Track Listing

1. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
2. Glad To Be Unhappy
3. I Get Along Without You Very Well
4. Deep In A Dream
5. I See Your Face Before Me
6. Can't We Be Friends
7. When Your Lover Has Gone
8. What Is This Thing Called Love
9. I'll Be Around
10. Ill Wind
11. It Never Entered My Mind
12. I'll Never Be The Same
13. This Love Of Mine
14. Last Night When We Were Young
15. Dancing On The Ceiling

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3351 in Music
• Released on: 1992-11-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .18 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The first of many artistic milestones in the long and illustrious collaboration of Frank Sinatra and arranger Nelson Riddle that began at Capitol Records, In the Wee Small Hours is a first in other notable ways as well: it was the pair's first 12-inch LP; their first album devoted entirely to ballads; the first "concept album", a programme of songs designed to be heard in a particular sequence that sustains a mood and suggests a story; the introduction of Sinatra's definitive "saloon singer" persona; and the first flowering of Sinatra's mature artistic sensibility. Oh, and it's a masterpiece, too. The cover portrait suggests the mood of late-night desolation almost as effectively as the music, with Sinatra in the corner, smoking a solitary cigarette on deserted street illuminated only by the a foggy, blue-green glow of lamplight. Loneliness, thy name is Frank! (They say that memories of Ava Gardner caused him to break down after finishing this aching version of "When Your Lover Has Gone".) Riddle's clarinet theme for "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is as haunting as Cole Porter's melody itself. And if there's a more devastating evocation of solitude than "It Never Entered My Mind", well, it must be on Only the Lonely. With songs like "I'll Be Around" and "Dancing on the Ceiling" to suggest at least the hope of hope, Wee Small Hours may flirt with despair but never succumbs to it. It's the kind of comforting company that misery likes best. --Jim Emerson

CD Description
Recorded in 1955, this superbly arranged and sung set of slow ballads can lay claim to being the world's first "conceptalbum". Of course, in classical music, song cycles had beenaround since Schubert, but a whole set of pop tunes arranged around a central theme or mood was something new in popular music. With the advent of the LP in 1953, commercial pop music was beginning to take itself seriously. As to be expected, Frank Sinatra did it first and best.
Sinatra is in utter command of this material--vocally relaxed yet focused onconveying what these hand-picked "torch" songs still have to say to the modern listener. Throughout he projects his signature manly vulnerability without seeming maudlin or even sentimental. The singer is helped immeasurably in this task by Nelson Riddle's deftly scored chamber arrangements which include brilliant use of celeste and guitar on several tracks(cf. Alec Wilder's "I'll Be Around", Kay Swift's "Can't We Be Friends".) A must for any listener even remotely interested in the Great American Songbook.

Customer Reviews

Classic Sinatra singing songs of loneliness and despair
"In the Wee Small Hours" was the very first 12" album Frank Sinatra recorded, a superb collection of ballads arranged by Nelson Riddle that went to the top of the charts in 1955. Riddle created a melancholy sound that perfectly suited these songs of loneliness and despair, and which showcased Sinatra's sudden maturity as a vocalist. Everybody who could read a newspaper or listen to a gossip on the phone knew that Sinatra's love affair with actress Ava Gardner had ended badly, and it was impossible not to have that tabloid fact provide his singing with an obvious poignancy with this selection of songs. However, what was important was that Sinatra had raised his singing to a whole new level, showing a mastery of phrasing that would define the rest of his career. Special mention needs to be made of the piano work by Bill Miller, which also stands out in Riddle's sparse arrangements.

In addition to the title song by Bob Hilliard & David Mann, there are a series of standards of this type such as Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," Cole Porter's "What is this Thing Called Love?," Arlen & Harbaurg's "Last Night When We Were Young," and a trio of Rodgers & Hart tunes. My vote for the best track would go to Hoagy Carmichael's "I Get Along Without You Very Well," a song that epitomizes the mood of the entire album and highlights Sinatra's singing prowess. With the "In the Wee Small Hours" album the crooner who had been the heartthrob of the nation's Bobbysoxers gave way to the saloon singer who became one of the most important musical figure of the 20th century (Bing Crosby, Elvis, and the Beatles are the others who define that ultimate level). This is a must have album for Sinatra fans, the oldest record on my list of ten essential Sinatra albums.

Frank at his best
During the 50's Sinatra made three seminal albums, Songs for Swinging Lovers, Come Fly With Me, and this...In the Wee Small Hours. This is just THE perfect album for those late nights when you have nothing else to do but relax with a good bottle of what ever you fancy (Frank would approve of a Bourbon or two) and losing yourself in this simply superb set.
Sinatra sings for the lost and the lonely, and no-one and I mean NO-ONE does it any better than this. Every note is sung from the heart and every note connects. The Chairman of The Board was truly at the top of his game when he made this and it shows.
Accompanied by the brilliant Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra this is big band swing does the blues and it works supremely well.
Quite simply put...brilliant!

This is why Sinatra is a Legend!
First off let me say I am 23 years old and my music collection includes Oasis, Pearl Jam, Fat Boy Slim, Pink Floyd, U2 etc. I think the main reason that young people today think that Sinatra is very sad is because the only experience they have of him is him wailing through 'My Way' about 20 years after his voice had long left him. Please understand: Sinatra in the 80s and 90s is appaling - he lost it completely. However in the 50s Sinatra was absolutley amazing! He had the greatest songwriters EVER working with him and his Nelson Riddle arranged albums are outstanding. This is a sombre album with lyrics which are just as relevant today and still feel contemparary. A case in point is "Can't We Be Friends", a song based on what women say after they've ripped out your heart. It actually makes you feel BETTER during bad times, not worse. If you want the more upbeat lively side of Sinatra you can't beat SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS. Remember: When buying Sinatra, get 50s albums and avoid new 'compilation' albums like the plague!