Frank Sinatra - Best of Duets (20th Anniversary) - Music & Performance - CD

Frank Sinatra's groundbreaking and highly successful album, DUETS, was originally released in 1993 and was referred to as "The Recording Event of the Decade." Certified 3x-platinum, DUETS brought 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 including many songs instantly associated with the "Chairman of the Board." DUETS made history for it's cutting-edge recording techniques, it's renowned stars and for being one of the top selling albums of 1993 putting the then 77-year-old Sinatra at the No. 2 spot on the Billboard charts between Pearl Jams VS. and Meatloaf's BAT OUT OF HELL II. The highly successful follow-up, DUETS II, was released the following year. DUETS II includes 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.., and Stevie Wonder & Gladys Knight. Once again, Sinatra celebrated a top ten record with Duets II charting at No. 9 on Billboards Top 200 Chart. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this groundbreaking, multi-platinum selling album, Capitol/UMe will release a newly-remastered SINATRA DUETS - TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY BEST OF DUETS, a 14-song, single-disc collection featuring key tracks from both DUETS and DUETS II as well as the bonus track "My Way" featuring Luciano Pavarotti.

Accompanying the 2013 Deluxe Edition reissue of Frank Sinatra's Duets is The Best of Duets, a 14-track compilation that rounds up highlights from that 1993 album and its 1994 sequel, adding his duet with Luciano Pavarotti on "My Way," a cut previously unreleased in the U.S. (but available on various international editions of the first Duets). As these two albums are cut from the same cloth -- they were assembled from the same long-distance sessions helmed by Phil Ramone -- they compile nicely, and this collection also benefits by emphasizing vocalists familiar with the Great American Songbook over pop/rock novelties. To be sure, such attention-grabbers as Bono and Chrissie Hynde are here (the latter providing one of the liveliest cuts), but this focuses on Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra, Jr, which does mean this music doesn't seem quite as desperate to please all demographics as it did on the original album. Nothing changes how the Duets project remains a not-entirely essential coda to Sinatra's career, but anybody wanting to sample this swan song would do as well listening to this compilation as they would listening to the actual albums. [A 20th Anniversary Edition was released in 2013.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Performer	Frank Sinatra
Music genre	Opera / Vocal
Media format	CD
Original release date	1993
Is collectible	Y
Number of tracks	14
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Series title	Duets
Awards won	3x-platinum
Track listing	Come Fly with Me with Luis Miguel, What Now My Love with Aretha Franklin, Come Rain or Come Shine with Gloria Estefan, For Once in My Life with Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder, I've Got a Crush on You with Barbra Streisand, The Lady Is a Tramp with Luther Vandross, Moonlight in Vermont with Linda Ronstadt, My Kind of Town with Frank Sinatra, JR, Embraceable You with Lena Horne, Luck Be a Lady with Chrissie Hynde, I've Got You Under My Skin with Bono, All the Way / One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) with Kenny G, New York, New York with Tony Bennett, My Way with Luciano Pavarotti (Bonus Track)
Record label	Capitol
Songwriter	Frank Sinatra
Track name	Come Fly with Me, What Now My Love, Come Rain or Come Shine, For Once in My Life, I've Got a Crush on You, The Lady Is a Tramp, Moonlight in Vermont, My Kind of Town, Embraceable You, Luck Be a Lady, I've Got You Under My Skin, All the Way/One for My Baby (And One More for the Road), New York, My Way
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N