[6] By the early 1950s, Sinatra saw his career in decline, his teen "bobby soxer" audience having lost interest in him as he entered his late 30s.

Against the wishes of his colleagues, on March 14, 1953, vice president of A&R at Capitol Alan Livingston signed Sinatra to a seven-year deal.

[8] The deal proved to be a success; later that year in August, Sinatra appeared as Private Angelo Maggio in the film From Here to Eternity.

[12] Riddle credited Sinatra's loss of Gardner with his ability to sing the type of songs contained in this album.

[15] Sinatra's vision for the album distinguished him from many other pop acts of the time, most of whom put out records that were little more than collections of already released singles.

Thus, the sessions intended for album releases tended to be more serious, with a focus on artistic experimentation rather than strict commercial success.

[16] In the Wee Small Hours was recorded before stereophonic technology, but the fidelity of this monophonic album feels "warm" to modern ears.

Guitarist George Van Eps recalls that Sinatra stopped a session after singing only a few notes because he felt his voice did not have "the right sound" at the time.

"[21] Sinatra also carefully sequenced the songs, with input from Miller and Riddle, for the LP he personally referred to as "the Ava album.

[22] Slight technical imperfections by Sinatra have been found in this recording, but the overall emotional effect compensates completely, so that the listener attributes any shortcomings to the sincere human expressions of the singer.

[23] "I Get Along Without You Very Well" is an "exquisitely ironic" piece written by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics based on a poem by Jane Brown Thompson.

Although Sinatra's relationship with Gardner ended badly, author James Kaplan suggests this song set the album's mood of "capitulation, not retaliation".

[19] "I See Your Face Before Me" was Nelson Riddle's favorite and was the first song he arranged: he created a setting for it while at Ridgefield High School.

[14] Perhaps given as kindly advice by a person of experience,[17] Jonathan Schwartz believes the album refrains from being "mushy" but instead presents the material in a stately manner.

[27] Sinatra's next album, Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, seems to follow up on this promise by depicting an individual who is "free to enjoy women again".

[48] Since 1998, recognizing Sinatra's enduring worldwide popularity, In the Wee Small Hours has been reissued several times on vinyl, compact disc, and digital download.

[58] Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented in AllMusic that the album had an authentic melancholy mood, and is "one of Sinatra's most jazz-oriented performances".

[11] Jazz historian Scott Yanow described the album as "Sinatra often mourning lost love and sounding a bit desolate but ultimately hopeful.

"[60] Writing for The New Yorker, Andy Friedman credits In the Wee Small Hours with changing the purpose of an LP from a mere collection of singles into an art form capable of high literature.

John Rockwell believes it was this album, because of the genuine emotional palette on display, that changed the perception of the "validity" of the ill-fated romance.

[29] Based largely on Sinatra's reputation, this album helped change the "tough guy" image, allowing for a larger range of acceptable emotional responses from men, which might previously have been perceived as for wimps.

[66] Directly before Sinatra's funeral service, songs from "the Ava album" were played by a trio led by Bill Miller.

[67] The title track, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", has been recorded by a number of artists following Sinatra's version, including Johnny Hartman, Astrud Gilberto, Lou Rawls, Carly Simon, Art Blakey, Count Basie and His Orchestra, Andy Williams, Wes Montgomery, Ruby Braff, Jamie Cullum, John Mayer, Susan Wong, Curtis Stigers (on his 2009 album Lost in Dreams) and many others.

[73] His second album, The Heart of Saturday Night, released in 1974, features a cover artwork painted by Lynn Lascaro that is based on In the Wee Small Hours'.

[75][76] The New Bomb Turks' 1993 split 7-inch vinyl with Sinister Six features a black and white photo manipulation of In the Wee Small Hours' original album artwork.

[75] Subsonics' 1993 album Good Violence features a new interpretation of In the Wee Small Hours' cover art, painted by band members Buffi Aguero and Ronald Skutt, but with Sinatra holding a syringe instead of a cigarette.

[75] In the Wee Small Hours' album cover appears in the 2001 Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky during the final scene when Tom Cruise's character David Aames jumps off a building and sees his life flashing by.

[75] Canadian-American ambient rock band Vision Eternel also based the cover artwork of their 2020 concept extended play For Farewell of Nostalgia on In the Wee Small Hours', this one features an illustration by American painter Michael Koelsch.

[79][80] Willie Nelson's 2021 release That's Life has a cover art painted by Paul Mann that is again based on In the Wee Small Hours.

[81] Bill Miller (p); Paul Smith (vlc); George Van Eps (g); Phil Stephens (b); Alvin Stoller (d).