very very nice compilation of good music
It has so many songs, great songs. But.. the most popular one "NY NY" it's not in there. :( too bad!

A Sinatra Treasure
Some years ago I purchased "Frank Sinatra: The Capital Years." "Frank Sinatra: A Voice in Time (1939-1952)" is the perfect companion to The Capital Years. Covering his recordings on the Bluebird and Colombia labels, the listener hears a Sinatra quite different from the swinging Sinatra of the 50's. This is the balladeer par excellence. Many recordings include the arrangements of Alex Stordahl which fit in so well with Sinatra's smooth delivery.
The Box Set is comprised of 4 discs entitled "The Big Band Years (1939-1942)," "Teen Idol (1943-1952)," "The Great American Songbook (1943-1947)" and "The Sound of Things to Come (1949-1952). Several of his recordings from from the 1940s feature his backup group, the Pied Pipers with Jo Stafford - a nice extra. The set also includes a book loaded with pictures and interesting tidbits on Sinatra's career and individual recordings included in the collection. For Sinatra fans, this is a must purchase.

What the Fuss Was All About
I am a huge Sinatra fan. I have dozens of his CDs and LPs. I have read a number of books about him. To me, he is the greatest American male singer. (Ella Fitzgerald is the greatest American female singer.) I purposely overlooked his early career. To me, his career was his recordings on Capitol and Reprise. I had no interest in his early stuff. Big mistake, and this set of recordings on Columbia proves it. From the first disc, when he is the "boy singer" with the band, it is apparent that he was a force. That man could sing his rear end off! He shifted the attention from the band to himself. The rest of the CDs trace his career from band singer to "rock star" to his ascension to "Chairman of the Board".

The recording quality is excellent. I found out about this set via a review in an audiophile magazine where sound quality is as important as content.

If you want to hear a "portrait of an artist as young man", buy this.

From an Old Blue Eyes fan...
The book and pictures brought back a lot of memories as I was one of those"bobby soxers" that cut school to go see him in San Francisco. I have listen to to CD's non stop since receiving them..

COLUMBIA'S STUPIDITY MORE OBVIOUS THAN EVER!
Just having listened to the samples proves to me more than ever that towards the end of his Columbia years, Frank was already the more mature singer he would be at Capital. It's easy to ask 'How could Mitch Miller have been so dumb?' More to the point, how could the bosses at Columbia have been so dumb when they fired Manny Sachs his predecessor and hired Miller away from Mercury? It was because he had such success with Frankie Laine. It was a change in popular taste which had something to do with WWII and a loss of innocence, a sense of dislocation, whatever. Miller's trend-catching gimmicks worked for a while. But if Frank had been allowed to stay at Columbia and record whatever he wanted no matter how it sold, he likely would have come upon the idea of concept concert albums since Columbia pioneered the LP and Sinatra was getting strong reviews for his nightclub act. The question then arises, would he have had the opportunity to work with Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Gordon Jenkins who all worked at Capital?