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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This 1964 release was the second collaboration between Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, and features a much higher percentage of swing-oriented arrangements (courtesy of Quincy Jones) than the previous Sinatra-Basie. This time around, the Count Basie Orchestra gives the swinging treatment to such contemporary numbers as "More, I Can't Stop Loving You", "Wives and Lovers", and "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)", and Sinatra responds with plenty of exuberance and gusto. It's got a good beat, and you can dance to it; out of all the tracks, only "Hello, Dolly!" fails to stand the test of time (or repeated listenings). --Dan Epstein
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Two giants meet, and the result is pretty darn good. "Hello, Dolly!" isn't as bad as you'd think, but there are numerous cuts that are better. "I Wish You Love", delivered with warmth and energy, is probably my favorite, closely followed by "The Good Life", which features a low-key but very impressive vocal. "I Can't Stop Loving You" works, I guess, but it's a song most people will associate with other artists. "Wives and Lovers" is performed with a bit of irony, which helps offset its sixties sentiments, and you can't help but tap your feet to "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)", one the best good-time songs ever! In all, this is a solid album. It loses a star, though, because of its very short running time: not even twenty-eight minutes. A few alternate takes to beef up the set would have been greatly appreciated.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It Might as Well be Swing is a charming album that has been masterfully crafted and one of my personal favourites. However I must agree with the notion that the album cover is atrocious! What were they thinking?
The song selection is simply sublime and it happens to include my favourite song of all time. "More" is in my opinion one of simplest, yet most beautiful songs, lyrically, ever written and for it to get the Sinatra and Basie treatment pleases me greatly. We also see signature songs and definitive versions of "Fly Me To The Moon" and "The Best is Yet To Come" arise in this album. A rendition of Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers" is also a welcome treat, the tempo has been changed to 4/4 swing time however the version for me is superior to Jack's original recording.
For me this album is different from the first Sinatra and Basie album, it is still them however it produces a different feel, musically, and I shall explain why. In the first album we saw very brash, upbeat arrangements and singing full of attitude and life. In this album the arrangements are still as upbeat, however seem slightly more rounded and subtle; we also see slightly less of the long instrumentals in the mid sections of songs that we saw on the first album. I am pleased to announce that the listener gets a treat of Basie playing piano solo on a number of tracks which is a marvellous listen albeit only for few seconds.
For me the feel of this album is very sexy and it is hard to narrow down whether this is to do with the recording or a slightly more rounded annunciation of words in Sinatra's diction, but the effect is excellent and very similar to that of "Sinatra and Swingin` Brass" for a sheer sexy and smooth sound. Sinatra is in magnificent voice, arguably for me the best of his life and without question the best of his reprise career (it could be argued that he sounded better on Sinatra and Strings however his vocals are impressive on this album).
Overall this album makes an equal, if not better sequel and offers all that we expect of Sinatra and Basie, however in a sexier and more raunchy package. The music is full of life and I find myself being warningly drawn the lyrics in the songs, they certainly grew on me as I listened more.
The only critique I can obviously see is the short running time. In the first album this running time was increased due to the long middle instrumentals, however with their demise on this album so goes the running time.
The song selection is simply sublime and it happens to include my favourite song of all time. "More" is in my opinion one of simplest, yet most beautiful songs, lyrically, ever written and for it to get the Sinatra and Basie treatment pleases me greatly. We also see signature songs and definitive versions of "Fly Me To The Moon" and "The Best is Yet To Come" arise in this album. A rendition of Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers" is also a welcome treat, the tempo has been changed to 4/4 swing time however the version for me is superior to Jack's original recording.
For me this album is different from the first Sinatra and Basie album, it is still them however it produces a different feel, musically, and I shall explain why. In the first album we saw very brash, upbeat arrangements and singing full of attitude and life. In this album the arrangements are still as upbeat, however seem slightly more rounded and subtle; we also see slightly less of the long instrumentals in the mid sections of songs that we saw on the first album. I am pleased to announce that the listener gets a treat of Basie playing piano solo on a number of tracks which is a marvellous listen albeit only for few seconds.
For me the feel of this album is very sexy and it is hard to narrow down whether this is to do with the recording or a slightly more rounded annunciation of words in Sinatra's diction, but the effect is excellent and very similar to that of "Sinatra and Swingin` Brass" for a sheer sexy and smooth sound. Sinatra is in magnificent voice, arguably for me the best of his life and without question the best of his reprise career (it could be argued that he sounded better on Sinatra and Strings however his vocals are impressive on this album).
Overall this album makes an equal, if not better sequel and offers all that we expect of Sinatra and Basie, however in a sexier and more raunchy package. The music is full of life and I find myself being warningly drawn the lyrics in the songs, they certainly grew on me as I listened more.
The only critique I can obviously see is the short running time. In the first album this running time was increased due to the long middle instrumentals, however with their demise on this album so goes the running time.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The thing that lets this CD down when compared to other Sinatra releases is that the mastering is not up to the normal high standard. The problem is Frank sounds a bit too distant, not a the forefront like he is on all his other records. Still, that said this is still one hell of a record and that niggle aside this is nearly as good as most of Frank's other records. One naff cover though!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It might as well be swing
I bought this for my elderly mother, not being a massive Sinatra fan myself. This was of interest to me as he recorded it with the Basie band augmented with strings, which was... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Biscuitbum
Much better !
It might as well be swing was Sinatra's 2nd album with Count Basie. The first album from the previous year was somewhat lacking in decent material with also many re-do's of earlier... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Russell C. Witheyman
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