Atlantic 75.
One label. Half a century. Jazz, soul and rock.

On Blues & Roots, Charles Mingus accepts an apparently straightforward challenge: to make an album placing his music in a clear relationship with the blues.

Have a listen “Moanin’” – has side B of this 45 RPM edition to itself.

Selling England by the Pound finds Genesis making progressive rock feel both grand and peculiarly local.

Have a listen “Firth of Fifth” – begins with Tony Banks’s piano introduction and gives Steve Hackett room for an extended guitar melody.

With Face Value, Phil Collins steps in front of his audience under his own name in 1981.

Have a listen “In The Air Tonight” – opens side A – listen beyond the famous drum entrance.

John Prine is in his mid-twenties when his first album appears on Atlantic in 1971.

Have a listen “Illegal Smile” – opens the programme with a taste for individuality.

The Dock Of The Bay suggests a scene of stillness: water, passing ships and a man momentarily stepping outside the movement of his own life.

Have a listen “The Dock Of The Bay” – the title song lets longing and inertia coexist.

Some collaborations feel so natural that it is easy to overlook how many individual histories meet within them.

Have a listen “Qualified” – written by Rebennack with Jessie Hill – here the record takes more time.

In 1957 Atlantic released an album whose title initially said little more than Ray Charles.

Have a listen “I Got a Woman” – from the 18 November 1954 session in Atlanta – voice and band become a shared forward impulse.

Feels Like the First Time opens a debut backed by considerable experience.

Have a listen “Starrider” – the flute part opens a space beyond the stronger guitar emphasis of the opening tracks.

A debut can sound like a first encounter or like the outcome of considerable shared experience.

Have a listen “Seagull” – the acoustic closing song, with Paul Rodgers handling the instruments himself.

Giant Steps is John Coltrane turning harmonic investigation into a complete artistic statement.

Have a listen “Naima” – written for Coltrane’s then-wife – the album’s essential counterweight.

My Favorite Things marks a decisive expansion in John Coltrane’s music.

Have a listen “Summertime” – a well-known melody given a darker, heavier contour on tenor saxophone.

The friendly title is slightly deceptive. Hello, I Must Be Going! contains music that seeks closeness, retreats from it and sometimes insists on keeping its distance.

Have a listen “I Don’t Care Anymore” – opens with an attitude that runs directly against the politeness of the album title.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is Genesis at its most ambitious: a double concept album that turns New York City into the entrance to a surreal interior world.

Have a listen “The Carpet Crawlers” – a gentle, circular accompaniment supports one of the album’s most memorable refrains.

Fragile presents Yes in an unusual balance: four group pieces sit alongside five shorter contributions originating in the ideas of individual members.

Have a listen “Mood For A Day” – Steve Howe steps forward with flamenco guitar.

An invitation can be a distinctly unsettling thing. On Welcome To My Nightmare, Alice Cooper does more than welcome his audience to another rock record: he ushers it into a world whose rules change from one song to the next.

Have a listen “Devil’s Food” – Vincent Price’s spoken role as “The Curator” is credited here.

Aretha Franklin’s first Atlantic album opens with “Respect”. Otis Redding wrote the song, but Franklin develops a perspective of her own.

Have a listen “Respect” – follow the responses of Carolyn and Erma Franklin – and King Curtis’s saxophone solo.

Dusty Springfield’s move to Atlantic brought the collaboration with Jerry Wexler that she wanted.

Have a listen “Breakfast in Bed” – follow Springfield first, then listen for the instrumental responses.

When David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash released their debut together in 1969, each brought a different band history to the project.

Have a listen “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” – opens the album with a form unfolding through several connected sections.

David Crosby recorded If I Could Only Remember My Name in 1970, following the death of his girlfriend Christine Hinton.

Have a listen “Laughing” – Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel, and Joni Mitchell contributes vocals.

Déjà Vu brings four established writers into a group whose unity depends on preserving their differences.

Have a listen “4 + 20” – just Stephen Stills and acoustic guitar.

CSN is the 1977 album with the boat on its sleeve. Eight years separate it from the trio's debut, with a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tour and several unsuccessful recording attempts in between.

Have a listen “Just a Song Before I Go” – Graham Nash wrote it in Hawaii – by his recollection in about twenty minutes.

Daylight Again brings Crosby, Stills and Nash into a different musical decade without abandoning the vocal relationships at the centre of their identity.

Have a listen “Southern Cross” – expands from Stills’s lead vocal into a wide refrain; its journey by sea becomes a way to think about heartbreak.

Buffalo Springfield introduces a band with more songwriting identities than a debut can comfortably hide.

Have a listen “For What It’s Worth” – works by leaving space: the guitar harmonic, measured rhythm and watchful vocal.

Buffalo Springfield Again sounds like several remarkable songwriters pushing one band in different directions at once.

Have a listen “Expecting to Fly” – Neil Young’s orchestral dream, far from the sound of a conventional guitar band.

The Exciting Wilson Pickett brings together two of the defining locations of 1960s soul.

Have a listen “In The Midnight Hour” – Pickett and Steve Cropper wrote it in Memphis.

Nursery Cryme was the first Genesis album to feature Phil Collins and Steve Hackett.

Have a listen “For Absent Friends” – features Phil Collins’ first lead vocal on a Genesis album.

Foxtrot is Genesis discovering how far a rock album can stretch without losing narrative momentum.

Have a listen “Horizons” – Steve Hackett’s solo acoustic guitar – leading directly into “Supper’s Ready”.

Before the guitars enter “Dead & Bloated”, Scott Weiland’s voice has the opening to itself.

Have a listen “Plush” – reveals how much melody this lineup could carry.

On Purple, Stone Temple Pilots give their songs more freedom to move. The 1994 second album retains the heavy guitars associated with Core, while making room for acoustic passages, unexpected chord changes and a singer who adjusts his role from track to track.

Have a listen “Interstate Love Song” – Robert DeLeo recalled it beginning on a nylon-string guitar in an RV, with something of a bossa nova feel.

By the time Cracked Rear View appeared in 1994, Hootie & the Blowfish had spent years carrying their songs through live performances.

Have a listen “Let Her Cry” – takes more time over its narrative – Darius Rucker as storyteller.

Yourself or Someone Like You appeared in 1996 as the first album by Matchbox Twenty, also styled Matchbox 20 at the time.

Have a listen “Back 2 Good” – with a documented woodwind group: bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet.

Kick captures INXS in 1987: Michael Hutchence, the three Farriss brothers, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Gary Beers bring a rock-band line-up into contact with programmed grooves and concise pop structures.

Have a listen “Need You Tonight” – Andrew Farriss programmed the groove on a Roland TR-707.

“Chain of Fools” opens Lady Soul with a musical relationship that needs little explanation: one voice exchanges phrases with the responses around it.

Have a listen “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” – carries the names Gerry Goffin, Carole King and Jerry Wexler.

New York, 1970: Loaded takes shape at Atlantic Studios between April and August.

Have a listen “Who Loves The Sun” – opens the album – sung by Doug Yule, the bassist, singer and multi-instrumentalist here.

Otis Blue captures Otis Redding bringing his musical identity into focus across a complete album.

Have a listen “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” – written with Jerry Butler.

Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul has an unmistakably confident title.

Have a listen “Try A Little Tenderness” – a song from 1932 that becomes a centrepiece in Redding’s hands.

After their successful debut, Bad Company could have settled into a familiar routine.

Have a listen “Feel Like Makin’ Love” – Rodgers began it as a young singer in Free; Ralphs contributed the chorus.

Bad Company recorded Run with the Pack in Grasse in September 1975, using the Rolling Stones Mobile.

Have a listen “Young Blood” – originally made famous by the Coasters.

On November 6, 1961, Charles Mingus records Oh Yeah at Atlantic Studios in New York.

Have a listen “Devil Woman” – a secure starting point for hearing Mingus as a singer.

Aretha Now appeared in June 1968, less than five months after Lady Soul.

Have a listen “I Say a Little Prayer” – by Burt Bacharach and Hal David – already familiar through Dionne Warwick.

On 24 October 1960, John Coltrane recorded the six pieces that would become Coltrane Plays The Blues at Atlantic Studios in New York.

Have a listen “Blues To Elvin” – written by Elvin Jones – it opens the album.

Before making Abacab, Genesis acquired a workplace of their own. In late 1980 the band bought The Farm in Surrey and converted a former cowshed into a studio.

Have a listen “No Reply at All” – brings the Phenix Horns, associated with Earth, Wind & Fire, into the Genesis studio.

When Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford returned to their own studio in Surrey in spring 1983, they brought a different working method with them.

Have a listen “Mama” – grew from a drum-machine pattern played by Rutherford.

Close to the Edge contains just three compositions. In 1972 the title piece occupied an entire LP side, with “And You and I” and “Siberian Khatru” on the other.

Have a listen “Close to the Edge” – Rick Wakeman’s pipe organ was recorded at St Giles-without-Cripplegate in London.

Released in 1973, Shotgun Willie belongs to a turning point in Willie Nelson’s career.

Have a listen “Whiskey River” – David Bromberg on electric guitar – later a familiar opening song at Nelson’s concerts.

Gris-Gris was recorded in Los Angeles, but much of its musical memory belongs to New Orleans.

Have a listen “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” – the closer, which later travelled well beyond the album – here with the complete fourth side to itself.

“The Genius Sings the Blues” appeared on Atlantic in October 1961. Its twelve recordings date from 1952 to 1960, bringing together music made over several years.

Have a listen “I’m Movin’ On” – Hank Snow’s country song among the blues – before Charles’s 1962 country album.

Released in 1959, What’d I Say gathers recordings reaching back to 1952.

Have a listen “What’d I Say” – Charles recalled creating it onstage in December 1958 when the prepared programme had run out.

Foreigner released their second studio album, Double Vision, in 1978. Recorded at Sound City in California, it was produced by Keith Olsen with Mick Jones and Ian McDonald.

Have a listen “Double Vision” – Lou Gramm heard the expression during a televised hockey game.

In the spring of 1973, Daryl Hall and John Oates recorded their second album in New York.

Have a listen “She’s Gone” – written by both – a hit that took time.

Donny Hathaway’s second studio album appeared under his own name in 1971.

Have a listen “A Song For You” – Leon Russell’s song was still a recent composition.

Released in 1970, Donny Hathaway’s debut brings gospel, soul and jazz into one programme.

Have a listen “The Ghetto” – written with Hutson – electric piano and percussion get room to develop.

T-Bone Blues leads to a musician whose importance extends far beyond a single album.

Have a listen “Two Bones And A Pick” – several guitar personalities within the same musical setting.

Roberta Flack first encountered “Killing Me Softly with His Song” as a listener.

Have a listen “Jesse” – Janis Ian’s song: a different kind of intimacy – an address to someone absent.

Released in 1964, Pain in My Heart was Otis Redding's first album. It brings together recordings from 1962 and 1963, placing his own songs alongside established material.

Have a listen “These Arms of Mine” – Redding’s first Volt single – a central part of his early period.

With Dr. John’s Gumbo, released in 1972, Mac Rebennack turns towards the music of his youth.

Have a listen “Tipitina” – points towards Professor Longhair – play “Big Chief” first and hear where the emphasis between piano, horns and rhythm section changes.

Bad Company travelled to Château d'Hérouville in the summer of 1976 to make their fourth studio album.

Have a listen “Knapsack” – brief, derived from “The Happy Wanderer” – another surprise.

Bad Company had kept a demanding pace: four albums in four years from their 1974 debut, alongside touring.

Have a listen “Oh, Atlanta” – by Mick Ralphs – Alison Krauss recorded it in 1995.

Charles Mingus explained his Jazz Workshop method as a process of communicating ideas by ear.

Have a listen “Profile Of Jackie” – a portrait of Jackie McLean, who was 24 at the time.

With The Clown, Charles Mingus also wanted to make a point. In the liner notes he explained that he had deliberately selected four pieces that demonstrated his feeling for swing.

Have a listen “The Clown” – the title piece, with radio storyteller Jean Shepherd.

The idea behind Young, Gifted and Black travelled through music before it became the name of an Aretha Franklin album.

Have a listen “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” – Nina Simone and Weldon Irvine wrote it in memory of Lorraine Hansberry.

Coltrane Jazz appeared in 1961, but its music comes from two different phases.

Have a listen “Like Sonny” – a salute to Sonny Rollins – named in the title.

On January 15, 1959, Milt Jackson and John Coltrane met at Atlantic Studios in New York.

Have a listen “Be-Bop” – occupies a whole side of this 45 RPM edition.

Released in 1971, The Yes Album was the band’s third studio album and its first made entirely from original compositions.

Have a listen “Clap” – Steve Howe’s solo acoustic performance, recorded live at London’s Lyceum on 17 July 1970.

90125 began as the work of a group called Cinema. Chris Squire and Alan White joined guitarist Trevor Rabin and keyboardist Tony Kaye to develop new material, with Trevor Horn producing.

Have a listen “Owner of a Lonely Heart” – opens the record and became a US number-one single.

Two orchestral worlds meet on The Genius of Ray Charles, released in 1959.

Have a listen “Two Years of Torture” – Paul Gonsalves can be heard here.

Graham Nash released Songs for Beginners in 1971 after his years with the Hollies and his work in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Have a listen “Military Madness” – opens the album – Joel Bernstein, who supplied photographs, plays piano.

When “Head Games” appeared in September 1979, Foreigner were still a six-piece group.

Have a listen “The Modern Day” – Mick Jones takes the lead vocal.

In 1981, the simple title 4 meant more than a place in Foreigner’s discography.

Have a listen “Waiting For A Girl Like You” – Thomas Dolby created the floating introduction.

Boz Scaggs’s self-titled album leads to Alabama in 1969, to a newly opened studio populated by experienced musicians.

Have a listen “Loan Me A Dime” – the longest performance, giving Duane Allman considerable space – with a side of its own on this edition.

Montreux, 21 June 1969: Les McCann at the piano, Eddie Harris on tenor saxophone, and a festival set that would become Swiss Movement.

Have a listen “Compared to What” – McCann sings – a song written by Gene McDaniels.

Billy Cobham’s first album as a leader is about more than making room for drum solos.

Have a listen “Taurian Matador” – Tommy Bolin’s high E string broke during his solo.

When Genesis began work on A Trick Of The Tail at London’s Trident Studios in autumn 1975, a fundamental question remained: how would the band continue after Peter Gabriel’s departure?

Have a listen “Ripples” – connects Rutherford’s guitar ideas with Banks’s extended middle section.

Stephen Stills’ first solo album, released in 1970, is a useful place to meet the musician behind the famous group names.

Have a listen “Love the One You’re With” – Stills plays steel drums here.

Plans, the fifth studio album by Death Cab for Cutie, was released on Atlantic Records on 30 August 2005, with the singles “Soul Meets Body”, “Crooked Teeth” and “I Will Follow You into the Dark”.

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