1952

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie – Bird and Diz (collaboration between the jazz saxophonist and trumpeter)

Various – Anthology Of American Folk Music  (Compilation of 1920s-1930s American folk, blues, and country songs taken from Harry Smith’s personal collection of 78 rpm singles)

Howlin’ Wolf – Cadillac Daddy: 1952 Sessions (blues, recorded in 1952 but released in 1989)

Peggy Lee – Rendezvous With Peggy Lee (jazz pop, her first full album)

Nat King Cole – Penthouse Serenade (instrumental piano jazz)

Oscar Brand – Bawdy Sea Shanties (Exactly what it sounds like)

Billie Holiday – Billie Holiday Sings (Vocal jazz, first album of previously unreleased material)

Jean Ritchie – Singing The Traditional Songs Of Her Kentucky Mountain Family (Traditional folk)

Les Baxter – Ritual Of The Savage (Exotica)

Hank Williams – Moanin’ The Blues (Country)

Various – Blowing The Fuse: 29 R & B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox In 1952 (R & B/ Blues compilation released in 2005)

Sarah Vaughan – September Song (Vocal jazz)

Yma Sumac – Legend Of The Sun Virgin (Peruvian exotica/ world music)

Stan Kenton – City Of Glass (avant-garde jazz, music composed by Bob Graettinger)

Various – Singin’ In The Rain (soundtrack to the movie musical)

Notes: This was probably the briefest time I've stayed on one year; I think I lasted about two weeks. It was fairly hard to track down full albums, so I ended up stretching my rules a bit with compilations: I probably wouldn't have included Anthology Of American Folk Music if not for the fact that I'm probably not going back further than 1950. This is also the first pre-rock and roll year I've covered so far, although the Blowing The Fuse compilation and even Howlin' Wolf showed some early roots of the genre.