A review of “Ol’ Blue Eyes”
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Album: September of My Years (1965)
Purchased at: Love Garden (Lawrence, KS) for $6
Frank Sinatra is mood music. If you’re not in the mood it probably won’t sound great. Even within Sinatra’s massive catalog “September of My Years” has a mood of its own. The 1965 album won a Grammy for Album of the Year despite only having one true single on it, “It Was A Very Good Year.” There’s also a decent chance the common Sinatra listener would only know this song off of the album.
The record is a concept album about getting older for the most part, explaining the album’s title (Sinatra was 50 when it came out.) He refers to the season’s and months frequently corresponding with age. If you look at song titles like “Hello, Young Lovers” How Old Am I?” The Man in the Looking Glass” and “Last Night When We Were Young” (among others) you can tell all of this is thinly veiled. The album is quite good, the variety of songwriters used form a good platoon to get the message across. In true Sinatra fashion everything unfolds with patience and grace while his golden voice swoons the message across. Every song is cohesive and on point making this more than just any Sinatra album. It is enjoyable on far more levels than many pawns are in his colossal library.
The cover art painting is great and the songs are listed on the cover in that true “classic album” style. Finding a pristine copy for $6 at my favorite record store was an easy buy. It’s really a perfect mixed drink and candlelight album. If you come across it it’s worth a purchase, just get a bottle of Jack Daniels and enjoy it like Sinatra would have wanted with his favorite drink: four ice cubes, two fingers of Jack Daniels whiskey and a splash of water.
Rating: B+
