1961 was a very good year for Frank Sinatra. His albums were selling, his concerts drew standing room only audiences and his movie career — thanks to 1960's Ocean's 11 — was stronger than ever. Most important, he launched his own record label, Reprise, fulfilling a long-time dream to regain control of his music.

The early roster on Reprise included an impressive array of friends: Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby and comedian Redd Foxx, among others. But the "Chairman of the Board" decided that an album of his own was the only proper way to introduce his new venture — and thumb his nose at executives at his former record company, Capitol.

That new album was Ring-a-Ding-Ding! which showcased a confident and relaxed Sinatra. To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the album and the launch of his label, a remastered Ring-a-Ding-Ding! came out this year, along with several other rich Sinatra releases from around the Reprise era.

"Sinatra was very wise when it came to knowing what the public wanted from him, and he gave it to them," says Frank Sinatra Jr., who was a 16–year-old aspiring musician when his father recorded the original version of Ring-a-Ding-Ding! "It was very good and intelligent music, both harmonically and melodically. And the words had just a little bit of thought put into them." Now 67, Frank Jr. penned the liner notes for the freshened-up version.

Another new and notable reissue is The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings, a sublime collaboration between the elder Sinatra and Count Basie. Sinatra was such a Basie fan that he recorded two albums with him within a few years of launching Reprise. Both sessions, collected in this new release, brought out the best in both men, especially on "Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)" and "Learnin' The Blues."