#22 Dave Brubeck Quartet "Take Five"

This one's kind of a classic. Most of the album is good, above average, but then there's the title track. That's a kind of perfect that doesn't come along very often. The first track, "Blue Rondo a la Turk" is kind of NPR or PBS theme music, and I'm sure I heard it used there when I was a kid for something or other. Not really a bad thing to say about this album and I'll likely come back to it. Not my first time, won't be my last. Adding it to the list of jazz I don't hate. Maybe I don't hate jazz after all...

#21 Marty Robbins "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs"

"El Paso" is on this one. Used to hear this played over and over while eating at The Border Café in Harvard Square. That's about my extent of exposure to Marty Robbins before this. While technically country music, it's really more storytelling than anything else. A bit melodramatic, this album kind of perfect illustrates a part of the 50s otherwise not in evidence in the list so far. Westerns were huge and there's an innocence here that has been lost and will never be reclaimed. I wouldn't go out of my way for this kind of thing but I can appreciate it for what it is.

#20 Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"

This album is pretty perfect. I don't like jazz, or I didn't but this is so evocative, it can't help but make me see and feel things. I'd heard it before, it's not for every day. It needs to be as close to the center of what you're doing as possible to soak it properly in. If I were to see him in a club doing this live and anyone was talking or otherwise distracting, I'd be pissed. Top marks.

#19 Ella Fitzgerald, "Sings the Gershwin Song Book"

I might get flack for this, but I couldn't listen to too much of this album. Fitzgerald and the Gershwins are geniuses, of that I'm sure. It's not really my kind of music; all those strings are just so...parental. This just feels like music for older folks, stuff I used to avoid when I was a kid. Mix that with the fact that there is over 4 hours of music on this one meant that I just had to pass. I'm finding that the albums that have a rougher edge, a bit more energy and less rehearsal are appealing more to me, even when it's not my kind of music. This stuff is so polished, there's not an interesting corner to it. For me. So.. I'm sure this is great stuff, just not for me.

#18 Sarah Vaughn, "At Mr. Kelly's"

Recorded live in 1957, this record is delightful. It's VERY live, with an intro as well as disclaimer that Sarah will be using music sheets as this performance is going to be a record. She messes up the second song and has fun with that fact. Hers is a very sweet voice, less bluesy, more soft. An amazing instrument, I can easily see her draw. The modern version of this record is a double set with the songs I'm guessing were left out of the original record put back in.

#17 Jack Elliot

This one is abbreviated as the album in question, "Jack Takes the Floor" is missing from Apple Music and the list I was using, though not the book. I don't have the track list, so listened to the three songs particularly mentioned in the article. His is that kind of train-track, hobo blues kind of music. Not my thing at all, though apparently he was quiet influential. Not my thing.

#16 Billie Holiday "Lady in Satin"

From what I read about this record, it was Billie Holiday trying to make a comeback in her 40s while sounding like she was in her 70s. Apparently the victim of a terrible heroin addiction, she was at a shaky point in her life, though later claimed this as her favorite of her own recordings. I'm going to go against the author of the book and say that I generally really disliked the arrangements here as they're all typical 50s strings, softening the blow of her still amazing voice. If she'd been paired with the clarinets, saxophones and other general blues instruments instead, I think this album would have been utterly unforgettable, stunning and 100% better. That's just me. She's been through a lot. You can tell, feel it. Just wish it wasn't the Lawrence Welk Orchestra behind her.

#15 Tito Puente "Dance Mania Vol. 1"

It might be unfair to have this record come right after Little Richard's debut. Next to him, this music, all quite bouncy and danceable sounds rather rehearsed and 'clean.' There was a lot of Latin music making the rounds in the 50s (pity the same can't be said today) and this certainly is some of it. Don't know that I'd be able to pick Puente's stuff out of a crowd but it was nice enough.

#14 Litte Richard "Here's Little Richard"

Tutti Frutti is the first track and from here, we pretty much know all we need to know about Little Richard. Or do we? The energy on this record is SO much different than any of the other rock performances on what I've heard so far. That being said, Richard gets a LOT of mileage out of that old 1 4 5 blues progression. For me, though, the killer tracks on this album were not the usuals, but "Long Tall Sally," "Oh, Why?" "Jenny Jenny" and "She's Got It." Tons of energy and, likely, something never heard before. Because of headphones, I can tell these tracks were recorded at different times and that's ok. A live show back in 1957 must have been exhausting.

#13 Machito, "Kenya"

Like the Miles Davis entry before, this album feels cut short by its time. Each track is single-lengthen, coming in at 3 minutes or less. They're all lively, fun numbers that also kind of feel anonymous in overall tone; more like something played in the background of a party than something to draw people specifically in. That being said, it was fun, and I did enjoy it. The tone just didn't vary all that much and the music didn't pull me in as much as some of the other music on this list did. Worth hearing because of the joy, just perhaps not as well remembered.

#12 Miles Davis' "Birth of the Cool"

I generally don't like jazz. That being said, I saw Don Cheadle's movie, "Miles Away," really enjoyed it and then dialed up "Kind of Blue," pretty much THE Miles Davis album everyone agrees you're supposed to listen to and... liked it. It's not on my everyday playlist or anything but I could accept it and get it, to some degree which I couldn't before. That being said, "Birth of the Cool" is not "Kind of Blue." This doesn't mean I think it's bad, more that it's early and we haven't got to THAT Miles yet. This album, which is partially a product of its time, is full of rather short pieces which feel like they would really rather be drawn out and explored a lot further. The version of the album on iTunes is missing the last track mentioned in the book, "Darn That Dream," and I wish it had been missing. It has terrible vocals which, to my ear, clash with everything else on the album. That being said, this is a perfectly good, smokey, nightclubby album. To me, it was more a taste than a full meal. "Kind of Blue" apparently comes up later on in the list. I look forward to listening to that again.

#11 Sabu "Palo Congo"

I can't begin to guess how this album was received in 1956. It starts off with more Cuban styled music but quickly moves towards a more African flavor. I know that, because of "I Love Lucy" Cuban music was kind of hot in the 50s, I have no idea if anything from Africa was. That being said, this was pleasant enough to listen to with a different kind of beat and rhythm than anything else on the list to this point. It's pushing the boundaries of very white music and I have to expect that few records were sold in its time. I could be wrong. This is exactly why I decided to do this list, to test my own tastes and exposure. While it may not be my thing, and I might never come this way again, I liked it.

#10 Thelonious Monk "Brilliant Corners"

This is more of what I think of when I think of jazz, that kind of smokey, coffee-scented kind of music that came from dark nightclubs of the past. Never listened to Monk before though I know he is one of THE names of the genre. I can see, more and more, why people were and are drawn to jazz. There are colors, there are feelings, none of which are concrete, distinct. It's kind of like abstract art, which I generally like very much. This is music of that time, when the abstract impressionists held sway. I kind of wish I could go back to one of those jazz clubs just for one night. This is a somewhat 'perfect' version of one of those nights, but is also likely as close as I'll ever get. Glad I took the chance on this one.

#8 The Chirping Crickets

Buddy Holly had an unarguable impact on what would become Rock and Roll. That being said, this album held no real surprises because most of it has been so well played. This shouldn't detract from its importance because pretty much every song on here was likely a hit and I can understand why. It's catchy, fun and likely stuff that hadn't been heard before. For a youth market that was likely utterly starving for something new, something they could call their own, I bet this was the stuff of dreams. The Crickets are a tight combo and Holly had a kind of perfect voice. Worth revisiting.

EDIT: Wrote this a little too early; thought the album was done and it wasn't. The last track, "Rock Me My Baby" was, for me, the hit of the album. Never heard it before but it was bouncy and fun. Sort of like the track I liked on Fats Domino's album, one unheard that really grabbed me.

#9 Count Basie, "Atomic Mr. Basie"

Wasn't sure what to expect with Count Basie as I didn't know his work really at all. What I got was kind of big band mixed with the sounds of the Jetsons theme. Neil Hefti, who would go on to write tv themes such as that for Batman and The Odd Couple was the arranger and that's probably where most of the flavor of this album came from. It's generally a lot of fun, upbeat and fits in with the late 50s early 60s just fine. Well worth a listen. I'm out of order as I missed seeing the Crickets' album at #8 but I'll go back now and listen to that. Interesting to hear this kind of music so much when Rock and Roll is really just busting out all over the place about this time, which is 1957. Thought there would be more of that.

#7 Sinatra, "Songs for Swingin' Lovers"

It's hard not to compare albums on this list, which really isn't fair as they likely weren't in any kind of competition when released. That being said, I was expecting to feel a good deal of being let down when going right from the Ellington album to a studio recording by Sinatra. And to be fair, this album is nothing compared to that one. And still, this is pretty much Sinatra at his best, from what little I know. The songs are all very well crafted, the performances are tight and iconic. If anything, this is better to me than his first entry in this list. Certainly there are a lot more recognizable songs. A worthy entry to the 1001. Surprisingly enjoyable.

Duke Ellington, album #6

"Ellington at Newport 1956" is the album of tonight, though it really started last night. The version I'm listening to is a combination of various versions. It seems his performance at the Newport Jazz festival was recorded but the recordings were somehow damaged and so the album that was released was actually a re-recording done in the studio with canned applause added. There was a re-release that used the original tapes, a radio broadcast and the re-recordings to make as close a version to the real one as possible. And does it shine. I do NOT like jazz. Never have. But this record is hot, sexy, slow, passionate and tight all at the same time. Of all the records I've listened to so far, this one is the most varied, the most standing out of the bunch. All but the Louvin Brothers, Fats Domino and Elvis were supposedly washed up, has beens that thought their careers were over. These albums proved that wrong. I can't imagine having been at that festival in 1956. An amazing record. And it's teaching me something about jazz. Maybe I finally understand it to some degree. Well worth the listen.

EDIT: At the end of this amazing album. I will be utterly AMAZED if any of the other entries from the 1950s even come close to the heights this album hits. It doesn't break new ground, it's not the foundation of things to come, it isn't a breakout of new talent but dear gods, this album is truly amazing. Easily my favorite so far. Kind of sorry that I'm going back to Sinatra for the next one.

Fats Domino

Fats Domino gets his own entry in this blog because it's the last album I listened to tonight, when I started this whole journal. "This is Fats," is apparently his third album and it's the first one I couldn't locate in whole on Apple Music. All the tracks were there, just not in the order of the original album. So my listening to it was a little scattershot as I hunted and poked for the tracks in a huge listing. There are some big, very well known tracks here, including "Blueberry Hill," and "Blue Monday," but for me, the track that really stood out was, "Rocking and a Rolling." It was soulful, heavy and just damned good. This is the kind of music that you can just tell made people sit up and listen. There's a certain something to it that, even if you know nothing about the era or the music of the times, this music means something. Just shy of actual rock and roll and mostly sticking to the good old 1 4 5 blues progression, this is still obviously the base structure of rock. Some amazing stuff.

Country and Western, Louis Prima

Next in the big list is a country western album. The Louvin Brothers', "Tragic Songs of Life" was the first tonight. C+W is my least favorite type of popular music. This album is the very old, Opry style of C+W. All I can say is that I really didn't care for this album at all, it didn't change my mind about C+W music and, because of this prejudice, I can't understand its importance. I don't reject the claim, I just am so not part of that world that I am unable to comprehend it. Still, I listened to the whole thing, finding most of the songs to sound about the same.

Second was Louis Prima's, "The Wildest!" I was looking forward to this even though my only experience with Prima was from King Louis in the "Jungle Book" movie. I figured he was going to be making music somewhere between big band style and jazz and I was close enough. This was a good, fun record and I'm glad I listened to it. There was a lot of joy in his performance and the musicians were tight and lively. Prima I might look more into and listen to again.

1001 Albums Post 1: Sinatra and Elvis

So it seems that this list, 1001 Albums You Must Hear is done in order of release, or at least by decade. We start in the 50s, not generally my favorite decade for music, though it is the source for pretty much all the music I know in one way or another. I'm no music expert, musician or otherwise qualified person, I'm just some guy that likes music and wants to learn more about it, or at least be more exposed to more of it. And I like to write about the stuff I do. Doesn't matter if anyone else reads it, it's a record, a journal for me. That's good enough.

First up was Frank Sinatra's, "In the Wee, Small Hours." Not a Sinatra fan, not really at all. And yet, I can totally see someone sitting in their living room, at night, perhaps with a bit of rain coming down outside listening to this while sipping a cocktail. It's a lonely record and very evocative of a big city night in the mid 50s. Or at least that's the vibe I get from it. Likely wouldn't seek it out again, but I get its vibe just fine.

Next up was Elvis' first album, eponymously titled. It's a mixed bag of Elvis stuff and, according to the book, that's exactly what it is with some songs leftover from Sun Records recordings and some other, later tracks put together for this first full album. It's fine, if you like Elvis and I'm sure it rocketed him to stardom. But when it came to his cover of, "Tutti Fruitti," I had to roll my eyes as I remembered that this is the decade where any exciting music made by black people had to be re-recorded for white audiences by white performers or it wasn't accepted. Which is stupid. I have heard worse versions of this song, such as the one by Pat Boone also done during the 50s, and this is the only version some white audiences ever heard. Still, to my ears, Elvis doesn't bring anything to the track and can't touch Little Richard. The album is all right, didn't grab me, convert me or otherwise change my mind. Elvis was a fine performer, icon, etc. Just not my cup of tea.

Not for movies only!

Well well, true believers! Believer? Hello? No, this isn't an announcement for a new Movie Wrench article or video, it's something totally different. Why? Because I didn't want to start another blog but I wanted to journal something else I started. We'll see how long I hang onto this idea. I recently came across the list for the book, "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die." I'm always looking for some way to find new music that has some value to it. Radio is useless and while I sometimes get suggestions from friends if I ask, this is a cultivated list by critics that's supposed to embrace all sorts of music while also pointing out its importance. I'm sure there will be music I really don't like but the point is to broaden my tastes and even to try and figure out what these albums meant to people when they came out. Besides, the art of listening to albums as a whole is pretty much gone. I'm as guilty as anyone of the shuffle command.

So starting with the next post, this blog will change, possibly forever, to one where I take a long walk through 1001 albums, or as many as I can find on Apple Music.