1957
This is my first full list, but first we have some trivial matters to discuss…
Event of the year: Death wins in a chess match
Fad: Samurai Fighting
Babe of the Year: Alfred Hitchcock
Scandal of the Year: Eddie Haskell steals Beaver’s lunch money.
Movie or TV show to barf to: Peyton Place
What we could have done without: Pat Boone
Pet of the year: Checkers (Nixon’s dog)
Other Tidbits: Humphrey Bogart dies but Gary Cooper lives, Leave it to Beaver debuts and Eddie Haskell becomes a household name, Audrey Hepburn hasn’t lost her looks yet, Harry Belafonte buys a Banana Boat, Elvis Presley goes to jail and is all shook up, Henry Fonda gets a murderer off and the Lonesome Rhodes show is the top rated show in history, Sputnik is launched and bomb shelters are built in Dick Nixon’s backyard, The Yankees lose the World Series and George Steinbrenner fires Billy Martin.
Okay, so much for the trivia. Here are my top twenty-five for 1957.
1) Sonny Rollins- Way Out West
2) Charles Mingus- The Clown
3) Carl Perkins- The Dance Album
4) Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps- Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps
5) Johnny Griffin- A Blowin Session
6) Billie Holiday- Body and Soul
7) John Coltrane- Coltrane
8) Coleman Hawkins- The Hawk Flies High
9) Nat King Cole- After Midnight
10) Thelonious Monk- Monk’s Music
11) Horace Silver Quintet- Six Pieces of Silver
12) Pete Seeger- American Ballads
13) Miles Davis- Miles Ahead
14) Little Richard- Here’s Little Richard
15) Leonard Bernstein- Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story
16) Patsy Cline- Patsy Cline
17) Chuck Berry- After School Session
18) Miles Davis- Birth of the Cool
19) Johnny Cash- Johnny Cash and his Hot and Blue Guitar
20) Elvis Presley- Loving You
21) The Everly Brothers- They’re Off and Rolling
22) The Coasters- The Coasters
23) Buddy Holly and the Crickets- The Chirpin Crickets
24) Ruth Brown- Rock n Roll
25) Miles Davis- Round About Midnight
This is the year where jazz really takes control. For the second straight year, my biggest surprise also happens to be my favorite album of the year. In this case it’s Sonny Rollins. The title track alone is enough to sway me but the album grooves throughout. Mingus’ the Clown is the first of his truly great albums imo. It was close as to which album would be number one. Billie Holiday’s Body and Soul is another album that impresses me. Her early death from a drug overdose seems such a waste.
Rock n Roll is still trying to find it’s bearings as far as albums go. I rated Carl Perkins at number three, but that could have just as easily been his greatest hits. Gene Vincent comes off with a great album though. The two most popular rock albums of that year though, Here’s Little Richard (another greatest hits album) and the Chirpin’ Crickets, while on the list, don’t impress me as much as they do with the RYM bunch. At least there are enough quality albums to make a top twenty-five though.
Biggest Surprise- Sonny Rollins- Way Out West
Crazy Jazz Album. I still can’t get the title track out of my head
Biggest Disappointment- Miles Davis-Round About Midnight.
I’m hoping his future stuff will be better but he doesn’t wow me the way Coltrane does for example.
Stinker of the Year- Various Artists- My Pussy Belongs to Daddy.
(I'd post the album cover but it's kinda X rated so I better not)
The title alone rates a mention. Yeah, it’s pretty much a porn album by various artists with titles such as Sadie’s Still Got the Rag On and He Forgot His Rubbers, you know this has to be a hoot. The album finishes with the classic Tony’s Got Hot Nuts.
Well that made me hot (or maybe I kept the roast on in the oven too long). Anyway. we’ll have 1958 later on in the week so see you then.