1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: The 60's Part One

I'm still trucking along with the project, and not hating it yet! The first chunk of the 60's is done, and it sounds a lot like the 50's so far. Not a bad thing though, since I mostly liked the 50's. This ten pack was also light on boring jazz records, so it gets some bonus points.

0024 Baez, Joan – Joan Baez (1960)
I'm guessing this is her debut. It's good, and her voice is amazing. So amazing, that to hear her draw out folk standards wears a but thing and gets a bit annoying. So I'm a bit torn since it's good, but i doubt I'll want to listen to it again. At least not all in one sitting.

0025 Presley, Elvis – Elvis is Back!
Back from the army, this was a big crap shoot since no one knew if the King would still have it. Ends up he did. The over all style is cleaned up on this one, no raw Sun tracks to be found. It's still a solid album though as Elvis shows some maturity by knocking out some pop songs on top of the rock. This pretty much sets the stage for the rest of his career. Elvis always was closer to Frank Sinatra then he was to Chuck Berry, and this is a damned fine start.

0026 Makeba, Miriam – Miriam Makeba (1960)
This is an album by a South African jazz singer, and mixes south African songs with some popular tracks. I really liked this. She has an incredible voice, and when you hear songs like "The Click Song", it doesn't actually sound real. I'm trusting that it's no bullshit though, and this is a recommended listen.

0027 Everly Brothers – A Date with the…
You hear the name and it's hard not to think "White Bread Rock" in the Pat Boone sense. It's not. This is a great rock album that features some honest harmonies. The brothers are fantastic interpreters of song, and they really shine on this one.

0028 Smith, Jimmy – Back at the Chicken Shack
Pretty solid blues instrumental album. Nothing really stood out though.

0029 Muddy Waters – At Newport
Muddy lays it all out on this live disc. If you like Muddy, you'll like this. If you've never heard Muddy, this is as good a place to start as any since he was dynamite live.

0030 Evans, Bill – Sunday at the Village Vanguard
This is a highly regarded piano Jazz album, but it sounds like back ground dinner music to me. Just can't get into it.

0031 Charles, Ray - Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music
This is considered Ray's best work, and it's hard to argue. Ray transforms country standards into music that sounds right at home in a blues club. In doing so he proves himself to be a master interpreter, as well as gives substance to a genre that typically gets short shrift in some circles as a throw away dumb genre. Not a small feat by any means. Recommended.

0032 Booker T & the MGs – Green Onions
The house band for Stax Records get a chance to shine. A great collection of soul instrumentals that are perfect for a summers day. I should know, I listened to this while walking around on a summer day after all.

0033 Getz, Stan & Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba
The title makes me cringe, but this was actually pretty nice. It's a bit of what you'd expect to hear in a 1960's cocktail bar, but none of the songs out stay their welcome. Modern Jazz could learn from this...

So there it is, nothing blew the doors off my ears, but nothing annoyed me terribly either. A nice safe collection of music! Until next time, keep listening!