1957 Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Info: Born Theodore Walter Rollins in New York, September 1930, Rollins began playing piano aged 9, but gave it up before picking up the saxophone in high school, after which he made his first recordings with the likes of Bud Powell, in 1948, which would eventually lead to him playing with Art Blakey and Miles Davis in the early 1950's. Saxophone Colossus was released in 1957 and is currently ranked as the No.1 album for the year on www.rateyourmusic.com and also has 5 stars on www.allmusic.com . Recorded during his peak period, with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins and the legendary jazz drummer, Max Roach (of Max Roach and Clifford Brown fame, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Brown_%26_Max_Roach). This album is widely considered Rollins' finest work, with the final track "Blue 7" capturing his individualism, other key tracks include "Moriat" and "St. Thomas" (above). 

Track Listing:

1. St.Thomas

2. You Don't Know What Love Is

3. Strode Rode

4. Moritat

5. Blue 7

1956 Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Elvis, 1968 performance

Info: Although far from Elvis' best album, it's a pretty solid debut. The album consists of 7 tracks recorded in early 1956, with the remainder coming from the scrapheap of his Sun Records songs from 1954, leading to a slightly lopsided album at times. Seen as the album that sparked mass interest in rock n' roll, following in the footsteps of the likes of Chuck Berry, teenagers were mesmerised by Elvis and bought the record in droves, remarkably, because at the time they were more inclined to buy 45's than LP's. Elvis Presley went on to become the first No.1 rock album in the US charts and made record company RCA millions. Key tracks include opener, "Blue Suede Shoes", "I'm Counting On You", the Ray Charles cover "I Got A Woman" and "Blue Moon", not to mention "Trying To Get You" (above). A point of interest also comes from the album cover, an iconic photo taken in Tampa, Florida in 1955 by William V. Robertson, which would be later copied by none other than The Clash for 1979's London Calling. 

Track Listing:

1. Blue Suede Shoes
2, I'm Counting On You
3. I Got A Woman
4. One-Sided Love Affair
5. I Love You Because
6. Just Because
7. Tutti Frutti
8. Trying To Get You
9. I'm Gonna Sit You Right Down (And Cry Over You)
10. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')
11. Blue Moon
12. Money Honey

1955 Julie London - Julie Is Her Name

Info: Real name Gayle Peck, she was born in Santa Rosa, California in 1926 and died in October, 2000 in Encino, in the same State. London was originally an actress (appearing in more than 20 films) but was convinced to pursue a singing career by her second husband, composer Bobby Troup. Julie Is Her Name was released in 1955, reaching No.2 in the charts, as her debut and is currently #7 on www.rateyourmusic.com for this year. The most well known of the tracks off the album is "Cry Me A River", where London is accompanied by gentle guitar and a bassist, and the unique sound of her singing was achieved mainly by her standing very close to the microphone when recording. The song reached No.9 in the US charts in December, 1955 and has appeared in scenes of films such as The Girl Can't Help It, starring Tom Ewell and Jayne Mansfield, in which an alcholic press-agent is paid by a gangster to make his girlfriend a famous singer, in one scene where the main character hits rock bottom he plays "Cry Me A River", and suddenly Julie London appears singing the song using a faded visual technique. The song has more recently been in 2005's V for Vendetta when Natalie Portman arrives in V's underground dwelling (where I first heard the song). Other key tracks are opener "Say It Isn't So", "I Should Care" and "Easy Street". I managed to get the album on vinyl recently and it's a very enjoyable and easy-listening recording, it was also released at the very edge of the rock n' roll explosion, and in some ways marks the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Track Listing: 

A1   Say It Isn't So    

A2   It Never Entered My Mind                         

A3   Easy Street                       

A4   S' Wonderful                    

A5   No Moon at All                

A6   Laura                   

A7   Gone with the Wind                     

B1   Cry Me a River                 

B2   I Should Care                   

B3   I'm in the Mood for Love                            

B4   I'm Glad There Is You                   

B5   Can't Help Lovin' That Man         

B6   I Love You