first listen & view... [Sinatra: Vegas]

The new Sinatra: Vegas box set is the most essential Frank Sinatra release to emerge since the outstanding Sinatra in Hollywood collection of rare and unreleased soundtrack material that came out over four years ago... almost. More on that caveat later.

After enduring scores of unnecessary and pointless posthumous Frank Sinatra "best of" compilations, reissues, repackagings and "limited editions," Sinatra: Vegas finally gives both the casual fan and the die-hard collector something we actually want: four CDs and even a DVD of previously unreleased (officially, anyway) live material spanning the years 1961 to 1987, all recorded in -- you guessed it -- Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada.

Marketing concerns were surely behind this concept as much as artistic ones -- an equally compelling collection of unreleased live Sinatra recordings from international venues could easily be assembled also -- but Sinatra: Vegas sounds way cooler than Sinatra: Argentina.

For starters, the thing looks and feels great, packaged in a sturdy black longbox with shiny silver lettering. The discs are housed in classy yet functional digipacks, and the booklet is chock full o' photos and remembrances, if a little skimpy on details (yes, some of us want to know the exact dates of the recordings, not just the month and year.) You even get a couple reproductions of vintage promotional posters to hang in your locker... or something.

The first CD is comprised of material recorded at the dearly departed Sands Hotel and Casino in November 1961. Performances from this same engagement appeared on the Saloon Singer bootleg years ago, but in vastly inferior sound quality. The fidelity here is pristine, capturing Sinatra in the loose, swinging, confident prime of his early Reprise years, with plenty of Rat Pack-y goofing around as well. While there aren't a lot of surprises among the tune selections, the lovely ballad rendition of "Just One of Those Things" is a welcome rarity.

Disc Two is something that Sinatra-holics have been dying to hear for a long, long time: some of those 1966 recordings with the Count Basie Orchestra that WERE NOT used on the classic Reprise live album -- essentially giving us a new "all alternate takes" version of Sinatra at the Sands!

The goosebumps begin from the get-go with a brief warmup and vamp by the Basie band accompanied by the (undubbed) off-mic announcer, and then Frank appears, proclaiming: "The cowboy is here!" Overall, these performances are looser and more dangerous than the familiar at the Sands versions and a fascinating counterpart to the more polished master takes.

CD Three fast-forwards us to Caesar's Palace in 1982, capturing Old Blue Eyes in fine voice during his underappreciated post-"retirement" early-80s phase, accompanied by Vinnie Falcone and a stellar band. Jazz combo versions of "Night and Day" and "I Can't Get Started" are especially enjoyable, making you wish he'd explored this format more often.

As an added bonus, Dean Martin stops by for some foolishness, and daughter Nancy even takes the stage to join Frank for a duet performance of "Somethin' Stupid" -- and he murders the tune so completely it becomes almost listenable for a change.

The fourth CD presents The Man at The Golden Nugget in 1987 during the twilight of his performing career -- rough around the edges but still a mighty force to be reckoned with. This set is of similar vintage to the Capitol Sinatra Live From Las Vegas CD released last year, but features superior sound quality and a better set list. He has a lot of fun with "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "Mack the Knife," plumbs the depths of "I Get Along Without You Very Well" and digs into the brilliant ballad medley of "The Gal That Got Away / It Never Entered My Mind."

As far as I'm concerned, the DVD should be the Holy Grail of Sinatra: Vegas. It claims to be the fabled "complete unreleased" May 5, 1978 Caesar's Palace concert performed in front of an audience of liquor salesmen, celebrities, and a Catholic priest, as recorded by CBS but never broadcast in its entirety. Sinatra predicts that "this will be shown in 1982" during his introductory remarks... and he was only off by about 25 years.

Bootleg audio and video copies of this performance have been circulating among collectors for years, and it's notorious not only because of the high quality and wide variety of music performed but also for the jaw-droppingly outrageous, hilarious, and sometimes downright cringe-inducing monologues -- even by Frank's standards.

The video and sound quality are remarkable, especially considering the date and the source, and of course it's a revelation compared to the bootleg copies. The set list is a fascinating combination of tried and true Sinatra standards ("All of Me", "The Lady is a Tramp"), interesting new arrangements ("Baubles, Bangles, and Beads"), attempts to stay hip in the 1970s ("Didn't We", "Something"), the rather surreal (an audience singalong of "America the Beautiful"), and, perhaps best of all, a riveting piano/vocal performance of "Send in the Clowns."

Then there's the monologue leading up to that Sondheim weeper-turned-saloon song, as Sinatra holds court, describing how the song is a request from an unnamed man in the audience "holding up one of them torches." Suddenly, though, I sensed that something was missing here -- so I pulled out my old bootleg CD copy of this performance and sure enough -- the monologue has been edited! Sinatra's raunchy riff on Elizabeth Taylor ("Mrs. Warner") is now missing...
"Madronn' did she get fat! I mean she was so beautiful -- she was so beautiful. Somebody blew her up with a tire pump or somethin'. She's a great dame. She's marvelous. I once offered her $10,000 just to let me look at it. I wouldn't touch it, just let me look at it, that's all. She doesn't know -- excuse me, Father -- she doesn't know what I was talking about, and neither does he. Cause he ain't never seen it either. You better not have seen it! Otherwise I won't show up at Mass!"
The audience howls with laughter, as you can probably imagine, but it's MIA on this "complete" official edition DVD. [Note how a cocktail magically appears in Frank's hand after the edit at 00:49:27. Not even Mr. S can make a drink materialize that fast!]

Why is it okay for Sinatra to take potshots at Claudine Longet ("one of the great marksmen of all times"), but not Liz Taylor? And then, during the "introductions" monologue later on, there's yet another edit. While acknowledging the presence of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley in the audience, this ill-advised off the cuff remark has been removed...
"Even if he is colored, he's a Hell of a man. He knows that, we tease him all the time. I'm glad to see ya, Thomas. He's my fella."
Too politically incorrect, perhaps? Well, that's Sinatra: Vegas, folks. Deal with it. Of course, when he calls Paul Anka "that little Arab," it doesn't get edited out.

What happened here? Why not include the complete monologues -- unedited and uncensored? There's plenty of swearing, drug references, and other off-color humor elsewhere in the Sinatra: Vegas recordings. What was it about these particular comments that was deemed "over the line" and by whom? Did the Sinatra Family insist on the edits before approving this release in order to "protect" their father's image and "legacy?" I think we can all handle the unsanitized Sinatra: Vegas experience, warts and all, just as the original audiences experienced it.

Sure, the Live at Caesar's Palace DVD is a fantastic, compelling performance regardless. People who haven't heard the bootleg version won't notice the deletions, and it certainly seems like "the complete unreleased concert"... as promised.

So it's too bad that this otherwise outstanding collection is tainted by these perhaps minor but conspicuous revisionist tinkerings. I now have to wonder: What might have been purged from the monologues on the four CDs?

Despite this, Sinatra: Vegas is still a welcome, overdue, and highly recommended collection. Just hang on to your original bootleg of Caesar's Palace May 5, 1978 (or find yourself a copy) to hear the truly complete, unedited, unvarnished monologues in all of their pugnacious, swaggering glory -- "Sinatra: Vegas" as it should be.