The Advent Of The LP The revival of the blues' popularity in the 1950s resulted in part from the introduction of the long-playing record. In 1950, 78 rpm was the dominant speed of records. The 45- and 331/3-rpm speeds, introduced in 1948, were slow to gain ground. Atlantic issued its first 45 single in 1951, while Chess did not have any blues LPs until 1958. By the end of the decade, however, 78 rpm had faded completely away and LPs were becoming more important. New country blues recordings were issued in this format.
The arrival the LP was also significant to the developments in jazz; as jazz was largely based around improvisation and solos, musicians often played at very extended lengths in live performance, even before the bebop era - especially in club sets or jam sessions. Broadcasts permitted the players to stretch out, but it was only with the advent of the longer playing time of the LP that jazz musicians were able to begin reflecting their live work more accurately in the recording studio. That could be a mixed blessing, and many 1950s recordings were little more than loose blowing sessions, but it did allow a more faithful record of a musician's style and abilities to be preserved in the studio environment.
The 1950s, then, turned out to be a complex decade, both within jazz and blues and in the wider world, I rather than - as they are sometimes depicted - simply the dull, hidebound prelude to the new freedoms and excesses of the 1960s. There was change aplenty in the music of the era, and many of the new developments would be widely influential to the musicians of the next generation, just as in a broader sense many of the political and cultural decisions made during the decade would continue to ripple through history. The best music of the period has proved to be exceptionally durable and many of the artists who developed at this time went on to even greater achievements in the decades to come.