Little more than a decade ago, if you wanted to purchase a live Frank Sinatra album you had few choices. The first of these is, of course, the venerable Sinatra at The Sands, which needs no introduction. The second was The Main Event, an abridged version of Sinatra’s triumphant return to public performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1974. And that was it. Surprisingly, despite his having toured steadily and prolifically for nearly 5 decades, the sum total of Sinatra’s recorded live output was two albums.

In the early 1990’s things began to change. Since then there have been numerous releases of previously unknown recordings Sinatra made at various venues around the world, including Australia, New Jersey, Seattle, and Paris among others. But the irony with all those releases, good (and sometimes great) though they might have been, was that they showcased Sinatra performing just about everywhere but the one place with which he has become most closely associated and where he achieved some of his greatest success: Las Vegas.

More than any other performer, Frank Sinatra is synonymous with Las Vegas. This was Sinatra’s kind of town - Chicago notwithstanding - and Las Vegas grew to need Frank Sinatra just as much as Frank Sinatra needed Las Vegas. It was a match made in heaven: a town where you could do anything and a man who enjoyed doing it all.

The fruit of this symbiotic relationship is evident in this new release. Sinatra “Vegas” is an extraordinary multi-disc sampling of Sinatra’s nearly four decade long flirtation with the city of Las Vegas, where he commanded the stage and made legend of places that might otherwise have simply faded into history. The Desert Inn, The Golden Nugget, The Sands Hotel Copa Room, and The Circus Maximus at Caesar’s Palace were all, at various times, host to Sinatra’s performances and it is the latter three that are represented in these recordings.

This set contains five discs, including four CDs and one DVD video, and every last tune is previously unreleased. Each CD is culled from a particular engagement and retains the original song lineup, monologues, and other stage banter as it was originally presented. As such, these are not complete, original shows, but rather a compilation of the best performances from each of the chosen engagements. This is hardly something new as the original Sinatra at The Sands was also edited in this way, though you’d scarcely know it. Throughout all five discs the fidelity is excellent.

Disc one captures Sinatra at The Sands Hotel Copa Room in November of 1961. Having recently helped elect a President, completed a decade of his best work at Capitol, and founded his own record company (Reprise), Sinatra was clearly feeling his oats as this recording demonstrates quite memorably. He’s loose, humorous, in good voice, and generally having the time of his life. This first disc might be the most enjoyable of the bunch. While some of these performances have circulated ‘under the table’ over the years, there are more than a few surprises in store even for the most maniacal fan. There’s a humorous Moonlight in Vermont, a ballad rendition of Just One of Those Things, a marvelous up-tempo The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else, and several other tunes not often performed by Sinatra later in his career.

The second disc is an interesting contrast to a perennial favorite, Sinatra at The Sands, recorded in January/February of 1966. It perfectly duplicates the original set with alternate performances. What is most striking is the lack of William Conrad’s famous baritone introduction of Sinatra, which we learn from this set’s liner notes was dubbed in after-the-fact. This disc should be entirely familiar to anyone owning the original recording; it’s as if you simply saw the same show on a different night. But wouldn’t that have been something?

Fast forwarding to 1982, disc three is Sinatra performing at Caesar’s Palace in March of that year. This show is the shortest of the five presented and clocks in at just under 49 minutes. While Sinatra’s latter-day performances were often less adventurous in terms of repertoire, he at times try something new, as this set proves with jazz quintet renditions of I Can’t Get Started and Night and Day. Two less frequently performed tunes included here is Hey Look No Crying and These Foolish Things. The only flaw I can find on this disc is Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s rendition of their popular Something Stupid, which is off-key and somewhat goofy. While some might find it touching, personally it struck me as self-indulgent and it contributes nothing to the overall set.

The fourth disc was recorded in April of 1987 at The Golden Nugget Casino. During the late 1980s, Sinatra began to have health problems and this took a toll on his performances, with teleprompters making their first appearance at his shows. But, still, he was Sinatra and Sinatra on a bad day is worth two of many a top performer, as he easily demonstrates in the way in which he carries this performance. In this latter period, Sinatra’s age and vocal decline burnished his ballads in a way that makes them all the more touching than some of his renditions from decades earlier when his voice was in top form. Examples from this set include I Get Along Without You Very Well, Angel Eyes and The Gal That Got Away/It Never Entered My Mind. Not surprisingly, this disc is the weakest of the five included, but still quite enjoyable.

Roll back the clock 9 years to May of 1978 at Caesar’s Palace and you will hear and see a very different Sinatra on this set’s only DVD. Having previously watched this performance on a very poor quality VHS tape, I’m delighted to say it looks fabulous and sounds even better. Sinatra is at the top of his game in front of an audience of liquor salesmen in a performance that was originally taped for television but never aired. The most unique aspect of this DVD are the shots of Sinatra both before and after the show, in his dressing room and greeting celebrities and fans. It features a striking rendition of Maybe This Time as well as a lovely Send in The Clowns. You’re going to want to watch this show over and over, I guarantee it.

The packaging of this set is superb. It comes in a keepsake box, with a thick book of liner notes, remembrances, photos, and samples of memorabilia from the engagements. A nice touch are two mini poster-sized reproductions of flyers from Sinatra’s Sands Hotel shows, each of which are suitable for framing. (I’ve previously posted about these. Here and here.
Sinatra in Las Vegas has become a legend and now, with thanks to this set, you can actually hear what all the fuss was about. This is easily the most significant Sinatra release since 1995’s Complete Reprise Recordings and fans new and old alike are going to find something to crow about.

Highly recommended.

Sinatra: Vegas (Box Set, 4CD/1DVD)