Long Shot's Top 60 Albums of 1963
This year strikes me as a sort of "calm before the storm", with few albums treading into proper "remarkable" territory but there still being a sense that the musical landscape is about to change dramatically. There is one extreme exception to the former condition, the first proper 5.0 I've given in this entire Deep Dive. And don't miss the first list appearances of Dylan, The Beatles and The Beach Boys -- all at various stages of breaking through into the limelight. |
| 1 |  | Charles Mingus
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
5.0
Track pick: "Track C - Group Dancers" |
| 2 |  | Sandy Bull
Fantasias For Guitar and Banjo
4.6
Track pick: "Blend" |
| 3 |  | Max Roach, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington
Money Jungle
4.4
Track pick: "Fleurette Africaine" |
| 4 |  | Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
4.3
Track pick: "Masters of War" |
| 5 |  | Dayle Stanley
A Child of Hollow Times
4.3
Track pick: "Child of Hollow Times" |
| 6 |  | Thelonious Monk
Monk's Dream
4.2
Track pick: "Monk's Dream" |
| 7 |  | John Coltrane
Impressions
4.1
Track pick: "Impressions" |
| 8 |  | The Beatles
With the Beatles
4.0
Track pick: "Please Mister Postman" |
| 9 |  | The Beatles
Please Please Me
4.0
Track pick: "A Taste of Honey" |
| 10 |  | James Brown
Live At The Apollo
3.9
Track pick: "Lost Someone" |
| 11 |  | Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
3.8
Track pick: "In a Sentimental Mood" |
| 12 |  | Thelonious Monk
Criss-Cross
3.8
Track pick: "Rhythm-A-Ning" |
| 13 |  | Dave Van Ronk
Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger
3.8
Track pick: "Cocaine Blues" |
| 14 |  | Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
3.7
Track pick: "Self Portrait (Of the Bean)" |
| 15 |  | Grant Green
Feelin' the Spirit
3.7
Track pick: "Go Down Moses" |
| 16 |  | John Coltrane
Ballads
3.7
Track pick: "Say It (Over and Over Again)" |
| 17 |  | Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie
Ella and Basie!
3.7
Track pick: "Dream a Little Dream of Me" |
| 18 |  | Dayle Stanley
After the Snow
3.7
Track pick: "After the Snow" |
| 19 |  | Oscar Peterson
Night Train
3.7
Track pick: "Hymn to Freedom" |
| 20 |  | Roy Orbison
In Dreams
3.7
Track pick: "In Dreams" |
| 21 |  | Bill Evans
Interplay
3.6
Track pick: "Interplay" |
| 22 |  | Sam Cooke
Night Beat
3.6
Track pick: "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" |
| 23 |  | John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
3.6
Track pick: "Lush Life" |
| 24 |  | Dexter Gordon
Our Man in Paris
3.6
Track pick: "A Night in Tunisia" |
| 25 |  | Joan Baez
In Concert, Part 2
3.6
Track pick: "Queen of Hearts" |
| 26 |  | Frank Sinatra
Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First
3.6
Track pick: "My Kind of Girl" |
| 27 |  | Freddie Hubbard
Hub-Tones
3.5
Track pick: "Lament for Booker" |
| 28 |  | Solomon Burke
If You Need Me
3.5
Track pick: "If You Need Me" |
| 29 |  | Kenny Burrell
Midnight Blue
3.5
Track pick: "Midnight Blue" |
| 30 |  | Frank Sinatra
The Concert Sinatra
3.5
Track pick: "Ol' Man River" |
| 31 |  | Paul Desmond
Take Ten
3.5
Track pick: "Nancy" |
| 32 |  | Joe Henderson
Page One
3.5
Track pick: "Recorda Me" |
| 33 |  | Francoise Hardy
Le premier bonheur du jour
3.5
Track pick: "Le premier bonheur du jour" |
| 34 |  | Stan Getz
Jazz Samba Encore!
3.4
Track pick: "Menina Flor" |
| 35 |  | Pete Seeger
We Shall Overcome
3.4
Track pick: "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" |
| 36 |  | The Beach Boys
Surfer Girl
3.4
Track pick: "In My Room" |
| 37 |  | Jorge Ben
Samba Esquema Novo
3.4
Track pick: "Mas, que nada" |
| 38 |  | Jimmy Smith
Back At The Chicken Shack
3.4
Track pick: "Back at the Chicken Shack" |
| 39 |  | Phil Spector
A Christmas Gift For You
3.4
Track pick: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" |
| 40 |  | Sam Cooke
Mr. Soul
3.4
Track pick: "I Wish You Love" |
| 41 |  | Antonio Carlos Jobim
The Composer of Desafinado Plays
3.4
Track pick: "The Girl from Ipanema" |
| 42 |  | Albert Ayler
My Name Is Albert Ayler
3.4
Track pick: "Summertime" |
| 43 |  | Judy Collins
Judy Collins 3
3.4
Track pick: "Farewell" |
| 44 |  | Jackie McLean
Let Freedom Ring
3.4
Track pick: "Melody for Melonae" |
| 45 |  | Sheila Jordan
Portrait of Sheila
3.4
Track pick: "Am I Blue" |
| 46 |  | Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley's Beach Party
3.4
Track pick: "Road Runner" |
| 47 |  | The Ventures
The Ventures In Space
3.3
Track pick: "Out of Limits" |
| 48 |  | Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane
Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane
3.3
Track pick: "Why Was I Born?" |
| 49 |  | Peter, Paul and Mary
Moving
3.3
Track pick: "Puff, the Magic Dragon" |
| 50 |  | Ike Quebec
Blue & Sentimental
3.3
Track pick: "Blue and Sentimental" |
| 51 |  | Gerry Mulligan
Night Lights
3.3
Track pick: "Night Lights" |
| 52 |  | John Coltrane
Dakar
3.3
Track pick: "Dakar" |
| 53 |  | Lee Hazlewood
Trouble Is A Lonesome Town
3.3
Track pick: "Long Black Train" |
| 54 |  | Sun Ra
When Sun Comes Out
3.3
Track pick: "The Rainmaker" |
| 55 |  | Miles Davis
Seven Steps to Heaven
3.3
Track pick: "Seven Steps to Heaven" |
| 56 |  | Dick Dale
King Of The Surf Guitar
3.2
Track pick: "Mexico" |
| 57 |  | Herbie Hancock
My Point of View
3.2
Track pick: "A Tribute to Someone" |
| 58 |  | The Beach Boys
Little Deuce Coupe
3.2
Track pick: "Ballad of Ole' Betsy" |
| 59 |  | Judy Henske
Judy Henske
3.2
Track pick: "Wade in the Water" |
| 60 |  | Aretha Franklin
Laughing on the Outside
3.2
Track pick: "If Ever I Would Leave You" |
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