"Duets" is an album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1993. Recorded near the end of Sinatra's career, it consists of duets between Sinatra and other guest star singers from various genres; Sinatra personally chose the performers. It was advertised as “The Recording Event of The Decade.” As a marketing concept, Frank Sinatra's comeback album "Duets" was a complete success. A collection of Sinatra standards produced by Phil Ramone, the record wasn't a duets album in the conventional sense Sinatra never recorded in the studio with his partners. Instead, the other singers recorded their tracks separately, sometimes in different studios, and the two tracks were pasted together to create the illusion of a duet. In the case of several duet partners, including Bono and Barbara Streisand, this means they rely on camp as a way of making their performances interesting. Sinatra, meanwhile, is oblivious to all of the vocal grandstanding, simply because he recorded his tracks well in advance of their contributions. The result is a mess. Not only do the vocalists never mesh, but the orchestrations are ham-fisted and overblown, relying more on bombast than showmanship. Furthermore, Sinatra's performance is uneven; occasionally his voice is remarkable, but just as often it is thin and worn. Nevertheless, "Duets" was a gigantic hit, selling over two million copies and becoming Sinatra's single most commercially successful record, though it's easily the worst he released during his lengthy career. The album was promoted as a piece of nostalgia, primarily to baby boomers but also to Generation X as a piece of kitsch. Both approaches ignore the emotional core of Sinatra's music, which is evident on only one track "One for My Baby," which was essentially a solo performance introduced by an instrumental from saxophonist Kenny G. Perhaps if "Duets" remained true to the essence of Sinatra's music, it would have been more effective, but as it stands, the album is only admirable as a piece of product, not a piece of music.
01. "The Lady Is a Tramp" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) (with Luther Vandross) – 3:24
02. "What Now My Love" (Gilbert Becaud, Carl Sigman, Pierre Leroyer) (with Aretha Franklin) – 3:15
03. "I've Got a Crush on You" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) (with Barbra Streisand) – 3:23
04. "Summer Wind" (Heinz Meier, Hans Bradtke, Johnny Mercer) (with Julio Iglesias) – 2:32
05. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Mercer) (with Gloria Estefan) – 4:04
06. "New York , New York
07. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin) (with Natalie Cole) – 3:11
08. "You Make Me Feel So Young" (Mack Gordon, Josef Myrow) (with Charles Aznavour) – 3:05
09. "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry"/"In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)/(Bob Hilliard, David Mann) (with Carly Simon) – 3:57
10. "I've Got the World on a String" (Arlen, Ted Koehler) (with Liza Minnelli) – 2:18
11. "Witchcraft" (Carolyn Leigh, Cy Coleman) (with Anita Baker) – 3:22
12. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Cole Porter) (with Bono) – 3:32
13. "All the Way"/"One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" (Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen)/(Arlen, Mercer) (with Kenny G) – 6:03
Released: November 2, 1993
Genre: Vocal jazz, Traditional pop
Length: 45:44
Label: Capitol
Producer: Phil Ramone, Hank Cattaneo
Personnel
Frank Sinatra
Barbra Streisand
Aretha Franklin
Anita Baker
Natalie Cole
Carly Simon
Luther Vandross
Julio Iglesias
Gloria Estefan
Tony Bennett
Charles Aznavour
Liza Minnelli
Bono
Kenny G
