Harry James and his Orchestra
A: vocal chorus by Frank Sinatra.
A side (mx. CO 25288) recorded New York, NY, August 31, 1939.
B side (mx. LA 2044) recorded Los Angeles, CA, November 8, 1939.
This 1943 re-release of the original Columbia 35587 from 1940 lists the artists on A as "Frank Sinatra with Harry James and his Orchestra." This version, in which Sinatra receives the main billing on the A side, sold 1,000,000 copies.
At least three versions of the A side exist:
A a) "- Lawrence - Altman - Fox Trot Featuring" all on the same line, "with" on a separate line between "Frank Sinatra" and "Harry James and his Orchestra".
A b) "- Lawrence - Altman -" and "Fox Trot Featuring" on two lines, "with" in front of "Harry James"
A c) "- Lawrence - Altman - Fox Trot" and "Featuring" on two lines, "with" right after "Frank Sinatra"
The B side layout also differs.
A a) and A b) are coupled with
B a) Last line of personnel listing is "Mickey Scrima"
A c) is coupled with
B b) Last line of personnel listing is "Scrima"
The 1946-1948 repress with only 2 lines of patent text below COLUMBIA features
A d) "Fox Trot - Lawrence - Altman -" and "Featuring" on two lines, "with" right after "Frank Sinatra"
coupled with
B b) Last line of personnel listing is "Scrima"
Images
Number:1385495 THUMBNAIL Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 A side label (1943 reissue, Bridgeport pressing)
Number:1385499 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 B side label (1943 reissue, Bridgeport pressing)
Number:1996059 Uploaded By:fantasista Description: Columbia 35587 A side label (late 1943 variant, Bridgeport pressing)
Number:1996060 Uploaded By:fantasista Description: Columbia 35587 B side label (late 1943 variant, Bridgeport pressing)
Number:3198843 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 A side label (1944 Hollywood pressing with cat. nr. in 12 point Metroblack No. 2)
Number:3198844 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 B side label (1944 Hollywood pressing with cat. nr. in 12 point Metroblack No. 2)
Number:2383429 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 A side label ("with" after Frank Sinatra)
Number:2383430 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 B side label ("with" after Frank Sinatra on A)
Number:2383473 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 A side label (1946-1948 repress, "with" after Frank Sinatra)
Number:2383474 Uploaded By:xiphophilos Description: Columbia 35587 B side label (1946-1948 repress, "with" after Frank Sinatra)
Thanks for adding the link to that Metroblack Nr. 2 font. Now I can see that the numbers do indeed agree with this Metroblack typeface. I didn't realize that there were two different variants of Metroblack: one used by Columbia's Romaine Street Hollywood plant, one by Bert-Co in Hollywood. The pointy N in the word Nothing also looks clearly like the N in the Metroblack Nr. 2 sample that you shared.
We do have two other Columbia records from the early 1950s that you've also identified as Bert-Co Hollywood pressings with catalog numbers in 12 point Metroblack No. 2:
In both cases, the cat. nr. 3 seems to be less open than the 3 here, and the 5 less slanted and less open in its lower half. Is that just an optical illusion because the later records use so much more ink?
In contrast, on Columbia 35707, the catalog number on the last two labels (images #1861552 & 1861553) looks very similar to the one on the labels in question here (images 3198843 & 3198844), and I thought that it was set in 10 point Futura Demibold, cf. the font sample at https://www.flickr.com/photos/28813954@N02/8200238884/in/photostream/
{Images #3198843 & 3198844} is in fact a Hollywood pressing (their West Coast plant then on Romaine Street, first opened around 1935 when American Record Corp. owned the label), mostly predominant in Metroblack No. 2 (6, 7 and 10 point sizes used) - but the personnel on Side B set in 6 point Cloister Bold. It is not known which printer used this font combo, but what is known is that Capitol used that very same printer for their Los Angeles plant's label printing needs up to 1950 when they up and switched to Bert-Co (the numerals of whose Metroblack No. 2 sizes differed significantly).
Added a fifth label variant, a Bridgeport pressing that dates to 1944. The most conspicuous difference may be the catalog number, which is set in 10-point Futura Demibold instead of the 14 point Condensed No. 1 typical for earlier and later pressings. The song titles are also set in a distinctive typeface, probably Gothic Condensed No. 1 on the A side and Gothic Extended on the B side.