The three albums from the 1940s actually worth listening to, according to critics
When people engage in debates about the best albums of all time, the majority of contenders go back as early as the 60s, but rarely earlier. Sure, a few from the ‘50s might creep through, but it’s not often that any records before that are considered some of the best albums ever made. There are a number of reasons for that, and why we tend to look at bands like Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin as contenders rather than those who inspired them.
The first reason is that a lot of the music people were listening to in the ‘40s isn’t considered mainstream music anymore. Or, at the very least, it hasn’t defined or evolved a genre as much as other artists making the same kind of music have.
A lot of the music that we hold in high regard comes in the form of rock, rap and pop, all of which were merely a glimmer in creatives’ eyes in the ‘40s. Additionally, other genres like blues and jazz were taken to new heights in the decades that followed, and so we talk about those albums that went to new heights instead of those that set the foundation for the record.
One of the other main reasons that we don’t talk about albums from the ‘40s quite as much is because of the fact that an album wasn’t what we know it is today. The lessons that people learnt about how a record could be put together didn’t come until the ‘60s, when the idea of treating an LP as the body of work rather than being a mere compilation of singles was put forward.
Graham Nash said in an exclusive interview with Far Out that he discovered this lesson from Brian Wilson. “One of the things I’ve learned from Brian, of course, was that an album should be a journey; it didn’t need to be, you know, 12 B-sides or 15 outtakes so that the record company could make money,” he said, “You realise that it has to be a musical journey, and I think that affected people like The Beatles a great deal with Revolver and particularly Sgt Pepper.”
That being said, according to a poll of critics, some albums from the ’40s are still worth listening to, even if the standard of music during that period was different from what we listen to today. The first record is by one of the very few artists who treated albums as a body of work long before that was the norm: Woody Guthrie.
The folk legend has his name carved into the heart of everyone who remotely identifies with the genre, and so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he appears on this list. The album that has been singled out is Dust Bowl Ballads, released in 1940. When Bob Dylan first took to the stage in New York, a true complete unknown and keen to make a name for himself, he used albums like this as his inspiration and allowed them to become part of his identity. “[I’ve] been travellin’ the country,” he said, “Following in Woody Guthrie’s footsteps.”
Another album that critics believe you should listen to is the original Broadway recording of the show, Kiss Me Kate. The plot of the show is fairly loose, but the soundtrack is spectacular. Centred around the Shakespeare play The Taming of the Shrew, the show has a soundtrack that withstands the test of time incredibly well.
Finally, it’s recommended that you listen to Subconscious-Lee, which features the collaboration between Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano. The two were important figures in the world of jazz and did a great deal to help move along and shape the genre. They had different styles of playing compared to others and introduced musicians to different styles, which was incredibly exciting for the time.
While the music we listen to and the way we consume music has changed a great deal since the 1940s, that doesn’t mean there aren’t great albums to listen to. According to critics, these are the three that you should make a top priority.
