the time. Titles include "How About Me", "Burnt Sugar", "Some Of These Days", "Trouble Is A Man", "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying", and "Here's That Rainy Day". CD

Quite possibly the first truly great Lou Rawls album for Capitol – an all-out swinging jazz session done with arrangements by Onzy Matthews, in a mode that firmly helped put the Lou Rawls sound on the map! The tracks are mostly older numbers from a long lineage of blues and R&B – but with hipper 60s touches by Matthews in the backings, Lou really swings the work into a whole new territory – moving older, clunky compositions into more adult, more mature modes that aren't nearly as sad or downtrodden as their roots! Titles include "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water", "Roll Em Pete", "Kansas City", "World Of Trouble", "Trouble In Mind", "Strange Fruit", and "Six Cold Feet Of Ground". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Lou's excellent Capitol sessions produced by David Axelrod! The record's not an outwardly funky one, but Axe gives the set a nice loping groove on the best tracks – the sound that he brought to his best work with Rawls, and which really put him over the top back in the 60s. Titles include "Mean Black Snake", "Walking Proud", "Trouble Down Here Below", "A Woman Who's Woman", and "Something Stirrin In My Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Lou Rawls' best for Capitol – produced by David Axelrod, and arranged by HB Barnum with a joyous, leaping, sock-soulful groove! The drums get nice and hard on the set – especially on the classic break version of "For What It's Worth", and the rolling righteous cut "My Ancestors" – and Lou's vocals are deeply wonderful all the way through! Other tunes include "I'm Gonna Use What I Got", "My Son", "Evil Woman", "Hang Ups", and "The Letter". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best albums that Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into Lou's music than before – recorded by Axelrod with the right sort of sharpness and punch – that special quality he brought to Cannonball Adderley's 60s soul classics too! Rawls is really at home in the setting – stepping out in some points with these hip monologue passages that are as great as his singing – maybe even better, too – as they show a whole new side of Lou's personality – that badass, totally hip quality that people might never have expected from the early days. One of the best of these is the excellent "Old Man's Memories", about a guy sitting on a bench in Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, which then rolls into an amazing version of "It Was A Very Good Year". Other tunes have a great mix of soul and jazz – and titles include "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "A Whole Lotta Woman", "Don't Explain", "Old Folks", and "Breaking My Back (Instead Of Using My Mind)". CD

One of the best albums that Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into Lou's music than before – recorded by Axelrod with the right sort of sharpness and punch – that special quality he brought to Cannonball Adderley's 60s soul classics too! Rawls is really at home in the setting – stepping out in some points with these hip monologue passages that are as great as his singing – maybe even better, too – as they show a whole new side of Lou's personality – that badass, totally hip quality that people might never have expected from the early days. One of the best of these is the excellent "Old Man's Memories", about a guy sitting on a bench in Washington Park on the south side of Chicago, which then rolls into an amazing version of "It Was A Very Good Year". Other tunes have a great mix of soul and jazz – and titles include "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "A Whole Lotta Woman", "Don't Explain", "Old Folks", and "Breaking My Back (Instead Of Using My Mind)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great ones – produced by David Axelrod, with HB Barnum arrangements, and sublime vocals by Lou, who's really at his best in this sort of setting! The album features 2 hip monologues – "Righteous Woman" and "Dead End Street" – plus the famous sung version of the latter, and the tracks "You're Takin My Bag", "I'll Take Time", "Why", and "Yes, It Hurts (Doesn't It?)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the nice moments from the days when David Axelrod was producing Lou Rawls! The record's a great mix of soul and tight LA production, and features the breakbeat cut "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)". Other nice ones include "Season Of The Witch", "It's You", "I Love You, Yes I Do", and "Trying Just As Hard As I Can". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the beautiful records from Lou's late 60's years at Capitol, and one of the ones he made with the great team of H.B. Barnum and David Axelrod. As usual, Barnum turns out some fantastically swinging soul arrangements – and Axelrod's procduction ensures that things are nice and tight, and that the drums beat extra funky and soulful! Titles include "Down Here On the Ground", "Soul Serenade", "You're Good For Me", and "I'm Satisfied" – plus the excellent "Life Time", which has a great breakbeat! LP, Vinyl record album

Another one of the really good Lou Rawls albums from the late 60's. David Axelrod produced, and the drums are nice and hard, especially on "I Can't Make It Alone", which he arranged. Other tracks include "Give Me Your Love" (not the Curtis Mayfield song), "When She Speaks", and "Your Good Thing". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Lou's most jazz-oriented albums – featuring backing by Les McCann's famous trio with Leroy Vinnegar and Ron Jefferson, perfectly suited to Lou's soulful renditions of the tunes on the album. Most of the numbers are bluesy ones, but as usual, Lou manages to give them his own hip twist – always a pleasure for us! Titles include "In The Evening", "Sweet Lover", "Willow Weep For Me", "Stormy Monday", and "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do". CD features 3 bonus cuts – "A Little Les Of Lou's Blues", "Blues Is A Woman", and an alternate take of "Stormy Monday". CD

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A pair of classic early 80s soul albums from ex-Dramatics singer LJ Reynolds! The self-titled '81 set is killer material in a modern Detroit mode all the way through – with top-shelf production by Reynolds, Don Davis, and Ronnie McNeir/ Ronnie, who'd been lost to the industry for a few years, also re-emerges as a writer on the songs "Southern Pearl", "Lonely Superstar", and "Ain't No Woman Like My Baby". The real standout, though, is the amazing cut "Key To The World", a killer steppers track that has a hook that won't quit, and this wonderful brassy finish that gives the track a really triumphant sound that works perfectly with the righteous lyric. LJ Reynolds' sounds great on '82's Travelin', too – stepping even more strongly away from his work with The Dramatics, and emerging as one of the best male soul acts of the early 80s! The production on this one is split between Reynolds and Don Davis, in a mode that's contemporary, but which allows LJ plenty of space for old school vocal expression – that far-reaching style of singing that always made him stand out strongly from the pack! There's a sublime mellow version of Aretha Franklin's "Call Me" on the set – and other tracks include "Words", "Trust In Me", "Say You Will", "You & Me", "Let Me Satisfy You", and "Fast Action"... CD

Two of the best Nelson Riddle instrumental albums for Capitol Records – both of them nice and jazzy! Let Yourself Go is totally great – a set that soars out with the fire and energy of some of the best jazz-based big band albums of the 50s – with plenty of room for strong solos from the individual players (who sadly aren't named in the notes, but who are most likely the cream of the crop of the west coast!) In keeping with the Riddle vibe, there's some great twists and turns in the music – but hardly ever in a way that's just gimmick for gimmick's sake. Titles include "You're An Old Smoothie", "Let's Face The Music & Dance", "You Are My Lucky Star", "Let Yourself Go", "Darn That Dream", and "I Can't Escape From You". C'Mon Get Happy is a wonderful album too – a set that's almost like soundtrack jazz at its best – well conceived, and tightly arranged – but with some strong moments of individual instrumentation! There's a slight touch of sweetness at times, but never in a way that's too string-heavy – and instead, the emphasis here is mostly on the horns, which burst out with a great sense of power and sound. Titles include "Rain", "Diga Diga Doo", "Get Happy", "Time Was", "Without A Song", "Jeannine", and "September In The Rain". CD

A surprisingly nice score from Riddle – and pretty different than most late 50s crime jazz LPs! There's a number of tracks on here that have a period setting, in keeping with the locale of the TV show – but there's others that are really wonderful orchestral numbers, shaded with the darker tones of jazz, almost in a Kentonian mode, with a range of expression that's almost surprising from Riddle. Titles include "Suspensful-Ness", "30 30", "The Untouchables Theme", "Ebony & Ivory", "The Loop", and "Eliot Ness". LP, Vinyl record album

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Seminal west coast work from the start of the 50s – a groundbreaking 10" album that showed the best early talents of trumpeter Shorty Rogers! The group here is Rogers at his hippest – before a bigger rise to 50s fame, and right at the start of a great run as a leader and arranger on his own. The Giants combo here features Art Pepper on alto, Jimmy Giuffre on tenor, John Graas on French horn, and Hampton Hawes on piano – all playing with a style that's tight, yet still has plenty of swing, and a lot more room for individual group voices than other later arrangers who tried to cop Shorty's style! All tracks are extremely playful, but without sounding gimmicky – and tunes include "Four Mothers", "Didi", "Sam & The Lady", "Over The Rainbow", "Apropos" and "Popo". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first albums ever cut as a leader by trombonist Frank Rosolino – a hip set issued under the Stan Kenton Presents banner for Capitol in the mid 50s – but done in a smaller combo mode than you'd hear with Stan! The setting provides a great showcase for the emerging solo talents of Rosolino on trombone – a player with a soulful swing that get way past his goofy image on the cover – and which is set up here in the company of some great collaborators who include Charlie Mariano on alto sax – playing so strongly, the album might well include him as a co-leader – plus piano from either Claude Williamson or Pete Jolly, trumpet from Sam Noto, bass from Max Bennett or Curtis Counce, and drums from Mel Lewis or Stan Levey. There's not only a lot of Kenton influence in the players, but a lot of Bethlehem Records styles as well – a reference that definitely shapes the sound of this set, and makes it a strong one for any fan of 50s work on that label – or Mode Records as well. Titles are a mix of standards and originals – and include "Ragamuffin", "Linda", "Carioca", "Besame Mucho", "Yo Yo", and "Freckles". LP, Vinyl record album

A very nice little LA jazz session – not necessarily for Rosolino's trombone, which is still pretty nice, but really for the presence of Charlie Mariano, who gets a good chance to lay down some great solos in the session's small quintet with Walter Norris, Max Bennett, and Stan Levy. The tracks are tightly arranged – as you'd expect from an album like this in the "Kenton Presents" series – but Mariano always manages to get a bit of soul in, and has some very nice moments that are worth the price of the album. Titles include "Slan", "Kingfish", "The Missus", and "Now I Lay Me Down To Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

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A wonderfully groovy score from Carlo Rustichelli – best known to the world for his famous score for Divorce Italian Style, and working here in a style that mixes tight jazzy numbers with sparer themes in kind of a Nino Rota mode! There's some nice organ in the background on some of the best tracks, and the sophisticated writing is extremely compelling – at a level that should have put this one right up there with 8 1/2 or La Dolce Vita – especially in its ability to mix together playful themes and more serious orchestrations. Most tracks are pretty short, and titles include "Distant City", "Steps", "Dusk", "Faded Longings", "Freedom", "Bebo, Goodbye", and "Fog On The River". LP, Vinyl record album

The first Capitol album from rocker Jack Scott, and a set that's full of original tunes that mark a bit of a turn towards country music! LP, Vinyl record album

The third album from Seatrain – a record with a title that refers to their move to Marblehead, Massachusetts from their original home in Marin County, California! That geographic shift maybe signals a bit of a musical shift too – some slightly stronger bluesy currents mixed in with their roots rock elements – fleshed out with songwriting that feels a bit more complicated and personal too! As with the previous album, George Martin produced – and has a sense of compression that really helps the sound of the set – and titles include "Gramercy", "The State Of Georgia's Mind", "Marblehead Messenger", "London Song", "Losing All The Years", "Despair Tire", and "Lonely's Not The Only Way To Go". LP, Vinyl record album

A rootsy rock classic from Seatrain – a group who maybe aren't as well-remembered these days as they should be – but who set off a lot of fires with this set! The group work in territory that's close to The Band or Little Feat – and in fact they cover a song by the latter at once point – yet they also recorded this album in the UK, with production by George Martin – whose studio warmth brings a different quality to the record than you might hear if they were recording in the US. Lead vocals are by Peter Rowan and Lloyd Baskin – and titles include "Oh My Love", "Waiting For Elijah", "13 Questions", "Out Where The Hills", "Home To You", and "I'm Willin" – plus an unusual take on the acoustic music classic "Orange Blossom Special". LP, Vinyl record album

A really surprising moment in the career of Bob Seger – a set that has him stepping away from the fuller rock backings of the Bob Seger System, and moving into a mode that's more singer/songwriter, and which has very light instrumentation that really seems to suit Seger's vocals! There's a surprisingly powerful, heartfelt vibe going on here – at a level that, if he were picked up by Columbia and given the same treatment as their big singer/songwriter superstars of the 70s, might have seen Bob create some very different music overall. Most of the time, there's just some piano or acoustic guitar next to the vocals – and Seger's style of singing sounds much more powerful as a result – very different than on his arena rock classics. A stunner, honestly – with titles that include "Maybe Today", "Song For Him", "Something Like", "Railroad Days", and "You Know Who You Are". CD

Includes the songs "Understanding", "The Fire Down Below", "Her Strut", "Beautiful Loser", "Sunspot Baby", "Katmandu", "Shame On The Moon", "Fire Lake", "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You (Live)", "Shakedown", "Manhattan", "New Coat Of Paint", "Chances Are", "Rock And Roll Never Forgets", "Satisfied", and "Tomorrow". CD

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A really pivotal album for the young Bob Seger – still very much in the Detroit territory of his early years, but already learning how to focus all his inspirations in a really great way! If you know the very young Bob, you'll know that he began as a soul-inspired rocker – but here, with an early incarnation of the Bob Seger System, he's really starting to hit his stride – sharing lead guitar with Tom Neme, for a fuzzier version of the group than before – and really opening up those vocal chops that would soon make him a legend – but without any of the hoke of his mainstream hits of later years. A very worthy nugget from the late 60s Detroit scene – with titles that include "Jumpin Humpin Hip Hypocrite", "Loneliness Is A Feeling", "Cat", "Death Row", "Paint Them A Picture Jane", "Hoan", and "Innervenus Eyes". CD

Heavy psych from Detroit, in the years before Bob Seger became a "lighters in the air" peddler of redneck theme songs. Cut from the same cloth as the early Mitch Ryder, Amboy Dukes and Grand Funk that were the hallmark of the Motor City rock sound of the day, most of the tracks on this outing are concise rockers, but the band delves into a bit of nice jamminess on side 2. Includes 'Tales Of Lucy Blue", "Ivory", "Gone Down Home", "Train Man", "White Wall", "Black Eyed Girl", "2 + 2 = ?" and "Doctor Fine". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty obscure late 60s set on Capitol Records – by one of those great bands who briefly got the chance to record for the label, then never showed up again! The Serfs have a lot going on for such a relatively unknown group – a sound that's partly folk, partly roots, and with some groovier touches too – even a bit of jazz inflections at points, in ways that remind us a bit of The Shades Of Joy on Fontana. Instrumentation includes congas, vibes, organ, tenor, and trumpet. Production is by Tom Wilson – the force behind so many great records at the time – and titles include "Evil Days", "Early Bird Cafe", "All Blue", "Leda", "I'm A Man", and "Prologue & Mechanical Man". CD

Mid 60s release of some earlier sides recorded by Ravi in India – classic work with Ali Akbar Khan on sarod, plus Alla Rakha on tabla and Ashkish Kumar on tanpura. The album features two long ragas, each making up a side of the record – "Raga Shree" and "Raga Sindhu Bhairavi". LP, Vinyl record album

These sides feature Charlie Shavers working with an octet that includes Billy Byers, Jerome Richardson, Budd Johnson, and George Barnes. The tunes on these sides have a more tightly arranged approach than Shavers' other recordings from this period – still with a strong focus on his fluid solo lines. Titles include "Period Of Adjustment", "Bossa Nova Petite", "Undecided", "Opus 5", "School Days", and "Big Time Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from Dorothy Shay – a very unusual singer for her time, and in a backwards way, almost a force in mainstreaming country music in later years! As the title implies, Dorothy's a bit of a "Park Avenue Hillbilly" – in that she sings country themes, but in a style that's less hillbilly and more in the mode of some of the straighter female vocalists of the time. She's working here with backings from Russ Black, and the sound's almost in the mode of some of the country sides cut by Bing Crosby – but perhaps a bit more whimsical overall. Titles include "A Little Western Town Called Beverly Hills", "Why Shore", "Television's Tough On Love", "Sugar Plum Kisses & Vinegar Tears", and "Don't You Think You Should've Mentioned It Before". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful late 50s jazz from the LA scene – not just because singer Dakota Staton is at the best of her youthful prime, but also because the Shearing group on the set is great too! George is working here with one of his best lineups – a group that includes Latin-inflected Al McKibbon on bass and Percy Brice on drums, but which also has some great guitar work by Toots Thielemans, and wonderful vibes by Emil Richards. The Shearing group plays instrumentally on about half the album, and Dakota joins in on the remaining tracks. Titles include "Pawn Ticket", "In The Night", "Easy", "I Hear Music", "Senor Blues", "Later", and "I'd Love To Make Love To You". CD

Felix Slatkin conducts on both recordings – originally 10" Capitol sessions, put together here on a full LP! LP, Vinyl record album

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One of Frank Sinatra's last great ballad albums for Capitol – a sad and dreamy batch of tunes that kicks off with the incredible "Only The Lonely" – one of those Sinatra torch songs that's so great, so sad, nobody else has ever been able to record a better version, nor have they really tried! The rest of the album's great, too – with arrangements by Nelson Riddle that are very much in the Wee Small Hours mode – expressive, but subtle and sophisticated – at that level that set Sinatra so far apart from most other male singers of the 50s. Despite the creepy cover, there's a mature, adult approach to the whole thing – a new level of emotion that most other singers wouldn't find for a decade. Titles include "Only The Lonely", "Angel Eyes", "What's New", "Ebb Tide", "Spring Is Here", "Goodbye", and the sublime "One For My Baby". CD

A soundtrack as important to the sound of Sinatra on Capitol Records as High Society – maybe even more so, as it features seminal readings of Rogers & Hart standards "Bewitched", "I Could Write A Book", "The Lady Is A Tramp", and "There's A Small Hotel". Arrangements by Nelson Riddle, too! LP, Vinyl record album

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A Swingin Session indeed – as Frank steps out with Nelson Riddle on one of his last great albums for Capitol! The record's got the bounce and lilt of Frank's earlier gems with Riddle – a sly mix of jazz and strings that's every bit the best fit for Blue Eyes' vocals at the end of the 50s as it was back when he and Riddle cooked up the comeback sound earlier in the decade – and as before, although the tunes are mostly familiar, they're spun out by Frank as if they're his own – phrased beautifully, punched up nicely, and swung in just the right way to fit the spirit of the session! Titles include "I Concentrate On You", "Blue Moon", "When You're Smiling", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Always", and "September In The Rain". CD

A Swingin Session indeed – as Frank steps out with Nelson Riddle on one of his last great albums for Capitol! The record's got the bounce and lilt of Frank's earlier gems with Riddle – a sly mix of jazz and strings that's every bit the best fit for Blue Eyes' vocals at the end of the 50s as it was back when he and Riddle cooked up the comeback sound earlier in the decade – and as before, although the tunes are mostly familiar, they're spun out by Frank as if they're his own – phrased beautifully, punched up nicely, and swung in just the right way to fit the spirit of the session! Titles include "I Concentrate On You", "Blue Moon", "When You're Smiling", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Always", and "September In The Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

A Swingin Session indeed – as Frank steps out with Nelson Riddle on one of his last great albums for Capitol! The record's got the bounce and lilt of Frank's earlier gems with Riddle – a sly mix of jazz and strings that's every bit the best fit for Blue Eyes' vocals at the end of the 50s as it was back when he and Riddle cooked up the comeback sound earlier in the decade – and as before, although the tunes are mostly familiar, they're spun out by Frank as if they're his own – phrased beautifully, punched up nicely, and swung in just the right way to fit the spirit of the session! Titles include "I Concentrate On You", "Blue Moon", "When You're Smiling", "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Always", and "September In The Rain". CD features 3 bonus tracks – "Sentimental Baby", "Hidden Persuasion", and "Ol MacDonald". CD

A near-perfect session of 50s Sinatra – upbeat, lively, and with an undeniable punch that completely transforms every tune! The great Nelson Riddle is backing Frank up on the set – and the album's one of their liveliest from the time, filled with familiar tunes that Frank slips into like an old glove – then runs with as if they're his own! Titles include "It Happened In Monterey", "Love Is Here To Stay", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "You Make Me Feel So Young", "Old Devil Moon", and "How About You?". CD

Arguably one of Frank's best collections of standards – with sublime Nelson Riddle arrangements! Titles include "The Girl Next Door", "Like Someone In Love", "A Foggy Day", "It Worries Me", "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "Little Girl Blue", and "Violets For Your Furs". LP, Vinyl record album

Two great albums from Frank, both with sublime Nelson Riddle arrangements! CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

Two great albums from Frank, both with sublime Nelson Riddle arrangements! LP, Vinyl record album

Two great albums from Frank, both with sublime Nelson Riddle arrangements! CD

A Swingin Affair indeed – as the album's one of our favorite ever from Frank's Capitol years! Nelson Riddle shows here that he can be just as great on the uptempo numbers as he is on the ballads – and casts Sinatra's full rich vocals into a great set of older swinging tunes. Frank really breathes new life into these standards – completely transforming them and making them his own – and in the process making us love tunes that we never thought we'd care for! Titles include "Oh Look At Me Now", "At Long Last Love", "From This Moment On", "I Got Plenty O Nuttin", "I Wish I Were In Love Again", and "Night & Day". CD

A Swingin Affair indeed – as the album's one of our favorite ever from Frank's Capitol years! Nelson Riddle shows here that he can be just as great on the uptempo numbers as he is on the ballads – and casts Sinatra's full rich vocals into a great set of older swinging tunes. Frank really breathes new life into these standards – completely transforming them and making them his own – and in the process making us love tunes that we never thought we'd care for! Titles include "Oh Look At Me Now", "At Long Last Love", "From This Moment On", "I Got Plenty O Nuttin", "I Wish I Were In Love Again", and "Night & Day". LP, Vinyl record album