How Frank Sinatra Invented the Album

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00:00 Intro
00:48 Title Card
00:55 Context
01:51 Something More
02:26 Concept
03:06 Title Track
03:46 Creating the Mood
04:11 I Get Along Without You Very Well
04:43 No Persona
06:27 Album Artwork
07:04 Printing
07:50 Conclusion

[erikfleischmann]

Dude at this point your videos are so good it's insane. Not only is the information interesting, it's also so freaking well presented. I almost watch your videos more for the animations and the theme every video has, than for the content itself. It's like every single one of your videos is an artwork - from the intro (that gets me to insta-like the vid every single time), to the font and colors you use, to the smooth transitions between songs.
Please keep up the really great work!

[robjones]

In the 1950s, FS made four peerless albums which were known as the Suicide Sets :-

In The Wee Small Hours
Where Are You?
Only The Lonely
No One Cares

Each album was progressively bleaker. I've listened to Swans, Joy Division, Nick Drake,
Neil Young, Iggy, Lou Reed, and Scott Walker, at their most forlorn.

None of them have matched those albums.
It speaks volumes that FS' personal favourite was "Only The Lonely".
He admitted he was a 24-carat manic depressive, and "Songs For Swingin' Lovers"
plus "Only The Lonely" are truly two sides of his real personality.

"I Could've Told You" from late 1953 was a foretaste of things to come.
Three days earlier, he slashed his wrists over the failure of his marriage to Ava Gardner.
He would've bled to death, if his manager hadn't decided to visit his house by chance.

After that terrible incident, he recorded this beautifully desolate song.
It is truly heartbreaking, especially the events leading up to it.

No male singer before or since has captured the essence of loneliness better than
Frank.

[yummyjackalmeat]

it's the first album listed in the book 1, 000 albums you must hear before you die.

[firiammigueroa]

polyphonic: “let’s take a closer look”
me: 🔍👀

[ronburgundy]

If there's ever biopic about Frank Sinatra, "In the Wee Small Hours" would be the perfect title.

[jacksonwages]

I think you might want to say that the influence of the album art came from Edward Hopper. You used his art earlier in the video, and lots of his artwork was very parallel to the songs on this album.

[thschool]

so wait a minute, does this mean evolution of album went full 180 and backwards because all we have now are bunch of singles compiled into spotify playlists

[daveteves]

Does anybody else think that Frank Sinatra deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?. Pop stars have been in the hall and i think Sinatra is as important as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Sinatra embodies the rock star way before rock and roll was invented.

[MrGTalso]

Would love to see you dissect Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On album

[danza]

Wow Polyphonic, Lie Likes Music, and Middle 8 in one day

[enriquerodriguez]

Frank Sinatra was so Iconic, I wish I was alive to see him in concert. He is what has gotten me through all the struggles of high school, This album, In the Wee Small Hours as well as Songs for Swinging Lovers has to be my favorites, both masterpieces depicting such strong emotions through every single song. Rest In Peace. Ol' Blue Eyes

[SoulStBlues]

Wow you can hear the tremble in his voice in "When You Lover Has Gone". That's not a subtle vibrato.

[jmorales]

Honestly, I've been kinda avoiding Sinatra because I always saw his music as just happy, run of the mill pop, but this video is making me rethink that.

[Violetcas]

Much as I adore this record, there's something to be said of Woody Guthrie's "Dust Bowl Ballads" as being the first real album back in 1940, fifteen years before In the Wee Small Hours.

[gabe_ed]

I can't believe you made this, totally unexpected, this is one of my favorite albums of all time, if not THE favorite. I had literally spent dozens of nights just listening to this album again and again and again... I discovered it in a moment of my life where loneliness and sadness were taking over me and helped me a lot to go through all that, it's literally how loneliness in a cold night sounds...
I'm going to give it a listen now! It's been a while since the last time I did...
Thank you!!!

[AndersEngerJensen]

Damn, I love how you paint with your story with the graphics and animation of cover elements! That’s some heavy photoshopping to create all those parts. Top notch! 😎

[marcscordato]

Such a lovely era in popular music. I’ve not heard good things about Sinatra on a personal level but what a beautiful voice he had. Fascinating subject matter very well done.

[willanderson]

Man, I couldn't have said it any better myself. In The Wee Small Hours has been my favourite album for quite some time now and seeing someone as verbally talented as you expressing how great it is literally brought a tear to my eye. Thank you, Polyphonic!

[ouisouis]

In The Wee Small Hours is one of absolute favourite albums ever!

[GuadalupePicasso]

If I’m not mistaken, BB King had said that this was his favorite album, and that he would listen to it, in full, at least once a day.