Frank Sinatra - September Of My Years (1965)

Currently on Wikipedia: "September of My Years is a concept album exploring the 'who am I' questions and perspectives that someone, particularly a man, faces upon entering middle age." Now don't get me wrong - Sinatra is fantastic here, the orchestral arrangements are top-notch, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the thing. It's a moody string album as opposed to a swingin' big band joint and even that doesn't bother me much. However, your humble blogger is currently in the proverbial September of his years (and October coming along more quickly than he'd like to admit), so if I'm gonna listen to Sinatra these days, I'm not going to spin this album. In other words, I don't necessarily want to be reminded that I'm aging! (Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, folks.)

At the 8th Grammy Awards in 1966, this album won four awards and was nominated for two others:

• Lowell Frank, engineer: Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical (nominated)
• Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn for The September of My Years: Song of the Year (nominated)
• Stan Cornyn, writer: Best Album Notes (won)
• Gordon Jenkins for It Was a Very Good Year: Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist or Instrumentalist (won)
• Frank Sinatra for It Was a Very Good Year: Best Vocal Performance, Male (won)
• Album of the Year (won)

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "He sings now with more depth and insight than ever"
• Record World: "Sinatra is the man."
• CashBox: "pure and unadulterated mood music, and ballads as only Frank Sinatra can handle them."
• Billboard: "By far one of the most important and finest mood albums in the Sinatra catalog."

In 2017, it was ranked at #142 on Pitchfork's list of the 200 Best Albums of the 1960s.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #5

Tracks: My top picks are the title track, This Is All I Ask, When The Wind Was Green, Once Upon A Time, and of course, It Was A Very Good Year. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Sinatra Sings Cole Porter (2003)
The Capitol Years (1990)
That's Life (1966)
Sinatra at the Sands (1966)
It Might As Well Be Swing (1964)
Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! And More (1961)