Della (album)

Last updated
Della
DELLA.jpg
Studio album by
Della Reese
ReleasedJanuary 1960 (1960-01)
RecordedOctober 2–22, 1959
Studio RCA Victor, New York City
Genre
Label RCA Victor
Producer Hugo & Luigi
Della Reese chronology
What Do You Know About Love?
(1959)		Della
(1960)		 Della by Starlight
(1960)

Della is a studio album by American singer Della Reese. It was released by RCA Victor in January 1960 after she left Jubilee Records in 1959. The album, produced by Hugo & Luigi, was one of her most successful. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1961. All of the recordings were covers of standards including "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)", which made the US Hot 100 in 1960. It was Reese's first RCA album and first to make the US albums chart. It received mostly positive reviews following its release.

Contents

Background

Della Reese began her career singing the musical genres of blues, jazz and pop. Her first recordings were made for the Jubilee label and she had commercial success with 1957's "And That Reminds Me". She then signed a new contract with the RCA Victor label and had her greatest commercial success with the song "Don't You Know?". [3] For her first RCA album, Reese was paired with production team Hugo & Luigi [4] who wanted to capture her "swinging" musical style on the album. [5]

Recording and content

Della was recorded at RCA Victor studios in New York City during three weeks in October 1959, with Reese backed by a big band conducted and arranged by Neal Hefti. [6] Prior to the full band sessions, Reese was asked to record and rehearse the songs in front of her producers Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti, with George Butcher accompanying Reese on piano. (Butcher was a veteran of Duke Ellington's orchestra.) During the rehearsal, Reese decided against singing "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" because the male-perspective lyric was too difficult to change into a female perspective. For the song "And the Angels Sing", Reese created her own arrangement by opening with a vocalese rendition of Charlie Parker's "Bird of Paradise" saxophone solo, then by injecting bits of melody from "I Hear Music". Reese's additions were later incorporated by Hefti into the big band arrangement, such that the band quoted portions of "I Hear Music", and even more of "Bird of Paradise" than just the solo. Hefti's big band arrangement of "You're Driving Me Crazy" used a figure from Count Basie's recent recording of "Moten Swing". Reese received no credit for her arrangement contributions. [7]

The resulting album was a collection of 12 covers of pop standards. [8] Among them was "The Lady Is a Tramp" (associated with Frank Sinatra) for which Reese improvised new lines, putting her own mark on the song. [2] [8] Other standards on the project were "Thou Swell" and "Blue Skies". [2] [4] [9]

Release and critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

Della was originally released in January 1960 by the RCA Victor label. It was distributed as a vinyl LP, with six tracks on each side. It was offered in both mono and stereo formats. [5] It was reissued by BMG in 2002, totaling 22 tracks on two discs. The second disc contained the rehearsal sessions of all of the songs performed by Reese backed by Butcher. Reese can be heard speaking to her producers about the songs. [6] [9]

The album received mostly positive reviews following its original release. The Afro-American found the album "read like an all-time hit parade and in them is an illustration of warmth in which the artist sings". [1] The Montreal Gazette criticized Reese, writing, "I find her voice much too affected and her manner too forced and artificial, although she does have a good voice." [10] Billboard gave it a four-star rating and wrote, "Miss Reese is both lusty and soft and sweet in this well-paced grouping of tunes". [8] Walt Friedwald of the book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers named it "one of the hardest swinging" of Reese's albums for RCA Victor. [4] Alex Henderson of the website AllMusic gave it three out of five stars, finding that Reese "brings high pop standards" to the collection even if she could not be categorized as a jazz music artist. [2]

Chart performance and singles

Della was Reese's first album to make the US Billboard 200 chart, rising to the number 35 position in 1960. It was also her only album to reach the top 40 on the chart and her highest-charting release there. It was one of four albums to make the Billboard 200 through 1966. [11] One single was spawned from the collection: Reese's cover of "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)". It was first issued by RCA Victor as a seven-inch single in January 1960 and was backed on the B-side by "The Lady Is a Tramp". [12] It rose to the number 56 position on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart that year, becoming Reese's fifth song to make the chart. [13]

Track listing

  1. "The Lady Is a Tramp" (Hart, Rodgers) 2:39
  2. "If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)" (Johnson) 2:50
  3. "Let's Get Away from It All" (Adair, Dennis) 2:29
  4. "Thou Swell" (Hart, Rodgers) 2:27
  5. "You're Driving Me Crazy" (Donaldson) 2:30
  6. "Goody Goody" (Malneck, Mercer) 3:46
  7. "And the Angels Sing" (Elman, Mercer) 2:42
  8. "Baby Won't You Please Come Home?" (Warfield, Williams) 3:11
  9. "I'm Beginning to See the Light" (Ellington, George, Hodges, James) 2:27
  10. "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" (Ahlert, Turk) 2:38
  11. "Blue Skies" (Berlin) 1:49
  12. "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)" (Hodges) 5:16

Personnel

Charts

Album

YearChartPosition
1960 Pop Albums 35

Single

YearSingleChartPosition
1959Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) Billboard Pop Singles 56

Release history

Release history and formats for Della
RegionDateFormatLabelRef.
North America1960Vinyl LPRCA Victor

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal Hefti</span> American musician (1922–2008)

Neal Paul Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Della Reese</span> American singer and actress (1931–2017)

Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You Know?". In the late 1960s she hosted her own talk show, Della, which ran for 197 episodes. From 1975 she also starred in films, playing opposite Redd Foxx in Harlem Nights (1989), Martin Lawrence in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996) and Elliott Gould in Expecting Mary (2010). Reese achieved continued success in the religious television drama Touched by an Angel (1994–2003), in which she played the leading role of Tess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Moore (musician)</span> American session musician (1932–2021)

Bob Loyce Moore was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented recording sessions, backing popular acts such as Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Bob was also the father of multi-instrumentalist R. Stevie Moore, who pioneered lo-fi/DIY music. The New York Times called him "an architect of the Nashville Sound of the 1950s and '60s" in his obituary.

"You'll Never Know", sometimes referred to as "You'll Never Know (Just How Much I Love You)" in later years, is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and the lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song is based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris.

"And That Reminds Me", also known as "My Heart Reminds Me", is a popular song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Nearness of You</span> 1940 single by Glenn Miller

"The Nearness of You" is a popular song written in 1937 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington. Intended for an unproduced Paramount film titled Romance In The Rough, the studio's publishing division Famous Music reregistered and published the song in 1940. It was first recorded by Chick Bullock and his Orchestra on Vocalion. Despite numerous accounts to the contrary, the song was never scheduled for and does not appear in the 1938 Paramount film Romance in the Dark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't You Know?</span> 1959 single by Della Reese

"Don't You Know?" is a 1959 popular song written by Bobby Worth, and hit record for singer Della Reese.

"Someday You'll Want Me to Want You" is a popular song published in 1944 by Jimmie Hodges. The song became a standard, recorded by many pop and country music singers.

"Lover, Come Back to Me" is a popular song composed by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the Broadway show The New Moon, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday. The song was published in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skeeter Davis discography</span>

The discography of American country artist Skeeter Davis contains 32 studio albums, 18 compilation albums, 59 singles, 53 lead singles, six collaborative singles, two other charted songs and two additional appearances. Davis was first one half of the duo, The Davis Sisters before embarking on a solo career with the RCA Victor label. Her second single was 1957's "Lost to a Geisha Girl", which reached the top 15 of the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It was followed in 1959 by the top five country selection, "Set Him Free". The same year, Davis's debut studio album was issued on RCA Victor titled I'll Sing You a Song and Harmonize Too. Her career momentum continued to build in 1960 with two top five back-to-back singles: "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too" and "My Last Date ". Both selections also climbed into the Billboard Hot 100 top 40. They were featured on Davis's second studio album called Here's the Answer. Between 1961 and 1962, Davis had top ten Billboard country singles with "Optimistic" and "Where I Ought to Be".

<i>What Do You Know About Love?</i> 1959 studio album by Della Reese

What Do You Know About Love? is a studio album by American singer Della Reese. It was released in December 1959 by Jubilee Records and contained a total of 12 tracks. The songs on the album focused on stories about love and mixed two new tracks with ten standards conducted by Reg Owens. The album was given reviews by music magazines and websites following its release. One single was included as well: "I'm Nobody's Baby".

<i>Amen!</i> 1958 studio album by Della Reese and Meditation Singers

Amen! is a studio album by American singer Della Reese and the Meditation Singers. It was released in November 1958 by Jubilee Records and was her second studio album. The disc was a nine-track collection of sacred songs, which stemmed from Reese's background in the gospel field. Amen! received positive reviews from music publications following its release.

<i>Della by Starlight</i> 1960 studio album by Della Reese

Della by Starlight is the seventh album by singer Della Reese, and her second for RCA Victor. After her success at Jubilee Records, and a million-seller hit with "And That Reminds Me", she switched to RCA, where she would go on to have her biggest hits "Don't You Know?" and "Not One Minute More".

<i>The Story of the Blues</i> 1959 studio album by Della Reese

The Story of the Blues is a studio album by American singer Della Reese. It was released by Jubilee Records in 1959 and was the third studio album in her career. The album contained 11 tracks that told the story of blues music in chronological order and featured mostly blues standards. It was given a positive response by authors and music publications.

<i>Ricky Nelson</i> (album) 1958 studio album by Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson is the second album by teen idol Ricky Nelson, released in 1958.

<i>Just One Time</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Connie Smith

Just One Time is the sixteenth solo studio album by American country singer Connie Smith, released in June 1971 by RCA Victor. The album was named for the lead single of the same name, which reached the top five of the North American country charts in 1971. The album itself would chart in the top 20 of the American country LP's chart following its release. Additionally, Billboard magazine gave the project a positive reception when reviewing it in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Della Reese discography</span>

As a recording artist, Della Reese has made 22 studio albums, seven live albums, two video albums, eight compilation albums and one other charted song. Of her singles, 52 were released with Reese serving as the lead artist, while two were released with Reese serving as a collaborative artist. Two additional singles were issued as promotional singles. Reese's first recording was the 1954 single "Yes Indeed". Her first studio album appeared in 1956 on Jubilee Records called Melancholy Baby. In 1957, Reese had her first chart single with the top 20 US and Australian song "And That Reminds Me". The Jubilee label issued three more studio efforts by Reese: Amen! (1958), The Story of the Blues (1959) and What Do You Know About Love? (1959).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Pleis</span> American jazz pianist and composer (1917–1990)

Jack K. Pleis was an American jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He recorded on London and Decca Records in the 1950s, and Columbia Records in the 1960s. During the course of his career, Pleis worked with many artists, including Louis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Benny Goodman, Earl Grant, Brenda Lee, and Joe Williams. Between 1950 and 1976, more than 150 songs were arranged by Pleis. His surname is pronounced "Pleece".

<i>Black Is Beautiful</i> (Della Reese album) 1971 album by Della Reese

Black Is Beautiful is an album by singer Della Reese, released in 1970 by Avco Embassy Records. Containing soul-inspired pop songs supported by orchestral arrangements, the album rose to number 44 on Billboard's R&B album chart, staying on the chart for two weeks in April 1970. Recorded in Los Angeles and New York City, the orchestra sessions were conducted by Peter Myers, and the song arrangements were by Myers and Bobby Bryant Hugo & Luigi produced the album.

<i>A Taste of "Sherry!"</i> 1967 studio album by Marilyn Maye

A Taste of "Sherry!" is a studio album by American singer Marilyn Maye. It was released in February 1967 by RCA Victor and contained 12 tracks. The album featured Maye's first commercially successful singles: "Cabaret" and "Sherry". Both were featured in Broadway musicals of the same names and both reached the top ten on the American adult contemporary chart. A Taste of "Sherry!" received positive reviews from several publications following its release.

References

  1. 1 2 "New RCA Disc Features Della Reese, Ms. Price". The Afro-American . April 30, 1960. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Henderson, Alex. "Della - Della Reese: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  3. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Della Reese Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Will Friedwald (2010). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. Knopf Doubleday. p. 385-388. ISBN   9780307379894.
  5. 1 2 Reese, Della (1960). "Della (Disc Information)". RCA Victor . LPM-2157 (LP mono); LSP-2157 (LP stereo).
  6. 1 2 Allmusic review
  7. ↑ Will Friedwald (2010). A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. Knopf Doubleday. p. 387. ISBN   9780307379894.
  8. 1 2 3 "Very Strong Sales Potential". Billboard . January 11, 1960. p. 40. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Della (Liner Notes)". BMG Rights Management . April 23, 2002. 09026639122 (CD).
  10. ↑ Christopherson, Walter (March 19, 1960). "Spins and Needles". The Montreal Gazette . Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  11. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Albums Includes Every Album that Made the Billboard 200 Chart: 50 Year History of the Rock Era. Record Research, Inc. ISBN   978-0898201666.
  12. ↑ Reese, Della (January 1960). ""Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)"/"The Lady Is a Tramp" (7" vinyl single)". RCA Victor . 47-7683.
  13. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002. Record Research Inc. ISBN   978-0898201550.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.