My Way – FRANK SINATRA****

Watch What Happens/Didn’t We/Hallelujah I Love Her So/Yesterday/All My Tomorrows/My Way/A Day In The Life Of A Fool/For Once In My Life/If You Go Away/Mrs Robinson

For modern audiences My Way is undoubtedly Frank Sinatra's best known song, defining the singer's approach to life. The famous title track peaked at No. 5 in the UK during an exceptionally long chart run. (US:11 UK:2)

"By 1969 when this album was recorded, the market for standards had dwindled to near zero, the music business being completely dominated by rock. Sinatra, as did many of his contemporaries, tried their best to appeal to a younger audience, while at the same time, not deserting their base. The My Way album was one of the most successful attempts to blend contemporary material with the patented Sinatra style, being aided and abetted by some nice arrangements from Don Costa."

"My Way is not Sinatra's greatest album, but it is an absolutely essential purchase because it includes the song that defined his life, music and philosophy. There is no other song in the Sinatra discography that more perfectly defines, summarizes, and musically states what Frank was all about. Paul Anka wrote this song especially for Frank, and it immediately became the signature song for the rest of his career. This album was recorded in 1969, and it was an attempt by Frank to incorporate contemporary standards into his body of work. He covers songs by The Beatles, Rod McKuen and Paul Simon, but My Way is the song that makes this album an integral part of the Sinatra canon."

"This may not be one of Sinatra's better albums, but it certainly isn't his worst, if there is such a thing as a bad Sinatra album. The numbers are contemporary and Sinatra gives fine performances here. Some reviewers don’t much like Mrs. Robinson but I have to say that I do, and it is very much a Sinatra song. Sinatra sounds like he is having fun with the tune, and it's fun listening to him."

"My Way is essentially a successor, in terms of tone, orchestration and vocal performance, to its predecessor Cycles, a pleasing collection of songs, mostly contemporary, delivered with great style and panache. Sinatra's song choices, when he ventured into covering pop/rock hits, were not always felicitous but on this occasion he is spot on. The song My Way must be one of the three or four most famous recordings in popular music history."