Frank's best cuts on Capitol...

Frank Sinatra parted ways with longtime label Columbia after creative differences (to put it mildly) with Mitch Miller, signing a seven-year contract with Capitol in March 1953. Part of the agreement was that he retained his longtime arranger Axel Stordahl for several sessions to see if the orchestrations resulted in hit records. They didn't, and Capitol switched Frank over to Nelson Riddle in the style of Billy May.

Sinatra's earliest singles from this period are strongly transitional; indeed, I'm Walking Behind You from April 1953 sounds as if it could have been plucked from mid-40s takes, with Frank's soft, restrained vocals failing to "rock the boat." However, I've Got the World On A String from April 1953 under Riddle shows a brassy, assertive Frank, although not quite in command of his hard-swinging persona as he would be in later years. On later tracks such as River, Stay ‘Way From My Door (1960), Frank is aggressive, poised, and in full command of the nuances of the song, pushing his voice to its edges until the song culminates in a fireworks-filled climax. Frank’s recording of Sentimental Journey from 1960, conducted by Billy May, features the fascinating combination of the more assertive, swinging 1950s Sinatra with a mellow, nostalgic arrangement. He takes Day’s song and makes it his own. Frank also recorded several nods to other popular experiments such as Bobby Darin’s Clementine in his rollicking update of Ol’ MacDonald (complete with “eh-huh” imitation of Darin’s “hup-hups”).

The four discs are chronologically arranged, and many of Frank's most memorable songs came from his golden Hollywood era: Three Coins in the Fountain, Wait For Me, Well Did You Evah?, To Love and Be Loved, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, rerecorded versions of I Believe, Time After Time, It's the Same Old Dream and Everybody Loves Somebody. It's fascinating to compare Frank's rerecorded Columbia catalogue, particularly when compared to his even later Reprise rerecordings to hear how his style (and the tastes of the time) changed. Disc three includes some of Sinatra's Christmas favorites such as The Christmas Waltz and Mistletoe and Holly. The five bonus tracks featured on disc four are interesting; Look to Your Heart from 1955 sounds much more like mid-40s Columbia, while You Better Stop from 1953 is bold and sassy.

Of particular merit are the excellent liner notes by Will Friedwald, filled with fascinating trivia, musical analysis, recollections of those who worked closely with Frank, vintage photos and reproductions of sheet music and album art. There are also cartoonish line drawings printed in gold on heavy cardstock that add to the period feel. The back lists the tracks, catalog numbers, conductors, recording dates, and musicians.

For the casual Frank fan, this highlight of the massive Capitol box set (21 CDs total) should be enough to amply display Frank’s maturation since his earliest days in 1939 with Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and his works with Axel on Columbia from 1943-1952; his embracing of a bold, jazzy, aggressive swinging persona and more vocal experimentation with phrasing and timing, his parroting of popular trends, and the wide range of film and stage material that he recorded. The liner notes only sweeten the deal.