This article presents the discography of the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, covering her recording career from 1935 up to 1989.
Between 1935 and 1955 Ella Fitzgerald was signed to Decca Records, her early recordings were as featured vocalist and frequently uncredited. The first single, issued on 78rpm single, "I'll Chase the Blues Away" backed by "Love and Kisses" was recorded with The Chick Webb Orchestra. Fitzgerald recorded with this orchestra up until Webb's death in 1939, after this the orchestra 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 in the later part of her time at Decca Records and many of her previous single only releases were re-issued on these formats.
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 songbook 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). 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. To Date She has sold over 40 Million Albums Worldwide.
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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.
1950
1954
1955
Ella Fitzgerald released many stand alone singles throughout her Verve years, these were re-issued in 2003 on the 2CD set, Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1. Studio and live albums released at a later date are also included here.
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1969
1970
1972
1973
1966
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1981
1982
1983
1986
1989
2001
1953
1955
1956
1957
1983
1989
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US AC |
UK | US R&B |
Germany | US Country | ||
| 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'aint What You Do (It's the Way That Cha 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" | 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 Jordon) | 7 | ||||||
| 1951 | "Smooth Sailing" | 23 | 3 | ||||
| 1952 | "Trying" | 21 | |||||
| "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)" | 103 | 20 | ||||
| 1962 | "Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)" | 102 | 38 | ||||
| "Stardust Bossa Nova" | 129 | ||||||
| 1963 | "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" | 75 | |||||
| 1964 | "Hello, Dolly!" | 125 | |||||
| "Can't Buy Me Love" | 34 | 24 | |||||
| 1965 | "Ringo Beat" | 127 | |||||
| 1968 | "I Taught Him Everything He Knows" | 22 | |||||
| 1969 | "Get Ready" | 126 | |||||