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: 10-11 Capitol Records A&R chief Don Rubin was in attendance at the recording session. Nine songs were recorded in five hours, beginning with " Come Fly with Me". Cattaneo further suggested to Ramone and Schmitt that they record with the wireless microphones that Frank was accustomed to using in live performances. : 7 It was suggested that since Cattaneo was Frank's production manager and close friend, that he stay near Frank to assist in the sequence of songs and detail to Frank when the takes were acceptable and a retake was not required. : 7 Ramone spoke to Hank Cattaneo, his co-producer, about his concern.
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: 7 Ramone and Capitol were worried the record would never be completed. : 9 At this point, about $350,000 had been spent to put the project together. : 8 However, Sinatra said his voice was not in optimal condition. : 4, 7-8 On the second day, Hank Cattaneo (Co-Producer), suggested to Ramone, Schmitt and Pat Williams, that they create a small elevated stage set-up for Sinatra to stand on, and to place Bill Miller and his piano adjacent to Frank within the open-air stage/booth to make the recording session feel more like a live performance. : 1-2 Sinatra showed up for the first two days of intended tracking sessions but begged off laying down any vocals, the first day because he did not like being isolated in a vocal booth as intended by recording engineer Al Schmitt. An orchestra was rehearsed at Capitol Studio A in Los Angeles, where Sinatra had recorded many times, the orchestra using classic Nelson Riddle arrangements. The project was pushed forward by Charles Koppelman, the CEO of EMI Records Group North America. : 6 Sinatra specified that the duet partners must not be in the studio when he was singing his part. : 6 Other artists, younger than Sinatra, were put on the list of potential partners. : 6įor duet partners, Sinatra suggested Ella Fitzgerald but she was not well enough to participate. : 5 Ramone felt that Sinatra's classic songs would be brought to new, younger listeners by way of the Duets project. : 5 Phil Ramone, Sinatra's manager Eliot Weisman and the Capitol executive producer Don Rubin discussed the details at Sinatra's house in Palm Springs, California. Sinatra was approached in 1992 with the idea of making an album of duets. Both albums were packaged together in a "90th Birthday Limited Collector's Edition" released in 2005 North American pressings add an unreleased duet recording of "My Way" with Willie Nelson, while international pressings have him singing with Luciano Pavarotti. Its sequel, Duets II, was released the following year. The cover art displays a specially commissioned painting of Frank Sinatra by LeRoy Neiman. The guest singers had been directed to sing along to his pre-recorded vocal parts, and to make their performances complement his. The album received mixed critical notices, with complaints stemming from Sinatra's specified style of isolated performance wherein he was never joined by his duet partners in the studio, an artificial method of record production which lacked the elements of personal collaboration and spontaneity. It is the only Sinatra album to date to achieve triple platinum certification. 5 in the UK, and selling over 3 million copies in the US. 2 on the Billboard albums chart, reaching No. The album was a commercial success, debuting at No. Recorded near the end of Sinatra's career, it consists of electronically assembled duets between Sinatra and younger singers from various genres. Duets is an album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1993.