Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Ella Fitzgerald And Louis Armstrong

Ella And Louis

1976 or later · Verve 2-V6S-8811 · Stereo · US · 2xLP, gatefold · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Verve
Catalogue number	2-V6S-8811
Year	1976 or later
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	2xLP, gatefold
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Vocal
Producer	Norman Granz (original sessions), Eric Miller (produced for reissue)
Musicians	Ella Fitzgerald (vocals), Louis Armstrong (vocals, trumpet), Oscar Peterson (piano), Ray Brown (bass), Herb Ellis (guitar), Buddy Rich (drums), Louie Bellson (drums)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  MGS-2950 2V6-8811-A-PRC-2-1 MASTERDISK GK PRC
Side B:  MGS-2951-1-1-1 2V6-8811 PRC KM Q
Side C:  MGS-2952-1-1-1 2V6-8811 PRC
Side D:  MGS-2953-1-1-1 2V6-8811 PRC KM Q

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1972 - MGM-line labels, first issue of this compilation
1976 or later - Polydor Incorporated/810 Seventh Avenue rim text, same catalogue number  <- this copy

This Pressing

A 1976-or-later Polydor-distributed pressing of the 1972 Verve compilation - Polydor Incorporated/810 Seventh Avenue rim text on all four labels, PRC pressing, Masterdisk mastering on side 1.

The Album

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong first paired on record for producer Norman Granz in August 1956, backed only by the Oscar Peterson Trio, resulting in the intimate 'Ella And Louis' LP; a second session the following year, expanded with drummers Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson, produced 'Ella And Louis Again.' Granz deliberately stripped the arrangements down to a small-group setting so the two singers' voices - Fitzgerald's pure, agile instrument against Armstrong's gravelly, behind-the-beat phrasing - could play off each other on a shared songbook of Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern and other Great American Songbook staples. The pairing let two of the era's biggest jazz stars, each already commercially and critically towering in their own right, meet as conversational equals rather than star-and-support, and the chemistry between them became one of the defining vocal-duet templates in jazz history. These sessions, alongside the subsequent 'Porgy and Bess,' cemented the Fitzgerald-Armstrong partnership as a genre landmark and are routinely cited among the finest vocal jazz recordings of the 1950s. Critically the original albums were beloved on release and have only grown in stature, frequently appearing on best-of-jazz-vocals lists, prized for their warmth, wit and effortless swing. This particular release packages highlights of both original sessions together, presenting the full arc of the Fitzgerald-Armstrong collaboration in one set.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Can't We Be Friends
2. Moonlight In Vermont
3. They Can't Take That Away From Me
4. Under A Blanket Of Blue

Side 2

1. A Foggy Day
2. Stars Fell On Alabama
3. Cheek To Cheek
4. The Nearness Of You

Side 3

1. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
2. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You
3. Don't Be That Way
4. Stompin' At The Savoy

Side 4

1. Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
2. I Won't Dance
3. Love Is Here To Stay
4. I'm Puttin' All My Eggs In One Basket

The Label

All four side labels carry the rim text MANUFACTURED AND MARKETED BY POLYDOR INCORPORATED 810 SEVENTH AVENUE N.Y. N.Y. 10019 around a black ground with the white Verve script logo and T-bar device. The Verve label's bottom rim lettering switched to this Polydor Incorporated/810 Seventh Avenue wording from about 1976. Because this rim text post-dates the 1972 MGM-line issue of this same catalogue number, the labels place this copy as a 1976-or-later Polydor-distributed pressing of the 1972 compilation, not as the compilation's first issue.

Fidelity

Side 1 carries a Masterdisk mastering stamp, and all four sides carry PRC pressing-plant marks. Collectors on the forums favor the original Verve pressings of the source albums and the modern audiophile reissues over the 1970s Polydor-distributed repressings of this compilation, which are regarded as decent but not top-tier sonically. This pressing sits below the original Verve pressings and below any audiophile reissue of the source albums in the fidelity hierarchy.

Notes

This copy carries the Polydor Incorporated/810 Seventh Avenue rim text on all four labels, the wording Verve's labels carried on their bottom lettering from about 1976. The 1972 MGM copyright printed on the jacket dates the compilation itself, which first appeared with MGM-line labels; this pressing, with its Polydor rim text, is a later pressing of that same 1972 compilation rather than its first issue. The runouts carry the matrix numbers MGS-2950 to MGS-2953, PRC pressing-plant marks on all four sides and a Masterdisk mastering stamp on side 1.

Documenting collections

I do this work for other people’s collections too — documenting a collection record by record, researching individual pressings, and preparing collections for sale or for insurance. If you have a collection you would like documented, or a record you want identified properly, get in touch: email

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