FRANK SINATRA – DUETS (Vinyl 2LP)

Frank Sinatra Duets: 20th Anniversary on 180g 2LP

1993 Album that Started the Trend of ‘Superstar’ Duets Together With Its Follow-Up Duets II

What was referred to as “The Recording Event of the Decade,” Frank Sinatra’s groundbreaking and highly successful album Duets was originally released in November 1993, bringing together an array of global superstars, including Charles Aznavour, Anita Baker, Tony Bennett, Bono, Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G, Julio Iglesias, Liza Minnelli, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, and Luther Vandross for an album of standards that included many songs instantly associated with the Chairman of the Board.

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the pioneering, multi-platinum selling album, Capitol/UMe presents Frank Sinatra  Duets – Twentieth Anniversary, which brings the original Duets album and the follow-up Duets II, together in one gatefold double 180g vinyl set for the first time.

Sinatra recorded his tracks “live” with a 54-piece orchestra at the Capitol studios, the way he originally recorded his classic Capitol albums. In a pioneering move for the recording industry, at various locations using digital technology, Sinatra’s ‘duet’ partners recorded their own vocal tracks to his recordings, allowing them to virtually ‘duet’ with one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Duets made history, not only for its cutting edge recording techniques, and having a renowned contemporary artist, LeRoy Neiman, specially commissioned for album artwork, but for being one of the most successful selling albums of the year, with the album shipping more than 1.3 million units and putting the 77-year-old Sinatra at the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts, between Pearl Jam’s Vs. and Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell II.

The highly successful follow-up, Duets II, was released the following year and included Jimmy Buffett, Neil Diamond, Lena Horne, Chrissie Hynde, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Patti LaBelle, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Luis Miguel, Lorrie Morgan, Willie Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Jon Secada, Frank Sinatra Jr., Stevie Wonder & Gladys Knight. Once again, Sinatra enjoyed a multiplatinum Top 10 record on the charts with Duets II at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart.

LP1 – Duets

1.  The Lady Is A Tramp with Luther Vandross

2.  What Now My Love with Aretha Franklin

3.  I’ve Got A Crush On You with Barbra Streisand

4.  Summer Wind with Julio Iglesias

5.  Come Rain Or Come Shine with Gloria Estefan

6.  New York, New York with Tony Bennett

7.  They Can’t Take That Away From Me with Natalie Cole

8.  You Make Me Feel So Young with Charles Aznavour

9.  Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry / In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning with Carly Simon

10. I’ve Got The World On A String with Liza Minnelli

11. Witchcraft with Anita Baker

12. I’ve Got You Under My Skin with Bono

13. All The Way / One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) with Kenny G

LP2 – Duets II

1.  For Once In My Life with Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder

2.  Come Fly With Me with Luis Miguel

3.  Bewitched with Patti LaBelle

4.  The Best Is Yet To Come with Jon Secada

5.  Moonlight In Vermont with Linda Ronstadt

6.  Fly Me To The Moon with Antonio Carlos Jobim

7.  Luck Be A Lady with Chrissie Hynde

8.  A Foggy Day with Willie Nelson

9.  Where Or When with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme

10. Embraceable You with Lena Horne

11. Mack The Knife with Jimmy Buffett

12. How Do You Keep The Music Playing? / My Funny Valentine with Lorrie Morgan

13. My Kind Of Town with Frank Sinatra, Jr.

14. The House I Live In (That’s America To Me) with Neil Diamond