Best Albums of the 1940s

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1940s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1940s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1940	69	1,777	Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 1 (3,756th)by Woody Guthrie
1941	75	1,348	The Midnight Special (And Other ... (4,443rd)by Lead Belly
1942	75	756	Her Second Album Of Piano Solos ... (8,700th)by Hazel Scott
1943	77	601	Songs By Lead Belly: Accompanied... (8,835th)by Lead Belly
1944	76	1,294	An Album Of Outstanding Arrangem... (4,973rd)by Glenn Miller
1945	79	1,093	Merry Christmas (5,379th)by Bing Crosby
1946	102	1,817	The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (6,615th)by Frank Sinatra
1947	102	1,741	Teddy Wilson - Billie Holiday (5,203rd)by Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra F...
1948	102	1,452	Chansons Des Cafés De Paris (5,921st)by Édith Piaf
1949	104	1,988	Bird Blows The Blues (6,198th)by Charlie Parker
Total	861	13,868

The best artists of the 1940s were Woody Guthrie, Nat King Cole, Lead Belly, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Josh White, Louis Jordan, The King Cole Trio, The Original Broadway Cast and Hazel Scott.

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Collector's summary (top 319)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

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31.

Folk Songs Of The Hills

Merle Travis

Year of Release:

1947

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

108

Rank in 1947:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

10,794

Average Rating:

72 (20 votes)

Comments:

32.

Schubert: Symphony No. 9 In C Major (The Great)

Bruno Walter / New York Philharmonic

Year of Release:

1946

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

106

Rank in 1946:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

10,992

Average Rating:

71 (7 votes)

Comments:

33.

Crosscurrents

Lennie Tristano

Year of Release:

1949

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

104

Rank in 1949:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,170

Average Rating:

73 (6 votes)

Comments:

34.

Charlie Parker No. 1

Charlie Parker

Year of Release:

1948

Appears in:

14 charts

Rank Score:

103

Rank in 1948:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,216

Average Rating:

72 (8 votes)

Comments:

35.

Strange Fruit

Josh White

Year of Release:

1945

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

103

Rank in 1945:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,291

Average Rating:

70 (9 votes)

Comments:

36.

La Guitarra
Compilation

Pepe Badajoz

Year of Release:

1949

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

101

Rank in 1949:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,452

Average Rating:

75 (5 votes)

Comments:

37.

Woody Guthrie

Year of Release:

1944

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

101

Rank in 1944:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,490

Average Rating:

72 (8 votes)

Comments:

38.

Jazz Classics

Louis Armstrong

Year of Release:

1944

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

100

Rank in 1944:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,516

Average Rating:

69 (8 votes)

Comments:

39.

A Presentation Of Progressive Jazz

Stan Kenton And His Orchestra

Year of Release:

1948

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

100

Rank in 1948:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,582

Average Rating:

73 (6 votes)

Comments:

40.

Spirituals

Paul Robeson

Year of Release:

1946

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1946:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

11,601

Average Rating:

72 (12 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 319. Page 4 of 32

Best Albums of the 1940s composition

Year	Albums	%

1940	29	3%
1941	29	3%
1942	24	2%
1943	24	2%
1944	25	3%
1945	26	3%
1946	38	4%
1947	40	4%
1948	39	4%
1949	45	5%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	11	3%
Josh White	7	2%
The Original Broadway Cast	6	2%
Sir Thomas Beecham / The London Philharmonic Orchestra	6	2%
Bing Crosby	6	2%
Almanac Singers	5	2%
Woody Guthrie	5	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	248	78%
	20	6%
	14	4%
	7	2%
	6	2%
	5	2%
	2	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	302	95%
Yes	17	5%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	313	98%
Yes	6	2%

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

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