14. Here's Little Richard

Here's Little Richard
Little Richard
1957

Amanda: Little Richard is on my "roll my eyes whenever his name is mentioned list."  For those of you who don't know, Little Richard was gay.  Notice the word was.  He claims he "found Jesus" and is an exgay (??).  He has been "repenting" since then.  That pisses me off.

But I am trying to do an objective review on this particular album.  Luckily for me, I was not too much of a fan.  I do like his voice; I have always been interested in different kinds of voices (like Regina Spektor).  The songs, however, have been rerecorded so much that it was hard to sit through "Tutti Frutti."  A couple of tracks I liked but I like Elvis better.  Sorry pretentious music people.

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Brie: I had never heard any of Little Richard's music before this. And in my mind I have always had high expectations of him because Little Richard was one of the musicians that greatly inspired Bob Dylan when he was still Robert Zimmerman living in Hibbing, Minnesota. I am as equally upset about he whole "ex-gay" thing as Amanda.

I, personally, love Little Richard for his over the top ways. The book says that in 1955 the whole rock 'n' roll genre really burst open with artists such as Fats Dominio, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddly all having number one hits around the same time. Add to that list Little Richard.

I loved this record! It was all such fun to listen to, and Little Richard brings so much energy to these songs. My favorites are "Ready Teddy" and "Slippin' And Slidin'".

Also, we have listened to Fats Domino, and a Ray Charles album is coming in the near future. Where is the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly music? I would prefer a 50% jazz, 50 % rock 'n' roll ratio.

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13. Kenya

Kenya
Machito
1957

Amanda: The cover of this album that I have pictured above pretty much gives you the background of these songs.  This is afro-cuban jazz much like the style of the previous album we listened to, Palo Congo.  I, however, liked this a lot better than the previous album for a multitude of reasons.

First off, there is no dreadful shrieking puncturing these tracks like there was with Sabu.  There is also more variety in the tracks and I felt the instruments were played more skillfully. You may have expected me to complain about the jazz overdose some more, but I have decided to resign to my fate and accept that I will be listening to jazz until kingdom come.

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Brie: As Amanda said, this is Afro-Cuban music mixed with American style jazz. Mario Bauza, the musical director or Machito was first inspired to make an Afro-Cuban jazz album when he saw Duke Ellington in Harlem. I think if we performed an investigation, every jazz artist would be somehow traced back to Duke Ellington. Just a theory. Our book says that this album is supposed to be like the original end-all be-all of Latin jazz albums.

Personally, I really liked this album. It has much more jazz than Palo Congo, and I can picture this music being used for the soundtrack of a sixties movie!

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12. Birth of Cool

Birth of Cool
1957
Miles Davis

Amanda: Ah, what a treat.  More jazz.  I have been wondering why we haven't listened to any lately.  I am kidding, of course.  I feel like all I have ever listened to is jazz.  I was really hoping I would get exposed to all different types of music with this book but so far it has been mainly jazz.  But enough of my complaining.  Onto the review!

I have no problem with this album.  It is catchy sometimes and pleasant to listen to.  The observant reader (if we had any) would notice that I didn't say I liked this album.  It is kind of plain and boring.  Next genre, please!  Please?

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Brie: Just some background: Miles Davis was mentored by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. When Davis was 24 he decided to re-create jazz as everyone knew it. This is the definition of "cool" jazz. Davis' influences come from European classical music, bebop, and ragtime. Although critically acclaimed, the public failed to see the wonder and significance of this album.

I cannot express how much I loved this album! Firstly, I already had this album on my iPod. I think Miles Davis is a genius. As if the title of the album weren't catchy enough! The opening track "Move" made me want to do just that. Another one of my favorites is "Venus De Milo". Overall this album makes me want to tap my foot and nod my head. It isn't as good as Davis' later material, but amazing nonetheless.

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11. Palo Congo

Palo Congo
Sabu
1957

Amanda: This album was nothing like what we have heard up to this point.  It is kind of a mix of African and...I want to say Cuban?  I will have to look that up.  Mostly the music gives off the African vibe, but the words that are yelled during the drumming are Spanish.  Some of the tracks kind of reminded me of Dirty Dancing 2 (which is why I said Cuban) and others reminded me of some sort of tribal dance.

Did not really care for it.  It might have been more bearable without the shrieking.  Grated on my nerves a little bit.  It definitely is not the kind of music you hum to yourself or put on your iPod.  If I could dance well, it probably would not have annoyed me as much.

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Brie: Wow, Amanda! So many loaded words! :) You are right, this album is Afro-Cuban. Apparently this album is "modern salsa". The book says this is amazing congo drum music. So..... yeah. Maybe we would like it if we knew what was being said. I found it a bit annoying as well. I'm sure if we grew up in some kind of Afro-Cuban culture or the Spanish Harlem we would like this music a lot more. I am getting really fed-up with the fifties. Ugh.

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10. Brilliant Corners

Brilliant Corners
Thelonious Monks
1957

Amanda: First of all, I have no idea how to say the name of this band.  Is it tha-loan-ious?  Or thee-lawn-ious?  Well, whatever.  I will probably never discuss this with anyone anyway because I happened to dislike this album.

We are reviewing, once again, jazz.  Don't get me wrong; I like jazz.  I also like the movie Jazz Singer as much as the next guy.  Most of the jazz artists we have listened to up to this point, however, have brought something new to the table.  I felt this band was rather unoriginal.  Of course, they might have been revolutionary for their time.  How about it, Brie?  Does the book say anything about them inspiring change?

Overall, nice elevator music but not one of my favorites.  Can we please get away from jazz for awhile?

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Brie: Actually, Thelonious Monk is one of the most admired and respected composers of the twentieth century. He was an artist who was a huge part of developing the style of bebop in Harlem in the 40s. Before this album, Thelonious Monk played Duke Ellington's music, but on Brilliant Corners he composed all of his own music. Apparently the title track of the album was so difficult to play due to the uneven timing of all of the instruments that it took over 25 takes to complete! I have to say that I only liked this music. I wouldn't put it on my ipod, just because I don't think I would ever play it. When I listen to these albums I think: if this were on my ipod, would I ever choose this over all of the other awesome music on there? The answer is no, unfortunately. But I still respect Monk and all of the amazing things he did to help evolve music.


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9. The Atomic Mr. Basie

The Atomic Mr. Basie
Count Basie
1957

Amanda: This album is filled with swinging, jazz music but what could you expect from the drummer of Duke Ellington's band?  Count Basie was a bandleader and all the songs are instrumental.  The songs range from slow (and slightly depressing) to fast, makes-you-want-to-dance music.

I personally enjoyed this album.  When I was listening to it, I was extremely into it.  However, when I look back, I really cannot remember a lot from the album.  No one track really stood out for me, and fail to see how this was influential.  It kind of felt like a copy of Duke Ellington's work (which it probably was).  So it was enjoyable but there is no lasting impression.

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Brie: Because I love jazz and Duke Ellington, I was not surprised that I liked this album. There were many great tunes that I wanted to dance to. (How does one dance to jazz music? With a partner, I assume.) I agree with Amanda. This album was not very memorable, and I don't think I would choose to listen to it again when I could be listening to Miles Davis or Billie Holiday. But it was a great effort by Count Basie.

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8. The Chirping Crickets

The Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
1957

Amanda: Immediately when I started listening to this album, I fell in love with it.  The whole thing kind of reminded me of Dion, who is one of my favorites.  The songs are short, catchy, and all written by The Crickets themselves.  Up until now, I kind of feel like we haven't gotten the right cross between moving lyrics and snappy songs.  This album comes very close to hitting both marks. My personal favorites were "That'll Be the Day" and "Oh Boy".  Sadly, we lost Holly to a plane crash (just like Carole Lombard).  It was a truly tremendous loss then and it still is now.

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Brie: This album, "The "Chirping" Crickets", is the shortest album we have reviewed by far. It runs at just under 26 minutes. I also fell in love with the album as soon as I started listening to it! The first track, "Oh Boy", is exactly what I wanted out of this album, and exactly what I expected rock 'n' roll to be in 1957. Some fun facts for you: Andy Warhol used to play the song "Not Fade Away" in his early days in New York City. This was before he found success as a pop artist. Also, Bob Dylan went to a concert (in Duluth, maybe?) and was sitting near the front of the stage when Buddy Holly made eye contact with him. That night Buddy Holly died in a plane crash. I think this experience profoundly affected Bob in some way, as he has referred to the experience several times throughout his career.

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