Jump to content

Ella Fitzgerald discography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fitzgerald in 1986

Between 1935 and 1955, American singer Ella Fitzgerald was signed to Decca Records. Her early recordings as a featured vocalist were frequently uncredited. Her first credited single was 78 RPM recording "I'll Chase the Blues Away" with the Chick Webb Orchestra. Fitzgerald continued recording with Webb until his death in 1939, after which the group was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra. With the introduction of 10" and 12" Long-Playing records in the late 1940s, Decca released several original albums of Fitzgerald's music and reissued many of her previous single-only releases. From 1935 to the late 1940s Decca issued Ella Fitzgerald's recordings on 78rpm singles and album collections, in book form, of four singles that included eight tracks. These recordings have been re-issued on a series of 15 compact disc by the French record label Classics Records between 1992 and 2008.

In 1956 Ella Fitzgerald signed with Verve Records, the Norman Granz record label. Fitzgerald recorded with Verve until the mid-1960s. Included in this era were a series of eight Song Book albums, with interpretations of the greater part of the Great American Songbook, with songs from the pens of Cole Porter (1956), Rodgers & Hart (1956), Duke Ellington (1957), Irving Berlin (1958), George and Ira Gershwin (1959), Harold Arlen (1961), Jerome Kern (1963) and Johnny Mercer (1964). Ella Fitzgerald released many stand alone singles throughout her Verve years. These were re-issued in 2003 on the 2-CD set, Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1.

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw Fitzgerald release albums on several major record labels, including three albums on Capitol Records and two on the Reprise Records label. In 1972 Norman Granz formed Pablo Records, the label continued to release Ella Fitzgerald's albums up until her last recorded album All That Jazz in 1989.

In recent years the Ella Fitzgerald back catalogue has continued to grow, this includes complete albums of previously unreleased live material and alternative recordings from her studio sessions.

Studio albums

[edit]

1950s

[edit]
Title Album Details Notes
Ella Sings Gershwin
  • Released: 1950
  • Label: Decca
Songs in a Mellow Mood
  • Released: 1954
  • Label: Decca
Lullabies of Birdland
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
For Sentimental Reasons
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
Miss Ella Fitzgerald & Mr Gordon Jenkins Invite You to Listen and Relax
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
Sweet and Hot
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (with Peggy Lee)
  • Released: 1955
  • Label: Decca
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book
  • Released: 1956
  • Label: Verve
Ella and Louis (with Louis Armstrong)
  • Released: 1956
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Song Book
  • Released: 1956
  • Label: Verve
Ella and Louis Again (with Louis Armstrong)
  • Released: 1957
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1957
  • Label: Verve
Ella and Her Fellas
  • Released: 1957
  • Label: Decca
Like Someone in Love
  • Released: 1957
  • Label: Verve
One O'Clock Jump (with Count Basie and Joe Williams)
  • Released: 1957
  • Label: Verve
Ella Swings Lightly
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Verve
Porgy and Bess (with Louis Armstrong)
  • Recorded: 1957
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Verve
Hello, Love
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Verve
Get Happy!
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book
  • Released: 1959
  • Label: Verve

1960s

[edit]
Title Album Details Notes
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from "Let No Man Write My Epitaph"
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: Verve
Later re-issued as The Intimate Ella with no differences.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook
  • Released: 1961
  • Label: Verve
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!
  • Released: 1961
  • Label: Verve
Rhythm Is My Business
  • Released: 1962
  • Label: Verve
Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
  • Released: 1962
  • Label: Verve
Ella Swings Gently with Nelson
  • Released: 1962
  • Label: Verve
Ella Sings Broadway
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Verve
Ella and Basie! (with Count Basie)
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Verve
Later re-issued as Ella and Basie!: On the Sunny Side of the Street with no differences.
These Are the Blues
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Verve
Ella and Basie!: On the Sunny Side of the Street (with Count Basie)
  • Released: 1963
  • Label: Verve
Re-issue of the album Ella and Basie! with no differences.
Hello, Dolly!
  • Released: 1964
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book
  • Released: 1964
  • Label: Verve
Ella at Duke's Place (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1965
  • Label: Verve
Whisper Not
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Verve
Brighten the Corner
  • Released: 1967
  • Label: Capitol
Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas
  • Released: 1967
  • Label: Capitol
30 By Ella
  • Released: 1968
  • Label: Capitol
Misty Blue
  • Released: 1968
  • Label: Capitol
Ella
  • Released: 1969
  • Label: Reprise

1970s

[edit]
Title Album Details Notes
Things Ain't What They Used to Be (And You Better Believe It)
  • Released: 1970
  • Label: Reprise
Ella Loves Cole
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Atlantic
Later re-issued as Dream Dancing with two more tracks.
Take Love Easy (with Joe Pass)
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Pablo
Ella and Oscar (with Oscar Peterson)
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Pablo
Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (with Joe Pass)
  • Released: 1976
  • Label: Pablo
Lady Time
  • Released: 1978
  • Label: Pablo
Dream Dancing
  • Released: 1978
  • Label: Pablo
Re-issue of the album Ella Loves Cole with two more tracks.
Fine and Mellow
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Pablo
A Classy Pair (with Count Basie)
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Pablo

1980s

[edit]
Title Album Details
Ella Abraça Jobim: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Antonio Carlos Jobim Song Book
  • Released: 1981
  • Label: Pablo
The Best Is Yet to Come
  • Released: 1982
  • Label: Pablo
Speak Love (with Joe Pass)
  • Released: 1983
  • Label: Pablo
Nice Work If You Can Get It: Ella Fitzgerald and André Previn Do Gershwin (with André Previn)
  • Released: 1983
  • Label: Pablo
Easy Living (with Joe Pass)
  • Released: 1986
  • Label: Pablo
All That Jazz
  • Released: 1989
  • Label: Pablo
The Intimate Ella
  • Released: 1989
  • Label: Verve-Polygram
Re-issue of the album Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs From The Soundtrack Of "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" with no differences.

Live albums

[edit]

The albums are sorted by release date.

Title Album Details Notes
Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Verve
Ella Fitzgerald And Billie Holiday At Newport
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Verve
Ella At The Opera House
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Verve
Ella In Berlin: Mack The Knife
  • Released: 1960
  • Label: Verve
Later re-issued as The Complete Ella In Berlin: Mack The Knife with additional tracks.
Ella In Hollywood
  • Released: 1961
  • Label: Verve
Ella At Juan-Les-Pins
  • Released: 1964
  • Label: Verve
Ella In Hamburg
  • Released: 1965
  • Label: Verve
Duke & Ella In Concerto (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Verve
Ella And Duke At The Cote D'Azur (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Verve
Sunshine Of Your Love
  • Released: 1968
  • Label: MPS
J.A.T.P. In Tokyo: Live At The Nichigeki Theatre 1953
  • Recorded: 1953
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Verve
Jazz At Santa Monica Civic '72
  • Recorded: 1972
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Pablo
Newport Jazz Festival: Live At Carnegie Hall, July 5, 1973
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Columbia
Ella In London
  • Recorded: 1974
  • Released: 1974
  • Label: Pablo
Ella Fitzgerald And Her Orchestra Live From The Roseland Ballroom, 1940
  • Released: 1974
  • Label: Sunbeam
Ella Fitzgerald At The Montreux Jazz Festival 1975
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Pablo
Montreux '77 (with the Tommy Flanagan Trio)
  • Recorded: 1977
  • Released: 1977
  • Label: Pablo
Digital III At Montreux
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Pablo
A Perfect Match (with Count Basie)
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Pablo
Ella À Nice
  • Released: 1982
  • Label: Pablo
Return To Happiness: Jazz At The Philharmonic, Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo, 1983
  • Recorded: 1983
  • Released: 1983
  • Label: Pablo
The Stockholm Concert, 1966 (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1984
  • Label: Pablo
Ella In Rome: The Birthday Concert
  • Recorded: 1958
  • Released: 1988
  • Label: Verve
The Greatest Jazz Concert In The World (with Duke Ellington)
  • Released: 1990
  • Label: Pablo
Ella Returns To Berlin
  • Released: 1991
  • Label: Verve
The Complete Ella In Berlin: Mack The Knife
  • Released: 1993
  • Label: Verve
Re-issue of the album Ella In Berlin: Mack The Knife with additional tracks.
Ella Fitzgerald With The Tommy Flanagan Trio
  • Released: 1996
  • Label: LaserLight
Live From The Cave Supper Club: Vancouver BC, Canada, 19 May 1968
  • Recorded: 1968
  • Released: 1999
  • Label: Jazz Band Records
Ella Fitzgerald In Budapest
  • Released: 1999
  • Label: Pablo
Sophisticated Lady (with Joe Pass)
  • Released: 2001
  • Label: Pablo
Live At Mister Kelly's
  • Released: 2007
  • Label: Verve
Twelve Nights In Hollywood
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Verve
Ella In Japan: 'S Wonderful
  • Released: 2011
  • Label: Verve
Live in Paris, Vol. 1 (May 8 – October 7, 1957)
  • Released: 2012
  • Label: Fremeaux
Previously unreleased live recordings, released over 3 volumes, from a series of concerts recorded between 1957 and 1962 at the Paris Olympia.
Live in Paris, Vol. 2 (May 1, 1958; February 23 & 29, 1960)
  • Released: 2012
  • Label: Fremeaux
Live in Paris, Vol. 3 (February 28 & March 11, 1961; March 16, 1962)
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Fremeaux
Ella At Zardi's
  • Released: 2018
  • Label: Verve
Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes
  • Released: 2020
  • Label: Verve
Previously unreleased live concert recording from Berlin, Germany, 1962.
Live In East Berlin 1967
  • Released: 2023
  • Label: The Lost Recordings
Previously unreleased live concert recording from Friedrichstadt-Palast, 1967

Notable guest appearances

[edit]

The albums are sorted by release date.

Boxed sets and collections

[edit]

Hit singles

[edit]
Year Single Chart positions
US
US
A/C

UK
[5]
US
R&B

GER
US Cou.
1936 "All My Life" (with Teddy Wilson) 13
"Sing Me a Swing Song (and Let Me Dance)" (with Chick Webb) 18
"My Melancholy Baby" (with Teddy Wilson) 6
"(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have To Swing It" (with Chick Webb) 20
1937 "Goodnight My Love" (with Benny Goodman) 1
"Dedicated to You" (with The Mills Brothers) 19
"Big Boy Blue" (with The Mills Brothers) 20
"If You Ever Should Leave" 12
"All Over Nothing At All" 20
1938 "Rock It for Me" (with Chick Webb) 19
"I Got a Guy" (with Chick Webb) 18
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" (with Chick Webb) 1
"I Found My Yellow Basket" (with Chick Webb) 3
"Wacky Dust" (with Chick Webb) 13
"MacPherson Is Rehearsin' to Swing" (with Chick Webb) 14
"F.D.R. Jones" (with Chick Webb) 8
1939 "Undecided" (with Chick Webb) 8
"T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" (with Chick Webb) 19
"Chew, Chew, Chew (Your Bubble Gum)" (with Chick Webb) 14
"I Want the Waiter (With the Water)" 9
"My Wubba Dolly" 16
1940 "The Starlit Hour" 17
"Sing Song Swing" 23
"Imagination" 15
"Sugar Blues" 27
"Shake Down the Stars" 18
"Five O'Clock Whistle"[6] 9
1941 "Louisville K.Y." 23
"Hello Ma! I Done It Again" 26
"The Muffin Man" 23
1943 "My Heart and I Decided" (with The Keys) 6
1944 "Cow-Cow Boogie" (with The Ink Spots) 10 1
"When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" 27 2
"Once Too Often" 24
"I'm Making Believe" (with The Ink Spots) 1 2
"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" (with The Ink Spots) 1 1
1945 "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" 10
"I'm Beginning to See the Light" (with The Ink Spots) 5
"It's Only a Paper Moon" 9 4
1946 "The Frim Fram Sauce" (with Louis Armstrong) 4
"You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (with Louis Armstrong) 10
"Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)" (with Louis Jordan) 7 1
"Petootie Pie" (with Louis Jordan) 3
"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" 8
1947 "That's My Desire" 3
"Guilty" 11
1948 "My Happiness" 6 8
"Tea Leaves" 24
"It's Too Soon to Know" 6
1949 "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (with Louis Jordan) 9 6
1950 "Can Anyone Explain (No, No, No)" (with Louis Armstrong) 30
"I'll Never Be Free" (with Louis Jordan) 7
1951 "Smooth Sailing" 23 3
1952 "Trying" 22
"Walkin' By the River" 29
1953 "Crying in the Chapel" 15
1954 "Melancholy Me" 25
"I Need" 30
1956 "A Beautiful Friendship" 74
1958 "The Swinging Shepherd Blues" 15
1959 "But Not for Me" 25
1960 "Mack the Knife" 27 19 6
"How High the Moon (Part 1)" 76 46
1961 "Mr. Paganini (You'll Have to Swing It)" 20
1962 "Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)" 38
"Stardust Bossa Nova"
1963 "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" 75
1964 "Hello, Dolly!"
"Can't Buy Me Love" 34 24
1965 "Ringo Beat"
1968 "I Taught Him Everything He Knows" 22
1969 "Get Ready"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Swingsation: Ella Fitzgerald With Chick Webb". Spotify. January 1, 1998. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  2. ^ "100 Songs For A Centennial". Open.spotify.com. April 21, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "The Complete Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions (1934-41)". downbeat.com.
  4. ^ Ella Fitzgerald: 100 Songs for a Centennial at allmusic.com
  5. ^ "Ella Fitzgerald". Official Charts.
  6. ^ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #3". 1972.