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Album Chart of 1961 |



WORLD ACCLAIM FOR THE BIG O
The seismic musical shift from the 1950s to the 1960s was never more perfectly encapsulated than with the work of Roy Orbison, as those wide-eyed 12 bar shooby-doo-wops gave way to something altogether more elegiac, melodramatic and sophisticated. Pop music was growing up right before your eyes. Producers everywhere were experimenting with new techniques and ideas – the close-mike vocals and the lush pop strings of the “Nashville Sound”, showcased this year in the albums of both Roy Orbison and Patsty Cline, was one shining example of innovative studios at work.
Scepter maintain their winning formula with the Shirelles sound, whilst Berry Gordy’s Tamla label responds with their Marvelettes.
Immune to such fashionable trends is Ivor Cutler who launches his debut full-length, keeping things wonderfully surreal.
Top blues LPs appear from Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker, and the ever-reliable Fats Domino places two sets in my Top 15 of the year.
The bonnie partnership of folk-revivalists Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger is fruitful this year with two LPs in my Top 10.
There are new albums from Jacques Brel and Édith Piaf, who deliver chansons of fine quality, keeping the mix interesting for those with a cosmopolitan outlook.
The Jukebox Rebel
09-Dec-2015
revised 22-Mar-2019

Roy Orbison
Monument SM-14002


Jukebox picks: “(I’d Be) A Legend In My Time” (10) • “Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel” (10) • “Blue Angel” (9.8)


Ivor Cutler
Decca LK-4405


Jukebox picks: “A Red Flower” (10) • “Are You Alright Jack” (9.4) • “Steady Job” (9.2)


Jimmy Reed
Vee Jay Records VJLP-1035


Jukebox picks: “Bright Lights, Big City [1961 version]” (9.5) • “Blue Carnegie” (8.7) • “Kind Of Lonesome” (8.6)


Jerry Lee Lewis
Sun Record Company LP-1265


Jukebox picks: “Great Balls Of Fire” (9.2) • “Hello, Hello Baby” (9.0) • “Cold Cold Heart” (8.7)


The Shirelles
Scepter Records LP-502


Jukebox picks: “What A Sweet Thing That Was” (9.8) • “I Saw A Tear” (9.2) • “Mama Said” (7.6)


Ewan MacColl with accompaniments by Peggy Seeger
Folkways Records FW-8756


Jukebox picks: “Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation” (8.9) • “Donald MacGillavry” (8.4) • “Ye Jacobites By Name” (8.0)


Patsy Cline with The Jordanaires
Decca DL-4202


Jukebox picks: “I Fall To Pieces” (10) • “Crazy” (8.1) • “A Poor Man’s Roses (Or A Rich Man’s Gold)” (7.5)


Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl
Folkways Records FW-8755


Jukebox picks: “Matty Groves” (9.8) • “The Devil's Nine Questions (Riddles Wisely Expounded)” (8.4) • “The Two Brothers” (7.7)


John Lee Hooker
Vee Jay Records VJLP-1033


Jukebox picks: “I’m Mad Again” (8.6) • “Tupelo [live ’60]” (8.4) • “Hard Headed Woman” (7.0)


Fats Domino
Imperial LP-9153


Jukebox picks: “Let The Four Winds Blow” (8.4) • “Trouble Blues” (7.5) • “One Night” (7.3)


Édith Piaf
Columbia FSX-133


Jukebox picks: “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien [live ’60]” (9.7) • “Les Blouses Blanches [live ’60]” (8.4) • “La Belle Histoire D’amour [live ’60]” (7.9)


Jacques Brel
Philips B 76.513 R


Jukebox picks: “Le Moribond” (7.5) • “On N’Oublie Rien” (7.4) • “Marieke” (6.9)


Fats Domino
Imperial LP-9138


Jukebox picks: “It Keeps Rainin’” (8.4) • “What A Price” (8.4) • “Fell In Love On Monday” (7.2)


Wanda Jackson
Capitol Records ST-1511


Jukebox picks: “Hard Headed Woman” (7.8) • “Tongue Tied” (7.3) • “Man We Had A Party” (6.9)


Jim Reeves
RCA Victor LPM-2339


Jukebox picks: “Old Tige” (9.4) • “Men With Broken Hearts” (7.7) • “(Far Away Feeling) The Spell Of The Yukon” (7.6)


Sam Cooke
RCA Victor LPM-2392


Jukebox picks: “Since I Met You Baby” (8.9) • “You’re Always On My Mind” (7.4) • “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (6.7)


Fats Domino
Imperial LP-9164


Jukebox picks: “Trouble In Mind [album version ’61]” (8.5) • “Bad Luck And Trouble” (7.6) • “Before I Grow Too Old” (7.0)


Chuck Berry
Chess LP-1456


Jukebox picks: “Run Around” (8.2) • “Don’t You Lie To Me” (6.8) • “Route 66” (6.8)


Wanda Jackson
Capitol Records ST-1596


Jukebox picks: “Slippin’ And Slidin’” (7.6) • “The Window Up Above” (6.8) • “Why I’m Walkin’” (6.8)


The Everly Brothers
Warner Bros. Records W-1418


Jukebox picks: “Chloe” (6.8) • “Love Is Where You Find It” (6.7) • “The Wayward Wind” (6.5)


Blind Gary Davis
Prestige Bluesville BVLP-1015


Jukebox picks: “Pure Religion” (6.4) • “Goin’ To Sit Down On The Banks Of The River” (6.2) • “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” (6.0)


The Alexander Brothers
Pye Golden Guinea Records GGL-0093


Jukebox picks: “A Scottish Soldier” (9.2) • “Scotland The Brave” (9.2) • “Bonnie Wee Jeannie McCall” (7.0)


The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
Columbia CL-1648


Jukebox picks: “Brennan On The Moor [live with studio audience]” (7.9) • “Haul Away Joe [live with studio audience]” (7.0) • “The Old Orange Flute [live with studio audience]” (6.9)


Jim Reeves
RCA Victor LPM-2284


Jukebox picks: “The Streets Of Laredo” (9.8) • “It’s Nothin’ To Me” (6.6) • “Rodger Young” (6.5)


Reverend Gary Davis
Prestige Bluesville BVLP-1032


Jukebox picks: “You Got To Move [1961 recording]” (6.4) • “There’s A Bright Side Somewhere” (5.8) • “Crucifixion [album version ’61]” (5.7)


The Marvelettes
Tamla TM-228


Jukebox picks: “Please Mr. Postman” (6.5) • “So Long Baby” (6.2) • “Oh, I Apologize” (6.0)


Elvis Presley
RCA Victor LPM-2370


Jukebox picks: “Give Me The Right” (6.6) • “Sentimental Me” (6.4) • “I’m Coming Home” (5.6)


Ray Charles
Impulse! A-2


Jukebox picks: “Moanin’” (5.1) • “I’ve Got News For You” (4.8) • “I’m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town” (4.3)


Elvis Presley
RCA Victor LPM-2426


Jukebox picks: “Rock-A-Hula Baby [movie version]” (7.9) • “Beach Boy Blues” (5.2) • “Blue Hawaii” (4.8)


Bill Evans Trio featuring Scott La Faro
Riverside Records RLP-376


Jukebox picks: “Jade Visions (Take 2) [live ny '61]” (5.6) • “Gloria's Step (Take 2) [live ny '61]” (2.7) • “My Man's Gone Now [live ny '61]” (2.6)

see also: (B-list) Album Chart of 1961 |
Album Charts by year
“A-list”
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
“B-list”
1943 1945 1946 1950 1951 1952 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Album Charts by decade
“A-list”
1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s