Frank Sinatra | In The Wee Small Hours (1955)

———————-

Label | Capitol

Producer | Voyle Gilmore

Art Direction | Tommy Steele

Nationality | USA

Running Time | 50:25

————————

#1001beforeyoudiecollection

“In the early 1950s, Frank Sinatra was washed up ——- unable even to land a regular nightclub gig, much less a record contract. His saviour arrived just in time.

Alan Livingston, then VP of A&R at Capitol Records and a confirmed Sinatra fan, signed him to a seven-year deal on March 14, 1953, against the advice of every colleague whose opinion he sought.

Sinatra’s Oscar-winning turn in From Here To Eternity the same year showed Livingston’s prescience. It also signaled the singer’s second chance, which he grabbed with Songs For Young Lovers and Swing Easy. Both are fine sets, but they are most notable because they introduced Sinatra —- initially against his

wishes —- to a young arranger named Nelson Riddle. 1001 Before You Die Collection

#sourceourbookscollection

In The Wee Small Hours arrived not long after Sinatra’s relationship with Ava Gardner collapsed, and it is this split that defines perhaps the all-time greatest brake-up album. The wisecracking, finger-snapping Sinatra of popular legend is absent; this is a man alone. Record store clerks who filed Sinatra under easy listening had surely never heard the barfly confessional of “Can’t We By Friends?” much less the pleading take on Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love.” Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” meanwhile, never sounded bluer.

#1transcribedtext, #a1culturel

Riddle frames this melancholy 😔 in wondrously delicate arrangements on what, in hindsight, is the first record where the pair really clicked. Others would fallow, though in a new and —-then-exotic format. Initially issued as two 10-inch discs, In The Wee Small Hours was soon 🔜 reissued in 12-inch format, inadvertently ushering in the album era.”(1001albumsyoumusthear/22|23 – The Fifties – updated edition – 2016)

#1001andmore #1001ALBUMS1

About photographies:

1). Cover of album 💿 ;

2). List of songs from the album;

3). Sinatra’s photography

Listen 👂