Get ready to celebrate the eternal Chairman of the Board with a pair of releases due October 11 from Capitol Records/UMe and Frank Sinatra Enterprises. Last week, the labels announced a 50th anniversary edition of Sinatra's 1969 LP My Way, available on CD, digital, and LP; and an all-new compilation entitled Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman, also on all three formats.
Originally issued on the Reprise label in March 1969, My Way was Sinatra's second consecutive foray into the world of contemporary pop. He had begun incorporating pop-rock sounds into his repertoire as of 1966's Grammy-winning, chart-topping Strangers in the Night, continuing to varying degrees on That's Life (1966), The World We Knew (1967), and Cycles (1968). My Way, produced by arranger-conductor Don Costa and Sonny Burke, found the great man interpreting such latter-day classics as John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "Yesterday," Paul Simon's "Mrs. Robinson," Jimmy Webb's "Didn't We," Ron Miller and Orlando Murden's Motown staple "For Once in My Life," and Rod McKuen and Jacques Brel's "If You Go Away." The anthemic title track, adapted by Paul Anka from a French chanson by Claude Francois, Jacques Revaux, and Gilles Thibault, quickly became another milestone in Sinatra's career when it became a top 5 AC smash, a top 30 Pop hit, and a record-breaking entry on the U.K. Singles Chart where it remained for a staggering 75 weeks within the Top 40 - a feat as yet unmatched by any other artist.
My Way was last expanded on CD in 2009 in a remixed edition with an NBC-TV studio rehearsal of "For Once in My Life" and an October 24, 1987 live performance at Dallas' Reunion Arena. The upcoming reissue jettisons the rehearsal of "For Once in My Life" but retains the Dallas concert track (later released with a longer introduction on the 2018 box set Standing Room Only) along with three other versions of "My Way." These include Sinatra's June 13, 1971 live reading from Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre "Retirement Concert" (previously issued in 2015 on the Deluxe Edition of the collection All or Nothing at All) and 1994 duets with Willie Nelson and Luciano Pavarotti. Information as to the mastering and mix used has not yet been released. David Ritz has provided new liner notes.
The expanded My Way is joined by a new collection celebrating Sinatra's collaborations with Academy Award-winning lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman features thirteen tracks penned by the husband-and-wife duo with such collaborators as Lew Spence, Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton, Michel Legrand, Paul Anka, and Don Costa. This collection of poignant lyrics and luscious melodies features arrangements by the impressive likes of Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, Don Costa, Quincy Jones, Joe Parnello, and Torrie Zito. The Bergmans were mainstays in Sinatra's recording career, and the core 10-track retrospective features tracks spanning from 1960 (the famous title track of "Nice 'n' Easy," co-written with Lew Spence) to 1984 ("L.A. Is My Lady," authored with Jones and Lipton, and "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" with Legrand). The CD edition of this release features three tracks not on the LP iteration: the 1975 single "Christmas Memories" and two previously unreleased tracks: 1988's "Leave It All to Me" and the 1983 outtake "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (Sinatra also recorded the latter in 1984 with a different arrangement; that version remains unreleased.)
The Bergmans are quoted in the press release: "As lyric writers, to have a singer understand and be able to communicate what you wrote, whether it be about love or love lost or songs that needed a humorous approach, Frank got it... his readings were always on the money and more than what we heard in our minds."
Both of these titles are due on October 11 from Capitol/UMe and FSE on CD, LP, and digital platforms. In addition, My Way will have an online-exclusive green vinyl release. You can find the track listings and pre-order links below!
Frank Sinatra, My Way (50th Anniversary Edition) (Reprise FS 1029, 1969 - reissued Capitol/UMe/FSE, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Green Vinyl: uDiscover Store
- Watch What Happens
- Didn't We
- Hallelujah, I Love Her So
- Yesterday
- All My Tomorrows
- My Way
- A Day In The Life Of A Fool
- For Once In My Life
- If You Go Away
- Mrs. Robinson
Bonus Tracks:
- My Way - duet with Willie Nelson
- My Way - duet with Luciano Pavarotti
- My Way - Live at Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, June 13, 1971
- My Way - Live at the Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX, October 14, 1987
Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Capitol/UMe/FSE, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Nice 'N' Easy
- Ol' MacDonald
- Sentimental Baby
- Love Looks So Well On You
- Sleep Warm
- What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?
- The Summer Knows
- Summer Me, Winter Me
- A. Is My Lady
- How Do You Keep The Music Playing?
Bonus Tracks (not on LP):
- Christmas Memories (Reprise single 1342, 1975)
- Leave It All To Me - previously unreleased
- How Do You Keep The Music Playing? (1983) - previously unreleased
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