Music Blog

Smooth Saturday Sounds: It Was A Very Good Year

Nancy's Notes šŸ–ŠļøšŸŽ¶

ā€œIt Was A Very Good Yearā€
Written by: Ervin Drake
Recorded:  1965
Producer: Sonny Burke
Conductor: Gordon Jenkins
Arranger: Gordon Jenkins

Released: December 1965

Available on:
September Of My Years (1965)
Sinatra At The Sands (1966)

Personnel:
Frank Sinatra ā€“ vocals
Featuring Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra

Ervin Drakeā€™s ā€œIt Was A Very Good Yearā€ was written in 1961 and originally recorded by Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio that same year but it was Frank Sinatraā€™s rendition in 1965 that made the song legendary with his Grammy Award-winning version.

The nostalgic and melancholicĀ song recounts the type of girls with whom the singer had relationships at various years in his life: when he was 17, “small-town girls … on the village green“; at 21, “city girls who lived up the stair“; at 35, ā€œblue-blooded girls of independent means“. Each of these years he calls “very good“. In the song’s final verse, the singer reflects that he is older and in the autumn of his years, and he thinks back on his entire life “as vintageĀ wine”. All of these romances were sweet to him, like a wine from a very good year.

Sinatraā€™s version of the song, which won Best Vocal Performance, Male, also took home the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist by Gordon Jenkins. The song became Sinatraā€™s first #1 single on The Adult Contemporary chart and reached #28 on Billboard Hot 100.

Ervin Drake commented on Sinatraā€™s rendition saying, ā€œSomeone played it to me down a telephone. It wasnā€™t a great phone line but I knew Iā€™d heard a masterpiece and I fell in love with it. Iā€™ve never stopped loving it.ā€

This is Frank Sinatra with ā€œIt Was A Very Good Yearā€

May your Saturday be smooth sailing. Thanks for stopping by.

See you on the flip side. šŸ˜Ž

NARĀ©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantā€™s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARĀ©2017-present.

24 thoughts on “Smooth Saturday Sounds: It Was A Very Good Year”

  8. He truly sung this song like a man who mentally had been a life journey and he phrased it in such a way that every line you grasped no matter how old you were. Frank Sinatra was one of those artists who made every word count

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. You are so right about that, MM! It was all about phrasing with Frank; he was the master, the consummate entertainer, a troubadour with perfect diction and a smooth style who sang from the heart. Others have tried to imitate him but there will never be another Frank Sinatra.

      Here’s one of my favorites, the very definition of showmanship at its finest:

      Thanks for your great comment.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. He was a like a prize fighter who used his punches accurately and very disciplined and a directness which had sharpness yet so smooth and cool. Cats like Him Billy Eckstine Nat King Cole,Johnny Mathis Jackie Wilson Sam Cooke Tony Bennett hit you like that

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Yep, cats like him. They’re all in good company.

          Frank also opened the doors for many young black entertainers trying to make a go of it in Las Vegas …. legends like Lena Horne, Fats Domino, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr. and more.

          There’s a fabulous spoken video by Quincy Jones and another by Richard Burton that speak to the magnanimous and accepting nature of Frank Sinatra. They can be viewed here and here.

          Thanks!

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