Best Albums of 1961

« View best albums of 1960View best albums of 1962 »

Listed below are the best albums of 1961 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 57,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1961 year summaryThe best artists of 1961 were John Coltrane, Robert Johnson, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Bill Evans Trio, Ornette Coleman Double Quartet, Miles Davis, John Coltrane Quartet, Oliver Nelson and Ray Charles.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

My Favorite Things

John Coltrane

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

409 charts

Rank Score:

2,877

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

590

Average Rating:

81 (499 votes)

Comments:

King Of The Delta Blues Singers
Compilation

Robert Johnson

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

313 charts

Rank Score:

1,757

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

108

Overall Rank:

991

Average Rating:

80 (431 votes)

Comments:

Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Live

Bill Evans Trio

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

164 charts

Rank Score:

1,052

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Ornette Coleman Double Quartet

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

180 charts

Rank Score:

977

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

148 charts

Rank Score:

671

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

John Coltrane Quartet

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

127 charts

Rank Score:

613

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

235

Overall Rank:

2,562

Average Rating:

80 (132 votes)

Comments:

The Blues And The Abstract Truth

Oliver Nelson

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

145 charts

Rank Score:

552

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

251

Overall Rank:

2,791

Average Rating:

79 (137 votes)

Comments:

Two Steps From The Blues

Bobby Bland

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

106 charts

Rank Score:

421

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

122 charts

Rank Score:

419

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

302

Overall Rank:

3,518

Average Rating:

74 (112 votes)

Comments:

10.

Eastern Sounds

Yusef Lateef

Year of Release:

1961

Appears in:

67 charts

Rank Score:

408

Rank in 1961:

Rank in 1960s:

303

Overall Rank:

3,603

Average Rating:

79 (85 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
50
51
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 507. Page 1 of 51

Best Albums of 1961 composition

Artist	Albums	%

Frank Sinatra	5	1%
John Coltrane	5	1%
Ray Charles	5	1%
The Ventures	4	1%
Grant Green	4	1%
Lightnin' Hopkins	4	1%
Buck Owens	3	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	359	71%
	39	8%
	17	3%
	11	2%
	10	2%
	9	2%
	7	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	486	96%
Yes	21	4%

Live?	Albums	%
No	495	98%
Yes	12	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	503	99%
Yes	4	1%

« View best albums of 1960View best albums of 1962 »

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.

Recognised Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
3. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
4. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
5. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
6. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
7. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
8. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
9. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
10. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
11. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
12. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
13. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
14. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
17. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
18. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
19. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
20. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)