September of My Years
Encyclopedia
September of My Years is a 1965 studio album by the American singer Frank Sinatra
, arranged by Gordon Jenkins
.
Sinatra was to turn 50 years old in December 1965, and the release of this album along with A Man and His Music
and Strangers in the Night
marked a surge of popularity in Sinatra's music. Both September of My Years and A Man and His Music won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year
.
Sinatra's performance of "It Was a Very Good Year
" won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male
, at the Grammy Awards of 1966
. Arranger Gordon Jenkins
was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
for the same song. This was the first album Sinatra and Jenkins had recorded together since 1959's No One Cares
. Jenkins and Sinatra would next work together on the 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future
.
CBS
television cameras were rolling the night Sinatra recorded "It Was a Very Good Year". The edited result was included in a Walter Cronkite
CBS News
special about the singer's 50th birthday, broadcast on November 16, 1965.
On the 2010 CD reissue of the album, two bonus tracks are included: A live performance of "This Is All I Ask" at Carnegie Hall
in June 1984, and the 45 rpm single mix of "How Old Am I?".
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, arranged by Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
.
Sinatra was to turn 50 years old in December 1965, and the release of this album along with A Man and His Music
A Man and His Music
A Man and His Music is a 1965 double album by Frank Sinatra. It provides a brief retrospective of Sinatra's musical career...
and Strangers in the Night
Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra album)
Strangers in the Night is a 1966 studio album by Frank Sinatra.The album marked Sinatra's return to #1 on the pop album charts in the mid-1960s, and it consolidated the comeback he started in 1966. Combining pop hits with show tunes and standards, the album creates a balance between big band and...
marked a surge of popularity in Sinatra's music. Both September of My Years and A Man and His Music won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
.
Sinatra's performance of "It Was a Very Good Year
It Was a Very Good Year
"It Was a Very Good Year" is a song composed by Ervin Drake in 1961 for and originally recorded by Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio and subsequently made famous by Frank Sinatra's version in D-minor, which won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male in 1966. Gordon Jenkins was awarded...
" won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male
Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male
The Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male was awarded from 1959 to 1968. The award had several minor name changes:*From 1959 to 1960 the award was known as Best Vocal Performance, Male...
, at the Grammy Awards of 1966
Grammy Awards of 1966
The 8th Grammy Awards were held March 15, 1966. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1965.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
. Arranger Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Jenkins
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
for the same song. This was the first album Sinatra and Jenkins had recorded together since 1959's No One Cares
No One Cares
No One Cares is a 1959 album by Frank Sinatra.The album can be seen as a sequel to the Sinatra's earlier album Where Are You?, which was also arranged by Gordon Jenkins. The album was released in 1959 in both stereo and mono versions, each containing 11 songs...
. Jenkins and Sinatra would next work together on the 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future
Trilogy: Past Present Future
Trilogy: Past Present Future is a 1980 triple album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. This album produced the last of Sinatra's many signature numbers, "Theme from New York, New York."...
.
CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television cameras were rolling the night Sinatra recorded "It Was a Very Good Year". The edited result was included in a Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
special about the singer's 50th birthday, broadcast on November 16, 1965.
On the 2010 CD reissue of the album, two bonus tracks are included: A live performance of "This Is All I Ask" at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in June 1984, and the 45 rpm single mix of "How Old Am I?".
Track listing
- "The September of My YearsThe September of My Years"The September of My Years" is a song composed in 1965 by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and introduced by Frank Sinatra as the title track of his 1965 album of the same name....
" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy CahnSammy CahnSammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
) – 3:12 - "How Old Am I?" (Gordon JenkinsGordon JenkinsGordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
) – 3:30 - "Don't Wait Too Long" (Sunny SkylarSunny SkylarSunny Skylar was an American composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher. He was born Selig Shaftel in Brooklyn, New York. As a singer, he appeared with a number of big bands, including those led by Ben Bernie, Paul Whiteman, Abe Lyman, George Hall and Vincent Lopez...
) – 3:04 - "It Gets Lonely Early" (Van Heusen, Cahn) – 2:57
- "This Is All I AskThis Is All I Ask"This Is All I Ask" is a popular song written by Gordon Jenkins.Jenkins considered this his finest composition, and he recorded it in arrangements he wrote for Nat King Cole, Harry Nilsson and Frank Sinatra....
" (Jenkins) – 3:03 - "Last Night When We Were YoungLast Night When We Were Young"Last Night When We Were Young" is a 1935 popular song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg. Arlen regarded it as the favourite of the songs that he had written.Lawrence Tibbett recorded the song on October 9, 1935...
" (Harold ArlenHarold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
, E.Y. Harburg) – 3:33 - "The Man in the Looking Glass" (Bart HowardBart HowardBart Howard was the composer and writer of the famous jazz standard "Fly Me To The Moon", which has been performed by singers Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Della Reese, Diana Krall, June Christy and Astrud Gilberto...
) – 3:25 - "It Was a Very Good YearIt Was a Very Good Year"It Was a Very Good Year" is a song composed by Ervin Drake in 1961 for and originally recorded by Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio and subsequently made famous by Frank Sinatra's version in D-minor, which won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male in 1966. Gordon Jenkins was awarded...
" (Ervin DrakeErvin DrakeErvin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...
) – 4:25 - "When the Wind Was Green" (Henry Stinson) – 3:22
- "Hello, Young LoversHello, Young Lovers (song)"Hello, Young Lovers" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. It is sung by Anna, played by Gertrude Lawrence in the original Broadway production, by Valerie Hobson in the original London West End production, and by Deborah Kerr in the film version...
" (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
) – 3:41 - "I See It Now" (Alec WilderAlec WilderAlec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
, William EngvickWilliam EngvickWilliam Engvick is an American lyricist, many of whose compositions appear in films.Engvick graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Alec Wilder; they produced songs for the Broadway musical Once Over Lightly , and for...
) – 2:50 - "Once Upon a TimeOnce Upon a Time (song)"Once Upon a Time" is a song with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams from the 1962 musical All American. In the musical, the song was performed by Ray Bolger and Eileen Herlie, and their version appears on the Broadway Cast recording...
" (Charles StrouseCharles StrouseCharles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
, Lee AdamsLee AdamsLee Richard Adams is an American lyricist best known for his musical theatre collaboration with Charles Strouse.Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Adams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master's from Columbia University.Adams won Tony Awards in 1961 for Bye Bye Birdie...
) – 3:30 - "September SongSeptember Song"September Song" is an American pop standard composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. It has since been recorded by numerous singers and instrumentalists...
" (Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Maxwell AndersonMaxwell AndersonJames Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist.-Early years:Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela Stephenson, both of Scots and Irish descent...
) – 3:30- Bonus tracks included on the 2010 reissue:
- "This Is All I Ask" - 3:49 live performance at the Carnegie Hall, New York City, New York, June 12, 1984
- "How Old Am I?" - 3:30 (1968 Single Version)
Personnel
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Gordon JenkinsGordon JenkinsGordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
- arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...