Best Albums of the 1950s : Best Ever Albums

Best Albums of the 1950s

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Listed below are the greatest albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 9,700 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

View by decade:	1930s	1940s	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s
View by year:	1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

1950s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1950	15	1,248	The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert (2,791st) by Benny Goodman
1951	12	539	Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1 (4,745th) by Thelonious Monk
1952	18	1,656	Anthology Of American Folk Music (2,426th) by Various Artists
1953	15	1,417	Ellington Uptown (3,382nd) by Duke Ellington
1954	26	2,016	Sarah Vaughan (1,857th) by Sarah Vaughan
1955	34	3,077	In The Wee Small Hours (620th) by Frank Sinatra
1956	56	10,991	Elvis Presley (339th) by Elvis Presley
1957	88	11,659	Here's Little Richard (602nd) by Little Richard
1958	95	8,351	Lady In Satin (1,015th) by Billie Holiday
1959	96	34,842	Kind Of Blue (43rd) by Miles Davis
Total	455	75,797

The best bands of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Little Richard, Billie Holiday, Ornette Coleman Trio, John Coltrane and Chuck Berry.

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Rank

Album

Band

51.

The Atomic Mr. Basie

Count Basie

Year of Release:	1957	Appears in:	18 charts
Rank in 1957:	11	Rank Score:	216
Rank in 1950s	51	Overall Rank:	3,657
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52.

Milestones

Miles Davis

Year of Release:	1958	Appears in:	17 charts
Rank in 1958:	11	Rank Score:	214
Rank in 1950s	52	Overall Rank:	3,686
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53.

Moanin' The Blues

Hank Williams

Year of Release:	1952	Appears in:	11 charts
Rank in 1952:	3	Rank Score:	201
Rank in 1950s	53	Overall Rank:	3,882
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54.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:	1953	Appears in:	7 charts
Rank in 1953:	3	Rank Score:	194
Rank in 1950s	54	Overall Rank:	3,994
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55.

Elvis' Golden Records

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:	1958	Appears in:	16 charts
Rank in 1958:	12	Rank Score:	186
Rank in 1950s	55	Overall Rank:	4,132
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56.

One Dozen Berries

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:	1958	Appears in:	18 charts
Rank in 1958:	13	Rank Score:	185
Rank in 1950s	56	Overall Rank:	4,143
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57.

Bach: The Goldberg Variations

Glenn Gould

Year of Release:	1955	Appears in:	8 charts
Rank in 1955:	2	Rank Score:	182
Rank in 1950s	57	Overall Rank:	4,202
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58.

What'd I Say

Ray Charles

Year of Release:	1959	Appears in:	15 charts
Rank in 1959:	11	Rank Score:	181
Rank in 1950s	58	Overall Rank:	4,218
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59.

At Newport

Ray Charles

Year of Release:	1958	Appears in:	16 charts
Rank in 1958:	14	Rank Score:	178
Rank in 1950s	59	Overall Rank:	4,287
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60.

Jazz At Massey Hall

The Quintet

Year of Release:	1953	Appears in:	8 charts
Rank in 1953:	4	Rank Score:	175
Rank in 1950s	60	Overall Rank:	4,347
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Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	14	1%
1951	10	1%
1952	16	2%
1953	14	1%
1954	22	2%
1955	29	3%
1956	46	5%
1957	75	8%
1958	85	9%
1959	88	9%

Band	Albums	%

Miles Davis	16	2%
Frank Sinatra	12	1%
Thelonious Monk	11	1%
Elvis Presley	9	1%
Ella Fitzgerald	9	1%
Billie Holiday	9	1%
Nat King Cole	6	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	353	35%
	8	1%
	8	1%
	8	1%
	4	0%
	3	0%
	3	0%
Show all

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