Day 413: Frank Sinatra – In the Wee Small Hours
Occasionally I like to use 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die to find what album I’d like to listen to, and today I thought I’d listen to the first album on the list by the crooner king, Frank Sinatra. In the Wee Small Hours has also been referred to as one of the first concept albums, and as a concept album appreciator, I’d like to see where they originated from.
Album cover courtesy of Capitol
I covered Frank Sinatra’s Christmas album on day 115, so I’ll jump straight into the album. In 1950, Sinatra was married to his first wife Nancy Barbato, but he was having an affair with film star Ava Gardner, and they weren’t exactly slick about it – on their first night together, they got arrested for going on a drunk joyride and shooting out streetlights and shop windows. Sinatra divorced his wife in 1951 and married Ava Gardner a few days after his divorce. The pope publicly condemned the relationship.
Their relationship was tempestuous and both parties were drinking heavily and having affairs, so they broke up after a few years together, after which Sinatra started working on In the Wee Small Hours. The album was built from the Great American Songbook to feature songs that detail heartbreak and the sadness that follows it, as well as still being in love with someone who doesn’t love you back anymore. The album was released in 1955 as Sinatra’s ninth studio album, and it broke a commercial slump that he’d been in for a number of years, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200.
The next time I’m heartbroken I know this will go double platinum in my household, it has to be up there as one of the best breakup albums of all time. It’s not the sort of album that is overly dramatic, it feels more like it’ll be a pleasant companion to share your sadness with. Sixteen songs about heartbreak spanning nearly 50 minutes could easily be too much, but there’s something about this one that just never feels overwhelming. It’s done in a way that feels elegant, not too mushy or depressing but just perfectly melancholic for the occasion.
To fumble such a generational baddie as Ava Gardner must be life altering, I’d be doing sad albums too. Jesus. Anyway, In the Wee Small Hours is a 9/10, but in the right mood I’m sure it’d be a 10.