Best records made by artists when they were the age you are now.

Miles Davis ‘A Tribute to Jack Johnson”

And that’s all I can think of. Slim pickings when you’re 45. Anyway maybe some of you are better ages.

Debussy finished "La Mer" when he was my age.
Gainsbourg made "Histoire de Melody Nelson".
Dylan released "Jokerman".

Frank Sinatra did "Somethin' Stupid"

Yeah, Gainsbourg was the first example I thought of. I once made a list of artists whose catalogues I knew pretty well and the age when I figured they went past peak, and I think Gainsbourg was the oldest. I imagine it helps that he started late. A comparable example would be Lee Hazlewood, Cowboy in Sweden at 41. Guy even recorded an album called Forty, with a cheeky smile on the cover. But then Requiem for an Almost Lady came in 42 — great record, but decidedly a good-times-are-over one. Also possibly his last great record, though I haven't heard much of what he did subsequently.

Also for me Herb Alpert did "Diamonds" (w/ Janet Jackson)

Not a record, but Beethoven began composing Symphony No. 9 at about my age.(I'm 50, he was 51.)

I'm at the age where you have to do a collaboration with a younger, hotter artist

Neil Young "Ragged Glory"
Sun Ra "Angels and Demons at Play"

Whatever my age, this question has always been very depressing to me, at least since I was 23...

This is only slightly less depressing than "artists who were dead at your age" which now includes john lennon for me.

Nick Cave--Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egGS8jONZ6Y

This is only slightly less depressing than "artists who were dead at your age" which now includes john lennon for me.

If you're 40, you've got 2 years until you can also add Elvis Presley

Not going to play your dispiriting little game.

Wait, I want to change mine to Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Slim pickings when you’re 45.

this is completely wrong imo

Merle Haggard (w/Willie Nelson) "Pancho and Lefty"
Willie Nelson "Stardust"
Frank Sinatra "Come Swing With Me!"
Antonio Carlos Jobim "Jobim"
Jimmy Martin "Moonshine Hollow"
Flat & Scruggs "Songs of the Famous Carter Family"
Brian Wilson "Brian Wilson"
I can't find how old Ripley Johnson is exactly but whatever Moon Duo or Wooden Shjips album he put out when he was 45/46
A Tribe Called Quest (specifically Q-Tip) "Thank You For Your Service, We Got It From Here..."
Lee Dorsey "Yes We Can"
XTC (Andy Partridge) "Apple Venus Vol 1"

I'm sure there's loads more but it's time consuming looking this stuff up

imo the only dispiriting thing about this "game" is how stupid & ageist the music industry is in general, post rock 'n' roll.

I'm consistently impressed by how much younger the Oh Sees seem than me despite mostly being a couple years older so my rolling answer to the thread question will be 'whatever album those dudes released a couple years back'.

I suppose it’s easier if you’re a country fan. I’ll check these out.

Maybe you 40-somethings would cheer up if you consider Frank Sinatra recorded his masterful September of My Years album at 49 and Peggy Lee recorded her classic "Is That All There Is?" at 49 also.

Oh wait, those titles though. Sorry.

Kate Bush "Aerial"
Louis Prima "The Wildest!"
whatever John Lee Hooker was doing in 1963 (his discography is a mess)
Muddy Waters "...Sings 'Big Bill'"
Howlin' Wolf "Moanin' in the Moonlight"

I'm just content with the fact that being in your forties today doesn't necessarily mean that you look like you're in your sixties like it did back in the day.

Doc Watson "On Stage"
Ernest Tubb "Ernest Tubb Record Shop"

albums made by people in their 30s-60s

this should be great!

let's see...did Aretha Franklin record an album in her 30s, or any time up through her 60s? seems like she must have

Loretta Lynn (w/Conway Twitty) "Honky Tonk Heroes" (features both of my favorite duets of theirs, "I've Already Loved You In My Mind" and "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly")

This thread makes far less sense when viewed through the lens of classical music.

Teenage Fanclub "Shadows"

Apparently Van Morrison released Back On Top when he was 54. I've never heard it but hey, he actually made an album when he was 54.

tbf his follow up was "Back at the Bottom"

sad lol @ Back on Top as the title of a late-period album that no one has heard of

Tom Waits - Bone Machine
Tom Petty - Into the Great Wide Open
Tom Verlaine - Warm and Cool

and those are just the ones named Tom!

Scott Walker was 53 when he did Tilt and 63 when he The Drift was released. There is indeed hope for us late bloomers.

This thread makes far less sense when viewed through the lens of classical music.

I thought about searching for classical examples, then realized I would have to think in terms of recordings, and quickly abandoned the idea.

Scott Walker was 53 when he did Tilt and 63 when he The Drift was released. There is indeed hope for us late bloomers.

I'm consistently impressed by how much younger the Oh Sees seem than me despite mostly being a couple years older so my rolling answer to the thread question will be 'whatever album those dudes released a couple years back'.

Side point, but Sebald was mid-40s before he started writing and Penelope Fitzgerald was in her mid-50s. There are numerous other examples. So there's always hope!

For the record, Sebald would have made washed-out drone albums; Fitzgerald something arch - maybe the kind of records Trish Keenan is making, wherever she may be.

Leonard Cohen's Death of a Ladies' Man, maybe.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Mary_Chapin_Carpenter-The_Age_of_Miracles.jpg

How would I even find out what records were made by 43-year-olds?

I’m the same age. I just checked a few obvious candidates, like Dylan and Lou Reed — but even their “great” early-’80s albums were already behind them at this point.

Eno's "My Squelchy Life" was when he was 43, that's a pretty good one...

Going by date of composition (idk recording), Stockhausen's Stimmung is a strong candidate. Also the recording of Glenn Branca's Symphony no. 6 was released when he was my age.

Never heard of it, but I’ll take your word. Looks like Bonnie Raitt was still a bit shy of 43 when Luck of the Draw came out, but that may be as close a match as I’ll find....

(xp to rush)

Leonard Cohen - Various Positions. Just getting started!

thom yorke was 33 when amnesiac came out, thats p good

morris - how about syro? people seem to like that one ok. really i could find a lot of great records made by 43-year-olds, i just don't want to put in the effort to research what year 15,000 of the musicians i like where 43 and what records they did that year.

I used to love RDJ, but don’t care for Syro :(

how about coffin for head of state? i'm just throwing stuff out here at random here...

Shostakovich was apparently only up to his 4th String Quartet (which is rather good) by my age. More crucially, there were eleven more still to come. Hehe.