Frank Sinatra: Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra

Released in 1950 as a 10-inch EP, Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra marked another turning point in a career that began with dance orchestras before turning to crooning ballads, only to—with this augmented 12-inch LP release—blossom into the swinging, finger-snapping, soon-to-be rat-packing Sinatra etched in memory. Side One gathers the original eight tunes—“Lover,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “My Blue Heaven,” “You Do Something To Me,” “When You’re Smiling,” etc.—while the flip side features bonus and alternate takes as well as some fun studio interplay. Before booze, smoke, and age roughed up his voice, here is Sinatra at his youthful finest. And my do he and his band deliver the goods. The sound lacks both frequency and dynamic extremes—as one would expect given the vintage here—but it hardly matters when the heart of the action, Sinatra’s voice, is presented with such immediacy and refreshing purity. Being recorded in mono, which as we know does not present stereo-like imaging, Sinatra stands front and center, with the orchestra clearly arrayed behind him with a suggestion of depth. Impex’s stellar reissue (the cover alone is worth the admission price) is a must-have for Sinatra lovers.