Etta Jones Sings (King LP 707)

Side 1:
01) Sweethearts On Parade
02) You Call It Madness But I Call It Love
03) Mountain Greenery
04) Don't Worry About Me
05) Sposin
06) I Thought About You

Side 2:
01) I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key
02) Since I Fell For You
03) When I Fall In Love
04) White Cliffs Of Dover
05) People Will Say We're In Love

Etta Jones Sings (Mega)

Etta Jones Sings (Zippy)

Thanks to Marv for this reconstruction of the 1960 King LP "Etta Jones Sings" which was a reissue of the 1957 King LP 544 "The Jones Girl ... Etta Sings Sings Sings."

All tracks on this LP were recorded in New York City on the 18th and 20th April 1957 for what were Etta's only sessions for King.

Session details - 18th April 1957, NYC. Personnel: Etta Jones (vocal) with: Jerome Richardson (tenor sax, flute); Don Abney (piano); Bill Jennings (guitar); Tommy Potter (bass); Bobby Donaldson (drums):

People Will Say We're In Love; When I Fall In Love; Sposin; Mountain Greenery.

20th April 1957, NYC. Personnel as above except Skeeter Best replaced Bill Jennings on guitar:

Don't Worry About Me; White Cliffs Of Dover; Sweethearts On Parade; You Call It Madness; I Thought About You; Since I Fell For You; I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key.

The collection was reissued in May or June 1960 as"Etta Jones Sings" (King LP 707). On June 21st of that year Etta recorded the tracks for her first Prestige LP "Don't Go To Strangers" (Prestige 7186) which was released in October and sold well. Even more successful was the single release of the title track "Don't Go To Strangers" / "If I Had You" (Prestige 180) in early September which soon climbed the R&B chart and then crossed into the pop chart, peaking at number 36 in December 1960.

This success for Etta on Prestige is probably what lay behind the rerelease in 1961 of her King LP with a new cover -

The success of  "Don't Go To Strangers" also led to King releasing her LP tracks on a series of singles, beginning with "When I Fall In Love" / "People Will Say We're In Love" (King 5424) in November 1960. The rest of the tracks were released on 45s as follows:

"Sweethearts On Parade" / "You Call It Madness But I Call It Love" - King 5443 - January 1961

"Since I Fell For You" / "Sposin'" - King 5475 - March 1961

"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" / "I Thought About You" - King 5501 - May 1961

"Mountain Greenery" / "White Cliffs Of Dover" - King 5549 - September 1961

"I Thought About You" / "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw away The Key" - King 5660 - July 1962

While King was releasing Etta's 1957 recordings from late 1960 - 1962, her new material was being released on LP and single on Prestige, with whom she recorded until February 1963.

Thanks once again to Marv. This was an education for me as I was unfamiliar with the work of Etta Jones. Her recording career stretched all the way from the mid 1940s Harlem swing scene to her final recordings for Muse in 1995. Her career definitely bears further investigation, but that lies outwith the scope of this post.

Wild, stompin' R&B coming up in the next post on Be Bop Wino!