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Start spreading the news! Frank Sinatra may have taken John Kander and Fred Ebb's timeless "(Theme From) New York, New York" to the charts, but the Chairman of the Board also had a soft spot for the City of Angels. In 1984, he teamed with the legendary Quincy Jones, fresh off a little 1982 album called Thriller, to craft what would become the final solo studio album of Sinatra's extraordinary career. On October 25, Frank Sinatra Enterprises and UMe will reissue L.A. Is My Lady in a remixed and expanded edition on CD and digitally, while the original album sequence only will be presented on vinyl.
Sinatra and Jones had last collaborated in the studio on 1964's It Might as Well Be Swing, a collaboration with Count Basie and His Orchestra; Q also led Basie's band for Sinatra's seminal 1966 live album Sinatra at the Sands. For Ol' Blue Eyes' 57th album, producer Jones pulled out all the stops. He arranged, conducted, and co-wrote (with his then-wife Peggy Lipton and the team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman) the made-to-order title track which aimed to do for L.A. what "(Theme From) New York, New York" had done for the Big Apple. (Ironically, much of the album was recorded in NYC!) The track was fashioned with a sleek, contemporary sound new to Sinatra, and a music video featuring Dean Martin, Nancy Sinatra, Jane Fonda, Donna Summer, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, and Michael McDonald was released to the young MTV Network.
Though much of the album was dedicated to classic standards produced by Jones and arranged by Sammy Nestico, Torrie Zito, Joe Parnello, and Frank Foster, Sinatra found room for the Michel Legrand/Alan and Marilyn Bergman modern standard "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" and a new Kander and Ebb tune, "The Best of Everything" which had been introduced on a 1983 TV special of the same name. (The special hosted by Barbara Eden, Hal Linden, and Dorothy Loudon featured an eclectic group of performers including Meryl Streep, Liza Minnelli, Debbie Allen, Linda Lavin, and Jerry Orbach.)
Of the many standards on L.A. Is My Lady, Sammy Cahn wrote a new verse for his 1953 Gene DePaul co-write "Teach Me Tonight" and tweaked the lyrics to "Until the Real Thing Comes Along," which he'd first revised in 1936 (!). Sinatra's first-time, hard-swingin' rendition of Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, and Marc Blitzstein's "Mack the Knife" drew considerable attention as Frank graciously name-checked the late Bobby Darin alongside musicians who'd played on the record including Quincy, George Benson, the Brecker Brothers, and others.
The sessions were filmed for a documentary, Frank Sinatra: Portrait of an Album, which shared footage of Sinatra's meeting Michael Jackson. Released on Jones' own Qwest label to much fanfare, L.A. Is My Lady made the top ten of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and No. 58 on the Billboard 200. The title track hit the top 40 of the AC chart.
The upcoming reissue has been remixed, as has been the tradition of Frank Sinatra Enterprises' series, by Larry Walsh. It adds six bonus tracks including the 1986 CD version of "Mack the Knife" with its unique, later vocal; two alternate versions of "How Can You Keep the Music Playing?" (one previously unreleased, with an exclusive Bob Florence arrangement); the outtake "Body and Soul;" and previously unissued alternate takes of "After You've Gone" and "Body and Soul." Reprise Records veteran Stan Cornyn's original liner notes have been reprinted while reissue producer Charles Pignone has added new notes, as well.
The expanded L.A. Is My Lady hits stores from FSE/UMe on October 25. You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
L.A. is My Lady (40th Anniversary Edition) (Frank Sinatra Enterprises, LLC/UMe, 2024)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
* previously unreleased
- L.A. is My Lady
- The Best of Everything
- How Do You Keep the Music Playing?
- Teach Me Tonight
- It's All Right with Me
- Mack the Knife
- Until the Real Thing Comes Along
- Stormy Weather
- If I Should Lose You
- A Hundred Years from Today
- After You've Gone
- How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (3/16/1983 - Joe Parnello arrangement)
- How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (5/17/1984 - Bob Florence arrangement) *
- Mack the Knife (10/30/1986 - vocal overdub)
- Body and Soul (10/26/2007 - Torrie Zito arrangement)
- After You've Gone (session take) *
- Body and Soul (session takes) *
All tracks except 12, 14 and 17 newly mixed by Larry Walsh
Original mixes of Tracks 1-11 released as Qwest 25145, 1984
Track 12 released on Sinatra Sings Alan & Marilyn Bergman - Capitol/UMe B0030940-02, 2019
Track 14 released in U.S. on The Reprise Collection, Reprise 9 26340-2, 1990
Original mix of Track 15 released on Nothing But the Best - Reprise R2 438652, 2008
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While this may not have been my choice for a new-look reissue (I understand the reasoning as it is the 40th anniversary) I applaud the FS "powers that be" for actually releasing something other than just another compilation album of the same old tunes over and over ("the world we knew...")
It’ll be nice to finally get the (IMO) superior original vocal on “Mack The Knife” available digitally. Leaving that version off the Suitcase box set was a terrible oversight.
I fully agree and I made this comment many times when the box set came out. I bought the original Vinyl album with the 1984 recording but the much later CD had the 1986 vocal overdub which I thought was disappointing. There was also a Video of the album sessions called The Best Of Everything which included the 1984 original.
Was going to buy this originally i ordered on Amazon but when i heard some of the remixes on you tube i decided to cancel the order on "It's All Right With Me" the backing is now too noisy it's too loud in the mix.
1000% agreed! This is the same terrible mix they have been selling us for decades with his remixes. Isolate the vocal track and make it as dry as a bone. Then add more volume to it and add it back over the orchestral track. Just awful sounding. I gave up on these trash re-releases years ago!!!!
1000% agreed! This is the same terrible mix they have been selling us for decades with his remixes. Isolate the vocal track and make it as dry as a bone. Then add more volume to it and add it back over the orchestral track. Just awful sounding. I gave up on these trash re-releases years ago!!!!
I remember reading once telling Nelson Riddle at their first recording session for Capitol not to play a concerto behind his singing meaning to play quieter Frank himself would be horrified at this new mix.
Meant Sinatra told Nelson Riddle at their first recording session for Capitol not to play a concerto behind him bt to play lower so there is no way Sinatra himself would have approved this lousy mix.
Also on "After You're Gone" Lionel Hampton is mixed out can hardly hear him a travesty don't waste your money.
I listened to the 1984 version of "Mack The Knife" on you tube on Saturday night and found that "That Bad Man's Mackie" line was restored in the 2011 CD "The Best Of The Best" which had the 1984 version that line was mixed out so changed my mind and decided to buy the CD after all some of the remixes work better than others however still prefer the original mixes.
The vocal track on the CD is entirely different than the one on the LP. Mr. S felt he was a bit "unsure" recording it the 1st go-around (among other things he disliked about the hole album's production!). After using it in his act for some time and seeing it received excellent audience responses as his closer, he decided to re-record his vocal. Comparing the two it was indeed a wise decision for him to make.
Interesting view because whilst I love the line "You better lock your door and call the law" which also appears in many of the live recorded versions, I still felt Sinatra was in better voice for the 1984 recording.
I always preferred Bobby Darin's version anyway.
The remixes of Sinatra's albums have been horrible, the worst offenders being Ring A Ding Ding, Jobim and now this. Mr. Sinatra's voice has been left exposed here and the orchestrations have been ruined. Bernie Grundman's original mastering was perfection and most of all, approved by Sinatra.
It's Ironic this came out over a week before Quincy Jones died.
This not a particularly, well-sung, well-orchestrated final curtain for Sinatra. He simply cannot sings these songs well enough to add any power or joy. His voice is tepid, rigid and no longer malleable. He does not swing, particularly, on Mack The Knife...The orchestra is swarming and at time, competing with his voice and his voice gets buried within the mix. It is about making money not about talent. I love Sinatra and have his Reprise Collection; his Platinum Collection and The Best Is Yet To Come. Buy the aforementioned, don't buy LA is my Lady. Listen to its selections on You tube and you understand my review.