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55 albums · 1925–2015

Music of the United States, from the Delta and New Orleans to Nashville, Detroit, the Bronx and today

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

The TBC Brass Band playing trumpets, saxophone, trombones and sousaphone in a street parade in New Orleans
Muddy Waters smiling at the microphone on stage, James Cotton on harmonica behind himLouis Armstrong playing the trumpet, in a black and white press photograph of 1953
The TBC Brass Band in a second line parade in New Orleans in 2008. Photo: Derek Bridges, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Muddy Waters with James Cotton at Ontario Place, Toronto, in 1978. Photo: Jean-Luc Ourlin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Louis Armstrong in 1953. Photo: World-Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The United States' popular music runs from Robert Johnson's Delta and Muddy Waters' Chicago to Louis Armstrong's New Orleans, Miles Davis and Coltrane, the gospel of Mahalia Jackson, the Nashville of Hank Williams and Dolly Parton, Chuck Berry and Elvis, the soul of Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, the Velvet Underground, Springsteen and Nirvana, the hip hop of Public Enemy and Kendrick Lamar, the house of Frankie Knuckles and the techno of Carl Craig in Detroit, Selena's Tejano, Clifton Chenier's zydeco, Gabby Pahinui's slack key, Sinatra and Ella, Steve Reich and Copland. The list has 55 records from 1925 to 2015, one by each name and only a small part of what they made; the best-known albums of rock, soul and pop, most of jazz and the concert hall, Broadway, and each region's own music, from the Texas dance halls to the Appalachian fiddle, would each need a list of their own. About 41 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Folk & Country 11%Rock 11%Soul & R&B 10%Other 68%
  • Folk & Country 11%
  • Rock 11%
  • Soul & R&B 10%
  • Other 68%

The genres named most: american, rock, country, jazz, hip hop, soul.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: United States 55. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1920s

The 1940s

The 1950s

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2010s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.