Frank Sinatra - Sinatra Rarities: The Columbia Years (1980)

It's true that, as a representative disc of Frank Sinatra's rarest recordings, this 16-song CD doesn't do too much more than scratch the surface -- after all, Sinatra cut many dozens of sides for Columbia Records between 1943 and 1952 that never even made it to vinyl, and only appeared on 78-rpm discs. Still, the selection, carried out by Jonathan Schwartz, Joe McEwen, and James Isaacs, gives listeners a huge amount of bang for their buck, and the very existence of this CD represented a marked change for Columbia, which had heretofore neglected Sinatra's catalog beyond the core hits. This CD was something of an outgrowth of the 1986 six-LP/four-CD compilation entitled The Voice, and represented a conscious effort by the label to move beyond familiar territory. It's a sign of just what treasures were locked up in those vaults that everything on this CD was worthwhile as music, and not simply justified by its obscurity. The ravishing "Why Shouldn't I?" opens the CD on an incredibly strong note, showing off the most delicate and deceptively powerful aspect of Sinatra's intonation -- from there the collections jumps to the jaunty, swing-style "Two Hearts Are Better Than One," and the basic pattern of the collection juxtaposes ballads and rhythm numbers, all to great effect. His marvelous rich tones on "The Girl That I Marry" from Oklahoma! are followed by the bouncy "Could 'Ja?," and in short order "the Voice" washes over the listener amid string-drenched accompaniment on Victor Young and Ned Washington's "Stella by Starlight." The emphasis, as with the general direction of Sinatra's career at Columbia, is on lyricism, which this CD fairly oozes, with a "haunt count" that's often off the scale. Yet it ends in a completely different direction, on one of his most unexpected recordings, "Bim Bam Baby," a novelty tune that shows the growing influence of R&B as early as 1952. It's not what one buys a Sinatra CD for, especially from his Columbia years, but it makes this compilation downright eye-opening in terms of how it presents his voice in all of its range. The sound is excellent throughout, and this is a great complement to The Voice four-CD box -- indeed, even though the contents of this CD are fully contained on the subsequently released The Columbia Years (1943-1952): The Complete Recordings 12-CD set, the songs are unusual enough as a selection that it's still one to get, and a keeper.