Thursday, January 15, 2009

the 11 Best Albums of 1959


This will be my last post for a couple of weeks. I'll be back in time for the return of Franz Ferdinand and Bruce Springsteen.

1959 was 50 years ago...but music was as influential as it ever was. While the radio was being dominated by pop teen idols (what else has changed?) musical giants like Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Elvis and Johnny Cash were laying the foundations for the music that we hear today.

The 11 Best Albums of 1959

1. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
2. Ray Charles - The Genius of Ray Charles
3. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Sings the George and Ira Gerswhin Songbook
4. Frank Sinatra - Come Dance With Me
5. Dave Brubeck - Time Out
6. Johnny Cash - The Fabulous Johnny Cash
7. Elvis Presley - 50,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong
8. Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um (GG Train)
9. Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come
10. Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz
11. Ritchie Valens - Ritchie Valens

Buy many of these albums at my store.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great choices, though I would have picked Mingus' Blues and Roots over Ah Um... Keep up the good work.

Unknown said...

Both of those Mingus choices are good, but Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (different year though) is better still, IMO of course.

Unknown said...

Both good Mingus recordings, but Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is better still (although not released in '59). IMO of course.