Maps of Music

In the Wee Small Hours (1955)

Where the lyrics of In the Wee Small Hours take you, and where it was really made.

Sinatra made this album while his personal life was falling apart, and the record's bleak mood became the reason it is often called one of the first concept albums.

Key places

Five recording sessions in Hollywood (1955)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — The album was recorded in five sessions at KHJ Studios in Hollywood. The sessions were held in Studio C, a smaller room designed for small ensembles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• In the Wee Small Hours: ninth studio album by Frank Sinatra
• Released 25 April 1955 by Capitol Records
• Produced by Voyle Gilmore, arrangements by Nelson Riddle
• Themes: introspection, melancholy, lost love, failed relationships, depression, night life
• Often called one of the first concept albums
• Cover: Sinatra alone on a deserted city street under blue-tinged street lights

Background

• By the early 1950s, Sinatra's career was in decline as his teen audience lost interest
• Capitol vice president of A&R Alan Livingston signed Sinatra to a seven-year deal on March 14, 1953
• Role in From Here to Eternity (1953) brought him an Academy Award
• Before this album, Sinatra recorded two 10-inch LPs with Capitol, Songs for Young Lovers and Swing Easy!
• His relationship with Ava Gardner was ending during this period
• Riddle credited Sinatra's loss of Gardner with his ability to sing the type of songs contained in this album

Recording

• Recorded in five sessions at KHJ Studios, Hollywood
• Sessions held on February 8, 16, 17 and April 1, 4, starting at 8:00 P.M.
• Recorded in Studio C, a smaller room for small ensembles
• Recorded before stereo technology, in monophonic sound
• Sinatra was very tense during the recording and reportedly broke down after the master take of When Your Lover Has Gone
• Pianist Bill Miller managed the sessions from his instrument

Cover

• The artwork was designed to set the mood of the music
• Sinatra's snap-brim fedora is pushed back, suggesting resignation and openness
• The artwork is reminiscent of film noir poster art and hardboiled/pulp fiction book covers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• 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.

Career

• 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.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album was popular on its release
• It received immediate critical acclaim on its release
• Capitol executives worried that an album of dark material might turn off record buyers

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in AllMusic that the album had an authentic melancholy mood, calling it one of Sinatra's most jazz-oriented performances
• Jazz historian Scott Yanow described Sinatra as often mourning lost love and sounding a bit desolate but ultimately hopeful
• Andy Friedman in The New Yorker credited the album with changing the purpose of an LP from a mere collection of singles into an art form
• Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums voted it number 359 in 2000
• Rolling Stone ranked it number 100 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003
• Rolling Stone later moved it to number 101 in 2012, then to number 282 in 2020 and kept it at 282 in 2023

Records

• Peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 18 weeks
• Highest-charting Sinatra album since Songs by Sinatra
• Re-entered the Billboard album charts in August 1962
• Certified Gold by the RIAA on September 6, 2002, meaning it shipped over 500,000 units

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Sinatra meant this to be his first 12-inch LP, but it first came out as a two-volume set of 10-inch LPs
• Capitol executives were concerned that an entire album of dark material would disaffect the record-buying public
• Tom Waits placed it first on a list of favorite albums
• Lester Young heard the title song in a record shop and left muttering that he had to record it himself on his next session
• The album's mood is credited to Sinatra's failing relationship with Ava Gardner, which is why some call its songs the Ava Songs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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