Della (album)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Della'' is a
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American singer
Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...
supported by Neal Hefti leading a big band. It was released by
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
in January 1960 after Reese left Jubilee Records in 1959. The album, produced by Hugo & Luigi, was one of her most successful. It was nominated for a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in 1961. All of the recordings were covers of
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
including "
Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) "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. The song features in Series 3 Episode 6 ‘Christening’ of the British co ...
", 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.


Background

Della Reese began her career singing the musical genres of
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
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?". For her first RCA album, Reese was paired with production team Hugo & Luigi who wanted to capture her "swinging" musical style on the album.


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 A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
conducted and arranged by Neal Hefti. Allmusic review/ref> 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 Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...
'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 Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
'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 William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
's recent recording of " Moten Swing". Reese received no credit for her arrangement contributions. The resulting album was a collection of 12 covers of pop
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
. Among them was " The Lady Is a Tramp" (associated with
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
) for which Reese improvised new lines, putting her own mark on the song. Other standards on the project were " Thou Swell" and " Blue Skies".


Release and critical reception

''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. 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. 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". ''
The Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'' criticized Reese, writing, "I find her voice much too affected and her manner too forced and artificial, although she does have a good voice." ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' gave it a four-star rating and wrote, "Miss Reese is both lusty and soft and sweet in this well-paced grouping of tunes". 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. Alex Henderson of the website
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
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.


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 of hers to make the ''Billboard'' 200 through 1966. 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 The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
by "The Lady Is a Tramp". It rose to the number 56 position on the US ''Billboard''
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
singles chart that year, becoming Reese's fifth song to make the chart.


Track listing


Personnel

All credits are adapted from the
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
of ''Della''. * Ray Hall – Recording engineer * Neal Hefti – Arranger, conductor * Hugo & Luigi – Producer * George Butcher – Piano (rehearsal sessions)


Charts


Weekly charts


Release history


References

{{Authority control 1960 albums Albums arranged by Neal Hefti Albums conducted by Neal Hefti Albums produced by Hugo & Luigi Della Reese albums Swing albums RCA Victor albums