Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra Vol 1 Greatest Hits
|
 See Larger Image | Frank Sinatra - Vol. 1-Greatest Hits Artist : Frank Sinatra List Price : $11.98 USD ProductGroup: Music Release Date : 1990-10-25 Studio : Warner Bros / Wea Label : Warner Bros / Wea Avg. Customer Rating : (12 reviews)
|
Reviews Customer Reviews for Frank Sinatra Vol 1 Greatest Hits Made For The Adult Contemporary (Easy Listening) Charts Rating: Clearly, when compared to much of his Capitol and Columbia material, these do not count among Frank's classic songs. However, they did appeal to enough people at the time to shoot them well up the Easy Listening [Adult Contemporary] charts, and even, to a lesser degree, the Billboard Pop Hot 100. So, to dismiss them as "commercial drek" is missing the point entirely. The man had to go on paying the bills [including alimony] and so why not churn out stuff that made the greater masses happy? Did they not count?
What I don't like about this album - which first appeared in vinyl in 1968 - is the title "greatest hits" and the meagre [1 page] of liner notes. Perhaps that was all they could squeeze onto the back of an LP in 1968, but for the CD release they could have at least added more background information AND a proper discography of the contents.
As for the title, it would have been less misleading had they said "Greatest Hits At Reprise From 1964 to 1967" because that is more or less what you're getting here. In that period, working primarily with Jimmy Bowen [who once toiled with the Rhythm Orchids and Buddy Knox in the 1950s] and Sonny Burke [who had worked with Dinah Shore on many of her earlier hits], and often with the backing of Ernie Freeman, he had 16 Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary hits, 12 of which also made the Billboard Hot 100. Here you get 11 of those two-chart hits plus one that made only the AC charts [track 10 - # 10 AC and a Hot 100 "bubble under" at # 102 in the fall of 1965].
The earliest hit covered here is Softly, As I Leave You which hit # 4 AC/# 27 Hot 100 in October 1964, followed by Somewhere In Your Heart which, in January 1965, rose to the same level on the AC charts but only # 32 Hot 100. They then skip over Anytime At All [# 11 AC/# 46 Hot 100 in April 1965] and instead include the lesser Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day), a # 16 AC/# 57 Hot 100 in June.
Forget Domani was another lightweight entry from the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce, hitting # 13 AC/# 78 Hot 100 in August 1965, as was When Somebody Loves You [the AC-only hit mentioned above]. Rounding out 1965 was the double-sided AC hit I'll Only Miss Her When I Think Of Her [# 18] b/w Everybody Has The Right To Be Wrong (At Least Once) - # 25 and a Hot 100 "bubble under" at # 131.
The years 1966/67 were much kinder in terms of chart success with no less than six # 1 AC hits, two of which also made it to # 1 Hot 100. It Was A very Good Year, done by The Kingston Trio on their 1961 LP Goin' Places, was the first to go # 1 AC [# 28 Hot 100], that being in February 1966 b/w Moment To Moment from the film of the same name, which also charted at # 18 AC/# 115 Hot 100 "bubble under" - but it's not included here.
Then came the smash Strangers In The Night [# 1 AC for 7 weeks and # 1 Hot 100 in June 1966], a song that Dean Martin had relinquished to Frank when he couldn't get his chops around it at an album recording session. A bit of trivia that would have enhanced the liner notes, by the way. Summer Wind also went to # 1 AC [# 25 Hot 100] that October, beating out the Wayne Newton rendition, as did That's Life for 4 weeks [# 4 Hot 100] in December.
Early in 1967 he teamed with daughter Nancy for a # 1 AC [NINE weeks] and # 1 Hot 100 [four weeks] on Somethin' Stupid, and that October registered his fifth straight AC # 1 [five weeks] with The World We Knew (Over And Over), which also made it to # 30 Hot 100. In December, This Town [from the film The Cool Ones] topped out at # 17 AC/# 53 Hot 100.
So, in summary, six # 1 AC hits, two of which also reached # 1 Hot 100, spending a total of 26 weeks at the top AC slot and 101 weeks in total on the charts. Some may wish to slough this off as "commercial drek" but clearly millions did appreciate them.
Customer Reviews for Frank Sinatra Vol 1 Greatest Hits Cd Classic Rating: Classic Frank - doesn't have all my favorites, but it is still a good one.
Editorial Reviews for Frank Sinatra Vol 1 Greatest Hits Audio Cd Amazon.com A fairly generic, consistent mid-'60s-era package--which means it rules. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 concentrates on chart hits, but nonetheless packs some wild cards. "Forget Domani" and "World We Knew (Over and Over)" are odd choices, and don't turn up much. There are also, naturally, lots of tracks missing. It's unclear why "Forget Domani" would displace, say, "Anytime at All," but these are minor complaints, and if you don't have it, here it is. This is an early CD package (from 1987), which means that the niche it was created to fill probably isn't in quite the same place anymore. Fans should take note. Neophytes: Don't worry about it, this is a great place to start. --Gavin McNett
|
|