The Columbia Years 1943–1952: The V-Discs

The Columbia Years 1943–1952: The V-Discs is a 1994 compilation album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. It was released as a "long box" box set in 1994 and re-released in a jewel box size in 1998.

The Columbia Years 1943–1952: The V-Discs
Compilation album by
Released1994 (box)
June 16, 1998 (jewel)
Recorded1943–1945
GenreTraditional pop
Length145:12
LabelColumbia
Frank Sinatra chronology
Duets
(1993)
The Columbia Years 1943–1952: The V-Discs
(1994)
Sinatra Saga
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

The two-CD set contains recordings from V-Discs that were sent to troops during World War II. The V-Discs were the only recordings that the musician's union allowed Sinatra to record during the session musicians strike between 1942 and 1944 and he took full advantage, knowing that although the records would not be sold, it would keep him in the public ear, and allow him to perfect his technique.

Although a heavy set, it does not contain every V-disc Sinatra recorded. A more complete set would not become available until 2003 with the release of The Real Complete Columbia Years V-Discs.

Track listing

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Disc One

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Only Have Eyes for You"Harry Warren, Al Dubin3:43
2."Kiss Me Again"Victor Herbert, Henry Blossom2:39
3."(There'll Be A) Hot Time in the Town of Berlin"Joe Bushkin, John DeVries2:26
4."The Music Stopped"Jimmy McHugh, Harold Adamson2:56
5."I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night"McHugh, Adamson2:58
6."The Way You Look Tonight"Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields2:38
7."I'll Be Around"Alec Wilder1:38
8."You've Got a Hold On Me"Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner2:30
9."A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening"McHugh, Adamson3:07
10."(I Got a Woman Crazy For Me) She's Funny That Way"Neil Moret, Richard A. Whiting2:11
11."Speak Low"Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash2:18
12."Close to You"Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston, Carl Lampl3:11
13."My Shining Hour"Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer2:23
14."Long Ago and Far Away"Jerome Kern, Ira Gershwin2:43
15."Some Other Time"Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn2:34
16."Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are"Styne, Cahn2:00
17."Put Your Dreams Away (For Another Day)"Ruth Lowe, Paul Mann, Stephen Weiss1:27
18."And Then You Kissed Me"Styne, Cahn3:03
19."All the Things You Are"Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II2:50
20."All of Me"Gerald Marks, Seymour Simons1:39
21."Nancy (With the Laughing Face)"Jimmy Van Heusen, Phil Silvers3:37
22."Mighty Lak' a Rose"Ethelbert Nevin, Frank Lebby Stanton3:42
23."Falling in Love with Love"Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart2:37
24."Cradle Song (Brahms' Lullaby)"Johannes Brahms2:45
25."I'll Follow My Secret Heart"Noël Coward2:36
26."There's No You"Hal Hopper, Tom Adair2:41
27."Someone to Watch Over Me"George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin2:08
Total length:71:00

Disc Two

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No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Let Me Love You Tonight"Mitchell Parish, Rene Touzet2:40
2."Just Close Your Eyes"Jack Elliott, Sam Mineo, Lewis Rodgers1:36
3."If You Are But a Dream" (previously unreleased)Moe Jaffe, Jack Fulton, Nat Bonx3:43
4."Strange Music" (previously unreleased)Edvard Grieg, adapted by Robert Wright, George Forrest3:25
5."Cradle Song (Brahms' Lullaby)" (previously unreleased)Brahms2:35
6."Dick Haymes, Dick Todd and Como" (previously unreleased)Van Heusen, Johnny Burke, Cahn2:38
7."None But the Lonely Heart"Tchaikovsky, Bill Westbrook3:26
8."Ol' Man River"Kern, Hammerstein4:10
9."Homesick, That's All"Gordon Jenkins3:12
10."The Night is Young and You're So Beautiful"Dana Suesse, Irving Kahal, Billy Rose2:09
11."Aren't You Glad You're You"Van Heusen, Burke2:05
12."You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me"Sammy Fain, Kahal, Pierre Norman Connor1:35
13."I'll Never Smile Again"Ruth Lowe3:24
14."Without a Song"Vincent Youmans, Rose, Edward Eliscu2:19
15."Was the Last Time I Saw You (The Last Time)" (previously unreleased)Edna Osser, Marjorie Goetschius3:00
16."Don't Forget Tonight, Tomorrow" (previously unreleased)Leo "Ukie" Sherin, Jay Milton2:27
17."Oh! What it Seemed to Be"Bennie Benjamin, George David Weiss, Frank Carle2:55
18."Over the Rainbow"Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg3:15
19."Where is My Bess"G. Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, I. Gershwin3:06
20."My Romance"Kern, Hammerstein3:13
21."The Song is You"Rodgers, Hart3:34
22."I Fall in Love With You Ev'ry Day"Sam H. Stept1:45
23."They Say It's Wonderful"Irving Berlin2:36
24."You Are Too Beautiful"Rodgers, Hart2:52
25."Come Rain or Come Shine"Arlen, Mercer2:26
26."Stormy Weather"Arlen, Ted Koehler4:06
Total length:74:12

Personnel

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  • Frank Sinatra – Vocals, all tracks
  • The Bobby Tucker Singers – vocals, Disc 1 tracks 1, 6, & 12
  • Raymond Paige and his orchestra – music, Disc 2 tracks 3-6
  • The Pied Pipers (June Hutton, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Clark Yocum) – vocals, Disc 2 tracks 13 & 16
  • Tommy Dorseytrombone, "I'll Never Smile Again"
  • Dinah Shore – vocal duet, Disc 2 tracks 10 & 20
  • Axel Stordahl
    • Disc 1: arranger, all tracks except tracks 5 & 7; conductor, all tracks
    • Disc 2: arranger & conductor, tracks 1, 2, 7-12, 14-26
  • Alec Wilder – arranger, Disc 1 tracks 5 & 7

References

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  • Liner Notes, The V-Discs: The Columbia Years 1943-1952, Columbia Records, 1994.