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| Album Chart of the Decade: 1940s |
18 tracks, runtime 51m. The playlist features the highest-rated track from each album (all of which are available on YouTube) in chart order, with a minimum individual track-rating of 6.5 required for inclusion. To view the full tracklist, access shuffle-play or avoid in-play interruption due to territorially blocked videos, it might be best playing directly via YouTube 
GOODBYE NOISY OLD SHELLAC, HELLO SOPHISTICATED VINYL
Woody Guthrie - for me, one of the world’s most talented folk poets of any era - is my artist of the decade, placing 5 albums in my Top 10. Folk music is the only genre producing albums which are meaningful to me in the 1940s, and the likes of Woody and Pete Seeger certainly had plenty to say about the war-mongering Nazis that so scarred humanity in these dark years. Musically speaking, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the decade was the long-awaited leap-forward in album technology, the big breakthrough occurring in 1948.
Back in 1931, RCA Victor had debuted the first commercially available vinyl long-player designed for playback at 33⅓ RPM, but the venture was beset with technical problems and customers were not happy; by 1933 the format had disappeared from trace in the home music market. Much like the space race, the battle was on, although there was no big hurry what with the depression and the war. It was the boffins employed by Columbia who finally solved the problems various, and they duly launched the world’s first “microgroove long players” in the summer of ‘48 - the time was right.
“COLUMBIA'S DISK MARVEL” proclaimed Billboard excitedly on 29 May 1948. In New York, Columbia president Goddard Lieberson introduced the LP at a press conference in the Waldorf Astoria on June 18, 1948. On show were two formats: a 10” record in diameter, matching that of existing 78 rpm singles, and a 12” record initially earmarked for longer classical works. At hand, were 2 albums being re-issued from their pre-existing 78 formats: there was “The Voice of Frank Sinatra” (CL-6001) to represent the 10” Pop market and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor with soloist Nathan Milstein, and Bruno Walter conducting the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York (CL-4001) in 12” format for fans of the classical. The latter was the first to be released on June 28, 1948.
The bulky record albums with 3, 4 or 5 big discs in the book were on a loser almost overnight. The new vinyl LP was the bomb - it sounded great and was a lot less hassle to deal with than the brittle and noisy shellac records. But we still called it an album. For the sake o’ auld lang syne.
The Jukebox Rebel
25-Apr-2019
Woody Guthrie
Victor Records P-27 (1940)
“A classic” FolkJukebox picks: “Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues [album version 1940]” (10) • “Dust Can’t Kill Me” (9.5) • “Blowin’ Down This Road” (9.1)
John Steinbeck’s realist novel “The Grapes Of Wrath” was just over a year old by the time “Dust Bowl Ballads” saw releas...more →
Woody Guthrie
Asch Records 360 (1945)
“A classic” FolkJukebox picks: “1913 Massacre” (10) • “Ludlow Massacre” (9.8) • “Buffalo Skinners” (9.6)
The set features 3 songs from the marathon sessions of April 1944 as well as 3 songs newly recorded in May 1945; “Buff...more →
The Almanac Singers
Keynote Records K-111 (1942)
“A classic” FolkJukebox picks: “Side By Side” (9.4) • “Dear Mr. President” (9.1) • “Reuben James” (9.0)
Within 2 months of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, the Almanac Singers went into the studio to record...more →
Woody Guthrie
Victor Records P-28 (1940)
“A classic” FolkJukebox picks: “The Great Dust Storm” (9.3) • “Dusty Old Dust” (9.2) • “Vigilante Man” (9.2)
With him having built up a strong repertoire over the preceding years, RCA got the maximum benefit when they fluked an a...more →
Woody Guthrie
Asch Records 347 (1944)
“Excellent” FolkJukebox picks: “Talking Sailor” (9.9) • “Jesus Christ [1944 recording]” (8.6) • “Ranger’s Command” (8.5)
More than 4 years passed until Woody Guthrie was able to deliver a follow up album to his “Dust Bowl Ballads” of 1940. V...more →
The Almanac Singers
Keynote Records K-106 (1941)
“Brilliant” FolkJukebox picks: “Talking Union” (9.7) • “Which Side Are You On?” (8.9) • “Get Thee Behind Me, Satan” (7.5)
“Now, boys, you've come to the hardest time, The boss will try to bust your picket line, He'll call out the police, the...more →
Lead Belly and The Golden Gate Quartet
Victor Records P-50 (1941)
“Brilliant” FolkJukebox picks: “Midnight Special [1940 version]” (9.0) • “Alabama Bound” (8.7) • “Pick A Bale Of Cotton” (8.4)
The mistreatment blues as recognised by slaves and prisoners the world over; hell yeah, these are the sacred songs of th...more →
Pete Seeger, Bess Lomax, Baldwin Hawes and Tom Glazer
Asch Records 330 (1943)
“Brilliant” FolkJukebox picks: “Quinto Regimiento” (8.9) • “Spanish Marching Song” (7.8) • “Jarama Valley” (7.5)
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was initially an armed conflict between a democratically elected government and a revo...more →
Woody Guthrie
DISC 610 (1947)
“Brilliant” FolkJukebox picks: “Talking Columbia Blues [1947 recording]” (9.5) • “When The Curfew Blows” (8.4) • “Hard Travelin’ [1947 recording]” (7.5)
An April ‘47 PR stint at the behest of the Bonneville Power Administration (telling the people of Washington through son...more →
Lead Belly accompanied by Sonny Terry
Asch Records 343 (1943)
“Good” FolkJukebox picks: “On A Monday” (7.2) • “John Henry” (7.1) • “Irene [1943 non-harmonica version]” (7.0)
Commercially, he never did make it big in his own lifetime, but the small circle who were following Lead Belly's output ...more →
The Almanac Singers
General Records G-21 (1941)
“Good” FolkJukebox picks: “I Ride An Old Paint” (7.6) • “House Of The Rising Sun” (7.5) • “Hard Ain’t It Hard” (7.4)
The second of two Almanac Singers albums produced by Alan Lomax. As with the preceding “Deep Sea Chanteys and Whaling Ba...more →
Lead Belly
Musicraft 67 (1944)
“Good” FolkJukebox picks: “John Hardy [1944 version]” (7.6) • “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” (7.3) • “In New Orleans” (6.8)
With Asch Records being hampered with governmental wartime constraints on Shellac (their allocation was small compared t...more →
The Almanac Singers
General Records G-20 (1941)
“Decent enough” FolkJukebox picks: “Blow The Man Down” (7.7) • “Haul Away Joe” (7.0) • “The Coast Of High Barbary” (6.2)
The line-up of the group for album # 3 was Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. “Deep Sea Chanteys ...more →
The Almanac Singers
Almanac Records Album 102 (1941)
“Decent enough” FolkJukebox picks: “Ballad Of October 16” (7.0) • “Washington Breakdown” (6.8) • “’C’ For Conscription” (6.6)
Recorded and released in springtime 1941 at a time when World War II was raging but the United States remained neutral. ...more →
Lead Belly
Asch Records (1942)
“Decent enough” FolkJukebox picks: “Rock Island Line [1942 version]” (7.4) • “Take This Hammer [1942 version]” (6.7) • “Corn Bread Rough” (6.4)
Consists of three shellac 78s all recorded in January 1942 and issued a couple of months later. Here, Lead Belly deliver...more →
Édith Piaf
Columbia FL-9501 (1949)
“Below average” Crooner / CabaretJukebox picks: “Le Chant Du Pirate” (7.1) • “Les Amants De Paris” (5.8) • “Monsieur Lenoble” (5.6)
Having wowed American G.I.’s during wartime performances in Paris, Edith was in a good position in the years that follow...more →
Édith Piaf
Decca A-697 (1948)
“Below average” Crooner / CabaretJukebox picks: “Les Cloches Sonnent” (7.0) • “Monsieur Ernest A Reussi” (6.5) • “Si Tu Partais” (4.8)
Following her highly successful 1947 American tour, Édith Piaf’s stock was high, and she was all set for the worldwide a...more →
Lead Belly
Asch Records (Stinson 1952 LP reissue cover shown) (1941)
“Below average” FolkJukebox picks: “You Can’t Lose Me Cholly [1941 version]” (6.3) • “Christmas Song” (5.5) • “Redbird” (5.4)
“Play Parties In Song And Dance”, recorded in May 1941, was the first of many Lead Belly releases on Moe Asch’s label. A...more →
Lena Horne with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring
Victor Records P-118 (1942)
“Poor” Crooner / CabaretJukebox picks: “Stormy Weather” (8.4) • “Moanin’ Low” (5.5) • “I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues” (4.8)
Having been seduced by her magnificent reading of “Stormy Weather” in the 1943 movie of the same name, I was intrigu...more →
Woody Guthrie
DISC 602 (1947)
“Poor” FolkJukebox picks: “Build My House” (5.4) • “My Little Seed” (5.3) • “Pick It Up” (5.1)
Thought to have been recorded circa Feb-Mar 1946 at the same sessions which produced “Nursery Days”, the second set of t...more →
Woody Guthrie
DISC 605 (1946)
“Poor” FolkJukebox picks: “Wake Up” (5.2) • “Clean-O” (5.1) • “Dance Around” (4.2)
The birth of Woody and Marjorie’s daughter Cathy in 1943, playfully nicknamed “Stackabones,” was a major change for Wood...more →
Billie Holiday
Commodore CR-2 (1947)
“Lame” Jazz; Crooner / CabaretJukebox picks: “How Am I To Know” (5.5) • “I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues” (5.2) • “She’s Funny That Way” (4.7)
Often listed as a 1946 issue with some discographers, but can clearly be dated to June 1947 due to its’ review then in t...more →
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
Columbia CL-6024 (1948)
“Lame” JazzJukebox picks: “Hy’a Sue” (5.5) • “On A Turquoise Cloud” (5.4) • “Three Cent Stomp” (4.5)
The 49-year-old bandleader’s first album on Columbia, a moody 10" LP record issued in 1948. The album consisted of CBS s...more →
| see also: (B-list) Album Chart of the 1940s |
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