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.