The 50's material with Capitol (my favorite, by far) was digitally remastered I think in the late 80s and released on both CD and Lp. I bought Only the Lonely, In the Wee Small Hours (mono), Songs for Young Lovers (mono), and several others on CD. There was a lot of lousy remastering done in those days, but, to my ear, the folks that did this Sinatra material got it right with these three, at least. I have used the first two of those as demo discs (among others) in listening sessions at hi-fi stores from time-to-time. (In fact, I used two of the three last night on the EMM CDSA that I borrowed to audition for the weekend, and they sound really good.)
Since that time, I think they may have been remastered again. The newer versions may sound great...I don't know. There's such an irritating tendency among some companies to assume that "remastering" means "turn up the treble till it hurts"...so, out of caution, I'm sticking with what I've got, for now.
If you like the Tommy Dorsey/Sinatra material (which I quite enjoy, myself), RCA reissued it in nicely done remasterings in 1994 (CD only, as far as I know). The material was released in a 5-CD box called "The Song is You." It's just a tad brighter than I prefer, but they somehow cleaned up the sound very nicely compared to a similar earlier edition. It's some of the most listenable early 40's material that I've heard.
Since that time, I think they may have been remastered again. The newer versions may sound great...I don't know. There's such an irritating tendency among some companies to assume that "remastering" means "turn up the treble till it hurts"...so, out of caution, I'm sticking with what I've got, for now.
If you like the Tommy Dorsey/Sinatra material (which I quite enjoy, myself), RCA reissued it in nicely done remasterings in 1994 (CD only, as far as I know). The material was released in a 5-CD box called "The Song is You." It's just a tad brighter than I prefer, but they somehow cleaned up the sound very nicely compared to a similar earlier edition. It's some of the most listenable early 40's material that I've heard.
