Best Albums of the 1950s

« View best albums of the 1940sView best albums of the 1960s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

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	122	5,215	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,057th)by Yma Sumac
1951	140	4,224	Genius Of Modern Music (2,769th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,851	Bird & Diz (1,986th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	193	6,437	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,854th)by Peggy Lee
1954	229	11,152	Chet Baker Sings (674th)by Chet Baker
1955	322	14,877	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	434	32,556	Elvis Presley (365th)by Elvis Presley
1957	564	45,411	Blue Train (300th)by John Coltrane
1958	564	41,282	Lady In Satin (567th)by Billie Holiday
1959	608	82,110	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,326	250,114

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Billie Holiday and John Coltrane.

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39.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

161 charts

Rank Score:

1,070

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,608

Average Rating:

78 (137 votes)

Comments:

86.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

96 charts

Rank Score:

518

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,926

Average Rating:

78 (80 votes)

Comments:

136.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

290

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

136

Overall Rank:

4,750

Average Rating:

75 (38 votes)

Comments:

163.

Lullabies Of Birdland

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

41 charts

Rank Score:

237

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

163

Overall Rank:

5,590

Average Rating:

74 (46 votes)

Comments:

176.

Ella Sings Gershwin

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1950

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

218

Rank in 1950:

Rank in 1950s:

176

Overall Rank:

5,976

Average Rating:

74 (46 votes)

Comments:

180.

Like Someone In Love

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

32 charts

Rank Score:

216

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

180

Overall Rank:

6,038

Average Rating:

75 (31 votes)

Comments:

207.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers And Hart Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

39 charts

Rank Score:

176

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

207

Overall Rank:

7,184

Average Rating:

73 (48 votes)

Comments:

226.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

33 charts

Rank Score:

159

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

226

Overall Rank:

7,807

Average Rating:

75 (38 votes)

Comments:

310.

Ella Swings Lightly

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

108

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

310

Overall Rank:

10,759

Average Rating:

73 (20 votes)

Comments:

399.

Songs In A Mellow Mood

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

22 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

399

Overall Rank:

14,399

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 13. Page 1 of 2

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	61	6%
1954	75	8%
1955	86	9%
1956	118	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	175	18%
1959	195	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Various Artists	17	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Sarah Vaughan	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	780	78%
	38	4%
	31	3%
	27	3%
	21	2%
	12	1%
	10	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	963	96%
Yes	37	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

« View best albums of the 1940sView best albums of the 1960s »

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