If you watched the Super Bowl Half Time Show a couple weeks ago, I’m sure you must have wondered how Western Civilization collapsed so dramatically. These three multi-disc sets reflect an era and worldview that believed that good music could be popular, and popular music could be good.
AMERICA’S GREATEST HITS 1948 shows how Post WWII sounds were transitioning from Big Band Swing to focusing on star vocalists. The most popular female singers at the time were Doris Day (“It’s Magic”), Jo Stafford (“Say Something To Your Sweetheart”), Ella Fitzgerald (“My Happiness”) and Dinah Shore (“Buttons and Bows”) all fresh alumni from big band orchestras. For the male vocalists, everyone was either Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat Cole an impersonation of them. Of the former, “But Beautiful” Ballerina” and “Nature Boy” are excellent representations, while the former are demonstrated by Dick Haymes (“It’s Magic”), Vic Damone (“Lillette”) and Perry Como (“Better Luck Next Time”). The big bands ranged from novelty acts like Spike Jones (“William Tell Overture”) to bona fide swing units like Stan Kenton (“The Peanut Vendor”). Lots of moments of nostalgia and trying to settle back to a normal life, just the right environment for the bebop boys to come a throw down a new gauntlet.
While White Middle Class America was happy listening to “How Much Is That Doggy In The Window”, The 1957 R&B Collection reveals in its 4 cd, 115 song set that there was a new sound and style about to hit the world, a mixture of R&B, doo wop, Blues, and even country to create a new thing called “rock and roll”. Elvis Presley had just hit the music scene the previous year, and his wake is felt here on the other side of the tracks, with a bunch of his tunes represented, such as “Too Much” “Teddy Bear” and “Jailhouse Rock”. Other white boys included Buddy Holly (“That’s Be The Day”) and even the doe-eyed Pat Boone (“Love Letters”).
But the headliners this year were Fats Domino and Little Richard, who dominated the charts with eternal hits like “Blueberry Hill” and “Lucille” respectively. The doo woppers were at their apotheosis as well, with “Come Go With Me”, “Buzz Buzz Buzz” and “Little Darlin’” just a few of the street corner symphonies. You got some vintage babes like Ruth Brown (“Lucky Lips”), Mickey and Sylvia (“Love Is Strange”) as well as crooners like Johnny Mathis (“Chances Are”) Clyde McPhatter (“Long Lonely Nights”) and Sam Cooke (“You Send Me”). The relentless energy of the times is captured in a pair of versions of “Raunchy” as well as anything by Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The music here still sounds like a heat seeking missile.
Celebrating the 1000th Billboard Record Sales Chart since beginning in 1940, the 4 disc, 99 song set entitled The 1000th Billboard Chart, 7th September 1959 is a snapshot revealing timeless colors and sounds of an era that wasn’t pigeonholed in its musical labels. There were no genres, just “good” or “bad”, and most of it was very good.
The list is a mix of styles ranging from instrumentals, to pop vocals and hip R&B. Of the former, nothing tops the classic guitar instrumental “Sleep Walk” by Santo and Johnny, still influencing six stringers today. Doo Wop was still in the air, with The Drifters’ “There Goes My Baby”, The Platters (“Where”) and The Tempos’ “See You In September”. Raucous R&B singers ranged from Jackie Wilson (“I’ll Be Satisfied”) to Ray Charles (“What’d I Say”), with Fats Domino and Nat Cole splitting the difference with “I Want To Walk You Home” and “Midnight Fever”. There are tons of doe-eyed white boys, ranging from the dangerous Elvis (“A Big Hunk O’ Love”), Conway Twitty (“Mona Lisa”) and Bobby Darin (“Mack The Knife”) to the ‘safe’ kids of Ricky Nelson (“Sweeter Than You”) and Bobby Vee (“Suzy Baby”). There are tons of one hit wonders that reflected the era, like Johnny and the Hurricanes, and others like Duane Eddy, Sarah Vaughan or Johnny Horton that crossed over from rock, jazz or country to get some traction in their careers with a big hit or two. The ecumenical attitude the buying and listening public a couple of generations ago is quite impressive, making today’s listeners seem insular in comparison.