If you feel sad and lonely you're not the only one. Sinatra is too..on this wonderful album. It was a time of his life when he broke up with Ava Gardner (the only woman he ever truely loved).
Ol' Blue Eyes is singin' songs of Rodgers and Hart (Glad To Be Unhappy, It Never Entered My Mind and Dancing On The Ceiling), Cole Porter (What Is This Thing Called Love?), Hoagy Carmichael (I Get Along Without You Very Well), Duke Ellington (Mood Indigo) and newly written title songs by Hilliard and Mann.
It's a nice collection of ballads arranged by great Nelson Riddle. The first album he recorded for Capitol.

People can say whatever they want about Frank Sinatra the man (and they always will, you can count on it. So much so that I don't even feel the need to comment), but the fact'a the matter is that nobody, but NOBODY could get to the real, true heart of a lyric like him. Not one singer of his era could make you feel that in spite'a the riches he had, the women he had, an' the incredible life he'd been afforded, that he was still jus' like you; that he cried like you, that he grieved like you, that he sat in the same chairs you did, smoked the same cigarettes you did, downed the same hard liquor you did and lost the same great love you did; felt the same heartache you did. Thas' jus' it. He felt it like we felt it. The title track sets you up for the quiet and contemplative night ahead of you. In 'Mood Indigo' when he sings "cause there's nobody who cares about me" the pain in his voice is so convincing you almost hafta toast to the man who, as I said before, felt it like we felt it. The same can be said for 'Glad to be Unhappy'; the lyrics possess some'a the power, but it's his voice that is the greatest gift; the way that he strokes and caresses each note as gently as you would stroke that lovely lost one. You can almost see him shutting his eyes as he sings the words, a hand up in the air, imagining that very act; longing for it and shedding a tear because it's gone.'Deep in a Dream' paints the picture even clearer lyrically ("the smoke makes a stairway for you to descend" - maaaaan, thas' beautiful stuff). He asked that eternal question for us 'What is this Thing Called Love?' an' asked "why should it make a fool of me?". We ask ourselves that bitterly (I know I do), an' a lesser singer might'a sang it that way, but when he asks it, he asks it beautifully, poignantly, he makes the question to yourself into art. His take on 'I'll Be Around' is prolly my favorite on this particular album; I was only familiar with Al Hibbler's great version prior to this, but Frank outdoes it in my opinion. This is jus' an eternally beautiful classic suite of songs for those reflective and lonely "wee small hours"; hours that for me would have been unbearable were it not for this comforting, soothing album, because "that's the time you miss her most of all". It brings tears to your eyes, but it's also good company to clutch on to an' help you make it to see the morning. Ya'know why? Do I really gotta say it again? He FELT it like WE felt it.

So brilliant, and soul stirring. What genius to pair Sinatra with Nelson Riddle!

The teaming of these two is the start of an era that sealed Frank's place as an American Icon.

The mood is a sweet, somber, sorrowful sensation! And oh so smooth and soothing...

I don't think any other team could have pulled this off!