Best Albums of 1961
Listed below are the best albums of 1961 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 4 hours ago).
"Sure Coltrane is good... but to think that this album of standards is better than A Love Supreme it's just not getting the point. The take on "My Favorite Things" is beautiful, even though some parts of the last round of sax solos are redundant. The take on "Summertime" is powerful... and natural..." [+] Reply
- 
JoaoMoreira | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (4 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,800
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I may be the only person to rank this album #1 but without Robert Johnson & a handful of other Mississippi delta blues singers there wouldn't be any rock and roll. I've been listening to this album for most of my life and I still find new and wonderous things every time I listen to it." Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,757
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"God on earth. Debussy, Ravel, Ellington..all is in Evans and Evans is in heaven. The best pianist of all time and not only in jazz. Gould, Rubinstein, Pollini, Horowitz..... yes, of course, but Bill Evans forever. N.- Evans, LaFaro and Motian are THE TRIO." Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,023
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Has some great parts, but some mediocre parts drag it down a bit. The bass and drum solos are too long and rambling, yet I would say Ornette's soloing stands out (minutes 10-19)" Reply
- 
JulianR | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
967
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I remember how my jaw dropped the first time I heard Olé!" Reply
- 
Robert Anton Wilson | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
678
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Very cool sound. I love the big band sound and experimentation on Africa and the rework of Greensleeves. Surprised how low this is on Coltrane's discography on this site tbh." Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
622
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Bill Evans gets a bit overshadowed here; he's great, but he's not mic-ed up great and he's not bringing the harder edges the other players are. Eric Dolphy on this album, oh my god. Check out Yearnin', where he plays the last part of the head with total precision, and then immediately goes wailin..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
554
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This record has some true classic's on it. It does contain some filler material but Patsy puts her all into them anyway. A country superstar if there ever was one." Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
429
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Bland is one of the five greatest singers of all time. His voice, tone, phrasing are wonderful. And this album is a masterpiece every bit with many jewels like "I'll Take Care Of You", the tittle track and above all, "Lead Me On". You know how it feels-you understand What is it to be a stranger, ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1961
Appears in:
Rank Score:
425
Rank in 1961:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is a relaxing and thoughtful album, perfect for a Sunday afternoon. 9.5/10!" Reply
Total albums: 509. Page 1 of 51
Best Albums of 1961 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Ray Charles | 5 | 1% | |
| Frank Sinatra | 5 | 1% | |
| John Coltrane | 5 | 1% | |
| The Ventures | 4 | 1% | |
| Grant Green | 4 | 1% | |
| Lightnin' Hopkins | 4 | 1% | |
| Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic | 3 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
359 | 71% | |
 |
41 | 8% | |
 |
17 | 3% | |
 |
11 | 2% | |
 |
10 | 2% | |
 |
9 | 2% | |
 |
7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
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.
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.
| Best Artists of the 2020s | |
|---|---|
| 1. Black Country, New Road | |
| 2. The Strokes | |
| 3. Charli XCX | |
| 4. Little Simz | |
| 5. Magdalena Bay | |
| 6. Fontaines D.C. | |
| 7. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 8. Big Thief | |
| 9. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | |
| 10. The Smile | |
| 11. Taylor Swift | |
| 12. Phoebe Bridgers | |
| 13. Fiona Apple | |
| 14. Black Midi | |
| 15. Lana Del Rey | |
| 16. The Weeknd | |
| 17. Sufjan Stevens | |
| 18. Tyler, The Creator | |
| 19. Jessie Ware | |
| 20. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra |
