Wacky Dust

Last updated
"Wacky Dust"
Single by Ella Fitzgerald
Released 1938 (1938)
Genre Jazz
Songwriter(s) Oscar Levant, Stanley Adams
Ella Fitzgerald singles chronology
"I Found My Yellow Basket"
(1938)
"Wacky Dust"
(1938)
"MacPherson Is Rehearsin' To Swing"
(1938)

"I Found My Yellow Basket"
(1938)
"Wacky Dust"
(1938)
"MacPherson Is Rehearsin' To Swing"
(1938)

"Wacky Dust" is a 1938 song by Ella Fitzgerald with the Chick Webb orchestra written by Oscar Levant and Stanley Adams. It is an uptempo song about the joys (and dangers) of taking cocaine. It is also included on the Swingsation album of Ella Fitzgerald songs released on 16 June 1998 which were all recorded in New York City between September 1934 and February 1939. [1] The song features on the compilation CD Reefer Songs . [2]

Ella Fitzgerald American jazz singer

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

Chick Webb American musician

William Henry "Chick" Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer as well as a band leader.

Oscar Levant American comedian, composer, pianist and actor

Oscar Levant was an American concert pianist, composer, music conductor, bestselling author, radio game show panelist and personality, television talk show host, and actor. He was as famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, as for his music.

The song was covered by The Manhattan Transfer on their 1979 album Extensions .

The Manhattan Transfer American vocal music group

The Manhattan Transfer is a jazz vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music.

  1. "Swingsation". Verve Music Group. Verve Music Group. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. "Reefer Songs: Original Jazz & Blues Vocals". Answers. Retrieved 3 November 2014.

Related Research Articles

Verve Records American record label

Verve Records, also known as The Verve Music Group, founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue and includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Stan Getz and Billie Holiday, among others. It absorbed the catalogues of Granz's earlier labels, Clef Records, founded in 1946, Norgran Records, founded in 1953, and material previously licensed to Mercury Records.

<i>Ella at Dukes Place</i> 1965 album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella at Duke's Place is a 1965 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. While it was the second studio album made by Fitzgerald and Ellington, following the 1957 Song book recording, a live double album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur was recorded in 1967.

<i>Ella Swings Gently with Nelson</i> 1962 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Swings Gently with Nelson is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. This album is one of a pair, the other being Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson, that were released in 1962.

<i>Ella in Hollywood</i> 1961 live album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella in Hollywood is a live 1961 album by Ella Fitzgerald, with a jazz trio led by Lou Levy, recorded in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers</i> 1959 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers is a 1959 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, recorded with a studio Orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from "Let No Man Write My Epitaph"</i> 1960 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from "Let No Man Write My Epitaph" is a 1960 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the pianist Paul Smith. Let No Man Write My Epitaph was a 1960 Hollywood movie featuring Fitzgerald.

<i>Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert</i> 1988 live album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert is a live album by Ella Fitzgerald, with a jazz trio led by Lou Levy, and also featuring the Oscar Peterson trio. Recorded in 1958, it was released thirty years later.

Between 1935 and 1955 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.

<i>Ella and Basie!</i> 1963 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie

Ella and Basie! is a 1963 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, with arrangements by Quincy Jones. It was later reissued with slightly different cover art as On the Sunny Side of the Street.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book</i> 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book is a 1956 studio album by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, focusing on the songs of Cole Porter.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Song Book</i> 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book is a 1956 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Buddy Bregman, focusing on the songs written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book</i> 1957 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, focusing on Ellington's songs.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book</i> 1959 box set by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book</i> 1958 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book is a 1958 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, focusing on the songs of Irving Berlin. It was part of the popular and influential Songbook series.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book</i> 1963 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book is a 1963 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. The album focuses on the songs of the composer Jerome Kern.

<i>Ella</i> (Ella Fitzgerald album) 1969 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella is a 1969 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and the first of two albums she recorded for the Warner Bros. owned Reprise label. This album continues the theme set on Fitzgerald's previous album, consisting in the main part of cover versions of popular songs from the late 1960s. The production of this recording was in the hands of Richard Perry, who had joined the Reprise label in 1967. Perry later went on the produce albums by Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross. The album was re-issued on CD with alternative artwork, in 1989. Released together on one CD with Ella's final album recorded for Reprise label, Things Ain't What They Used to Be .

<i>Ella and Louis</i> 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong

Ella and Louis is a 1956 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet. Having previously collaborated in the late 1940s for the Decca label, this was the first of three albums that Fitzgerald and Armstrong were to record together for Verve Records, later followed by 1957's Ella and Louis Again and 1959's Porgy and Bess.

Sam Woodyard American jazz drummer

Sam Woodyard was an American jazz drummer.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong collaborations album

The collaborations between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong have attracted much attention over the years. The artists were both widely known icons not just in the areas of big band, jazz, and swing music but across 20th century popular music in general. The two African-American musicians produced three official releases together in Ella and Louis (1956), Ella and Louis Again (1957), and Porgy and Bess (1959),. Each release earned both commercial and critical success. As well, tracks related to those albums have also appeared in various forms in multi-artist collections and other such records.