OccultHawk

Coltrane plays on that record. It’s a clear cut and dry 5 Star masterpiece.

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rubber soul

Maybe I can't get into Davis' style as much as I can some others. Of course by the mid sixties there won't be a lot of jazz on my twenty-fives as rock especially improves in quality album wise. There are a couple albums from Miles I do like (you'll have to wait until we get there though ).


What did you think of the Clown? I know you were probably thinking number one but a close second isn't too bad.

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Frownland

Jazz Advance and Coltrane are the two best albums of 57 imo. The Clown is way up there though.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

rubber soul

1958






Event of the year: The Purple People Eats the Witch Doctor.
Fad: Hula hoops
Babe of the Year: Mrs. Cleaver
Scandal of the Year: Colonel Nicholson builds a bridge over the River Kwai then blows it up.
Movie or TV show to barf to: Game Shows in general
What we could have done without: The Edsel
Pet of the year: The Chipmunks

Other Tidbits: China leaps forward and lands on Korea, Egypt and Syria reunite and hate each other, USS Nautilus captures Santa Claus, Sir Edmund Hillary is eaten by a penguin, Johnny Unitas becomes a household name and drinks Maypo, Elvis joins the Army and confounds Drill Sergeant Carter, Vincent Price swats a fly and is charged with murder, Marlon Brando says Steve McQueen is just another blob.

And with that, here is another top twenty-five.











1) John Coltrane- Blue Train
2) Bo Diddley- Bo Diddley
3) Sonny Clark- Cool Struttin
4) Cannonball Adderly- Something Else
5) Miles Davis- Milestones
6) Jimmy Reed- I’m Jimmy Reed
7) The Kingston Trio- The Kingston Trio
8) Lee Morgan- The Cooker
9) Little Richard- Little Richard
10) Johnny Cash- Johnny Cash Sings the Songs That Made Him Famous
11) Buddy Holly- Buddy Holly
12) Dale Hawkins- Oh Suzy Q!
13) Sonny Rollins- Freedom Suite
14) Thelonious Monk- Misterioso
15) John Coltrane- Soultrane
16) Ray Charles- Yes Indeed
17) Chuck Berry- One Dozen Berrys
18) Ray Charles- Ray Charles at Newport
19) Ben Webster Quintet- Soulville
20) Billie Holiday- Lady in Satin
21) Stan Getz/Dizzy Gillepsie/Sonny Stint- For Musicians Only
22) Ramblin Jack Elliott- Jack Takes the Floor
23) Ray Charles and Milt Jackson- Soul Brothers
24) Frank Sinatra- Come Fly With Me
25) The Everly Brothers- The Everly Brothers

This is the year of the Blue Train obviously. It’s the first* of many great albums by Coltrane. Of course the title track rates as one of his great classics. Bo Diddley is essentially another greatest hits album of sorts but what a package it is. Note songs that will be famously covered by sixties acts, Who Do You Love and Diddy Wah Diddy are two great example.

*the first album from Coltrane I consider truly great

Three more jazz albums follow and then comes my other big surprise with Jimmy Reed’s album. Reed doesn’t get the credit other blues artists of the period seem to get, maybe because he was more commercially successful than greats like Waters and Hooker, but I’m Jimmy Reed rates right up there with anything the aforementioned two did. The Kingston Trio records the first of some surprisingly good albums for me. Little Richard’s effort this year is probably better than his previous offering. Overall I think this is a pretty good list and it only gets better from here.

Biggest Surprise- Sonny Clark- Cool Struttin.

I knew Blue Train would be good, but Clark wasn’t exactly bad. The album cover of some woman’s legs doesn’t hurt either.

Biggest Disappointment: Ramblin Jack Elliot- Jack Takes the Floor

You’ll see later I’m a big fan of folk so I was really hoping this one might threaten the top ten. As it was though, it might as well have been the Kingston Trio

Stinker of the Year- Leona Anderson- Music To Suffer By

Billed as the World’s most horrible singer, Leona Anderson preceded the legendary Mrs. Miller by a decade. Rats in My Room would probably empty a house of rats faster than any poison would. On the bright side, she almost sings Indian Love Call as well as Slim Whitman

So there it is for 1958. If you see Elvis in Germany, try not to give him the Nazi salute- he might shoot you. See you next week.

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Frownland

Hopefully you considered this one when making your list



I would have added Ravi Shankar's Master Musician of India as well. Ornette Coleman, Dorothy Ashby, and Max Roach were all doing rad stuff that year too. I never really considered it before but 1958 was a great year for music.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

rubber soul

I didn't listen to Elizabeth Cotten, but I will. I had to do some heavy listening (mostly with jazz) to get my early lists together. Ornette Coleman doesn't really do it for me; neither does Max Roach though I think I have him somewhere on these lists (Coleman too, just not very high). Right now. I'm trying to get 1986 (Yeah, I'm way ahead of the game right now) together. With the goal of two lists per week I'm about three months ahead I think.

The next few years will be big years for jazz as well as for folk. I'm looking forward to seeing what people think of those lists.

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rubber soul

1959





Event of the year: Disneyland becomes a Communist Country
Fad: Cuban cigars
Babe of the Year: Barbie
Scandal of the Year: Hamilton Burger murders Perry Mason because he never won a case.
Movie or TV show to barf to: Plan 9 From Outer Space (okay so we laughed at that)
What we could have done without: Liz and Eddie
Pet of the year: Gidget

Other Tidbits: Everyone loves Fidel Castro except Ike, Alaska and Hawaii declare independence from Taiwan, The Mercury Seven (The Right Stuff) become the world’s first boy band, Khrushchev visits Disneyland and beats Nixon in the kitchen with a shoe, Charlton Heston enters the Indianapolis 500 with a Chariot and loses, The music dies but comes back as a zombie, Charles DeGaulle denies cheating on Quiz Shows.

And here we go with my top Twenty-Five of 1959.






1) Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out
2) Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers- Moanin
3) Miles Davis- Kind of Blue
4) Marty Robbins- Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
5) John Lee Hooker- I’m John Lee Hooker
6) Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster- Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster
7) Charles Mingus- Mingus Ah Um
8) Jimmy Smith- The Sermon
9) The Wailers- The Fabulous Wailers
10) Tom Lehrer- A Wasted Evening With Tom Lehrer
11) Dave Van Ronk- Sings Ballads, Blues, and a Spiritual
12) The Kingston Trio- Here We Go Again
13) Johnny Cash- Songs of Our Soil
14) Howlin Wolf- Moanin in the Moonlight
15) Sonny Boy Williamson- Down and Out Blues
16) John Fahey- Blind Joe Death
17) Odetta- My Eyes Have Seen
18) Ornette Coleman- The Shape of Jazz To Come
19) Horace Silver Quintet- Finger Poppin With…
20) Johnny Cash- The Fabulous Johnny Cash
21) Kingston Trio- At Large
22) Elvis Presley- A Date With Elvis
23) Ray Charles- What’d I Say
24) Bo Diddley- Go Bo Diddley
25) Martin Denny- Quiet Village


This is a strong year for jazz as the genre holds the top three spots this year. It’s also the first year I’ve heard a Miles Davis album I actually rate more than meh. I don’t see Kind of Blue as the masterpiece others do. I can think of at least two albums (One being Bitches’ Brew) that are far superior to Kind of Blue. Still, it comes in at number three. As for the top two, Brubeck edges out Blakey. I think Moanin is indeed one of the great jazz albums of the period, but Time Out flows like a Picasso masterpiece. Even the cover looks like it could have painted by the master himself.

I go a little country at number four with Marty Robbins’ themed album. It’s a fantastic collection of ballads and it’s a lot more that just El Paso. John Lee Hooker gets his first entry and it may be his best. I’m also going to give a shout out to Tom Lehrer who comes up with one of the best comedy albums ever. Out of the Top Ten, but also deserving of a mention is Dave Van Ronk. We’ll be hearing more from him in future years. And, finally, Martin Denny just squeezes in albeit barely. I had to listen to that album as a kid as that was a favorite of my then step-father’s. Still, it does have its moments.



Biggest Surprise- Jimmy Smith- The Sermon.

I especially liked the title track and was tempted to rank the album higher. It certainly made me want to go to church.

Biggest Disappointment- Ornette Coleman- The Shape of Jazz To Come.

Yes, the album makes the list for 1959 but it really didn’t do a lot for me. It was good enough to make the list though. I guess I call it a disappointment because, for me at least, it didn’t live up to the hype around it.

Stinker of the Year- (tie) The Louvin Brothers- Satan is Real, Jack Lemmon- A Twist of Lemmon

Yep, the Louvin Brothers do it again. When I saw Satan is Real, I knew I had to give it a spin. And, yep, Satan is real. Oh, yeah. I bet Ira found out; he must have been inebriated as usual when he designed the nutty cover. Ooh, what a scary cover. It does have the Christian Life, later covered by the Byrds. Of course there is also Ira’s confessional, the Drunkard’s Doom.

But Satan only gets a tie. For Jack Lemmon begins the long honored tradition of actors recording their own albums. I guess he sings adequately enough, but he doesn’t sound a bit like Jack Lemmon. Then again Jim Nabors doesn’t sound like Gomer Pyle either. Anyhow, Lemmon wins an Oscar for easy listening meant to put people to sleep, and would be a great inspiration to future lotharios like Telly Savalas, Eddie Murphy, and Don Johnson.

Well, that wraps up the fifties. See you later this week as we cover 1960.

Bye.

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Frownland

Sorry not sorry but Shape of Jazz to Come is the best album of the year.

Some other important releases:
John Cage/David Tudor - Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form in Instrumental and Electronic Music (probably not your thing but very very important)
Duke Ellington - Anatomy of a Murder
Kimio Eto - Koto Music
Del Close & John Brent - How to Speak Hip
George Russel - New York, N.Y.

And Satan is Real is great.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

rubber soul

I'm sure some Miles Davis fans will beg to differ

Like I said before, I just can't get into Coleman. Maybe he's a little too bland to me. I think I can rate my favorite jazz artists, in no particular order, as Coltrane, Mingus, and maybe Blakey and Dolphy. Miles Davis might come in fifth overall thanks to his future efforts.


I might have been harsh on the Louvin Brothers but I couldn't get past the cover. You have to admit, that one's pretty laughable (the cover). I stand by Lemmon's album, though, as being a, um, lemon (don't you like how I make puns? )

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Frownland

What makes the Shape of Jazz to Come so great is that Coleman casts away the piano that was so commonly used to ground the pieces so that the melodic experiments of the horns become the focus. I still consider this record to be incredibly uncompromising today, I can't imagine how ****ing crazy it would've sounded in 59. To be fair even though I was already heavy into free jazz by the time I heard it, it didn't impress me on the first listen.

__________________

Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.