Maps of Music

That's Life (1966)

Where the lyrics of That's Life take you, and where it was really made.

The title song was first sung by Marion Montgomery in 1963, yet Sinatra's 1966 album turned it into a top five hit.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

That's Life: 1966 album by Frank Sinatra
Supported by a studio orchestra arranged and conducted by Ernie Freeman
Title song proved a top five hit for Sinatra when rock music dominated the charts
Released in 1966 on Reprise Records (Italian Wikipedia)
Released on CD in October 1986
Ten tracks, with Sinatra on lead vocals throughout
Sinatra's fiftieth album (Spanish Wikipedia)

Ernie Freeman arranged all tracks and conducted tracks 1–7 and 9–10, and played piano on track 8
Gordon Jenkins conducted track 8
Donnie Lanier conducted tracks 1, 3, 5–8
The orchestra on That's Life features 12 violins
The orchestra on Tell Her features 10 violins

Born December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants.
Began singing professionally as a teenager with the Hoboken Four, winning Major Bowes Amateur Hour.
Joined Harry James's band in 1939, then Tommy Dorsey's band, before going solo in 1942.

Signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and became a major star of the bobby-soxer era.
Signed with Capitol Records in 1953; collaborated with arranger Nelson Riddle on albums such as In the Wee Small Hours and Songs for Swingin' Lovers!.
Founded Reprise Records in 1960, releasing albums including September of My Years and the hit single "My Way".
Won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity (1953).
Estimated to have sold around 150 million records worldwide.
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
Died May 14, 1998 in Los Angeles.

AllMusic: 3 out of 5 stars, criticizing that the blues of the title song does not carry over to the rest of the album
Italian Wikipedia: calls the album critically quite poor, citing hoarse singing, banal songs and approximate effort
The title song is still counted among Sinatra's most significant songs, reaching fourth on the Billboard Hot 100 (Italian Wikipedia)

The album was Sinatra's fiftieth album.
The title song reached fourth on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Italian Wikipedia.
Sinatra sang lead vocals on all ten tracks.
Engineer Eddie Brackett is credited on the US CD release.
The title song was one of the most significant songs of Sinatra's career, according to Italian Wikipedia.