#32: Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's (1962)

You might recognize the song "Green Onions" from the trailer for Chicken Run. Or you may recognize it because you've been to a baseball game in your lifetime. Booker T. & The MG's took Jimmy Smith's jazz organ and reinvented it for the pop market.

An interesting fact about the song "Green Onions," is that it fell in and out of the top spot on the Billboard soul charts 3 times! The single was an improvised studio jam recorded while the group was waiting to start a recording session.

In addition to the hit single, there's a cover of a Ray Charles tune, a very satisfying version of "Twist and Shout," and even a sequel to "Green Onions" called "Mo' Onions." While listening to this, I flip-flopped from feeling like I was at a baseball game to feeling like I was at church. But, I enjoyed it the whole time.

Hearing this album makes me want to give Jimmy Smith another chance...

Favorite Tracks: "Green Onions," "I Got A Woman," "Twist and Shout," "One Who Really Loves You" and "Mo' Onions"

#31: Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music - Ray Charles (1962)

It's hard to imagine what a shock it must have been when Ray Charles released a country & western album back in 1962. Charles made this record against his label's wishes, but it proved to be a critical and commercial success, spending 14 weeks at the top of the charts and launching him even further into the mainstream.

The album takes several country & western standards and reinterprets them in several different styles, from r&b and jazz to big band. Personally, I didn't much care for the big band version of "Bye, Bye Love," but that's never been one of my favorites anyway.

This album is considered a landmark in American music, as Charles bended the racial barriers in music by integrating soul and country amid the height of the civil rights struggle. He also became one of the first black musicians to exercise complete artistic control over his own recording career. To put this in perspective, this album was released over a year before Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech.

Even though the album got off to a bad start for me with "Bye Bye Love," it quickly regained its footing with the beautiful version of "You Don't Know Me." That song always makes me want to cry, but I was out for a run, so I held the tears in.

Favorite Tracks: "You Don't Know Me," "That Lucky Old Sun" and "Born To Lose"

#30: Sunday at the Village Vanguard - Bill Evans (1961)

Bill Evans is one of the most influential jazz pianists from the 20th century. He's influenced artists such as Chick Correa and Herbie Hancock.

This album was recorded over 5 sessions in June of 1961, and was the final performance by the Bill Evans trio of the time, which included bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. LaFaro was killed in a car accident just ten days after this recording.

I'll admit that my knowledge of jazz piano is pretty much limited to Vince Guraldi (thanks to "A Charlie Brown Christmas). This was a fine album and is probably something that I would listen to again on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Favorite Tracks: "Alice In Wonderland (Take 2)" and "Solar"