Most important/influential MUSICAL artists of the 50s?

[bbernardini]

Okay, this list is REALLY a work-in-progress. I know I'm forgetting a ton of important folks, but my brain really hurts after the 60s and 70s lists. Here's what I have so far for the 50s:

Chuck Berry
Ray Charles
Jerry Lee Lewis
Elvis Presley
Little Richard
Buddy Holly
Ritchie Valens
Eddie Cochran
Carl Perkins
Fats Domino
Johnny “Guitar” Watson
Duane Eddy
Bo Diddley
The Everly Brothers
Bill Haley and The Comets
Bobby Darin
The Coasters
The Platters
James Brown
Roy Orbison
Harry Belafonte

[Burma Jones]

1. Hank Williams....n/t

[Magrittes Pipe]

2. Link Wray.

Also notable in the early '60s.

[Momof1]

3. Johnny Cash

[bbernardini]

5. How the hell did I forget Johnny Cash?

I'm a horrible excuse for a music afficia...offic...fan.

[Momof1]

16. LOL,

I'm sure I pointed out Cash to you on the 60's & 70's lists too, if you forgot...lol.

This is from the 70's...but it fits. :)

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[alilenas]

4. More

Ruth Brown
Johnny Cash
Janis Martin
Wanda Jackson
Collins Kids

[JimmyJazz]

6. Patsy Kline

[starroute]

7. Gene Vincent

He and Eddie Cochran were both big influences on what eventually came back as the British Invasion.

Maybe Jan and Dean -- they were more early 60's, but I think their first recordings were '58-'59.

[getoffmytrain]

8. Buddy Holly

Hands down, IMHO.

[patcox2]

9. I second that motion.

Buddy Holly was the first Beatle (might as well have been, he had so much influence - they named themselves after his band (Crickets, Beatles), he did the wall of sound before Phil Spector, he perfected the rock-pop-power-pop song structure that the beatles used, he played a mean guitar (badly recorded, I wish I could have heard it live), he was just the bomb.

[japple]

10. Ruth Brown, Etta James, Little Esther, LaVern Baker

Jackie Wilson, Otis Rush, Wynonie Harris, Chuck Willis

[bbernardini]

11. You mean Etta James did something other than "At Last"?!?

:) I've been to too many weddings lately. It was okay at first, until everybody started using it.

[japple]

12. Etta has been around a looooonnnngggg

time and and has done some great work. She's had her ups and downs over the years, but is now on an even keel and is recording quite a bit. I love her Blue Gardenia album with the exception of the title song which is sung by her mother who encouraged her to do a jazz album. I really love This Bitter Earth and Love Letters Straight from Your Heart. I saw her sing I'd Rather Be Blind with Dr. John on TV one time and it knocked my socks off. She's got the stuff. :D

[bbernardini]

15. I have that video of her and Dr. John.

It was part of a Cinemax special led by B.B. King. It also had Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Paul Butterfield, Billy Ocean, Chaka Khan, and a few others. I believe it's out on DVD now.

[SidDithers]

13. Louis Prima...

at his heydey during the 50's

Sid

Edit - bad first description.

[Ron Green]

14. Dizzy Gillespie, Scott LaFaro

[sendero]

17. Les Paul?

[givemebackmycountry]

18. There is no list

Without MILES DAVIS on it.
And John Coltrane.

But, I give you major points for having Chuck Berry at the top of the list.

[no name no slogan]

19. John Coltrane. Miles Davis. And the guy who wrote "Rocket 88"

"Rocket 88" is considered by many folks to be the "first" rock and roll song (in '52 or '53-- I forget which). IIRC Ike Turner was somehow involved in its production...

[NightTrain]

20. Excellent list! I'll add a few more.

Johnny Ace
Sam Cooke
The Drifters
Wanda Jackson
Clyde McPhatter
Frank Sinatra

[henslee]

21. Ike Turner produced Jackie Brenstons Rocket 88 which pretty much

pre-dated all rock songs 49 or 51. Song had a 4/4 beat. Rowdy vocals, it oozed with sex and had a honkin' sax and it was a bout a car. Many firsts here. We're talking seminal. No Little Richard without Jackie. No anybody else without little Richard. I';m talkng Rock -- not Jazz. And I'm talking the kind of rock that scared the bejesus out of white folks. Jackie never had a hit like quite that again. I think Ike was a producer for Sun Records at the time.

[doubleplusgood]

22. Bernard Herrmann

Created landmark film scores for many films including "Day The Earth Stood Still", "Vertigo", "North by Northwest" & "Psycho" (if you consider 1960 as part of the 50's).

[Bossy Monkey]

23. Mr Paul Simon says...

The Penguins, The Moonglows, The Orioles and The Five Satins...

(from "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War")
Wouldn't know myself, it's a bit before my time. I'd go with Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon myself.

[NightTrain]

24. This survey might interest you.

http://hometown.aol.com/savoybg1/myhomepage/index.html

Over the years I have conducted many different surveys involving music and recordings, everything from the top recordings of individual years to the top artists of different eras, and all kinds of things in between. Below are the results of various different surveys that I have done over the years.


SURVEY RESULTS:

Here's the results of surveys that were done to determine the top artists of the 50's and the top artists of the 60's, based on the votes of members of the two respective newsgroups:

rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1950s
rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1960s

Members of the groups were asked to rank their personal top 40 (or 50) artists of the decade, and point totals were assigned to each position, and the votes were tallied up for each group. Here is the concensus top artists of each decade, according to the members of the newsgroups:

TOP 100 ARTISTS OF THE 1950's:

RANK--ARTIST--MENTIONS--TOTAL POINTS

1 ¦ Little Richard ¦ 23 ¦ 1125
2 ¦ Fats Domino ¦ 22 ¦ 992
3 ¦ Elvis Presley ¦ 20 ¦ 928
4 ¦ Chuck Berry ¦ 19 ¦ 866
5 ¦ Drifters ¦ 19 ¦ 706
6 ¦ Buddy Holly ¦ 17 ¦ 702
7 ¦ Jerry Lee Lewis ¦ 18 ¦ 628
8 ¦ Hank Williams ¦ 14 ¦ 605
9 ¦ Platters ¦ 15 ¦ 547
10 ¦ Flamingos ¦ 15 ¦ 537

11 ¦ Joe Turner ¦ 14 ¦ 516
12 ¦ Ray Charles ¦ 13 ¦ 500
13 ¦ Gene Vincent & Bluecaps ¦ 12 ¦ 481
14 ¦ Coasters ¦ 14 ¦ 469
15 ¦ Carl Perkins ¦ 14 ¦ 459
16 ¦ Moonglows ¦ 13 ¦ 456
17 ¦ Everly Brothers ¦ 12 ¦ 439
18 ¦ Johnny Cash ¦ 13 ¦ 424
19 ¦ Bo Diddley ¦ 12 ¦ 421
20 ¦ Eddie Cochran ¦ 13 ¦ 406

21 ¦ Cadillacs ¦ 12 ¦ 406
22 ¦ Clovers ¦ 12 ¦ 400
23 ¦ Five Keys ¦ 10 ¦ 400
24 ¦ Spaniels ¦ 12 ¦ 381
25 ¦ Dominoes ¦ 14 ¦ 364
26 ¦ Midnighters ¦ 14 ¦ 349
27 ¦ Sam Cooke ¦ 11 ¦ 309
28 ¦ Bill Haley & Comets ¦ 9 ¦ 295
29 ¦ Clyde McPhatter ¦ 10 ¦ 294
30 ¦ Orioles ¦ 8 ¦ 286

31 ¦ Frankie Lymon & Teenagers ¦ 10 ¦ 275
32 ¦ Ruth Brown ¦ 11 ¦ 261
33 ¦ Huey "Piano" Smith & Clowns ¦ 10 ¦ 250
34 ¦ Howlin' Wolf ¦ 7 ¦ 244
35 ¦ Muddy Waters ¦ 7 ¦ 241
36 ¦ Lloyd Price ¦ 10 ¦ 240
37 ¦ Harptones ¦ 7 ¦ 235
38 ¦ Ricky Nelson ¦ 7 ¦ 228
39 ¦ Jackie Wilson ¦ 8 ¦ 213
40 ¦ Elmore James ¦ 7 ¦ 213

41 ¦ Swallows ¦ 7 ¦ 199
42 ¦ Dion & Belmonts ¦ 6 ¦ 199
43 ¦ Jimmy Reed ¦ 6 ¦ 198
44 ¦ Charms ¦ 7 ¦ 196
45 ¦ Marty Robbins ¦ 6 ¦ 195
46 ¦ Jack Scott ¦ 9 ¦ 194
47 ¦ Little Walter ¦ 6 ¦ 194
48 ¦ Smiley Lewis ¦ 4 ¦ 189
49 ¦ Johnny Burnette Trio ¦ 7 ¦ 181
50 ¦ Five Satins ¦ 6 ¦ 179

51 ¦ Cleftones ¦ 5 ¦ 178
52 ¦ Solitaires ¦ 5 ¦ 175
53 ¦ Robins ¦ 7 ¦ 171
54 ¦ Buddy Knox ¦ 5 ¦ 171
55 ¦ Nat "King" Cole ¦ 6 ¦ 168
56 ¦ Bobby "Blue" Bland ¦ 6 ¦ 165
57 ¦ Wynonie Harris ¦ 6 ¦ 161
58 ¦ Channels ¦ 4 ¦ 160
59 ¦ Little Willie John ¦ 6 ¦ 159
60 ¦ Skyliners ¦ 4 ¦ 156

61 ¦ Chuck Willis ¦ 6 ¦ 155
62 ¦ Frank Sinatra ¦ 4 ¦ 154
63 ¦ Five Royales ¦ 6 ¦ 149
64 ¦ Dinah Washington ¦ 6 ¦ 147
65 ¦ El Dorados ¦ 6 ¦ 134
66 ¦ John Lee Hooker ¦ 5 ¦ 133
67 ¦ Heartbeats ¦ 5 ¦ 132
68 ¦ Paul Anka ¦ 5 ¦ 129
69 ¦ Del-Vikings ¦ 5 ¦ 127
70 ¦ James Brown ¦ 5 ¦ 126

71 ¦ Pat Boone ¦ 4 ¦ 124
72 ¦ Lavern Baker ¦ 5 ¦ 121
73 ¦ Chantels ¦ 3 ¦ 120
74 ¦ Bobby Darin ¦ 3 ¦ 113
75 ¦ Johnny Otis ¦ 3 ¦ 113
76 ¦ Duane Eddy ¦ 4 ¦ 112
77 ¦ Johnnie Ray ¦ 5 ¦ 109
78 ¦ Little Anthony ¦ 4 ¦ 108
79 ¦ B.B. King ¦ 3 ¦ 108
80 ¦ Jimmie Rodgers ¦ 3 ¦ 107

81 ¦ Professor Longhair ¦ 4 ¦ 106
82 ¦ Dubs ¦ 3 ¦ 106
83 ¦ Conway Twitty ¦ 2 ¦ 106
84 ¦ Ravens ¦ 3 ¦ 105
85 ¦ Perry Como ¦ 3 ¦ 103
86 ¦ Crests ¦ 4 ¦ 100
87 ¦ Ritchie Valens ¦ 4 ¦ 98
88 ¦ Larry Williams ¦ 3 ¦ 98
89 ¦ Louis Prima ¦ 4 ¦ 96
90 ¦ Nutmegs ¦ 3 ¦ 95

91 ¦ Larks ¦ 3 ¦ 95
92 ¦ Dale Hawkins ¦ 2 ¦ 94
93 ¦ Connie Francis ¦ 4 ¦ 92
94 ¦ Checkers ¦ 3 ¦ 92
95 ¦ Don & Dewey ¦ 2 ¦ 92
96 ¦ Louis Jordan ¦ 2 ¦ 91
97 ¦ Sonny Boy Williamson ¦ 3 ¦ 89
98 ¦ Pearls ¦ 3 ¦ 88
99 ¦ Frankie Laine ¦ 4 ¦ 87
100 ¦ Charlie Gracie ¦ 3 ¦ 86

[japple]

25. Pat Boone??????

Pat Boone has no place in this discussion.