charles granata opines that this album of ballads best defines sinatra and the era in which it was recorded. 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, and many others. a cover version of the title track is also featured as the last track on curtis stigers' 2009 album, lost in dreams. in his autobiography, b.b. king speaks about how he was a "sinatra nut" and how he went to bed every night listening to "in the wee small hours." tom waits has named it one of his favourite albums. his album "the heart of saturday night" features cover artwork based on "in the wee small hours". per the biography "divided soul," marvin gaye cited it as a favorite and an inspiration for his posthumously released "ballad" album "vulnerable" along with billie holiday's "lady in satin."