By 1965, Frank Sinatra started to show signs that he was feeling his years.

Of course, musical trends certainly didn’t help matters, making him fight to retain relevance in an age where long-haired British pop stars ruled the charts. Still, his artistry prevailed, although he certainly had no desire to court the teenage record-buyers.

When it came to theme-based albums, Frank Sinatra practically invented the genre, so in this case he decided to address the obvious fact that he was not affiliated with recent musical ‘developments’ by recording an album full of classic songs about acknowledging age.

Track by track, each song finds Sinatra wistfully looking back at his youth, or trying to accept the inevitability of growing old. It’s a remarkably clear-eyed and mature collection of songs, a collection that ran 180 degrees away from where pop music was heading. It now stands out as a unique collection of well-recorded reflective material, including a few masterpieces, with arrangements by the ever-reliable Gordon Jenkins.

Featured tracks include;

1) The September of My Years

2) How Old Am I?

3) Don’t Wait Too Long

4) It Gets Lonely Early

5) This Is All I Ask

6) Last Night When We Were Young

7) The Man in the Looking Glass

8) It Was a Very Good Year

9) When the Wind Was Green

10) Hello, Young Lovers

11) I See It Now

12) Once Upon a Time

13) September Song

September 1965 - Billboard Charted #5