September of My Years

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 his music. Both September of My Years and A Man and His Music won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. CBS television cameras were rolling the night (earlier in the spring) that Sinatra recorded "It Was a Very Good Year" for the album. The edited result was included in a Walter Cronkite CBS News special (1965 SPECIAL REPORT: FRANK SINATRA), broadcast on November 16, 1965.

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 1962's All Alone. Jenkins and Sinatra would next work together on the 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future.

The album was released on CD on October 10, 1986. It was re-released and remastered on May 26, 1998, as part of the Entertainer of the Century series done together by Reprise and Capitol Records. That version is currently out of print. Concord Records reissued the album again, newly remastered on compact disc, on August 31, 2010. This version includes two bonus tracks, a live performance of "This Is All I Ask" recorded at Carnegie Hall in June 1984, and the single mix of "How Old Am I?" released in 1968.

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. For instance, in "It Was a Very Good Year", the narrator looks back upon his life at ages 17, 21, 35, and now, in his personal "September." The structure of the song, which lasts almost four and a half minutes, was highly unusual for a popular song of the time, as it exceeded most other songs of that era by over a minute. In the process, the narrator "takes his time" to review his past relationships with a bittersweet mixture of satisfaction and regret. Similarly, in "Hello, Young Lovers", the narrator offers to young people the guidance and wisdom he has gleaned from experience. In other songs, like "The Man in the Looking Glass" and "Last Night When We Were Young", the narrator conducts an internal dialogue that reviews both the accomplishments and disappointments of his life. In addition to the lyrical content, the musical background reflects a more mature Sinatra than the Capitol recordings of the 1950s and his Reprise albums of the early 1960s. Instead of the big-band, "swing" arrangements with horn sections of those earlier songs, this LP features an orchestra with nine violinists. These strings provide a delicate interplay with the vocals, allowing the listener to easily hear and take in the lyrics.

Side One:

1. "The September of My Years" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 3:12
2. "How Old Am I?" (Gordon Jenkins) – 3:30
3. "Don't Wait Too Long" (Sunny Skylar) – 3:04
4. "It Gets Lonely Early" (Van Heusen, Cahn) – 2:57
5. "This Is All I Ask" (Jenkins) – 3:03
6. "Last Night When We Were Young" (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg) – 3:33
7. "The Man in the Looking Glass" (Bart Howard) – 3:25

Side Two:

1. "It Was a Very Good Year" (Ervin Drake) – 4:25
2. "When the Wind Was Green" (Don Hunt, Henry Stinson)[1] – 3:22
3. "Hello, Young Lovers" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 3:41
4. "I See It Now" (Alec Wilder, William Engvick) – 2:50
5. "Once Upon a Time" (Charles Strouse, Lee Adams) – 3:30
6. "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) – 3:30

Bonus tracks included on the 2010 reissue:

1. "This Is All I Ask" – 3:49
2. "How Old Am I?" – 3:42

Notes

• The Orchestra on "The September of My Years" features 9 Violins[7]
• The Orchestra on Tracks 2-13 and 15 features 16 Violins
• Henry Stinson is also known as Donald Henry Stinson[8]

• Frank Sinatra – vocals (All Tracks)
• Bob Bain – guitar (1)[7]
• Max Bennett – additional bass guitar (15)[4]
• Buddy Collette – saxophone, woodwind (1)
• Joe Comfort – string bass (1)
• Irv Cottler – drums (1, 14)[7][9]
• Alvin Dinkin – viola (1-2, 4–5, 7–9, 11–12, 15)[4][9][10][11][12]
• Melinda Eckels – oboe (2, 4–5, 7–8, 15),[13][14] flute (3, 6, 9-13)[15][16]
• Nick Fatool – drums (2-13, 15)
• Bert Gassman – oboe (3, 6, 9-13)
• Chuck Gentry – saxophone, woodwind (1)
• Justin Gordon – saxophone, woodwind (1)
• Stanley Harris – viola (1)
• Al Hendrickson – guitar (9, 11-12)[8]
• Lloyd Hildebrand – bassoon (2-13, 15), flute (3, 6, 9-13)
• Clyde Hylton – clarinet (2-13, 15), flute (3, 6, 9-13)
• Gordon Jenkins – arranger (All Tracks), conductor (1-13, 15)
• Kathryn Julye – harp (1)
• Armand Kaproff – cello (1-2, 4–5, 8–9, 11–12, 15)
• Louis Kievman – viola (2, 4–5, 7–9, 11–12, 15)
• Harry Klee – clarinet (2-13, 15), flute (3, 6, 9-13), saxophone, woodwind (1)
• Arnold Koblentz – oboe (2, 4–5, 7–8, 15)
• Cappy Lewis – trumpet (1)
• Edgar Lustgarten – cello (1)
• Ray Menhennick – viola (3, 6, 10, 13)[17][18]
• Bill Miller – piano (1-13, 15)
• Dick Nash – trombone (1)
• Tommy Pederson – trombone (1)
• Bill Pitman – guitar (1)
• Kurt Reher – cello (3, 6, 10, 13)
• George Roberts – bass trombone (1)
• Paul Robyn – viola (2-13, 15)
• Mike Rubin – string bass (1-13, 15)
• Sanford Schonbach – viola (3, 6, 10, 13)
• Willie Schwartz – saxophone, woodwind (1)
• Tom Shepard – trombone (1)
• Barbara Simons – viola (1)
• Eleanor Slatkin – cello (1)
• Wayne Songer – clarinet (2-13, 15)
• Vincent Terri – guitar (2-8, 10, 13, 15)
• Kathryn Thompson Vail – harp (2-13, 15)
• Joe Parnello – piano, conductor (14)
• Tommy Mottola – guitar (14)