The author of the magisterial A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers now approaches the great singers and their greatest work in an innovative and revelatory way: through considering their finest albums, which is the format in which this music was most resonantly organized and presented to its public from the 1940s until the very recent decline of the CD. It is through their albums that Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, and the rest of the glorious honor roll of jazz and pop singers have been most tellingly and lastingly appreciated, and the history of the album itself, as Will Friedwald sketches it, can now be seen as a crucial part of musical history. We come to understand that, at their finest, albums have not been mere collections of individual songs strung together arbitrarily but organic phenomena in their own right. A Sinatra album, a Fitzgerald album, was planned and structured to show these artists at their best, at a specific moment in their artistic careers. Yet the albums Friedwald has chosen to anatomize go about their work in a variety of ways. There are studio and solo albums: Lee's Black Coffee, June Christy's Something Cool, Cassandra Wilson's Belly of the Sun. There are brilliant collaborations: famous ones-Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson-and wonderful surprises like Doris Day and Robert Goulet singing Annie Get Your Gun. There are theme albums-Dinah Washington singing Fats Waller, Maxine Sullivan singing Andy Razaf, Margaret Whiting singing Jerome Kern, Barb Jungr singing Bob Dylan, and the sublime Jo Stafford singing American and Scottish folk songs. There are also stunning concert albums like Ella in Berlin, Sarah in Japan, Lena at the Waldorf, and, of course, Judy at Carnegie Hall. All the greats are on hand, from Kay Starr and Carmen McRae to Jimmy Scott and Della Reese (Della Della Cha Cha Cha). And, from out of left field, the astounding God Bless Tiny Tim. Each of the fifty-seven albums discussed here captures the artist at a high point, if not at the expected moment, of her or his career. The individual cuts are evaluated, the sequencing explicated, the songs and songwriters heralded; anecdotes abound of how songs were born and how artists and producers collaborated. And in appraising each album, Friedwald balances his own opinions with those of musicians, listeners, and critics. A monumental achievement, The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums is an essential book for lovers of American jazz and popular music.

Preface and Acknowledgments ixIntroduction: The Origins and Development of the Pop Music Album from To Mother to The Voice xiii1. Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson 32. Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story 113. Chet Baker, Let’s Get Lost: The Best of Chet Baker Sings 254. Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album and Together Again 345. Ray Charles, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music 436. June Christy, Something Cool 507. Rosemary Clooney, Blue Rose 598. Nat King Cole, After Midnight 699. Nat King Cole, St. Louis Blues 7610. Bing Crosby, Bing with a Beat 8211. Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong, Bing & Satchmo 9112. Doris Day, Day by Day and Day by Night 9713. Doris Day and Robert Goulet, Annie Get Your Gun 10514. Blossom Dearie, My Gentleman Friend 11215. Matt Dennis, Matt Dennis Plays and Sings Matt Dennis Bobby Troup, Bobby Troup Sings Johnny Mercer 11716. Billy Eckstine, Billy’s Best! 12717. Ella Fitzgerald, Lullabies of Birdland 13418. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Ella & Louis 14219. Ella Fitzgerald, Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin 14820. Judy Garland, Judy at Carnegie Hall 15421. Johnny Hartman, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman 16322. Dick Haymes, Rain or Shine 17123. Billie Holiday, Lady in Satin 17724. Lena Horne, Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria 18425. Barb Jungr, Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan 190 26. Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross, Sing a Song of Basie Annie Ross, Sings a Song with Mulligan! 19727. Eydie Gormé and Steve Lawrence, Eydie and Steve Sing the Golden Hits 20928. Peggy Lee, Black Coffee 21429. Peggy Lee, The Man I Love 22130. Marilyn Maye, Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye 22831. Carmen McRae, As Time Goes By: Live at the Dug 23432. Anita O’Day, Anita O’Day Sings the Winners 24133. Della Reese, Della Della Cha Cha Cha 25034. Jimmy Scott, The Source and Lost and Found 25535. Bobby Short, Bobby Short 26536. Nina Simone, Nina Simone and Piano! 27237. Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours 28038. Frank Sinatra, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! 28839. Jo Stafford, Jo Stafford Sings American Folk Songs and Jo Stafford Sings Songs of Scotland 29740. Jo Stafford, I’ll Be Seeing You (G.I. Jo) 30741. Kay Starr, I Cry by Night 31442. Maxine Sullivan, Memories of You: A Tribute to Andy Razaf 32143. Jack Teagarden, Think Well of Me 32944. Tiny Tim, God Bless Tiny Tim 33845. Mel Tormé, Mel Tormé with the Marty Paich Dek-Tette (Lulu’s Back in Town) 34746. Sarah Vaughan, Sarah Vaughan 35547. Sarah Vaughan, “Live” in Japan 36148. Dinah Washington, Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller 36849. Margaret Whiting, Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book 37650. Lee Wiley, Night in Manhattan 38351. Cassandra Wilson, Belly of the Sun 390Discography 399