In the Wee Small Hours

by Frank Sinatra

Overview

Expanding on the concept of Songs for Young Lovers!, In the Wee Small Hours was a collection of ballads arranged by Nelson Riddle. The first 12" album recorded by Sinatra, Wee Small Hours was more focused and concentrated than his two earlier concept records. It's a blue, melancholy album, built around a spare rhythm section featuring a rhythm guitar, celesta, and Bill Miller's piano, with gently aching strings added every once and a while. Within that melancholy mood is one of Sinatra's most jazz-oriented performances -- he restructures the melody and Miller's playing is bold throughout the record. Where Songs for Young Lovers! emphasized the romantic aspects of the songs, Sinatra sounds like a lonely, broken man on In the Wee Small Hours. Beginning with the newly written title song, the singer goes through a series of standards that are lonely and desolate. In many ways, the album is a personal reflection of the heartbreak of his doomed love affair with actress Ava Gardner, and the standards that he sings form their own story when collected together. Sinatra's voice had deepened and worn to the point where his delivery seems ravished and heartfelt, as if he were living the songs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	12/01/2023
Label:	Universal
UPC:	4988031592557
Rank:	51737

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Frank Sinatra   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Ann Mason Stockton   Harp
Richard Perissi   French Horn
Erno Neufeld   Violin
Joseph Saxon   Cello
Victor Bay   Violin
James Arkatov   Cello
James Williamson   Reeds
Stan Harris   Viola
Phil Stevens   Bass
Bart Caldarell   Reeds
Alvin Stoller   Drums
Edgar Lustgarten   Cello
Paul Nero   Violin
Ted Nash   Reeds
Paul Smith   Celeste
Alvin Dinkin   Viola
Arthur "Skeets" Herfurt   Reeds
Joe Comfort   Bass
Felix Slatkin   Violin
John Graas   French Horn
John Cave   French Horn
Lou Singer   Drums
Nelson Riddle   Conductor
Marshall Sosson   Violin
Walter Edelstein   Violin
Maxine Johnson   Viola
Mischa Russell   Violin
Mike Rubin   Bass
Tommy Pederson   Trombone
Cy Bernard   Cello
Champ Webb   Reeds
David Frisina   Violin
Harry Klee   Reeds
Raphael Kramer   Cello
Babe Russin   Reeds
George Van Eps   Guitar
Armand Kaproff   Cello
George Kast   Violin
Henry Hill   Violin
David Sterkin   Viola
Morty Corb   Bass
Kurt Reher   Cello
Harry "Sweets" Edison   Trumpet
Paul Shure   Violin
Eudice Shapiro   Violin
Nathan Ross   Violin
George Poole   Flute
Harry Bluestone   Violin
Eleanor Slatkin   Cello
Vincent DeRosa   French Horn
Kathryn Julye   Harp
Joseph Eger   French Horn
Alex Beller   Violin
Paul Robyn   Viola
Arthur Gleghorn   Flute
Luella Howard   Flute
Jules Kinsler   Flute
Francis Howard   Trombone
Bobby Gibbons   Guitar
Edward Gilbert   Bass
Mahlon Clark   Reeds
Morton Friedman   Reeds
Frank Carlson   Drums

Technical Credits

Einar Aaron Swan   Composer
Albany Bigard   Composer
Henry Sanicola   Composer
David Mann   Composer
Sol Parker   Composer
Cole Porter   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Frank Signorelli   Composer
Einar A. Swan   Composer
Voyle Gilmore   Producer
Lorenz Hart   Composer
Howard Dietz   Composer
James Van Heusen   Composer
Nelson Riddle   Arranger
Pete Welding   Liner Notes
Kay Swift   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bob Hilliard   Composer
Eddie DeLange   Composer
Irving Mills   Composer
Tommy Steele   Art Direction
Alec Wilder   Composer
Dave Mann   Composer
Arthur Schwartz   Composer
Gus Kahn   Composer
Hoagy Carmichael   Composer
Ted Koehler   Composer
Bob Norberg   Remastering
Larry Walsh   Remastering
Barney Bigard   Composer
Barry Parker   Composer
Frank Sinatra   Composer
E.Y. "Yip" Harburg   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Matty Malneck   Composer
William Claxton   Photography
Paul James   Composer
P.D. James   Composer