Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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7. Howlin‘ Wolf | Moanin‘ in the Moonlight
Recording: July 1951 (A1, A2) – October 1953 – March 1954 (A5) – May 25, 1954 (A4, B1) – October 1954 (B5) – January 1956 (A3) – July 19, 1956 (B4) – June 24, 1957 (B6) – April 3, 1958 (B3) – March 1959 (B2)
Release: 1959
Producers: Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon & Sam Phillips
Label: Chess
Genre: Chicago Blues
Line-Up:
July 1951: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Johnson (guitar), Willie Steel (drums), Ike Turner (piano)
October 1953: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Fred Below (drums), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Jody Williams (guitar)
March 1954: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Lee Cooper (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), Earl Phillips (drums), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin (guitar)
May 25, 1954: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Dixon (bass), Earl Phillips (drums), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Jody Williams (guitar)
October 1954: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Dixon (bass), Earl Phillips (drums), Otis Spann (piano), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Jody Williams (guitar)
January 1956: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Dixon (bass), Willie Johnson (guitar), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Earl Phillips (drums), Hubert Sumlin (guitar)
July 19, 1956: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Johnson (guitar), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Earl Phillips (drums), Otis Smothers (guitar)
June 24, 1957: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Johnson (guitar), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Earl Phillips (drums), Hubert Sumlin (guitar)
April 3, 1958: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Adolph Dockins (tenor saxophone), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Earl Phillips (drums), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Jody Williams (guitar)
March 1959: Chester Burnett (vocals, harmonica), Willie Dixon (bass), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), S.P. Leary (drums), L.D. McGhee (guitar), Hubert Sumlin (guitar)

Points: 711
Finished #4 in 1959 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #14
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #962
AM rank: #678
Biggest Fan: DaveC (#3), mileswide (#5), Listyguy (#8)
Not a Fan: bonnielaurel (#83), Henry (#83)

A1 | Moanin‘ at Midnight
A2 | How Many More Years
A3 | Smokestack Lightnin‘
A4 | Baby, How Long
A5 | No Place to Go
A6 | All Night Boogie
B1 | Evil (Willie Dixon)
B2 | I‘m Leavin‘ You
B3 | Moanin‘ for My Baby
B4 | I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)
B5 | Forty-Four
B6 | Somebody in My Home

All songs written by Chester Burnett, except B1.

Drawing from multiple years worth of recordings, the Chess Brothers were able to select some of Howlin‘ Wolf‘s biggest hits and some other songs and compile them into Moanin‘ in the Moonlight. As far as I‘m aware all of these songs had been released as singles prior to the release of the album, but I am not 100% certain. RYM for example lists „I‘m Leavin‘ You“ as a 1958 release while the liner notes of the CD (which I used for the data above) state it was only recorded in 1959. That could be due to a different recording being used or due to some error in the available data.
Burnett drew from a small number of session musicians; the number of people playing on his recording is not very big, but the exact line-up changes from session to session.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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6. Charles Mingus | Mingus Ah Um
Recording: May 5, 1959 (A1, B1, B2, B3, B4) – May 12, 1959 (A2, A3, A4, A5)
Release: September 14, 1959
Producer: Teo Macero
Label: Columbia
Genre: Post-Bop
Line-Up:
May 5, 1959: Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), Shafi Hadi (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone), John Handy (alto saxophone, clarinet), Jimmy Knepper (trombone), Charles Mingus (bass), Horace Parlan (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums)
May 12, 1959: Willie Dennis (trombone), Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), Shafi Hadi (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone), John Handy (alto saxophone, clarinet), Charles Mingus (bass), Horace Parlan (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums)

Points: 731
Finished #3 in 1959 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #2
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #529
AM rank: #394
Biggest Fan: DaveC (#6), Dan (#9)
Not a Fan: SL3 (#73)

A1 | Better Git It in Your Soul
A2 | Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
A3 | Boogie Stop Shuffle
A4 | Self-Portrait in Three Colors
A5 | Open Letter to Duke
B1 | Bird Calls
B2 | Fables of Faubus
B3 | Pussy Cat Dues
B4 | Jelly Roll

All songs composed by Charles Mingus.

With this album Mingus pays tribute to his biggest influences. „Better Git It in Your Soul“ is clearly inspired by gospel, as I described in its write-up in the songs poll thread. The song title „Boogie Stop Shuffle“ features multiple concepts used in Blues and Jazz music.
Other songs clearly allude to jazz musicians Mingus pays homage to: „Goodbye Pork Pie Hat“ refers to Lester Young who died just two months before the album was recorded. „Open Letter to Duke“ refers to Duke Ellington of course, while the final track „Jelly Roll“ alludes to Jelly Roll Morton, an influential ragtime pianist.
According to Mingus himself, „Bird Calls“ does not refer to Charlie Parker. „Fables of Faubus“ also explicitly refers to a person, but not a jazz musician and it certainly doesn‘t pay homage to him. It‘s about Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas who sent the National Guard to Little Rock to prevent nine African-American girls from attending school. Accounts differ whether the song started as an instrumental and only got lyrics later, or whether Columbia Records refused the politically explicit lyrics to be included on one of their albums. A version with lyrics was recorded shortly after and released on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus.
It is important to note that the original LP release is eleven minutes shorter than the version you find on CD, on streaming or even on later LPs. Six of the nine compositions were edited, either to fit all of them on the album or because the producers thought the songs worked better in edited form (or a mixture of both). „Bird Calls“ especially falls victim to this: In the original release it is only half as long as the original recording was.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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5. Buddy Holly | Buddy Holly
Recording: April 8, 1957 (B2, B3) – May 29, 1957 (B1) – May/July (A5, A6) – June 29, 1957 (A2, A4) – July 1, 1957 (A1) – December 17-19, 1957 (A3, B4, B6) – January 25, 1958 (B5)
Release: February 20, 1958
Producers: Norman Petty & Bob Thiele
Label: Coral
Genre: Rockabilly, Rock & Roll
Line-Up: Donald Arnone (guitar (B5)), Jerry Allison (drums), Robert Bollinger (backing vocals (B5)), Al Caiola (guitar (B5)), Robert Harter (backing vocals (B5)), Abby Hoffer (backing vocals (B5)), Buddy Holly (vocals, guitar), C.W. Kendall Jr. (piano (A3, B4, B6)), William Marihe (backing vocals (B5)), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), Merrill Ostrus (backing vocals (B5)), Norman Petty (organ (A5), piano (B5)), Vi Petty (piano (A3, A5, A6, B2), celesta (B1)), Niki Sullivan (guitar (A6))

Points: 736
Finished #2 in 1958 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #18
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #1164
AM rank: #1681
Biggest Fan: Listyguy (#1), Henry (#3), DaveC (#7)
Not a Fan: mileswide (#67)

A1 | I‘m Gonna Love You Too (Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Norman Petty)
A2 | Peggy Sue (Norman Petty, Jerry Allison)
A3 | Look at Me (Norman Petty, Jerry Allison)
A4 | Listen to Me (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty)
A5 | Valley of Tears (Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew)
A6 | Ready Teddy (Robert Blackwell, John Marascalco)
B1 | Everyday (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty)
B2 | Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (Ruth Roberts, Bill Katz, Stanley Clayton)
B3 | Words of Love (Buddy Holly)
B4 | You‘re So Square (Baby I Don‘t Care) (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
B5 | Rave On (Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, Norman Petty)
B6 | Little Baby (Norman Petty, C.W. Kendall Jr.)

Considering Holly‘s ongoing popularity it‘s interesting that it is not that easy to find discographical information about his music. I can‘t guarantee that the data above is accurate especially concerning the recording dates.
The album collects some successful singles Holly had released under his own name on the Coral label. The backing band was The Crickets but it‘s not credited due to contractual reasons I went into in the song poll write-ups. The singles collected here are „Words of Love“ with its B-side „Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues“ (originally released June 20, 1957), „Peggy Sue“ with its B-side „Everyday“ (originally released September 20, 1957) and „I‘m Gonna Love You Too“ with its B-side „Listen to Me“ (originally released February 5, 1958). „Rave On“ would also be released as a single, but after the album had already been released.
At this point in Rock & Roll history producers had a lot of influence on the ultimate product (I mean, they still do, but in different ways). Norman Petty not only served as producer and manager of Holly and The Crickets, but he also co-wrote most of their songs and was in charge of the finances. He also told Holly that he should pretend his wife was a secretary to not make the female fans jealous. Holly later split from Petty, but most of the material he recorded was produced by Petty, so his influence is worth being mentioned.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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4. Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book
Recording: February 7, 1956 (A3, A4, A7, B2, B3, B6, B7, B8, C1, C3, C4, C5, C6) – February 8, 1956 (A1, A2, A5, A8, B1, B5, C2, D1, D2, D4, D5, D7) – February 9, 1956 (A6, B4, C7, D6, D8) – March 27, 1956 (C8, D3)
Release: May 15, 1956
Producer: Norman Granz
Label: Verve
Genre: Vocal Jazz, Standards, Big Band
Line-Up: Milt Bernhart (trombone), Buddy Bregman (conductor), Pete Candoli (trumpet), Bob Cooper (clarinet, oboe, tenor saxophone), Harry Edison (trumpet), Maynard Ferguson (trumpet), Ella Fitzgerald (vocals), Herb Geller (clarinet, alto saxophone), Chuck Gentry (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone), Conrad Gozzo (trumpet), Corky Hale (harp), Joe Howard (trombone), Barney Kessel (guitar), Robert LaMarchina (cello), Edgar Lustgarten (cello), Joe Mondragon (bass), Ted Nash (clarinet, flute, tenor saxophone), George Roberts (bass trombone, baritone trombone), Bud Shank (clarinet, flute, alto saxophone), Paul Smith (piano, celeste), Alvin Stoller (drums, percussion), Lloyd Ulyate (trombone)

Points: 737
Finished #1 in 1956 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #6
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #856
AM rank: #703
Biggest Fan: bonnielaurel (#1), Brad (#2), SL3 (#4), Henry (#8)
Not a Fan: DaveC (#96)

A1 | All Through the Night
A2 | Anything Goes
A3 | Miss Otis Regrets
A4 | Too Darn Hot
A5 | In the Still of the Night
A6 | I Get a Kick Out of You
A7 | Do I Love You
A8 | Always True to You in My Fashion
B1 | Let‘s Do It
B2 | Just One of Those Things
B3 | Ev‘ry Time We Say Goodbye
B4 | All of You
B5 | Begin the Beguine
B6 | Get Out of Town
B7 | I Am in Love
B8 | From This Moment On
C1 | I Love Paris
C2 | You Do Something to Me
C3 | Ridin‘ High
C4 | Easy to Love
C5 | It‘s All Right with Me
C6 | Why Can‘t You Behave
C7 | What Is This Thing Called Love
C8 | You‘re the Top
D1 | Love for Sale
D2 | It‘s Delovely
D3 | Night and Day
D4 | Ace in the Hole
D5 | So in Love
D6 | I‘ve Got You Under My Skin
D7 | I Concentrate on You
D8 | Don‘t Fence Me In (co-written by Robert Fletcher)

All songs written by Cole Porter.

The first album released by Norman Granz‘s newly formed record label Verve Records and the start of a series of massive albums which saw Ella Fitzgerald tackling the oeuvres of multiple popular songwriters. The first composer is Cole Porter who mainly wrote for Broadway. Most of the songs featured on this album had their start in Broadway shows. „Night and Day“ is from The Gay Divorcee, „Love for Sale“ is from The New Yorkers and „Always True to You in My Fashion“ is from Kiss Me, Kate, which is possibly Porter‘s most significant musical.
Fitzgerald recorded 32 of Porter‘s song in four sessions. Three of them took place in February and 31 songs were recorded in those. The musicians came together for a fourth session in March to record „Night and Day“ and a few alternate takes (that recording of „You‘re the Top“ actually landed on the album).
32 songs is a lot for an album, especially in the 1950s, so the songs were split and put on two LPs. As far as I can tell there is no deeper concept behind the order of the songs. Theoretically you could put the faster-paced songs on one LP and the slower, more sentimental ones on the other. That would provide a more coherent mood, but it would also lead to less variety.
All of the songs were arranged and conducted by Buddy Bregman for a big band (which means there are only a few string instruments). But not all of the instruments are heard on every track: Instead there‘s a lot of variety in the selection of players: While „Miss Otis Regrets“ sees Fitzgerald only accompanied by a piano, „Begin the Beguine“ has the entire band backing her.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Henry »

Looks like I was not a fan for at least 8 of the 100 albums, including:

100. Boris Vian: Chansons possibles et impossibles (Unfortunately, my low ranking of French artists seems a bit consistent throughout this rollout.) - placed at 63 in the poll - Listyguy joined me as not a fan. Nicolas may need to help the two of us better appreciate these great French works.

93. Georges Brassens: No. 4 (placed at 60 in the poll) - SL3 joined me as not a fan. Again Nicolas may need to help me understand why this work is so beloved.

92. Josh White: Southern Exposure (placed at 36 in the poll) - Dan and bonnilaurel joined me as not fans. Not a surprise to see that DaveC and Schuttelbirne are fans because their tastes seem a bit different than mine. They may have something to teach me so that I can better appreciate Josh White's album.

89. Marty Robbins: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (placed at 46 in the poll). No one joined me in the not a fan group for this album. SL3 may want to clue me in on this album.

87. Hank Williams: Moanin' the Blues (placed at 28 in the poll). Schuttelbirne joined me as not a fan. Because Honorio likes this album and has such a wonderful way of articulating what he finds appealing, I expect that my enjoyment of the album could increase with a few insightful words from our man Honorio.

86. Jacques Brel: No. 4 (another French album that doesn't yet work for me) (placed at 12 in the poll). No one joined me as not a fan for this album. My taste often aligns with bonnielaurel, so perhaps she can provide me with some tips so that I can increase my enjoyment for some of the songs on this album.

83. Howlin' Wolf: Moanin' in the Moonlight (placed at 7 in the poll). No surprise than bonnielaurel is also not a fan, since our tastes often align. Perhaps Listyguy is in the best position to provide us with some insights that could help us better appreciate this Forum Fan favorite. My tastes tend to be different than mileswide and DaveC, so I am less hopeful that their insights would translate well to me.

81. Woody Guthrie: Dust Bowl Ballads (placed at 17 in the poll) - once again no one joined me as not a fan for this album. I have hope that my enjoyment of the album could improve with some helpful words from Honorio.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by bonnielaurel »

Henry wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 6:58 pm
86. Jacques Brel: No. 4 (another French album that doesn't yet work for me) (placed at 12 in the poll). No one joined me as not a fan for this album. My taste often aligns with bonnielaurel, so perhaps she can provide me with some tips so that I can increase my enjoyment for some of the songs on this album.
To me these songs appealed immediately, so it might be hard to convince someone. This album shows the two sides of Jacques Brel: the romantic-poetic side (Ne me quitte pas) and the comical-exuberant side (La Valse à mille temps). Of course it helps if you understand French and focus on the lyrics. Watching Brel live might also help, because he was very energetic and sweaty.
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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Schüttelbirne wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 1:33 pm 10. Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley
Recording: July 5, 1954 (A5) – August 19, 1954 (B5) – September 10, 1954 (A6, B4) – July 11, 1955 (B2) – January 10, 1956 (A3, B6) – January 11, 1956 (A2) – January 30, 1956 (A1, A4) – January 31,1956 (B1, B3)
Release: March 13, 1956
Producers: Sam Phillips & Steve Sholes
Label: RCA Victor
Genre: Rock & Roll
Line-Up:
July 5, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
August 19, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
September 10, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Doug Poindexter (percussion, guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
July 11, 1955: Johnny Bernero (drums), Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
January 10, 1956: Bill Black (bass), Floyd Cramer (piano), D.J. Fontana (drums), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
January 11, 1956: Chet Atkins (guitar), Bill Black (bass), Floyd Cramer (piano), D.J. Fontana (drums), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
January 30+31, 1956: Bill Black (bass), D.J. Fontana (drums), Shorty Long (piano), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)

A1 | Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins)
A2 | I‘m Counting on You (Don Robertson)
A3 | I Got a Woman (Ray Charles, Renald Richard)
A4 | One Sided Love Affair (Bill Campbell)
A5 | I Love You Because (Leon Payne)
A6 | Just Because (Bob Shelton, Joe Shelton, Sydney Robin)
B1 | Tutti Frutti (Dorothy LaBostrie, Richard Penniman)
B2 | Tryin‘ to Get to You (Rose Marie McCoy, Charles Singleton)
B3 | I‘m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) (Howard Biggs, Joe Thomas)
B4 | I‘ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin‘) (Jimmy Wakely)
B5 | Blue Moon (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
B6 | Money Honey (Jesse Stone)
Congratulations, Schüttelbirne, for the fantastic presentation!!
And sorry for nitpicking but some of the credits of Presley's debut are not accurate since The Jordanaires didn't participate in the recording sessions before 1956 and also not in the January 30-31, 1956 sessions (I've checked it on my Boxset "The King of Rock 'n' Roll"). So the correct credits would be:
July 5, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar)
August 19, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar)
September 10, 1954: Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Doug Poindexter (percussion, guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar)
July 11, 1955: Johnny Bernero (drums), Bill Black (bass), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar, piano)
January 10, 1956: Bill Black (bass), Floyd Cramer (piano), D.J. Fontana (drums), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
January 11, 1956: Chet Atkins (guitar), Bill Black (bass), Floyd Cramer (piano), D.J. Fontana (drums), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar), Ben Speer (backing vocals), Brock Speer (backing vocals), Gordon Stoker (backing vocals)
January 30+31, 1956: Bill Black (bass), D.J. Fontana (drums), Shorty Long (piano), Scotty Moore (guitar), Elvis Presley (vocals, guitar)
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Honorio »

Henry wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 6:58 pm
87. Hank Williams: Moanin' the Blues (placed at 28 in the poll). Schuttelbirne joined me as not a fan. Because Honorio likes this album and has such a wonderful way of articulating what he finds appealing, I expect that my enjoyment of the album could increase with a few insightful words from our man Honorio.

81. Woody Guthrie: Dust Bowl Ballads (placed at 17 in the poll) - once again no one joined me as not a fan for this album. I have hope that my enjoyment of the album could improve with some helpful words from Honorio.
No time for further elaborate it but I can copy and paste here the comments I sent to Schüttelbirne for these albums:

Hank Williams - Moanin' the Blues (1952)
I'm aware that this album is really a compilation but it could work as a concept album, as in fact every one of the first Hank Williams albums is one: "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 precision despair, loneliness and... blues.

Woody Guthrie - Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
This could be (maybe after Leadbelly's "Negro Sinful Songs" from 1939) the very first concept album, way before the album era (it was originally released as two box-sets with three 78 rpm records). If you dare to enter the austere folk world of Guthrie (political lyrics, traditional melodies and spare backing) you'll get a rewarding experience even if you end covered with dust.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by SL3 »

Henry wrote: Wed Mar 22, 2023 6:58 pm 89. Marty Robbins: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs (placed at 46 in the poll). No one joined me in the not a fan group for this album. SL3 may want to clue me in on this album.
Gunfighter Ballads - what I love about it - the cinematic lyrics, the pared back production, the fantastic guitar work & the way the whole album has a beautiful flow to it thematically. It's #9 on my all time album list & I could easily have put 5 tracks on my top 1000 song list. That said I can see people finding this hard to get into. It was one of my Mum's favourite albums so I heard it from age 0, but if I heard it fresh now I might be put off by the old fashioned vocals or the genre. This is one that really grows on you though, so if you want to discover the magic my tip would be to throw away any preconceptions & listen on repeat.

Thanks also to Schüttelbirne for another fantastic rollout!
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Schüttelbirne »

Honorio wrote: Thu Mar 23, 2023 6:27 am
And sorry for nitpicking but some of the credits of Presley's debut are not accurate since The Jordanaires didn't participate in the recording sessions before 1956 and also not in the January 30-31, 1956 sessions (I've checked it on my Boxset "The King of Rock 'n' Roll"). So the correct credits would be:
Thanks, I corrected it.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

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3. The Dave Brubeck Quartet | Time Out
Recording: June 25, 1959 (B1, B2, B3) – July 1, 1959 (A2, A3) – August 18, 1959 (A1, B4)
Release: December 14, 1959
Producer: Teo Macero
Label: Columbia
Genre: Cool Jazz
Line-Up: Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto saxophone), Joe Morello (drums), Eugene Wright (bass)

Points: 776
Finished #2 in 1959 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #17
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #365
AM rank: #326
Biggest Fan: mileswide (#1), Henry (#2)
Not a Fan: SL3 (#42)

A1 | Blue Rondo a la Turk (Dave Brubeck)
A2 | Strange Meadow Lark (Dave Brubeck)
A3 | Take Five (Paul Desmond)
B1 | Three to Get Ready (Dave Brubeck)
B2 | Kathy‘s Waltz (Dave Brubeck)
B3 | Everybody‘s Jumpin‘ (Dave Brubeck)
B4 | Pick Up Sticks (Dave Brubeck)

The US State Department sent well-known jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman or Louis Armstrong on tours into countries whose allegiance in the „war of the systems“ was not entirely clear. While on such a tour in Turkey pianist Dave Brubeck was inspired by the folk music he heard there since it featured time signatures not commonly used in Western music. Back in the USA he decided on making an album full of songs using uncommon time signatures.
This was a daring plan which seemed maybe a bit too experimental to be a big success, but Columbia allowed Dave Brubeck‘s quartet to record based on Brubeck being one of the most successful jazz musicians in the country (he even made the cover of Time magazine in 1954 – he was embarrassed about that, though, since Duke Ellington didn‘t because we know why).
They only had to record a more „commercial“ album with songs from the American South called Gone with the Wind. In fact they released two of those in 1959 before Time Out; the other one was called Southern Scene. They are basically forgotten – Time Out went on to become one of the best-selling jazz albums in history.
All the songs with the exception of „Time Out“ were written by Brubeck himself. Unusual rhythms can be a challenge for the performers but also for the listeners. The easiest way to balance out the novelty of the rhythm is by repetition of the same melodic phrases which happens in these songs. The catchy melodies of „Take Five“ and „Blue Rondo a la Turk“ help the listener overcome the initial wonder at the rhythm. From a modern perspective it doesn‘t sound that unusual but most of us were born after Time Out was released.
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Schüttelbirne »



2. Nina Simone | Little Girl Blue
Recording: December 1957
Release: February 1959
Producer: Joseph Muranyi
Label: Bethlehem
Genre: Vocal Jazz
Line-Up: Jimmy Bond (bass), Al Heath (drums), Nina Simone (vocals, piano)

Points: 860
Finished #3 in 1958 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #5
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #651
AM rank: Bubbling Under
Biggest Fan: Dan (#1), DaveC (#1), bonnielaurel (#2), SL3 (#6)
Not a Fan: mileswide (#72)

A1 | Mood Indigo (Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills)
A2 | Don‘t Smoke in Bed (Willard Robison)
A3 | He Needs Me (Arthur Hamilton)
A4 | Little Girl Blue (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
A5 | Love Me or Leave Me (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
A6 | My Baby Just Cares for Me (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
B1 | Good Bait (Count Basie, Tadd Dameron)
B2 | Plain Gold Ring (Nina Simone)
B3 | You‘ll Never Walk Alone (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
B4 | I Loves You Porgy (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
B5 | Central Park Blues (Nina Simone)

Originally Nina Simone had the ambition to become a classical pianist and she relentlessly pursued this goal. But then her application at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia was denied which was a big blow for her. But she still took lessons with a professor from Curtis, Vladimir Sokoloff. To pay for these lessons she started performing in nightclubs and took the stage name Nina Simone (her actual name was Eunice Waymon).
Someone from Bethlehem Records heard a demo she had recorded and wanted to record an album with her. She came in and played the songs she would typically play in her set, but without improvising as she normally did. She was supported by studio musicians Jimmy Bond and Al Heath, but the focus is clearly on Simone‘s vocals and her piano skills.
There is not much information known about it, but it seems all the songs on the album were recorded in a single session which took place in December 1957. She still wanted to be a classical pianist and considered the „Nina Simone“ phase to be a detour, so she sold all her rights for $3,000 which cost her a lot of royalties later.
The album was first announced in December 1958, but was apparently not released until February 1959 (I‘m basing this on the Nina Simone Database). The album did finish third in our 1958 poll, though, so there seems to be confusion as to the release date.
In general, Bethlehem Records did not seem to care much for Simone. The original release was scheduled for September 1958 but nothing happened; the album was also either marketed as Little Girl Blue or Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club. They also did not release any single previously, which means the album was not immediately successful. It only became a success once they released „I Loves You Porgy“ as a single, but only after a single DJ on a local radio station had played the song multiple times on his show.
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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Schüttelbirne »



1. Miles Davis | Kind of Blue
Recording: March 2, 1959 (A-side) – April 22, 1959 (B-side)
Release: August 17, 1959
Producer: Irving Townsend
Label: Columbia
Genre: Modal Jazz, Cool Jazz
Line-Up: Julian Adderley (alto saxophone (A1, A2, B1, B2)), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Miles Davis (trumpet), Bill Evans (piano (A1, A3, B1, B2)), Wynton Kelly (piano (A2))

Points: 902
Finished #1 in 1959 poll
Rank in 2016 poll: #1
Rank in 2020 All-Time poll: #41
AM rank: #29
Biggest Fan: Brad (#1), Honorio (#2), Listyguy (#3), bonnielaurel (#6), Henry (#6), nicolas (#6), DaveC (#9), Schüttelbirne (#9)
Not a Fan: SL3 (#50)

A1 | So What (Miles Davis)
A2 | Freddie Freeloader (Miles Davis)
A3 | Blue in Green (Miles Davis, Bill Evans)
B1 | All Blues (Miles Davis)
B2 | Flamenco Sketches (Miles Davis, Bill Evans)

Kind of Blue documents the final stages of the First Great Quintet (which had grown to a sextet with the addition of Cannonball Adderley). Davis‘ experiments with modality based on George Russell‘s theories continued and influenced the compositions and playing style on the album. I speak of composition, but you should be aware that the individual band members were not clearly told what to play; instead Davis gave them brief instructions and then they started to play. This could only be done because the musicians knew each other intimately and had been playing with each other for years.
Over the years this album has achieved a legendary status as the quintessential jazz album and has thusly become the most successful album of its genre and still serves as the palate to which all of jazz is compared to.
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Schüttelbirne
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Schüttelbirne »

It is revealed...
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Dan
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by Dan »

Lovely to see Nina Simone so close to the top! Thanks for another marvellous roll-out, Schüttelbirne. And thanks to everyone who participated in these polls. We were a small group, but it was nice to explore this delightful early period of music with you.
...will keep us together.
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bonnielaurel
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by bonnielaurel »

Yes, it's pretty exceptional to give so much attention to the popular music of the "prehistory", but it's worth it.
De gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum.
antonius
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Re: Music of the Early Years: The Results - Albums

Post by antonius »

Although I didn't participate in this poll, I enjoyed following the results very much.
Really great rollout with lots of info! Thank you Schüttelbirne.
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