AMF 1900-1959 Album Poll Results

[DaveC]

14 voters voted for 257 different albums.

Number of albums in the AMF top 50 not ranked on AM: 14 (of which 2 are classical)

Highest ranking for album not in AM: 9

Number of new entries (c.f. 2010 poll): 20

Highest new entry: 9

Albums dropping out of top 50:

2016..........2010........Album
Rank..........Rank

No votes.......48.........Pete Seeger-Darling Corey
No votes.......31.........Les Baxter-Le sacre du sauvage
No votes.......40.........Art Blakey-A Night at Birdland Vol. 1
230.............42.........Thelonious Monk-Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2
222.............41.........Bud Powell-The Amazing Bud Powell
140.............36.........Yma Sumac-Legend of the Sun Virgin
132.............38.........Charlie Parker-Charlie Parker with Strings
127.............50.........Georges Brassens-n°2 (Le Vent)
120.............47.........Thelonious Monk-Thelonious Monk Trio
112.............44.........Benny Goodman-The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
106.............49.........The Quintet-Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 1
103.............37.........Ella Fitzgerald-Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook
97..............45.........Bill Haley and His Comets-Rock Around the Clock
87..............21.........Clifford Brown-Study in Brown[/color]
79..............32.........Pérez Prado-Pérez Prado Plays Mucho Mambo for Dancing
76..............39.........Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds-Singin' in the Rain
75..............12.........Yma Sumac-Voice of the Xtabay
70..............33.........Ella Fitzgerald-Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
58..............29.........Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie-Bird & Diz
52..............35.........Dizzy Gillespie-Afro

[DaveC]

50. Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy

Year of release: 1954
Points: 119.11
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 57 (1629 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 43 (Change -7)
Biggest fans: Honorio(22)

Scott Yanow for AllMusic: This recording was not only Louis Armstrong's finest record of the 1950s but one of the truly classic jazz sets. Essential music for all serious jazz collections.



49. Champion Jack Dupree - Blues from the Gutter

Year of release: 1959
Points: 119.14
Voters: 4
AM 50s Albums Rank: 127 (2792 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: DaveC(18), nicolas(16)

Bill Dahl for AllMusic: The masterwork album of Champion Jack Dupree's long and prolific career. Cut in New York (in stereo!) with a blasting band that included saxist Pete Brown and guitarist Larry Dale, the Jerry Wexler-produced Atlantic collection provides eloquent testimony to Dupree's eternal place in the New Orleans blues and barrelhouse firmament. There's some decidedly down-in-the-alley subject matter -- "Can't Kick the Habit," "T.B. Blues," a revival of "Junker's Blues" -- along with the stomping "Nasty Boogie" and treatments of the ancient themes "Stack-O-Lee" and "Frankie & Johnny."



48. Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music

Year of release: 1958
Points: 120.52
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: 63 (1688 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: Brad(4)

Lindsay Planer for AllMusic: If his ability to swing and his utilization of atomic clock accuracy have ever been questioned, the answer lies no further. So utterly free and fantastic, certain passages command immediate review to be fully comprehended. Hearing Coltrane and Hawkins together is admittedly part of the charm in these sides. "Ruby, My Dear" is bathed in the smoky essence of Hawkins' rich textures and Coltrane's playful cat-and-mouse aggression. Blakey gently propels the rhythm, never getting in the way and sporting a serene snare groove throughout. "Off Minor" is largely led by Monk, with solos that follow into and out of the memorable chorus that sparkles with the full involvement of the horn and rhythm sections. The same is true for this definitive version of "Epistrophy" -- perhaps the zenith collaborative effort between Coltrane and Monk.



47. Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner - Concerto for Orchestra [Bartók]

Year of release: 1956
Points: 123.71
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(14), sonofsamiam(10)

npr: The Concerto for Orchestra has proven to be Bartok's most popular work, due in large part to the directness of its language. As the title suggests, the Concerto for Orchestra treats the various sections and solo instruments of the orchestra as if they were protagonists in a concerto. The idea goes back as far as the Baroque concerto grosso, but Bartok's idiom and scoring are entirely modern. Sooner or later, every principal player is called upon to solo, yet all this virtuosity is integrated into a work of deep expressive content. Even the excitement of the finale is tempered by feelings of mystery and urgency, conveyed via Bartok's tonal ambivalence — he uses modes other than the standard major and minor — and the acerbic quality of his orchestration.



46. Odetta - Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues

Year of release: 1956
Points: 124.44
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: DaveC(19)

Richie Unterberger for AllMusic: Odetta's debut album was a strong, confident effort featuring just her and her guitar on 16 tracks, most of which were traditional in origin. In its day, it was quite an influential recording; Bob Dylan, in fact, once cited this record in particular as the one that made him decide to trade in his electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustic guitar. Several of the songs would find their ways into the repertoires of subsequent folkies, and even some folk-rock bands. There's no way of knowing whether they heard the tunes first on this release, but it's entirely possible, as it was one of the first strong traditional folk LPs. It's now been reissued on CD, and retains a lot of its original appeal in the power and emotional depth of the performances.

[bonnielaurel]

Finally underway! The presentation looks neat. This is going to be a quality list. I know Odetta from her duet with Harry Belafonte. I have to listen to this album too.

[Dan]

And away we go! This is gonna be good.

Very sexy presentation.

[jamieW]

Thanks again for volunteering for the presentation, Dave - it looks great so far!

Also, I wanted to warn everyone in advance that, during the later stages, when I discovered a song that was in the wrong list/recorded after 1959/two or more versions of a song in the 1900-49 list/etc., I simply moved everything below it up a notch. In the case of some lists, this could make anywhere between a 1 to 5 notch difference (depending on how many I found), so the ranking in some lists will vary from where the voter ranked them. If there are any errors, I take full responsibility. (Dave already caught a couple of errors of mine that would've made a difference.) Hopefully, there aren't more...

[DaveC]

45. Moondog - Moondog and His Friends

Year of release: 1953
Points: 125.68
Voters: 2
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 30 (Change -15)
Biggest fans: DaveC(9), PlasticRam(6)

Review by bruklover on RYM: A fantastic study in rhythms and wordly sounds from the eccentric mind of Louis Hardin. Here we have Moondog playing short tracks in his own unique style. The first side of this LP is similar in feel to his work on Prestige but there is a little more instrumentation and piano,harp and various strings are introduced into the mix. As always the time structures are unusual and challenging and the sound is unmistakably that of Hardin. Side 2 features a couple of suites each in three parts that have more of a classical feel. They make for great late night listening. It is so good to see this man's early work being slowly reissued as it deserves to be heard and much more widely available



44. Chuck Berry - After School Session with Chuck Berry

Year of release: 1957
Points: 126.26
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: 50 (1527 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: PlasticRam(2)

Review by CrazyFoxMachine on RYM: It's taken me ages to actually sit down and listen to a Chuck Berry album and I was not at all disappointed. The charismatic and enduring rocker is amazing here, amazingly lyrically witty tunes wound around pleasant instrumentals. Havana Moon particularly was quite atmospheric - bordering on singer/songwriter material. Has aged remarkably well.



43. Lotte Lenya - Lotte Lenya singt Kurt Weill

Year of release: 1955
Points: 127.44
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 17 (Change -26)
Biggest fans: Honorio(5)

Honorio: More that twenty years after her exile, Lotte came back to Berlin to find it in a period of recovery but with the wounds still open. Aptly she took up again where she left, giving new life to the Kurt Weill songs from the old Weimar days, backing her fragile but expressive voice with out-of-tune pianos ("Bilbao Song") or amateur-sounding banjo and harmonium ("Moritat").



42. Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo [soundtrack]

Year of release: 1958
Points: 127.52
Voters: 2
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(15), notbrianeno(3)

Alex Ross of the New Yorker: The "Vertigo" score vastly enriches the images it accompanies, but it has also found a life outside the film. It can be heard on its own terms -- if not quite as a coherent narrative, then as a mesmerizing succession of fragments. Herrmann is a puzzling paradox: most of his ''serious'' compositions don't quite come off, yet his film scores can be taken seriously as concert music.



41. Little Richard - Little Richard

Year of release: 1958
Points: 129.59
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: Mindrocker(17), Dan(11), nicolas(18)

Mark Diming for AllMusic: Little Richard was too crazed to win over many suspicious parents in 1958, but thankfully it wails loud enough that no one was likely to hear them complain, and it still gets the party started 50 years on.

[DaveC]

40. Hank Williams - Memorial Album

Year of release: 1953
Points: 130.23
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 27 (Change -13)
Biggest fans: Miguel(3)

WikiPedia: Memorial Album is significant for being the first MGM retrospective of Hank Williams' career (issued after the singer's death on New Year's Day 1953). Only two LPs had been released under Williams' name during his lifetime, largely because singles were most valued in the country music business, but in the wake of his passing demand for his work increased. While Hank Williams Sings (1951) and Moanin' the Blues (1952) had contained several non-charting B-sides dating back to Hank's earliest recordings with the label, Memorial Album featured many of his most recent hits singles.



39. Patsy Cline - Patsy Cline

Year of release: 1957
Points: 135.37
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: andyd1010(8), DaveC(11)

Review by barlights on RYM: Although her image is that of a clean-cut 50's housewife-type, in reality, Cline was a tough-talking, rough-living type, who should be placed in the same class as George Jones or Merle Haggard. This tough-talking comes through on this album. Oh, not in words, really, but in attitude. At times sounding more like a soul singer than what one would think of as country, Cline growls through songs like "Don't Ever Leave Me Again" and "Hungry for Love" like a woman on a mission. This is essential listening for any country music fan. If you think Shania Twain is the greatest female country singer you've ever heard, prepare to be blown away.



38. Boris Vian - Chansons possibles et impossibles

Year of release: 1956
Points: 142.58
Voters: 2
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: Dan(7), nicolas(4)

Review by derek_g on RYM: Boris Vian was a true renaissance man. Though known primarily as a writer (his absurdist masterpiece L'écume des jours is one of the greatest French novels of the 20th century) and as the man who brought the works of Raymond Chandler to France, Vian was also a poet, critic, translator, inventor, engineer, actor and singer. He was instrumental in the birth of the French jazz scene, and Chansons possibles et impossibles features him at his snarky best. The protagonist of "J'suis snob" is a pitch-perfect parody of highfalutin types, while "Le déserteur" is as fine an anti-war song as they come. Great if you like cool jazz, even better if you understand French.



37. Miles Davis - Porgy & Bess

Year of release: 1959
Points: 143.26
Voters: 2
AM 50s Albums Rank: 22 (789 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 46 (Change +9)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(2), Brad(11)

Lindsay Planer for AllMusic: Tomes are available annotating the importance of this recording. The musical and social impact of Miles Davis, his collaborative efforts with Gil Evans, and in particular their reinvention of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess are indeed profound. However, the most efficient method of extricating the rhetoric and opining is to experience the recording. Few other musical teams would have had the ability to remain true to the undiluted spirit and multifaceted nuance of this epic work. However, no other musical teams were Miles Davis and Gil Evans.



36. The Everly Brothers - The Everly Brothers (They're Off and Rollin')

Year of release: 1958
Points: 143.4
Voters: 4
AM 50s Albums Rank: 65 (1702 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: Miguel(13), PlasticRam(9)

Richie Unterberger for AllMusic: Although the Everlys hadn't quite fully matured as artists, their debut is a fine, consistent effort divided between original material and respectably energetic covers of early rockers by Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and Ray Charles. Besides their first few hits, it includes some superb, underappreciated tracks that are nearly as good, like "Should We Tell Him" and "I Wonder If I Cared as Much."

[DaveC]

35. Original Broadway Cast - West Side Story

Year of release: 1957
Points: 149.3
Voters: 3
AM 50s Albums Rank: 43 (1297 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 23 (Change -12)
Biggest fans: Honorio(9), Dexter(13), Brad(14)

Honorio: Never before and after (with maybe the exceptions of Gershwin and Weill) high and low culture were so close. But not juxtaposed. The classical background of Bernstein fused so tighly with jazz, latin and musical that a dodecaphonic serie with a swing beat (as we can hear in "Cool") not only does not sound out of place but fresh and new. I like to live in America.



34. Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Year of release: 1957
Points: 169.46
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 11 (466 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 34 (No change)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(15), Dexter(15)

John Fordham writing in the Guardian: The phrase "saxophone colossus" regularly comes up when Rollins is discussed - not just because he continues to be one, but because the album of that title was the high point of the astonishing creative breakout he made in 1956. Through a succession of improvisational masterpieces that year, his torrential inventiveness began to inspire sax-players everywhere, including John Coltrane.



33. Thelonious Monk - Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1

Year of release: 1951
Points: 170.06
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 13 (567 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 19 (Change -14)
Biggest fans: sonofsamiam(11), Brad(12)

Rick Anderson for AllMusic: Volume 1 of the two-volume Genius of Modern Music set comprises the first sessions Thelonious Monk recorded as a leader, on October 15 and 24 and November 21 of 1947. It's impossible to overstate the importance of these sessions. They include some of the earliest recordings of Monk compositions that would become standards.



32. Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles

Year of release: 1959
Points: 176.04
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 29 (899 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(7), Dexter(10)

Rolling Stone: Charles spent the Fifties working hard to pioneer his own sound: fusing jazz, gospel and the blues into the new soul style that reshaped American music. But on Genius he relaxes for some easy-swinging pop, with big-band arrangements.



31. Billie Holiday w/ Ray Ellis & His Orchestra - Lady In Satin

Year of release: 1958
Points: 191
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 17 (669 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 7 (Change -24)
Biggest fans: Honorio(8), nicolas(10)

Honorio: The sound of desolation. Billie Holiday tried to dress in satin for one of her last recordings, wrapping herself in a lush orchestral backing. Nice try, but it was in vain. Not even a thousand violins could have sweetened her bitter moan, not even a thousand layers of paint could have disguised the cracks in her voice, the scars of a whole life. The end of a love affair.

[bonnielaurel]

I like the diversity in styles, showing what a rich musical period this was. Good comments by Honorio too.

[DaveC]

I like the diversity in styles, showing what a rich musical period this was. Good comments by Honorio too.

Agreed. There is also very pleasing diversity in our song poll results. JamieW did a huge job getting all the details sorted out.

The album that dropped from high in the previous poll to 75 this time is a bit of diversity I would have liked to have retained, but you can't have everything.

[Honorio]

Thanks a lot, bonnielaurel and DaveC!
Excellent presentation, DaveC nd jamieW!
And fantastic selections so far!

[DaveC]

Coming up we have our first #1 vote that made the top 50.

Mindrocker's lone #1 vote for Yma Sumac's "Mambo!" was only good for position 65.
My #1 vote for Maria Callas' "Puccini Arias" + Mindrocker's #50 made position 54.



30. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Masterpieces By Ellington

Year of release: 1951
Points: 194.63
Voters: 4
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 28 (Change -2)
Biggest fans: Honorio(10), Brad(2)

Honorio: Technology influences art. Every technological advance changes the way of creating music and, as the mic allowed the singers to whisper directly into you ear, the long play albums allowed musicians to express themselves out of the jail of the 3 minutes single. And Duke Ellington sounded in his second album (46 minutes, 4 songs) like a just released prisoner running free.



29. E = MC2 + Count Basie + Neal Hafti Arrangements - Basie [The Atomic Mr. Basie]

Year of release: 1958
Points: 196.77
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 25 (812 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(4), Dexter(11)

Bruce Eder for AllMusic: The release of this album in late 1957 marked the beginning of a glorious new phase in Count Basie's career. It took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording -- if not as daring as what Duke Ellington had done at Newport in 1956, still a reminder that there was room for fresh, even dazzling improvisation within the framework of a big-band jazz unit.



28. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin'

Year of release: 1959
Points: 197.23
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: 20 (736 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 15 (Change -13)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(19), Brad(18)

Dan Ouellette for Blue Note: The album stands as one of jazz’s all-time recordings.. It’s rare that a jazz album let alone a pop album includes so many hits. That’s what Blakey accomplishes on Moanin’ with ease, swing and rumble.



27. Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport

Year of release: 1956
Points: 200
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 12 (562 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 25 (Change -2)
Biggest fans: sonofsamiam(18), Brad(7), Dan(15)

Scott Yanow for AllMusic: Duke Ellington's appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival has long been famous, and justifiably so. Paul Gonsalves' 27-chorus tenor solo on "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue" practically started a riot at Newport and made headlines around the world. The momentum generated by this concert led to Ellington's comeback and never let up during his 18 remaining years



26. Georges Brassens - Chante les chansons poétiques (…et souvent gaillardes)

Year of release: 1953
Points: 200.97
Voters: 4
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 24 (Change -2)
Biggest fans: Honorio(11), nicolas(1)

Honorio: Chanson. Inside this heterogeneous style (with the melodramatic Brel, the provocateur Gainsbourg and the poetic Ferré), Brassens played the sarcastic ("Le gorille"), combative ("La mauvaise réputation"), humorous ("Hécatombe") but also tender ("Le parapluie").

nicolas: These songs were like a bomb on the French music hall establishment. Here comes this shaggy, sweating man with his mustache, his strong southern accent and a guitar he holds like a lumberjack would hold his axe. And these songs, these wonderful songs, full of life, sketches of country living, anarchist fables that would establish the singer/songwriter genre for ever on the French scene.

[DaveC]

25. Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan/Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown

Year of release: 1955
Points: 208.13
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 36 (1112 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 18 (Change -7)
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(13), Honorio(18), Miguel(12)

John Bush for AllMusic: In whichever incarnation it's reissued, Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown is one of the most important jazz-meets-vocal sessions ever recorded.



24. Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar!

Year of release: 1957
Points: 212.56
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 92 (2115 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: andyd1010(3)

Sundazed: A gritty bodacious masterpiece! Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar was not only Cash’s debut album, it was also the first full-length LP released by Sun. The LP’s twelve tracks include one side of his debut single, “Cry, Cry, Cry,” along with two of his best-known recordings, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line.” Backed by “The Tennessee Two,” Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass, the tracks are spare, direct and intense. Cash’s distinctive “boom-chicka” rhythm propels every song as his commanding voice captures and holds the listener.



23. Harry Belafonte - Calypso

Year of release: 1959
Points: 217.72
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 94 (2131 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: Dexter(14), PlasticRam(1)

Cary Ginell for AllMusic: The first million-selling album by a single artist, spending an incredible 31 weeks at the top of the Billboard album charts, remaining on the charts for 99 weeks. It triggered a veritable tidal wave of imitators, parodists, and artists wishing to capitalize on its success. Years later, it remains a record of inestimable influence, inspiring many folksingers and groups to perform. For a decade, just about every folksinger and folk group featured in their repertoire at least one song that was of West Indian origin or one that had a calypso beat. They all can be attributed to this one remarkable album.



22. Ravi Shankar - Music of India: Three Classical Ragas

Year of release: 1956
Points: 220.91
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: Bubbling
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: DaveC(13), Brad(19), nicolas(13)

Matthew Greenwald for AllMusic: Three Ragas is not only a fantastic artistic statement, but also an excellent introduction to the medium of Indian music itself. Performed by Shankar and a very simple trio, the pieces on this record show the true heart of Indian music at its most intimate. The second side, "Raga Jog," will take your breath away. A showcase in Indian ensemble performing as well as in Shankar's own endurance and grace, this side truly shows why he has been called (by David Crosby, no less) the finest musician on the planet. This recording was put together at a time far earlier than Shankar's mass-audience breakthrough, and is an excellent record by a true master.



21. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come

Year of release: 1959
Points: 243.88
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 7 (373 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(1), sonofsamiam(7)

Steve Huey for AllMusic : The Shape of Jazz to Come, was a watershed event in the genesis of avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven't come to grips with. The record shattered traditional concepts of harmony in jazz, getting rid of not only the piano player but the whole idea of concretely outlined chord changes. The pieces here follow almost no predetermined harmonic structure, which allows Coleman and partner Don Cherry an unprecedented freedom to take the melodies of their solo lines wherever they felt like going in the moment, regardless of what the piece's tonal center had seemed to be. Any understanding of jazz's avant-garde should begin here.

[DaveC]

20. Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours

Year of release: 1955
Points: 251.82
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 3 (306 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 13 (Change -7)
Biggest fans: Honorio(3), Dexter(4)

Honorio: The first concept album? Maybe not, but Sinatra's thorny love affair with Ava Gardner resulted in a cohesive album filled with heartache and despair. Since Sinatra was not a songwriter, the cohesiveness relies in an impeccable collection of standards, in soft and delicate late-night musical arrangements (that celesta!) and, of course, in that desolate and heartbreaking Voice.



19. John Coltrane - Blue Train

Year of release: 1958
Points: 261.09
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 24 (806 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 26 (Change +7)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(14), Dexter(6), Brad(20), nicolas(14)

Lindsay Planer for AllMusic: Without reservation, Blue Train can easily be considered in and among the most important and influential entries not only of John Coltrane's career, but of the entire genre of jazz music as well.



18. Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly

Year of release: 1958
Points: 278.24
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: 51 (1542 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(9), Miguel(18), PlasticRam(3)

Review by mmenace on RYM: I'm seventeen years old and I own and like albums by Drake and Kid Cudi. That I listened to this album all the way through and was immediately enamored by it really reveals how powerful and transcendent Buddy Holly's work really was.



17. Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out

Year of release: 1959
Points: 279.37
Voters: 8
AM 50s Albums Rank: 4 (333 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 8 (Change -9)
Biggest fans: Honorio(13), sonofsamiam(16), Dan(8), nicolas(19)

Honorio: Sophisti-Jazz. It's amazing to know that an album designed to experiment with odd time signatures (you can listen here 9/8, 5/4, 6/4, 3/4 and only occasionally 4/4) ended being one of the most sold albums in the history of Jazz. Cool, really cool.



16. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley

Year of release: 1958
Points: 293.16
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: 21 (741 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 16 (No change)
Biggest fans: andyd1010(9), Mindrocker(4), Dan(6)

Matthew Greenwald for AllMusic: For anyone who wants to play rock & roll, real rock & roll, this is one of the few records that you really need.

[DaveC]

15. Jacques Brel - Jacques Brel No. 4 (La vals a mille temps)

Year of release: 1959
Points: 304.99
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(8), Honorio(17), Miguel(15), DaveC(6)

Dave Thompson for AllMusic: If any one Jacques Brel album can be said to encapsulate everything he means to a rock/pop-oriented audience, his fourth LP is the one.

DaveC: Third highest new entry.



14. Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' In the Moonlight

Year of release: 1959
Points: 313.67
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 32 (931 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 5 (Change -9)
Biggest fans: sonofsamiam(19), DaveC(2), Mindrocker(2), Dan(13)

AllMusic: The last word in electric Chicago blues, Wolf was possessed of fine guitar and harp skills, a voice that could separate skin from bone, and a sheer magnetism and charisma that knew (and has known) no equal.



13. Hank Williams - Moanin' the Blues

Year of release: 1952
Points: 314.19
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: 10 (Change -3)
Biggest fans: Honorio(7), Miguel(17), Mindrocker(13), Dan(3), nicolas(20)

Honorio: I'm aware that it's really a compilation but it could work as a concept album, as in fact every one of the first Hank Williams albums: "Sings" set (the woods) on fire while "Memorial" was his testament, "Luke the Drifter" showed his spiritual side while "Ramblin' Man" his wild side. In "Moanin' the Blues" he portrayed with sharp precission despair, loneliness and... blues.



12. Frank Sinatra - Songs for Swingin' Lovers!

Year of release: 1956
Points: 315.33
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: 5 (335 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 22 (Change +10)
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(5), Honorio(19), Dexter(2), Brad(17), Dan(20)

Stephen Thomas Erlewine for AllMusic: Sinatra is supremely confident throughout the album, singing with authority and joy. That joy is replicated in Riddle's arrangements, which manage to rethink these standards in fresh yet reverent ways. Working with a core rhythm section and a full string orchestra, Riddle writes scores that are surprisingly subtle. "I've Got You Under My Skin," with its breathtaking middle section, is a perfect example of how Sinatra works with the band. Both swing hard, stretching out the rhythms and melodies but never losing sight of the original song. Songs for Swingin' Lovers! never loses momentum. The great songs keep coming and the performances are all stellar, resulting in one of Sinatra's true classics.



11. Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners

Year of release: 1957
Points: 351.48
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: 14 (578 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(6), notbrianeno(11), sonofsamiam(3), Dexter(8), Brad(8)

Lindsay Planer for AllMusic: Brilliant Corners may well be considered the alpha and omega of post-World War II American jazz. No serious jazz collection should be without it.

DaveC: Second highest new entry, and Thelonious Monk becomes the only artist to have three albums ranked in our top 50.

[DaveC]

10. Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings

Year of release: 1954
Points: 357.71
Voters: 5
AM 50s Albums Rank: 80 (2002 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 3 (Change -7)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(10), Honorio(4), sonofsamiam(4), Dan(4), nicolas(6)

Honorio: As indispensable for a romantic rendez-vous as candlelights or champagne. A music that floats in the air as light as a feather and creates an atmosphere capable of melting the ice of the coldest heart, a voice so near, so natural, so vulnerable and so intimate whispering sad love songs into your lover's ear. But be careful: she could fall in love with Chet instead of you.

babydoll: Now this is one of my favorite albums of all time. Chet Baker Sings is a stunning album with pure emotion. It's a really unique album, and I can't strongly recommend this album enough.



9. New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein - Le Sacre du printemps [Stravinsky]

Year of release: 1958
Points: 360.74
Voters: 6
AM 50s Albums Rank: Unranked
2010 poll top 50 position: - NEW ENTRY
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(7), sonofsamiam(2), DaveC(17), luney6(1)

Blair Sanderson for AllMusic: Leonard Bernstein's 1958 recording of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps with the New York Philharmonic is ranked among the most exciting renditions ever recorded. Indeed, Stravinsky was sufficiently impressed with this recording to exclaim, "Wow!"



8. Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Is On Top

Year of release: 1959
Points: 406.59
Voters: 8
AM 50s Albums Rank: 26 (868 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 6 (Change -2)
Biggest fans: Honorio(14), Miguel(9), andyd1010(1), Mindrocker(14), Dan(10), nicolas(8)

Honorio: Pure history of Rock 'n' Roll. In only 4 years ("Berry Is on Top" was released in July of 1959 exactly four years after the release of "Maybellene") Berry had released enough genre-defining hymns to deserve a prominent place in the Rock 'n' Roll pantheon.



7. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Year of release: 1956
Points: 407.33
Voters: 8
AM 50s Albums Rank: 2 (118 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 9 (Change +2)
Biggest fans: Honorio(1), Dexter(3), Dan(5), nicolas(9)

Honorio: The king is gone but it's not forgotten. The first album by Elvis Presley balanced from the leftovers of the mythical sessions at Memphis Sun Studios with a roots sound, sometimes even hillybilly (but including an ethereal and otherwordly take on the standard "Blue Moon") to the more urban, urgent, modern, arrogant and wild Rock & Roll sound of the first sessions for RCA in Nashville and New York, with vibrant reworkings of Perkins and Penniman songs. Long live the King. The King of Rock & Roll.



6. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook

Year of release: 1956
Points: 410.92
Voters: 7
AM 50s Albums Rank: 19 (731 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 11 (Change +5)
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(1), Miguel(1), sonofsamiam(8), Brad(6)

Al Campbell for AllMusic: the combination of Cole Porter's words and Fitzgerald's interpretation of them created one of the most sought after sessions in vocal history -- embraced by jazz and pop fans alike, transcending boundaries often associated with those genres.

[Bruno]

Great poll so far, DaveC.

Thanks!

[Honorio]

I can't figure out which album was on Top 5 last time and now it's on #75. And I don't want to make a spoiler. There are 3 candidates that I can think of but I think they received quite a lot of votes on the nomination phase. The suspense is killing me...

[DaveC]

I can't figure out which album was on Top 5 last time and now it's on #75. And I don't want to make a spoiler. There are 3 candidates that I can think of but I think they received quite a lot of votes on the nomination phase. The suspense is killing me...

Ah - sorry - I mislead you slightly....

[DaveC]

5. Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue/Jazz as Played at an Exclusive Side-Street Club 1958

Year of release: 1959
Points: 459.83
Voters: 8
AM 50s Albums Rank: Bubbling
2010 poll top 50 position: 4 (Change -1)
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(3), Honorio(12), sonofsamiam(9), DaveC(4), Brad(10), Dan(1)

Honorio: Simone's discographical debut shows "an artist who arrives fully formed " (Thom Jurek for AMG). Recorded with a spare format of Jazz trio, this great album showcases the versatility of Nina, her Blues/Gospel/Jazz roots but also her Classical training.



4. The Crickets - The "Chirping" Crickets

Year of release: 1957
Points: 482.04
Voters: 9
AM 50s Albums Rank: 9 (399 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 20 (Change +16)
Biggest fans: Honorio(15), Miguel(4), andyd1010(5), DaveC(10), Dexter(7), PlasticRam(4), Dan(16)

Honorio: Forever young. Sadly the premature death of Buddy Holly hasn't allowed us to be witnesses of his evolution (probably he would have been relevant well into the 1960s) but let us a frozen image of when the Rock 'n' Roll was fresh and new. And young. Forever.Forever young. Sadly the premature death of Buddy Holly hasn't allowed us to be witnesses of his evolution (probably he would have been relevant well into the 1960s) but let us a frozen image of when the Rock 'n' Roll was fresh and new. And young. Forever.



3. Little Richard - Here's Little Richard

Year of release: 1957
Points: 502.8
Voters: 10
AM 50s Albums Rank: 6 (362 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 14 (Change +11)
Biggest fans: Miguel(6), sonofsamiam(17), andyd1010(2), Dexter(16), PlasticRam(10), Dan(2), nicolas(17)

Rolling Stone: Richard's raucous debut collected singles such as "Good Golly, Miss Molly," in which his rollicking boogie-woogie piano and falsetto scream ignited the unfettered possibilities of rock & roll. "Tutti Frutti" still contains what has to be considered the most inspired rock lyric on record: "A wop bop alu bop, a wop bam boom!"



2. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Year of release: 1959
Points: 506.53
Voters: 11
AM 50s Albums Rank: 10 (454 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 2 (No change)
Biggest fans: notbrianeno(8), sonofsamiam(5), Mindrocker(6), Dan(12), nicolas(11), luney6(4)

Steve Huey for AllMusic: razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus' greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions.



1. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Year of release: 1959
Points: 830.09
Voters: 11
AM 50s Albums Rank: 1 (44 all time)
2010 poll top 50 position: 1 (No change)
Biggest fans: bonnielaurel(2), notbrianeno(4), Honorio(2), sonofsamiam(1), DaveC(14), Dexter(1), Mindrocker(5), Brad(1), Dan(9), nicolas(7)

Rolling Stone: This painterly masterpiece would become one of the most important, influential and popular albums in jazz. But at the time it was made, Kind of Blue was a revolution all its own, a radical break from everything going on. Turning his back on standard chord progressions, trumpeter Miles Davis used modal scales as a starting point for composition and improvisation – breaking new ground with warmth, subtlety and understatement in the thick of hard bop.

Honorio: I'm not quite sure about what's Modal Jazz, but I really don't need to know it to enjoy "Kind of Blue". An awesome line-up including Bill Evans and John Coltrane (no less!) improvised at the very moment the best album on Jazz history (Miles Davis laid out the themes just before the session), with astonishing performances of an extraordinary depth and a cool atmosphere.

I will post the full list shortly...

[DaveC]

The full list:

1 | Miles Davis | Kind of Blue | 1959
2 | Charles Mingus | Mingus Ah Um | 1959
3 | Little Richard | Here's Little Richard | 1957
4 | The Crickets | The "Chirping" Crickets | 1957
5 | Nina Simone | Little Girl Blue/Jazz as Played at an Exclusive Side-Street Club 1958 | 1959
6 | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook | 1956
7 | Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley | 1956
8 | Chuck Berry | Chuck Berry Is On Top | 1959
9 | New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein | Le Sacre du printemps [Stravinsky] | 1958
10 | Chet Baker | Chet Baker Sings | 1954
11 | Thelonious Monk | Brilliant Corners | 1957
12 | Frank Sinatra | Songs for Swingin' Lovers! | 1956
13 | Hank Williams | Moanin' the Blues | 1952
14 | Howlin' Wolf | Moanin' In the Moonlight | 1959
15 | Jacques Brel | Jacques Brel No. 4 (La vals a mille temps) | 1959
16 | Bo Diddley | Bo Diddley | 1958
17 | Dave Brubeck Quartet | Time Out | 1959
18 | Buddy Holly | Buddy Holly | 1958
19 | John Coltrane | Blue Train | 1958
20 | Frank Sinatra | In the Wee Small Hours | 1955
21 | Ornette Coleman | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 1959
22 | Ravi Shankar | Music of India: Three Classical Rāgas | 1956
23 | Harry Belafonte | Calypso | 1959
24 | Johnny Cash | Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! | 1957
25 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan | 1955
26 | Georges Brassens | Chante les chansons poétiques (…et souvent gaillardes) | 1953
27 | Duke Ellington | Ellington at Newport | 1956
28 | Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers | Moanin' | 1959
29 | E = MC2 + Count Basie + Neal Hafti Arrangements | Basie [The Atomic Mr. Basie] | 1958
30 | Duke Ellington and His Orchestra | Masterpieces By Ellington | 1951
31 | Billie Holiday w/ Ray Ellis & His Orchestra | Lady In Satin | 1958
32 | Ray Charles | The Genius of Ray Charles | 1959
33 | Thelonious Monk | Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1 | 1951
34 | Sonny Rollins | Saxophone Colossus | 1957
35 | Original Broadway Cast | West Side Story | 1957
36 | The Everly Brothers | The Everly Brothers (They're Off and Rollin') | 1958
37 | Miles Davis | Porgy & Bess | 1959
38 | Boris Vian | Chansons possibles et impossibles | 1956
39 | Patsy Cline | Patsy Cline | 1957
40 | Hank Williams | Memorial Album | 1953
41 | Little Richard | Little Richard | 1958
42 | Bernard Herrmann | Vertigo [soundtrack] | 1958
43 | Lotte Lenya | Lotte Lenya singt Kurt Weill | 1955
44 | Chuck Berry | After School Session with Chuck Berry | 1957
45 | Moondog | Moondog and His Friends | 1953
46 | Odetta | Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues | 1956
47 | Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner | Concerto for Orchestra [Bartók] | 1956
48 | Thelonious Monk | Monk's Music | 1958
49 | Champion Jack Dupree | Blues from the Gutter | 1959
50 | Louis Armstrong | Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy | 1954
51 | Billie Holiday | Lady Sings the Blues | 1956
52 | Dizzy Gillespie | Afro | 1954
53 | Miles Davis | Birth of the Cool | 1957
54 | Maria Callas | Puccini Arias | 1954
55 | João Gilberto | Chega de saudade | 1959
56 | Duke Ellington and His Orchestra | Ellington Uptown | 1953
57 | Woody Guthrie | Dust Bowl Ballads | 1940
58 | Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie | Bird and Diz | 1952
59 | Miles Davis | L'Ascenseur pour l'échafaud | 1958
60 | Julie London | Julie Is Her Name | 1955
61 | Hank Williams & His Drifting Cowboys | Hank Williams Sings | 1951
62 | Cannonball Adderley | Somethin' Else | 1958
63 | Columbia Symphony Orchestra/New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein | George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris | 1959
64 | Lead Belly | Negro Sinful Songs | 1939
65 | Yma Sumac | Mambo! | 1954
66 | Moondog | Moondog | 1956
67 | Charles Mingus | Pithecanthropus Erectus | 1956
68 | Stan Kenton | City of Glass | 1952
69 | The Everly Brothers | Songs Our Daddy's Taught Us | 1958
70 | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook | 1957
71 | Georges Brassens | n°4 (Je me suis fait tout petit) | 1956
71 | Lehman Engel Orchestra | George Gershwin: Porgy & Bess (Studio Cast) | 1951
71 | Oscar Peterson | Oscar Peterson Plays The Cole Porter Songbook | 1959
74 | Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York/Bruno Walter | Gustav Mahler: Symphony no. 5 | 1947
75 | Yma Sumac | Voice of the Xtabay | 1950
76 | Original Soundtrack | Singin' in the Rain | 1952
77 | Ray Charles | What'd I Say | 1959
78 | Louis Armstrong | Satchmo Serenades | 1952
79 | Pérez Prado | Plays Mucho Mambo for Dancing | 1951
80 | Blind Blake | A Group of Bahamian Songs | 1951
81 | Frank Sinatra | Sings For Only the Lonely | 1958
82 | Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Munch | Maurice Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe | 1955
82 | Gene Vincent | Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps | 1957
82 | Georges Brassens | n°3 (Les Sabots d'Hélène) | 1955
82 | Lightnin' Hopkins | Lightnin' Hopkins | 1959
86 | L'Orchestre de la Suisse romande/Ernest Ansermet | Bela Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta | 1957
87 | Clifford Brown & Max Roach | Study In Brown | 1955
88 | Henri Salvador | Dans mon île | 1958
89 | Ray Charles | Ray Charles | 1957
90 | Mahalia Jackson | The World's Greatest Gospel Singer | 1955
91 | Miles Davis | Milestones | 1958
92 | Big Bill Broonzy | Blues Singer Vol No.1 | 1951
92 | Elvis Presley | 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2 | 1959
92 | Georges Brassens | n°5 (Oncle Archibald) | 1957
92 | London Symphony Orchestra/Antal Dorati | Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird | 1959
92 | Ricky Nelson | Ricky Sings Again | 1959
97 | Bill Haley and His Comets | Rock Around the Clock | 1955
98 | Chuck Berry | One Dozen Berrys | 1958
99 | Miles Davis | Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet | 1959
100 | Nat King Cole | Love Is the Thing | 1957
101 | Bobby Darin | That's All | 1959
101 | The Symphony Orchestra of Radio-Frankfurt/Winfried Zillig | Arnold Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande | 1949
103 | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Sings Gershwin | 1950
104 | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook | 1959
105 | Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong | Ella and Louis | 1956
106 | The Quintet (Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Max Roach/Charles Mingus) | Jazz at Massey Hall | 1953
107 | James Brown | Please Please Please | 1959
107 | John Lee Hooker | I'm John Lee Hooker | 1959
107 | Louis Armstrong & Oscar Peterson | Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson | 1957
107 | Philharmonia Orchestra/Efrem Kurtz | Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony no. 1 in F Minor | 1958
111 | Original Soundtrack | An American in Paris | 1951
112 | Benny Goodman | The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert | 1950
113 | Charles Mingus | The Clown | 1957
114 | Amália Rodrigues | À l'Olympia | 1957
114 | Wiener Philharmoniker/Bruno Walter | Gustav Mahler: Symphony no. 9 in D major | 1938
116 | Miles Davis | Round About Midnight | 1957
117 | Dizzy Gillespie | At Newport | 1957
117 | Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York/Andre Kostelantetz/Oscar Levant | George Gershwin: Concerto in F | 1942
119 | Woody Guthrie | Dust Bowl Ballads: Volume 2 | 1940
120 | Les Paul & Mary Ford | The Hit Makers! | 1953
120 | Thelonious Monk | Thelonious Monk Trio | 1953
122 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan | 1950
123 | Antônio Carlos Jobim & Luiz Bonfá | Orfeu Negro | 1959
124 | Johnny Burnette | Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio | 1956
124 | Lena Horne | Stormy Weather | 1957
124 | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/John Pritchard | Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time | 1958
127 | Doris Day | Day by Day | 1956
127 | Georges Brassens | n°2 (Le Vent) | 1954
127 | Original Soundtrack | Oklahoma! | 1955
127 | Reverend Gary Davis | Pure Religion & Bad Company | 1957
127 | The Coasters | The Coasters | 1957
127 | Trio Pasquier | Olivier Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps | 1957
133 | Charlie Parker | Charlie Parker with Strings | 1950
134 | Count Basie and His Orchestra | April in Paris | 1957
134 | RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra/Igor Stravinsky | Igor Stravinsky: Orpheus | 1949
136 | Blossom Dearie | Once Upon A Summertime | 1958
137 | Gerry Mulligan Quartet | Gerry Mulligan Quartet (Fantasy) | 1953
138 | Sonny Clark | Cool Struttin' | 1958
139 | Perez Prado & Shorty Rogers | Voodoo Suite | 1955
140 | London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Malcolm Sargent | Gustav Holst: The Planets | 1954
141 | Yma Sumac | Legend of the Sun Virgin | 1952
142 | John Lee Hooker | House of the Blues | 1959
143 | Art Blakey | The Jazz Messengers | 1956
143 | Édith Piaf | La vie en rose | 1952
143 | John Cage & David Tudor | Indeterminacy | 1959
143 | The M-G-M Orchestra/Arthur Winograd | Leonard Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti (An Opera In Seven Scenes) | 1953
147 | Elvis Presley | A Date With Elvis | 1957
148 | Amália Rodrigues | Amália Rodrigues [Eu disse adeus à casinha] | 1958
148 | Cal Tjader | Cal Tjader Quintet | 1956
148 | Jackie Wilson | Lonely Teardrops | 1959
148 | The Modern Jazz Quartet | Fontessa | 1956
152 | Bill Evans Trio | Everybody Digs Bill Evans | 1959
153 | Tito Puente & His Orchestra | Dance Mania | 1958
154 | John Coltrane | Soultrane | 1958
154 | Nat King Cole | Unforgettable | 1952
154 | Philharmonia Orchestra/Paul Kletzki | Jean Sibelius: Symphony no. 3 in C major | 1956
157 | Ella Fitzgerald | The Rodgers and Hart Songbook | 1957
158 | The Kingston Trio | The Kingston Trio | 1958
159 | Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux | La Mer; Nocturnes [Debussy] | 1956
159 | Cachao | Cuban Jam Sessions In Miniature | 1957
159 | Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Erik Tuxen | Carl Nielsen: Symphony no. 3 Sinfonia Espansiva | 1946
162 | Blind Blake | A Second Album of Bahamian Songs | 1952
163 | Peggy Lee | Black Coffee With Peggy Lee | 1953
164 | Johnny Cash | Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous | 1958
164 | L'Orchestre de la Suisse romande/Ernest Ansermet | Igor Stravinsky: Petroesjka | 1949
166 | Dinah Washington | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! | 1959
167 | Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong | Porgy & Bess | 1959
167 | Elvis Presley | Elvis | 1956
167 | Martin Denny | Exotica | 1957
167 | Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York /Dmitri Mitropoulos | Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E Minor | 1954
167 | Sonny Boy Williamson (II) | Down and Out Blues | 1959
172 | Jacques Brel | Jacques Brel et ses chansons (Grand Jacques) | 1954
172 | Mary Lou Williams | Signs of the Zodiac, Volume One | 1945
172 | Nina Simone | The Amazing Nina Simone | 1959
172 | Ravi Shankar | India's Master Musician | 1958
172 | USSR Symphony Orchestra/Yevgeny Mravinsky | Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony no. 8 in C minor | 1947
177 | Art Blakey | A Night At Birdland Vol. 2 | 1954
177 | Billie Holiday | Songs for Distingué Lovers | 1957
177 | Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra/Yevgeny Mravinsky | Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet | 1955
177 | The Hollywood String Quartet | Verklärte Nacht [Schönberg] | 1950
177 | The Quintet (Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Max Roach/Charles Mingus) | Jazz at Massey Hall, Vol. 2 | 1953
182 | BRNO Radio Symphony Orchestra/Bretislav Bakala | Leoš Janáček: Glagolitic Mass | 1951
182 | Tito Puente | Cuban Carnival | 1956
184 | B.B. King | Singin' the Blues | 1957
184 | Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Jensen | Carl Nielsen: Symphony no. 4, Inextinguishable | 1952
184 | Georges Brassens | n°6 (Le Pornographe) | 1958
184 | Original London Broadway Cast | My Fair Lady | 1959
188 | Flatt & Scruggs | Foggy Mountain Jamboree | 1957
188 | London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult | Ralph Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony | 1953
188 | Original Broadway Cast | South Pacific | 1949
191 | John Fahey | John Fahey/Blind Joe Death | 1959
191 | Original Broadway Cast | The Sound of Music | 1959
193 | Abbey Lincoln | That's Him | 1957
193 | Karlheinz Stockhausen | Studie I; Studie II; Gesang der Jünglinge | 1956
193 | King Pleasure | King Pleasure Sings | 1959
193 | Sonny Rollins | Freedom Suite | 1958
197 | Anita O'Day | Pick Yourself Up With Anita O'Day | 1957
197 | Elizabeth Cotton | Folksongs and Instrumentals With Guitar | 1958
197 | Fats Domino | This Is Fats Domino | 1957
197 | Sarah Vaughan | Images | 1954
201 | Carl Perkins | Dance Album | 1957
201 | Édith Piaf | Chansons parisiennes | 1950
201 | Horace Silver | Horace Silver Quintet (Vol. 1 & 2)/Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers | 1955
201 | John Cage | The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of John Cage | 1958
205 | Elvis Presley | King Creole | 1958
205 | Wanda Jackson | There's a Party Going On! | 1959
207 | The Weavers | The Weavers at Carneggie Hall (Vol. 1) | 1956
208 | Stan Kenton | Innovations in Modern Music | 1950
209 | Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson | Black, Brown and Beige | 1958
209 | Eroll Garner | Concert by the Sea | 1956
209 | John Jacob Niles | American Folk And Gambing Songs | 1956
209 | Oscar Peterson | The Jazz Soul of Oscar Peterson | 1959
213 | Bo Diddley | Go Bo Diddley | 1959
213 | Les Paul | The New Sound! | 1950
215 | Frank Sinatra | Come Fly With Me | 1958
215 | NBC Symphony Orchestra e.a. | Tre pezzi da "Wozzeck"; Concerto per violino [Berg] | 1953
215 | Nina Simone | Nina Simone at Town Hall | 1959
215 | The Staple Singers | Uncloudy Day | 1959
219 | Ella Fitzgerald | Lullabies of Birdland | 1954
219 | The Modern Jazz Quartet | Django | 1956
221 | Bud Powell | The Amazing Bud Powell | 1951
221 | Max Steiner | Gone with the Wind [soundtrack] | 1939
221 | Original 1951 Cast | The King and I | 1951
224 | Billie Holiday | Body and Soul | 1957
224 | Esquivel | Exploring New Sounds in Hi-Fi | 1959
226 | Tito Puente | Puente In Percussion | 1956
227 | Lambert, Hendricks & Ross | Lambert, Hendricks & Ross | 1959
228 | Frank Sinatra | A Swingin' Affair | 1957
228 | Thelonious Monk | Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2 | 1952
230 | Celina Y Reutilio | A Santa Barbara | 1950
230 | Shirley Collins | Sweet England | 1959
232 | Milt Jackson | Wizard of the Vibes | 1952
232 | Original Broadway Cast | The Pajama Game | 1954
234 | Blossom Dearie | Give Him the Ooh-La-La | 1958
234 | The Almanac Singers | Songs of the Lincoln Battalion | 1944
234 | Various Artists | Angola Prison Spirituals | 1959
237 | Les Baxter | The Passions | 1954
237 | Lord Kitchener | King of Calypso (1965 per RYM) | X
237 | Miles Davis | Miles Ahead | 1957
237 | Nat King Cole | After Midnight | 1957
237 | Odetta | The Tin Angel/Odetta & Larry | 1954
237 | Oscar Peterson | Soft Sands | 1957
243 | Charlie Chaplin | Modern Times [soundtrack] | 1936
243 | Eartha Kitt | That Bad Eartha | 1953
243 | Sabu | Palo Congo | 1957
243 | Yma Sumac | Inca Taqui | 1953
247 | Dave Van Ronk | Sings Ballads, Blues And A Spiritual | 1959
247 | Louis Armstrong | Satch Plays Fat | 1955
247 | Marty Robbins | Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs | 1959
250 | Billie Holiday | Sings | 1952
250 | Jackie Wilson | He's So Fine | 1958
250 | Pete Seeger | American Industrial Ballads | 1956
253 | Helen Merrill | Helen Merrill with Clifford Brown | 1955
253 | Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | 1958
255 | Original Soundtrack | Fantasia | 1957
255 | Pete Seeger | American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 2 | 1959
255 | Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee | Sing | 1958

[DaveC]

Excellent list - well done everyone for making it so diverse and interesting.

Thanks for the kind comments bonnielaurel & Dan & JamieW & Honorio & Bruno.

[Dexter]

Superb presentation DaveC! The best I've seen in the forums.
Great job to you and to JamieW as well. Know that your hard work is appreciated in coming up with the list.
Although I noticed the following:

The full list:

25 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan

121 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan


171 | Miles Davis | Round About Midnight

213 | Miles Davis | Round About Midnight

[DaveC]

Superb presentation DaveC! The best I've seen in the forums.
Great job to you and to JamieW as well. Know that your hard work is appreciated in coming up with the list.
Although I noticed the following:

The full list:

25 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan

121 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan


171 | Miles Davis | Round About Midnight

213 | Miles Davis | Round About Midnight

Good spot Dexter.

Sarah Vaughan released two self titled albums. I should add the year of release to the list for clarity.

Round About Midnight looks like a genuine double up - it should rank around 115. I will edit the list shortly...

[Bruno]

Excellent list - well done everyone for making it so diverse and interesting.

Thanks for the kind comments bonnielaurel & Dan & JamieW & Honorio & Bruno.

Thank you, DaveC! Great results!

[jamieW]

Thanks again, DaveC! The presentation was outstanding (and well beyond my skills, which is why I asked for help).

Speaking of skills (or lack thereof), I checked my spreadsheet and I (indeed) somehow had "Round About Midnight" listed twice. Fortunately, it didn't affect the top 50, but before the presentation even began, Dave caught separate listings for the 1955 Sarah Vaughan/Sarah Vaughan w/ Clifford Brown, which is the same album and would've affected the top 50. And this isn't even the part I was worried about, since I needed to move songs up, check for differently named versions, etc. in the 1900-49 songs poll. Needless to say, I have an ominous feeling about that one...

[bonnielaurel]

Great work, JamieW and DaveC! The result is terrific, a good overview for anyone who wants to get to know this period. I look forward to the song lists as well.