Marty Robbins topped the US charts and had a UK Top 20 hit with this classic country and western tune, El Paso, back in 1959.

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Miles Davis’s quartet of albums recorded with his quintet in 1956 is regarded among the highlights of his stellar career. This comes from the final one, Steamin’.

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Listening to this doo wop oldie by The Plants, it’s easy to be transported to a street corner in The Bronx in the early 1950s.

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The thing about soul – soul in the musical sense – is that you’ve either got it or you haven’t. You only have to listen for a moment to know that Jerry Butler, who died this week, had soul.

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Gene Allison was the accidental star who became a one-hit wonder in 1957 with his gospel-tinged debut single You Can Make It If You Try.

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This comedy song by The Clovers warns against the perils of not one but two of pop music’s traditionally favourite pastimes – sex AND booze.

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Full disclosure: not being a jazz buff, I had never heard of Lou Donaldson who died this week at the ripe old age of 98. This is his masterpiece. (more…)

Leroy Van Dyke’s first job as a livestock auctioneer inspired the song that brought him to fame back in 1956.

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Moving on from yesterday’s Ray Charles post, but not completely… in the early ’50s he went down to New Orleans to work with Guitar Slim, and this was the result.

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Barrett Strong had the first hit for Tamla-Motown when he sang the original version of Money (That’s What I Want) in 1959.

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