Best Albums of the 1940s

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1940s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1940s 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.
1940	70	1,807	Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 1 (3,645th)by Woody Guthrie
1941	75	1,358	The Midnight Special (And Other ... (4,436th)by Lead Belly
1942	75	789	Her Second Album Of Piano Solos ... (8,698th)by Hazel Scott
1943	78	604	Songs By Lead Belly: Accompanied... (8,690th)by Lead Belly
1944	78	1,296	An Album Of Outstanding Arrangem... (4,997th)by Glenn Miller
1945	80	1,115	Merry Christmas (5,408th)by Bing Crosby
1946	104	1,852	The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (6,311th)by Frank Sinatra
1947	106	1,762	Teddy Wilson - Billie Holiday (5,222nd)by Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra F...
1948	106	1,467	Chansons Des Cafés De Paris (5,938th)by Édith Piaf
1949	108	1,994	Bird Blows The Blues (6,191st)by Charlie Parker
Total	880	14,043

The best artists of the 1940s were Woody Guthrie, Nat King Cole, Lead Belly, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Josh White, The King Cole Trio, Bing Crosby, Louis Jordan and Frank Sinatra.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 321)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

241.

Innovations By Boyd Raeburn

Boyd Raeburn And His Orchestra

Year of Release:

1946

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1946:

Rank in 1940s:

241

Overall Rank:

51,981

Average Rating:

71 (1 vote)

Comments:

242.

A Connecticut Yankee

Dick Foran / Julie Warren / Vera-Ellen / Chester Stratton / Robert Chisolm

Year of Release:

1943

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1943:

Rank in 1940s:

242

Overall Rank:

52,600

Average Rating:

66 (6 votes)

Comments:

243.

Mary Lou Williams Trio

Year of Release:

1944

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1944:

Rank in 1940s:

243

Overall Rank:

52,682

Average Rating:

69 (4 votes)

Comments:

244.

New Orleans Jazz

Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band

Year of Release:

1947

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1947:

Rank in 1940s:

244

Overall Rank:

53,171

Average Rating:

72 (3 votes)

Comments:

245.

For Whom The Bell Tolls
Soundtrack

Victor Young And His Concert Orchestra

Year of Release:

1943

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1943:

Rank in 1940s:

245

Overall Rank:

53,296

Average Rating:

70 (3 votes)

Comments:

246.

Dear Mr. President...

Almanac Singers

Year of Release:

1942

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1942:

Rank in 1940s:

246

Overall Rank:

53,523

Average Rating:

71 (4 votes)

Comments:

247.

Hot Jazz

Benny Goodman

Year of Release:

1945

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1945:

Rank in 1940s:

247

Overall Rank:

53,771

Average Rating:

71 (4 votes)

Comments:

248.

Piano Rhythms

Count Basie

Year of Release:

1948

Appears in:

5 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1948:

Rank in 1940s:

248

Overall Rank:

54,401

Average Rating:

70 (4 votes)

Comments:

248.

St. Patrick's Day

Bing Crosby

Year of Release:

1946

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1946:

Rank in 1940s:

248

Overall Rank:

54,401

Average Rating:

69 (7 votes)

Comments:

250.

Decca Presents Carl Kress In A Recital Of Original Guitar Solos

Carl Kress

Year of Release:

1940

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1940:

Rank in 1940s:

250

Overall Rank:

54,604

Average Rating:

72 (4 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
24
25
26
...
33
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 321. Page 25 of 33

Best Albums of the 1940s composition

Year	Albums	%

1940	29	3%
1941	30	3%
1942	24	2%
1943	24	2%
1944	25	3%
1945	26	3%
1946	38	4%
1947	40	4%
1948	40	4%
1949	45	5%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	11	3%
Josh White	7	2%
The Original Broadway Cast	6	2%
Bing Crosby	6	2%
Sir Thomas Beecham / The London Philharmonic Orchestra	6	2%
Frank Sinatra	5	2%
Almanac Singers	5	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	250	78%
	20	6%
	14	4%
	7	2%
	6	2%
	5	2%
	2	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	303	94%
Yes	18	6%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	315	98%
Yes	6	2%

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Email Address
Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile. If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page. (If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account).