Why I Think Sinatra's "Wee Small Hours" Album is So Great

[Teasing the Korean]

When singers are young, they may have youthful, pleasing, pliable voices, but they don't always effectively communicate experience.

When singers can communicate experience, they are often older, and don't always have the most pleasing voices.

Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours album captures Frank at a perfect point:  He was still relatively young - 39, if my math is correct - but he had some experience under his belt, e.g., losing his Columbia contract and getting dumped by Ava. 

Frank made many, many great albums.  But he never made an album like this one, before or after.  It is a singular album in his discography.

Edited July 15, 2023 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

I was not immediately that taken with it. It's still not my "go-to" for Sinara balladry. Those are all later in the game. 

But Riddle's charts run deep and I eventually warmed to it because of where they led me with the singing. 

[danasgoodstuff]

it's fine work by all involved, and the point in life Frank was at physically and emotionally is certainly part of that.

[Teasing the Korean]

9 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It's still not my "go-to" for Sinara balladry.

Agreed, but it is still a singular album because of the youth/experience factor.

[sonnymax]

I think it's a very good recording on any terms, although I slightly prefer the later Frank Sinatra Sings for Only The Lonely.

[Teasing the Korean]

I prefer Sinatra at Reprise, especially Ring a Ding with Johnny Mandel, and Swingin' Brass with Neal Hefti.  This does not change the fact that Wee Small Hours captures Frank at the perfect point between youth and experience.

[gmonahan]

18 hours ago, sonnymax said:

I think it's a very good recording on any terms, although I slightly prefer the later Frank Sinatra Sings for Only The Lonely.

Sinatra himself considered Only the Lonely to be his best work, and I agree, but I still adore Wee Small Hours, especially the title cut.

 

[JSngry]

I prefer the Capitol "I'm A Fool To Want You" to the original. Heresy, maybe, but oh well. 

Overall, it's more riveting to me when Sinatra acts out his psychoses in ballads rather than in swing. The ballads have more room to accommodate him, imo. 

[Larry Kart]

Whichever one has "Willow Weep For Me" is my favorite. Sinatras reading the lyric is to die for. The way the links those vowel sounds!

[JSngry]

That would be Only The Lonely. 

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

Sinatra himself considered Only the Lonely to be his best work, and I agree, but I still adore Wee Small Hours, especially the title cut.

Please note I never said Wee Small Hours was his "best."  I said "singular."  That record captured Frank at a particular moment that blended youth and experience.

32 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I prefer the Capitol "I'm A Fool To Want You" to the original. Heresy, maybe, but oh well. 

I agree.  And whenever anyone puts down Gordon Jenkins, I direct them immediately to Where Are Your and No One Cares.

[JSngry]

Jenkins had a really narrow lane, but when he stayed in it, it worked.

Did you know his wife was a blues singer? 

[GA Russell]

Wee Small Hours was Tony Bennett's favorite Sinatra album.

[sgcim]

I have a special attachment to it because "This Love of Mine" is on it, and there was a big family story involving it.

My father was a guitarist (he left me a '35 D'Angelico) and songwriter back then, and they had a songwriting contest sponsored by Tommy Dorsey in NY, so he sends my aunt down to the hotel where the Dorsey band was playing to give them his best song, "This Love of Ours".

She goes up to Buddy Rich (who was Dorsey's drummer back then) and gives it to him, and he said he'll give them the music.

The next thing you know, "This Love of Mine" comes out with three names on it, Parker, Sanicola, and Sinatra. MY father went to a lawyer to see if he had a case , but the lawyer said they were too clever about how they changed it. I looked at it many decades after that, and the lawyer was right. They took the rhythm of the melody, and simply moved it up sequentially in pitch, so they were covered legally. Otherwise, the chord progression, most of the words, and the song structure were identical.

As long as the melody is changed, you ain't got a case.

My brother stupidly claimed on a You Tube video of the song that they stole it from our father, and Parker's son got on and started cursing him out saying, "you son of a bleeping bleep, how dare you claim my father stole that song from your father, etc...

I grew up with a strong distrust of the music biz as a result of that, which I believe was well-founded.

[Teasing the Korean]

18 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Jenkins had a really narrow lane, but when he stayed in it, it worked.

Did you know his wife was a blues singer? 

Yes, Beverly.  My Dad and Gordon were very good friends.  My Dad was his vocal contractor for sessions. I could tell you a lot of funny stories, and I may tell some here at some point.

[JSngry]

I still have yet to hear her impulse! album. 

[Teasing the Korean]

44 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I still have yet to hear her impulse! album. 

I've seen it, but I've never heard it either. You can listen to her vocal on "New York's My Home" from "Manhattan Tower" and decide how much of a "blues" singer she is.

[JSngry]

Oh, that part goes without questioning! 📀