Urban75 Album of the Year 1959

[belboid]

post it in the feminist thread :-p

Ella Fitzgerald was really prolific in 1959. Three album releases including a box set of 59 songs recorded over 8 months.

i just checked and Nina Simone's debut album was in 1959 too. Not heard it in a while though...

or this - which also came out in 1959 - interesting story behind it if you look on Wikipedia.

but recorded in 57 and 58 though - but this is by release dates, right?

They weren't purchasable before 1959, so count they do!

 

[Jennastan]

though this is more likely to appeal.

also 1959

 

[nogojones]

This is sublime...the first ever bossa record supposedly...just the right amount of melancholy in it

Joao died this summer just gone...didnt hear about that

There's also this which I think is way up there....

 

[Jennastan]

Two fairly decent albums by Frank Sinatra in 1959, by the way.

 

[Indeliblelink]

They weren't purchasable before 1959, so count they do!

Discogs & Ninasimone.com have it as 1958, I'm not saying that's fact but there are discrepancies out there.

ETA had a look for some evidence - seems this is where the confusion comes from

When Wildi approached him about renewing Nina Simone's contract, Nathan told him pointedly that they weren't going to renew her, and they didn't need her. Nathan stalled the release of the album from its scheduled September, 1958, release, to after her contract was up. When it was finally released in <strong>February, 1959,</strong> he arranged for minimal promotion for the album.
Bethlehem Records Story

Bad Lads & Hard Cases was 1957

 

[Jennastan]

Discogs & Ninasimone.com have it as 1958, I'm not saying that's fact but there are discrepancies out there.

ETA had a look for some evidence - seems this where the confusion come from


Bad Lads & Hard Cases was 1957

Wikipedia says 1959 Ewan MacColl - Wikipedia

and I think Wikipedia said the Nina Simone album was recorded in 1958 but released either Jan or Feb 1959 - I'll check again.

eta - yeah, Feb 1959, and there are 3 citations to back it up. :-p

and it says in a different entry that the recording sessions for Little Girl Blue were in 1958, which is probably where the confusion comes from. Nina Simone and Her Friends - Wikipedia

 

[Indeliblelink]

Multiple other sources have as 1957
Ewan MacColl - Bad Lads And Hard Cases
https:// ewanmaccoll.bandcamp.com/album/bad-lads-and-hard-cases
Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger - Bad Lads And Hard Cases - British Ballads Of Crime And Criminals

 

[Jennastan]

what a conundrum. These also reckon 1959
CLASSIC ALBUM REVIEW: EWAN MacCOLL -‘Bad Lads And Hard Cases: British Ballads Of Crime And Criminals’ (1959)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on Ewan MacColl
in fact a quick google shows a split between the two years with one leaving a question mark due to the confusion.

I'm wondering if its the same as with Simone - recorded a year (or 2) before it was released. Could easily have been recorded in '57 and then sat on by the label due to a dispute or some such thing.

For what it's worth, Spotify also says 1959.

 

[andysays]

Here's a link to the Rate Your Music list for 1959 which is worth checking out.

One possible anomaly I notice is the inclusion of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' Moanin' at number 4. I seem to remember voting for that one when we did 1958...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Here's a link to the Rate Your Music list for 1959 which is worth checking out.

One possible anomaly I notice is the inclusion of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' Moanin' at number 4. I seem to remember voting for that one when we did 1958...

Same!

Can we get an adjudication from belboid

 

[andysays]

Same!

Can we get an adjudication from belboid

Looking back to that year's thread, I see it was voted number 11

11 - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Moanin'

Archetypal hard bop.

So I guess we can't have it again this time

 

[Knotted]

This is an insanely good year for albums. This and 1979.

 

[killer b]

Here's a link to the Rate Your Music list for 1959 which is worth checking out.

Some really interesting things on here: just posting to remind myself to check out Angola Prison Sprirituals and the Shirley Collins LPs when I get home...

 

[killer b]

also this Kenny Graham album looks insanely good Moondog and Suncat Suites by Kenny Graham

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Lot of blues and jazz on that list. I think Kind of Blue is the only one I'd call a classic, although Dave Brubeck's Time Out (featuring Take Five) also came out that year.

 

[Knotted]

Anybody fancy doing a quick top ten of the '50s (and then 60's, 70's etc.)? I'm willing to add it up.

 

[Knotted]

Here's a link to the Rate Your Music list for 1959 which is worth checking out.

Always be careful to check the year of release with that list.

 

[killer b]

also this Kenny Graham album looks insanely good Moondog and Suncat Suites by Kenny Graham

this is fucking great tbf.

 

[andysays]

Lot of blues and jazz on that list. I think Kind of Blue is the only one I'd call a classic, although Dave Brubeck's Time Out (featuring Take Five) also came out that year.

Mingus Ah Um and Ornette's Shape of Jazz to Come are pretty much universally acknowledged classics as well, but that's about it.

Four jazz classics in one year isn't too bad though.

 

[Knotted]

Two great John Lee Hooker albums this year - House of Blues and I'm John Lee Hooker. But I guess they both fall foul of the no compilations rule.

 

[killer b]

Angola Prison Spirituals was reissued by Death Is Not The End a few years ago, and can be downloaded here for free if you fancy it (tip: you do fancy it):

 

[Knotted]

I bought Kind of Blue on CD about 20 years ago and I've listened to it many times and I like it fine, but it's never excited me. It's just fine. I don't even get why it's supposed to be so innovative. OK modes. So what? (see what I did there). The bulk of blues is in something approximating dorian as is a lot of folk. It has a certain focus to it that's absent in most jazz records, and it really catches a mood. Yeah I like it fine.

 

[rekil]

I suppose an extension is out of the question. belboid

 

[belboid]

Two great John Lee Hooker albums this year - House of Blues and I'm John Lee Hooker. But I guess they both fall foul of the no compilations rule.

They do, I'm afraid, deffo compilations of early singles. Charts had started the year before, so the value of cashing in was quickly seen and cashed in upon.

 

[belboid]

I suppose an extension is out of the question. belboid

We've got another five (or so) to do before December. So, no. Sorry.

 

[killer b]

The Shirley Collins is great fwiw

 

[killer b]

These threads are a great thing belboid - I always end up listening to a load of things I've never heard before.

 

[Spandex]

I really want to hear this 1959 highlife album from Ghana:

The only track I've been able find from it is this, which is great:

 

[ska invita]

Mingus Ah Um and Ornette's Shape of Jazz to Come are pretty much universally acknowledged classics as well, but that's about it.

Four jazz classics in one year isn't too bad though.

Sun Ra's Jazz In Silhouette should definitely be right up there in the classic pile IMO, but theres a fair amount of received wisdom in jazz i reckon. I guess with Sun Ra the history books are being rewritten these days.

I bought Kind of Blue on CD about 20 years ago and I've listened to it many times and I like it fine, but it's never excited me. It's just fine. I don't even get why it's supposed to be so innovative. OK modes. So what? (see what I did there). The bulk of blues is in something approximating dorian as is a lot of folk. It has a certain focus to it that's absent in most jazz records, and it really catches a mood. Yeah I like it fine.

I wonder when the status of Kind of Blue was set, and how much of its reputation is post CD release.
I think having such a catchy and accessible tune as So What on it is whats made it as popular as it is these days

 

[blossie33]

There's some great jazz and blues records in that list for 1959
The Isley Brothers album Shout too