Number 3 is the Louvin Brothers' Tragic Songs of Life...

...and it is the first album that I've never heard of and indeed it is by a duo I've never heard of. As well revisiting albums I'm fond of, and discovering gems by artists I like this is one of the driving forces behind my trawl through these 1001 albums. Something new that is potentially great!

Another album from 1956 the reviews suggest that it will echo Sinatra's Wee Small Hours effort in that it is a concept themed around lost love. There are twelve country tracks on the record.

Sinatra & Elvis...

Both the first two albums were by well known artists with collections of mostly obscure songs. Both collections showcase two of the voices from the first decades of modern music. Despite lacking stand out songs both are worthy of repeated listens as you are exposed to authentic 1950s Americana and the vagaries of love - modern music's enduring theme.

Elvis Presley...

Rock 'n roll's first number one album. 'Blue Suede Shoes' is the most well known song from this collection that skips through a number of styles but hangs together well as Elvis defines the rock 'n roll genre with his boy moons after girl, boys meets girl, boy reluctantly spends cash on girl, boy finishes with girl, boy loses girl, boy wants girl back short snappy songs.

Oh yeah, if you wanna be kissed,
Well, you gotta kiss me, too.
'Cause I ain't for no one-sided love affair.

So on to number 2.... Elvis Presley's eponymous debut album from 1956...

...which originally contained twelve songs. My version is a reissue and has eighteen but I will listen to the original twelve.

I recognise some of the tracks, but other than 'Blue Suede Shoes' possibly by other artists, and may or may not have listened to the album as an album before.

In the Wee Small Hours...

...is very much an album for the wee small hours. A pean to lost love, each song a melancholy slice of the singer's broken heart. Sinatra's voice is perfect for this collection of ballads. That voice sits atop Riddle's blue arrangements delivered by small ensemble strings, a rhythm section and Bill Miller's piano. The listener experiences a lover desperately grasping after what has passed in what was the first classic concept album.

What lonely hours, with memories lingering
Like faded flowers, life can't mean anything
When your lover has gone

No. 1 Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours

This album released in 1955 contains sixteen tracks arranged by Nelson Riddle.

I don't remember having ever sat down and listened to this one but do recognise some of the tracks.

The plan...

...is to listen to the albums one by one starting from...