Mitch - even though I've come to expect it, I still haven't ceased to be amazed by your organisational skills!
C
You made me notice that his entries were in alphabetical order. That's a well-ordered mind!
Sorry to disillusion you ... I simply accessed the recordings I own from one of my music databases (Windows Media Player) so they, of course, appeared alphabetically, albeit I pulled Sinatra's name out of the list of vocalists.
I'm glad we don't have to have a definitive version. This was the version that raised my awareness of the song (and Raksin generally) - years before I saw the movie.
Carly Simon - Laura (albeit poorly balanced live recording)
Spike Jones' version is pretty definitive. Sorry, but it really was the first version I heard as a child, and it still rattles around in my head at the mention of the name "Laura".
I knew someone would have to mention this one. One of my old college professors told me he once asked Raksin about this version and Raksin said he was disappointed that Jones didn't do more damage to it!
Matt Monro's 1966 album Here's to My Lady with Sid Feller (11 tracks) was released on CD here in the UK as a double-header with This Is The Life! ... also with Sid Feller / 1966 - see:
Matt Monro's 1966 album Here's to My Lady with Sid Feller (11 tracks) was released on CD here in the UK as a double-header with This Is The Life! ... also with Sid Feller / 1966 - see:
It's a true shame that Matt's Capitol recordings have never been re-issued properly. All the British stuff has been expertly remastered during the last few years. Unfortunately, the British part of the catalog is now with Warner - the US part with UMG. UMG seems to have no interest in new archival releases these days - all they seem to be interested in is re-packaging extant masters again and again
I'm listening to the version released on the disc below, and am assuming it's the same as what's being talked about. It's definitely in stereo not mono, with percussion and piano in the left channel. (other songs sound to be stereo as well.)
Great Gentlemen of Song - Spotlight on Matt Monro
Not available new except digitally, but plenty of cheap used and third-party CD copies on Amazon.
It's a true shame that Matt's Capitol recordings have never been re-issued properly.
And yet I know better than to go tearing around trying to find the stereo LP, because everything I ever do that to gets reissued in stereo about 12 minutes after I've encoded it.
Gordon Jenkins counted the introduction he arranged for this song as among the finest things he ever did, musically...
And truly fabulous it is, too ... On this superb album the song starts a run of four which could almost be the pinnacle of Sinatra's vocal works ... music, lyrics, arrangements, performances ...
In the seven years since I listed my recordings of this lovely melody, I've added no vocals but a few more instrumentals to my collection:
- Ray Anthony (1961) - Frank Chacksfield (1959) - Franck Pourcel (1961) - David Rose (1952) - Paul Weston (1959) - Itzhak Perlman / John Williams / Boston Pops (1998)
You can't have too many recordings of this masterpiece
