DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
The 1950s was an interesting transitional era in the history of music. While it is most associated with rock and roll now, the decade was also marked by plenty of classic showtunes and jazz collections. Crooners and big bands were on their way out, but that didn’t stop Frank Sinatra from releasing some of the most impactful music to shape the development of the album. This list reflects the diversity of the decade. Note: there are compilations included in this list, as long as they didn’t go past the 1950s.
You can check out the top albums of all time or for other decades by clicking here.
This is an expansion of a list (Top 10 Show Tune Albums of All Time) originally posted on Dave’s Music Database Facebook page on February 21, 2010. As with most DMDB lists, this was created based on sales, chart peaks, awards, and an aggregate of lists, in this case more than 100 best-of lists focused on cast albums, musicals, soundtracks, and music-themed movies. The names before the titles indicate the composers.
1. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II South Pacific (1949)
2. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe My Fair Lady (1956)
3. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) The Sound of Music (1959)
4. Leonard Bernstein (music) & Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) West Side Story (1957)
5. Galt MacDermot (music) with Gerome Ragni & James Rado (lyrics) Hair (1967)
6. Meredith Willson (music & lyrics) The Music Man (1957)
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda (music & lyrics) Hamilton (2015)
8. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) with Charles Hart & Richard Stilgoe (lyrics) Phantom of the Opera (1986)
9. George Gershwin (music) with Ira Gershwin & Dubose Heyward (lyrics) Porgy and Bess (1935)
10. Jerry Bock (music) & Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) Fiddler on the Roof (1964)
11. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
12. Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics) The Lion King (1997)
13. Cole Porter Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
14. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Oklahoma! (1943)
15. Richard Rodgers (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Carousel (1945)
16. Stephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
17. Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Camelot (1960)
18. Irving Berlin (music & lyrics) Annie Get Your Gun (1946)
19. Grease (1972)
20. John Kander (music) & Fred Ebb (lyrics) Cabaret (1966)
21. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) The King and I (1951)
22. Jerome Kern (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) Show Boat (1927)
23. Claude-Michel Schönberg (music) with Alain Boublil & Herbert Kretzmer (lyrics) Les Misérables (1985)
24. Jerry Herman (music & lyrics) Hello, Dolly! (1963)
25. Jonathan Larson (music & lyrics) Rent (1996)
26. John Kander (music) & Fred Ebb (lyrics) Chicago (1975)
27. Jule Styne (music) & Bob Merrill (lyrics) Funny Girl (1964)
28. Lionel Bart (music & lyrics) Oliver! (1960)
29. Frank Loesser (music & lyrics) Guys and Dolls (1950)
30. Alan Menken (music) with Howard Ashman & Tim Rice (lyrics) Beauty and the Beast (1994)
31. Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) Company (1970)
32. Marvin Hamlisch (music) & Edward Kleban (lyrics) A Chorus Line (1975)
33. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) & Tim Rice (lyrics) Evita (1976)
34. Jule Styne (music) & Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) Gypsy (1959)
35. Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) & T.S. Eliot (lyrics) Cats (1981)
36. Trey Parker & Matt Stone with Robert Lopez (music & lyrics) The Book of Mormon (2011)
37. Charles Strouse (music) & Martin Charnin (lyrics) Annie (1977)
38. Richard O’Brien (music & lyrics) The Rocky Horror Show (1974)
39. Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) Wicked (2003)
40. Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman Hairspray (2002)
41. Mitch Leigh & Joe Darion Man of La Mancha (1965)
42. Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Brigadoon (1947)
43. Harry Warren (music) with Al Dubin & Johnny Mercer (lyrics) 42nd Street (1980)
44. Richard Adler (music) & Jerry Ross (lyrics) Damn Yankees (1955)
45. Pete Townshend (music & lyrics) The Who’s Tommy (1993)
46. Henry Krieger (music) & Tom Eyen (lyrics) Dreamgirls (1981)
47. Charles Strouse (music) & Lee Adams (lyrics) Bye Bye Birdie (1960)
48. Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) Godspell (1971)
49. Alan Menken Little Shop of Horrors (1979)
50. Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) A Little Night Music (1973)
1. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
2. West Side Story (1961)
3. The Sound of Music (1965)
4. Cabaret (1972)
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
6. Chicago (2002)
7. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
8. Grease (1978)
9. Mary Poppins (1964)
10. My Fair Lady (1964)
11. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
12. A Star Is Born (1954)
13. Top Hat (1935)
14. Fiddler on the Roof (1975)
15. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
16. Oliver! (1968)
17. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
18. The King and I (1956)
19. The Band Wagon (1953)
20. On the Town (1949)
21. An American in Paris (1951)
22. Funny Girl (1968)
23. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
24. The Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
25. All That Jazz (1979)
26. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
27. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
28. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
29. The Lion King (1994)
30. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
31. The Music Man (1962)
32. Hedwig & the Angry Inch (2001)
33. Swing Time (1936)
34. 42nd Street (1933)
35. Phantom of the Opera (2004)
36. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
37. Gigi (1958)
38. Hairspray (2007)
39. Dreamgirls (2006)
40. La La Land (2017)
41. Rent (2005)
42. Annie (1982)
43. West Side Story (2021)
44. Hair (1979)
45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
46. Carousel (1956)
47. Oklahoma! (1955)
48. Funny Face (1957)
49. Fame (1980)
50. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog. To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This month marks the fifth batch of album inductees. As of August 4, 2020, there were only 56 albums to spend 250 or more weeks on the Billboard album chart (“The Longest-Charting Albums in U.S. Chart History”). Of those albums, only 19 spent four or more weeks at #1. Seven of those have already been inducted: Adele 21 (2011), Fleetwood Mac Rumours (1977), Michael Jackson Thriller (1982), Carole King Tapestry (1971)
, and the South Pacific cast album (1949). That leaves 13 albums to be inducted this month.
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
While not their final release, this marked the last time the Fab Four worked together in the studio. The Beatles were “exhausted and angry with one another after the disastrous sessions for the aborted Get Back LP.” RS500 Even their producer, “the normallly unruffled” George Martin, said “I don’t want to be part of this anymore.” JI However, when Paul McCartney suggested they make a Beatles’ record “like we used to” JI “the group reconvened at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios” RS500 to create what would be their “most polished and crafted long player” TL and “the best sounding Beatles’ record.” JIRead more.
The Beatles 1 (compilation: 1962-70, released 2001)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
When this single-disc collection emerged over 30 years after the band’s finale, it proved there was still a market for their songs as the collection spent eight weeks atop the Billboard charts and sold more than 30 million copies. The set gathered the 27 songs which peaked atop the U.K. and/or U.S. charts, meaning fans could get a one-sitting overview of the Beatles from their beginnings from early hits like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” to mid-career hits like “Yesterday” and latter hits like “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.”
Read more.
Eagles Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (compilation: 1971-75, released 1976)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
This wasn’t just the “first album ever certified platinum;” WR1 but the best-selling album in the U.S. in the 20th century WK1 with sales now estimated over 40 million. This collection gathered nine singles and the album-cut “Desperado” from the band’s first four albums. By the time the band recorded their fifth album, they’d become more of a rock act, but this set showcases their more country-pop leanings like “Tequila Sunrise” and “Lyin’ Eyes” as well as #1 pop hits “Best of My Love” and “One of These Nights.” Band member Don Henley didn’t like the songs taken out of the context of their original albums, WK1 but this makes for “a collection consistent in mood and identity” WK that “works so much better than the band’s previous discs [that it] practically makes them redundant.” WR1Read more.
Eminem The Eminem Show (2002)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
After exploring the deliberately-shocking alter ego Slim Shady and delving more into his past as Marshall Mathers, Eminem put his public persona front and center on this collection. He “spends much of the album commenting on the media circus that dominated…his life” STE and familiar topics such as “his troubled childhood; his hatred of his parents; his turbulent relationship with his ex-wife, Kim…; his love of his daughter, Hailie; and, of course, all the controversy he generated, notably the furor over his alleged homophobia.” STE Eminem proves “to be one of the all-time classic MCs, surprising as much with his delivery as with what he says.” STERead more.
Eminem Recovery (2010)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
Critic Robert Christgau says this is Eminem at “his most confessional” WK although detractors argued “that being privy to the man’s therapy sessions just isn’t compelling anymore.” DJEntertainment Weekly’s Simon Vozick-Levinson said, “Eminem’s lyrical craftsmanship is second to none…and there are flashes of new maturity.” WK This album made Eminem the first artist to have four albums debut atop the Billboard album chart with over 700,000 copies. “Not Afraid,” the album’s lead single, was only the second rap song to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was followed to the pinnacle by “Love the Way You Lie,” a duet with Rihanna.
Read more.
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (composers) My Fair Lady (cast, 1956)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
My Fair Lady is “the crowning achievement” AZ for Lerner and Loewe. It has been called “the most perfect stage musical ever.” CL This was an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, a story about “the mythic Greek figure who falls in love with his sculpture.” TM Rex Harrison is “effortlessly charming” ZS as Professor Henry Higgins and Julie Andrews was a “twenty-year-old revelation” ZS as “Eliza Doolittle, who aspires to a better accent and the social advantages that will come with it.” R-S Its Broadway run of 2717 performances from 1956 to 1962 was the longest run in history for a major musical at that time. W-MRead more.
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (composers) Camelot (cast album, 1960)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
Lerner & Loewe turned to the legend of King Arthur, specifically T.H. White’s novel The Once and Future King, for this 1960 musical. The show “has it all – a beautiful English princess swept off her feet by a shy, but passionate bachelor king; an ardent French knight, torn between devotion to his liege and an uncontrollable hunger, reciprocated, to be sure, for the king’s tempestuous wife.” WK-C “The advance sale for the show was the largest in Broadway history.” WK-C It starred Richard Burton (Arthur) and Julie Andrews (Guinevere) and introduced Robert Goulet as Lancelot in his first Broadway role and won four Tony Awards.
Read more.
Johnny Mathis Heavenly (1959)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
This was the most successful studio album from Mathis, marking a return to ballads with orchestral accompaniment. All Music Guide’s William Ruhlmann called it “the epitome of Mathis’s approach to music.” WK The highlight of this collection of standards was “Misty,” a top ten R&B hit which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Read more.
Metallica Metallica (aka ‘The Black Album’) (1991)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
Prior to their eponymous 1991 release (nicknamed The Black Album for its monochromatic cover), Metallica “wrote scathing diatribes about such topics as our desensitized society and the horrors of drug addiction, signed with a major record label, and then watched millions of kids buy these spewings, all without the benefit of one hummable melody.” EW For this effort, the band tapped Bob Rock, who had produced Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, to give them “crisp, professional production” AMG and add “a previously nonexistent warmth and depth to their sound.” GW The group “slowed down the tempos, streamlined the arrangements” GW and the band plays actual hooks.” EWRead more.
Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) Oklahoma! (soundtrack, 1955)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
Oklahoma! was the first collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein. They “turned out an exuberant, tuneful score in which all the songs grew out of the characters and the situations, an unusual approach in musical theater, where songs often had little relationship to the action.” RC The show’s five-year run made it the longest-running musical in Broadway history up to that time. More than a dozen years later, Rodgers & Hammerstein oversaw a film version, assuring “it would be more faithful than most Hollywood treatments.” RS Compared to the cast recording, the soundtrack has “a bigger, broader interpretation and has continued to sound impressive over the decades.” RSRead more.
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) South Pacific (soundtrack, 1958)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
The cast album for South Pacific was one of the first twelve DMDB Hall of Fame album inductees. It was the biggest album of the 1940s, spending 69 weeks at #1 and 400 weeks on the chart. That set the bar incredibly high for the soundtrack to the 1958 movie. However, it reached similar lofty status with 262 weeks on the chart, 31 at the pinnacle. The album is also the biggest #1 in the history of the UK charts with 115 weeks on top.
Read more.
Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II (composers) The Sound of Music (cast album, 1959)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
The Sound of Music was the final work for the famous musical theater team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. “The ‘based on a true story’ plot concerned an aspiring nun who becomes a governess in pre-World War II Austria” WR-C for “a wealthy naval captain with seven children,” WR-S “only to marry the children’s father and flee with the family from the Nazis.” WR-C The cast album spent an astonishing 70 weeks atop the UK charts and 16 in the U.S.
Read more.
Taylor Swift 1989 (2014)
Inducted February 2020 as “Album with 4+ weeks at #1 and 250+ chart weeks.”
This was Taylor Swift’s second Grammy-winner for Album of the Year, after 2010’s Fearless. Inspired by the synthpop of the late ‘80s, this completed her transition from country music. It was her third album to sell over a million copies in its first week, making her the first artist to do so. WKThe Guardian’s Alexis Petridis said the album is full of “undeniable melodies and huge, perfectly turned choruses and nagging hooks.” WK The public agreed, sending three songs to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (“Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood”) and two more into the top ten (“Style,” “Wildest Dreams”).
Read more.
My Fair Lady is “the crowning achievement” AZ for lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Some consider it to be “the most perfect stage musical ever.” CL “It boasts a magnificent score…witty, intelligent, beautiful, and romantic.” NRR This is “a collection of performances that long ago became a ubiquitous and indispensable fixture of American musical theater.” AZ
The musical was an updated version of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, a story about “the mythic Greek figure who falls in love with his sculpture.” TM In My Fair Lady, the story focuses on “the relationship between an elocutionist” R-C and “pre-World War I London flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who aspires to a better accent and the social advantages that will come with it.” R-S Its 2,700 performances “gracefully spanned the Eisenhower and Camelot eras, then begat a wildly popular film version, whose 1965 Best Picture Oscar capped the show’s decade of prominence.” AZ
The cast album “captures landmark performances by Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway.” NRR Andrews was a “twenty-year-old revelation” ZS as “the fairest of all ladies,” ZS making the “loverly…score soar” ZS with her “glorious voice and emotional range.” ZS Harrison is “effortlessly charming” ZS in his recreation of the stage role as “Professor Henry Higgins (he had also appeared in the film adaptation of…Pygmalion.” R-S
“The show yielded an astounding number of songs that became standards, including the luminous I Could Have Danced All Night and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” TM Among the other gems in this “embarrassment of riches,” AZ including On the Street Where You Live, The Rain in Spain, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, and Why Can’t the English?.
For the movie version, Harrison and Holloway were back again, but Andrews wasn’t deemed enough of a star although “embarrassingly, by the time the movie opened, Mary Poppins had made her more than enough of a star to do so.” R-S Audrey Hepburn stepped into the role with the singing voice dubbed by Marni Nixon, who “was an accomplished Hollywood voice ghost, having previously sung for Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Rosalind Russell in Gypsy.” R-S
Ultimately the soundtrack paled to the cast recording, which was considered critically and commercially more successful. The cast recording sold 8 million copies in the U.S. and topped the Billboard charts for 15 weeks. It also spent 19 weeks atop the UK charts.
ZS Zagat Survey (2003). Music Guide: 1,000 Top Albums of All Time. Coordinator: Pat Blashill. Music Editor: Holly George-Warren. Editors: Betsy Andrews and Randi Gollin. Zagat Survey, LLC: New York, NY. Page 170.
* 2 versions back-to-back on cast album
** appears only on soundtrack
Singles/Hit Songs:
As was common in the pre-rock era, songs from musicals were often recorded by artists not associated with the musical and released as singles. Here are some of the most notable hit singles resulting from the show:
“On the Street Where You Live” – Vic Damone (#4, 1956), Eddie Fisher (#18, 1956), Lawrence Welk (#96, 1956), Andy Williams (328, 1964)
”I Could Have Danced All Night” – Sylvia Syms (#20, 1956), Rosemary Clooney (#49, 1956), Dinah Shore (#93, 1956), Ben E. King (#72, 1963), Biddu Orchestra (#72, 1976)
”I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face” – Rosemary Clooney (#70, 1956), Gordon MacRae (#96, 1956)
”With a Little Bit of Luck” – Percy Faith (#82, 1956), Jo Stafford (#85, 1956)
”Get Me to the Church on Time” – Julius LaRosa (#89, 1956)
Rating:
4.462 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)
Quotable: “The most perfect stage musical ever” – Colin Larkin, Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums
Awards (Cast Album): (Click on award to learn more).
Awards (Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).
About the Show:
My Fair Lady is “the crowning achievement” AZ for lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. In fact, some consider it to be “the most perfect stage musical ever.” CL “It boasts a magnificent score…witty, intelligent, beautiful, and romantic.” NRR This is “a collection of performances that long ago became a ubiquitous and indispensable fixture of American musical theater.” AZ
Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner
After several productions in the 1940s, Lerner and Loewe first tasted major Broadway success with 1947’s Brigadoon. They next worked together on 1951’s Paint Your Wagon before adapting George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion into My Fair Lady. It was a story about “the mythic Greek figure who falls in love with his sculpture.” TM In My Fair Lady, the story focuses on “the relationship between an elocutionist” R-C and “pre-World War I London flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who aspires to a better accent and the social advantages that will come with it.” R-S
The show opened on Broadway on March 15, 1956. It ran for 2717 performances, closing on September 29, 1962. It had what was then the longest run in history for a major musical. W-M The production has been called “the perfect musical.” W-M
Julie Andrews was a “twenty-year-old revelation” ZS as “the fairest of all ladies,” ZS making the “loverly…score soar” ZS with her “glorious voice and emotional range.” ZS Rex Harrison is “effortlessly charming” ZS in his recreation of the stage role as “Professor Henry Higgins (he had also appeared in the film adaptation of…Pygmalion.” R-S He “enjoys every wink of his ironies: When he describes himself, in I’m an Ordinary Man, his exaggerated demeanor suggests his character is anything but ordinary. That Harrison caught this specific dynamic so early in what became a historic extended run is remarkable.” TM
“The show yielded an astounding number of songs that became standards, including the luminous I Could Have Danced All Night and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” TM Among the other gems in this “embarrassment of riches,” AZ including The Rain in Spain, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, Why Can’t the English?, and On the Street Where You Live.
As was common in the 1950s, the cast album “was recorded in one marathon fourteen-hour session on March 25, 1956.” TM “Producers tried to schedule the sessions as close to the opening of the musical as possible, thinking that the nuances of the work would be fresh in the performers’ minds.” TM This sometimes backfired, but here Harrison and Andrews “are beyond lively… and the supporting cast – which, as was often the case with Lerner and Loewe, got the meatiest songs – positively sparkles.” TM
“The recording established a new relationship between Broadway productions and record companies; the album’s critical success and popularity with the public were unrivaled at the time of its release.” NRR The cast album spent fifteen weeks atop the Billboard album chart, making it one of the biggest #1 albums in U.S. chart history. What’s incredible, however, is that those chart-topping weeks were spread out over four years time. Billboard magazine named it album of the year – in 1957 and 1958.
The album stuck around on the charts for a total of 480 weeks. Only Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Johnny Mathis’ Johnny’s Greatest Hits have logged more weeks.
For the film version, Harrison and Holloway were back, but since they were making their third recordings of the score, they didn’t have much to add…The result was an acceptable recording that did not surpass the Broadway or London cast albums.” R-S However, despite starring in the Broadway and London stage productions, Julie Andrews was deemed “not enough of a star to carry the movie. (Embarrassingly, by the time the movie opened, Mary Poppins had made her more than enough of a star to do so.) Instead, Audrey Hepburn stepped into the role.” R-S
Hepburn’s singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who “was an accomplished Hollywood voice ghost, having previously sung for Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Rosalind Russell in Gypsy.” R-S She “was fine…lacked the flair that Andrews would have given it.” R-S
A “1965 Best Picture Oscar capped the show’s decade of prominence.” AZ
ZS Zagat Survey (2003). Music Guide: 1,000 Top Albums of All Time. Coordinator: Pat Blashill. Music Editor: Holly George-Warren. Editors: Betsy Andrews and Randi Gollin. Zagat Survey, LLC: New York, NY. Page 170.
