There are some fine moments on the album ("Don't Worry About Me," for example), and Sinatra's recognition of composers of songs and acknowledgement of the band members' contributions reveals his sensitivity to purely musical values. But for a better live, concert date, check out the sextet session, "Live in Paris," or the album made with Red Norvo in Australia. Or if you want to hear both Sinatra and Basie at their very best, pick up their first studio session on Reprise, "Sinatra and Basie."

If you remain unconvinced, try to obtain the original album instead of this remastered edition, which includes the previously unreleased "Luck Be a Lady." For some reason, he's struggling with his phrasing and vowel sounds on a song that he normally owns. This version should have been destroyed.


SINATRA CONCERT MASTERPIECE~BRAVO FRANK!!!   September 15, 2004
Bradly Briggs (TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful

Sinatra singing superb in Concert at The Sands with Count Basie And THE Orchestra arranged and conducted by no less than Quincy Jones and it really doesn't get better than this! Opening with a hot sounding Basie band, Frank smoothly launches into a superb "Come Fly With Me", then an engaging and fun "I've Got A Crush On You" and onto a killer version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" that finds Frank at his sophisicated and soulful best!!! Torch time is sublime with a richly sung "The Shadow Of Your Smile" then to a riveting "Street Of Dreams" that shows why Sinatra is King!! Four A.M. in a saloon and the master serves a classic "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) and the audience goes crazy for this masterpiece!!! Sinatra is incredible throughout this legendary event and swings "Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) like it was never swung before and you can feel the excitement from the audience and the great time they were having. Mr. Sinatra's fun monologues were thankfully left in and what special moments these are that never grow tired taking us back to another time and space in a very special way...Frank does a routine that is fun and funny about his friends Dean and Sammy that are priceless...Frank had just turned 50 and gives a personal view that is revealing and highly entertaining flowing into the definitive version of "You Make Me Feel So Young" that is so brilliantly sung showing the master at his absolute peak in magnificent voice!!! Basie does a gorgeous "All Of Me" then Frank returns with a hauntingly brilliant "The September Of My Years" that is amazing. A hot cooker "Get Me To The Church On Time" is another amazing vocal as is the stunning "It Was A Very Good Year". Frank Sinatra is so great in this concert making this event the male equilivant of "Judy At Carniege Hall" which is the other legendary concert album from the great musical sixties! "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" is another masterpiece in a remarkable collection which finds Frank so loose and soulful and it is clear that the audience is having a great time and so will you! Basie does a mesmerizing "Makin' Whoopee!" then Sinatra returns and nails classics such as the swinging "Where Or When", a haunting "Angel Eyes", and a soulfully sung "My Kind Of Town" which all show the master at his captivating best! This musical journey is the greatest concert performance released in Frank Sinatra's long and brilliant career..BRAVO Frank and we miss you!!! This masterpiece is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys vocal artistry at its peak in a live concert setting...


Frank was strictly a studio performer...   February 13, 2003
Michael D. Kelley (Leesburg, Florida)
18 out of 23 found this review helpful

Disclaimers: I *may* be one of the biggest Sinatra fans around. I have not only everything he ever recorded, but (in some cases) several copies of it, released on different media in different times. I truly believe he is the greatest singer who ever lived.

Frank was a perfectionist in the studio, often doing 10 or more takes of a song even after looping and multitrack recordings made them unnecessary. His dedication in the studio make his studio recordings among the most amazing audio disks you can own.

But this album is only for die hard Sinatra fans, or for those stuck in some kind of 60's timewarp. Frank has sung all of these songs *much* better on his studio albums, with the only exception of "The Shadow of Your Smile" (only available here -- he never recorded a studio version). It's a good version of that song, although he changes the lyrics (a Frank trademark) so we don't hear the haunting "and all the joy that love can bring" but "and every little lovely thing" instead, but that and his dialog ("Tea time", a kind of mock humble discussion about his age and career which is most memorable for showing that when Frank tried to be funny the best he could do was to do a pale imitation of his best bud, Dean Martin -- it's eerie to hear how hard he tried to emulate the one man that Frank truly looked up to) aren't enough to justify the price of this album.

If you *must* have a live Sinatra album this is probably the one, but if you don't have them already you'd be much better served buying "Ring a ding ding", "Sinatra-Basie", and the superb "Robin and the 7 Hoods" soundtrack. These cover much the same ground with *much* superior singing. Come back to this one only after your Reprise collection is complete (after, of course, you've first completed your Capitol collection, but that's a whole other story...)


Frank Sinatra and Count Basie's Orchestra, circa April 1966   April 16, 2003
Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

"Sinatra at the Sands," recorded in April 1966, was the first Frank Sinatra concert to be released commercially. Sinatra is singing with Count Basie and his Orchestra, which was conducted by Quincy Jones. As you would expect, this is classic Sixties Sinatra, putting on a show for the Las Vegas crowd performing the songs you would expect the man to sing, starting big with "Come Fly With Me" and finishing even bigger with "My Kind of Town." The best of these tracks are "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Come Fly With Me," where the arrangements for the Basie Orchestra are arguably an actual improvement over the original recordings. However, when Sinatra goes to his repetoire of saloon songs the results are more mixed; after all, he is singing in a really big room. One of my all time Sinatra favorites, "It Was a Very Good Year" is a bit disappointing for me, but this is offset by his performance of "Angel Eyes."

Sinatra's between song banter displays the expected level of charm, although the mavens of political correctness will wince several times while listening to some of the jokes in his rather long monologue. "Sinatra at the Sands" offers up almost an hour of live singing from Ol' Blue Eyes, once you subtract the talking, and shows that there are a few songs (e.g., "Luck Be a Lady Tonight") that you might actually prefer to hear Sinatra sing live. Final Note on Album Notes: The album notes by Stan Cornyn won the 1966 Grammy for Album Notes, his second year in a row for winning that award for a Sinatra album (See: "September of My Years"). Do they still give out that particular Grammy? Anyhow, I was vasilating between 4 and 5 stars for this review, but those album notes tip the scale up for sure.


Simply the best   June 21, 2003
Richard E. Hourula (Berkeley, CA. United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is the first CD I ever bought and over 200 later it is still the best. The greatest singer of all time at his peak, backed by, in Sinatra's words, "the incomparable Count Basie and his great orchestra." With arrangements by a budding young talent of the time, Quincy Jones.
The quality of the recording is so good that to listen to this CD is to be transported to the Sands in Las Vegas -- and its 1965. The tinkling of the glasses, the applause and the laughter also enhances the wonderful quality of the music. Sinatra is at his best in the opening three numbers, particularly "I've Got You Under My Skin." His voice is at full maturity and has not yet begun its slow decline. He chats with the audience, does a full fledge monologue (even this is one of his better ones) and simply exudes the joy of a master performing his art at peak ability.
No Sinatra collection is complete without this CD. Nor in my mind is any serious jazz or pop compilation.