After Midnight (Nat King Cole album)

After Midnight
Studio album by Nat King Cole
Released	1957 (1957)
Recorded	August–September 1956
Studio	Capitol, Hollywood [1]
Genre	Jazz
Length	43:41
Label	Capitol
Nat King Cole chronology
This Is Nat King Cole (1957) After Midnight (1957) Just One Of Those Things (1957)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

After Midnight is a 1957 jazz album by "Nat King Cole and his trio" on Capitol Records. It peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums chart. The Penguin Guide to Jazz listed the album as part of its suggested "core collection". ^[3]

Release history

Initially, the album was released in a 33rpm LP version as well as in a set of four (7-inch) 45rpm discs. In 1987, five previously unreleased tracks recorded at the same original sessions were added as bonus tracks to the Capitol Records CD re-release, titled The Complete After Midnight Sessions. Some later re-issues, under the title After Midnight, The Complete Session or simply After Midnight, also include one or more alternate take(s) with the 17 songs from the original 1956 recording sessions. ^{[4] [5]} There are also at least three other reissues with 18, 19 and 21 tracks.

Track listing

LP release

LP side A:

1. "Just You, Just Me" (Greer, Raymond Klages) – 3:00
2. "Sweet Lorraine" (Burwell, Parish) – 4:33
3. "Sometimes I'm Happy" (Caesar, Youmans) – 4:11
4. "Caravan" (Ellington, Mills, Tizol) – 2:45
5. "It's Only a Paper Moon" (Arlen, Harburg, Rose) – 3:06
6. "You're Looking at Me" (Troup) – 4:12

LP side B:

1. "Lonely One" (Hambro, Roberta Heller) – 3:45
2. "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" (Henry Hadamik, Frank LaVere, Bob Nast) – 3:11
3. "I Know That You Know" (Youmans, Caldwell) – 2:28
4. "Blame It on My Youth" (Levant, Heyman) – 4:06
5. "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" (Hammerstein, Romberg) – 4:33
6. "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" (Troup) – 3:41

A later reissue of the album did not contain "Sometimes I'm Happy (Sometimes I'm Blue)" and "When I Grow Too Old to Dream". ^{[6] [7]}

Four 7-inch 45rpm discs release

Disc 1 ^[8]

A1. "Sometimes I'm Happy (Sometimes I'm Blue)"

B1. "Just You, Just Me"

B2. "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"

Disc 2

C1. "Lonely One"

C2. "I Know That You Know"

D1. "Sweet Lorraine"

Disc 3

E1. "You're Looking At Me"

F1. "Caravan"

F2. "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66"

Disc 4

G1. "It's Only a Paper Moon"

G2. "Don't Let It Go To Your Head"

H1. "Blame It On My Youth"

1987 CD release, The Complete After Midnight Sessions

1. "Just You, Just Me
2. "Sweet Lorraine"
3. "Sometimes I'm Happy (Sometimes I'm Blue)"
4. "Caravan"
5. "It's Only a Paper Moon"
6. "You're Looking at Me"
7. "Lonely One"
8. "Don't Let It Go to Your Head"
9. "I Know That You Know"
10. "Blame It on My Youth"
11. "When I Grow Too Old to Dream"
12. "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66"

Bonus tracks (taken from the same 1956 recording sessions):

13. "I Was a Little Too Lonely (And You Were a Little Too Late)" (Evans, Livingston) – 3:02
14. "You Can Depend on Me" (Carpenter, Dunlap, Hines) – 3:55
15. "What Is There to Say?" (Duke, Harburg) – 3:37
16. "Two Loves Have I" (Scotto, Barry Trivers, Jack Murray) – 2:47
17. "Candy" (Kramer, David, Whitney) – 3:54

Personnel

• Nat King Cole – piano, vocals
• John Collins – guitar
• Charlie Harris – bass
• Lee Young – drums
• Willie Smith – alto saxophone on "Just You, Just Me," "You're Looking at Me", "Don't Let it Go to Your Head" and "I Was a Little Too Lonely"
• Harry Edison – trumpet on "Sweet Lorraine", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "Route 66", "You Can Depend on Me" and "Candy"
• Juan Tizol – trombone on "Caravan", "Lonely One", "Blame It on My Youth" and "What is There to Say"
• Stuff Smith – violin on "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know That You Know", "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" and "Two Loves Have I"
• Jack Costanzo – bongos on "Caravan" and "Lonely One"

Release information

• Capitol Records W-782 (33rpm LP)
• Capitol Records EAP-782 (album of four 7-inch 45rpm discs)
• Capitol Records CDP 7 48328 2 (1987 Compact Disc, The Complete After Midnight Sessions)
• Blue Note 20087 (1999 Compact Disc, After Midnight, the Complete Session)
• Analogue Productions CAPP 782 SA (2010 hybrid mono SACD, After Midnight)
• Analogue Productions AAPP 782–45 (2010 45rpm 12-inch LPs (x3), After Midnight)

References

1. Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco, California, USA: Chronicle Books. pp. 26–27. ISBN   0-8118-3394-1.
2. After Midnight at AllMusic
3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 272. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
4. Nat 'King' Cole And His Trio - After Midnight: The Complete Session, April 1, 2004, retrieved June 15, 2025
5. "Nat 'King' Cole and his Trio • After Midnight, Nat 'King' Cole • Just One of Those Things". The Audio Beat. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
6. After Midnight (W 782) at discogs.com 1
7. After Midnight (W 782) at discogs.com 2
8. After Midnight (EAP 782) at discogs.com

External links

• "Nat King Cole: 'After Midnight,' 'Best of the Nat King Cole Trio' (Blue Note & First Choice)", Commentary by A. B. Spellman and Murray Horwitz for NPR's "Basic Jazz Record Library"