Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook

Recording history and tape provenance

Granz, who managed Fitzgerald and had just founded Verve Records, made a deliberate bet with this record: rather than another small-combo jazz session in the mold of her earlier Decca work, he built her first Verve release around a single songwriter's catalog, arranged for a full orchestra, aimed squarely at expanding her audience beyond the jazz-collector cult following she already had. Granz later explained the thinking plainly – he wanted Fitzgerald recognized as more than a singer for jazz fans specifically, and reasoned that dressing up first-rate American songbook material with just enough jazz inflection in the backing would do that without compromising her as an artist.

The gamble worked. The album reached No. 15 on Billboard's Best Sellers list within two months of release, and it remains widely regarded as the record that reintroduced Fitzgerald to a mainstream pop audience in her thirties, at the peak of her vocal powers. The Songbook series that followed ran through 1964, with each volume devoted to a single composer or songwriting team – Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer each got their own volumes.

An earlier pass on this guide flagged a genuine mastering-credit conflict on the 2026 Verve Acoustic Sounds Series reissue: Acoustic Sounds' own product page for the AVER 40304 reissue credits Matthew Lutthans, while several retailers (uDiscoverMusic, Elusive Disc, Amazon, Fontana Records) used copy that read like boilerplate for the wider "Verve/Impulse! Acoustic Sounds Series" line, crediting Ryan K. Smith instead – a credit that belongs to other titles in that same reissue program, not necessarily this one. That's now resolved with considerably more confidence: a detailed Audiophilia review of this exact reissue, written by Scott (who also runs the YouTube channel The Pressing Matters, cited elsewhere in this project), and a separate Headphonesty preview both independently state that Matthew Lutthans mastered this specific title from the original analog tapes. Three independent sources now agree – the label's own product page plus two independent editorial reviews – against one likely-boilerplate retailer description, which is enough to treat the credit as settled.

Separately, no standalone Discogs release ID could be confirmed for the 2016 Analog Spark AS00007 3LP box – only a general retailer product listing (Vinyl Gourmet, barcode 888072004733) that describes it in detail without linking to a Discogs page.

Sound quality by pressing

The true first pressing, Verve MG V-4001-2, is on Verve's original catalog number. This copy is specifically an RCA Indianapolis pressing-plant variant – Verve's original manufacturing was spread across multiple plants, so condition and specific pressing-plant provenance both matter more than usual here given the record's age and enduring popularity.

The Analog Spark AS00007 (2016, 3LP mono box) expands the original 2-LP layout to three LPs, mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound from the original mono master tapes and pressed at RTI. The extra disc real estate widens the groove spacing per side relative to the original pressing, generally a sonic improvement for a record with this much orchestral material to reproduce.

The Verve Acoustic Sounds Series AVER 40304 (2026) is a newly announced 2-LP mono reissue on 180-gram vinyl. The Audiophilia review that helped resolve the mastering credit above praises the reissue specifically for transparency and vocal presence, noting that Fitzgerald's voice tests a system's ability to keep her forward and clear without the orchestra crowding in around her.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$$: The Verve Acoustic Sounds Series AVER 40304 – a confirmed, well-reviewed modern option now that the mastering credit is settled.

$$$$: A clean Verve MG V-4001-2 original, condition-dependent.

$$$$$: The Analog Spark AS00007 60th-anniversary 3LP mono box – the definitive modern reissue, though a specific copy should be sourced through a retailer since no standalone Discogs listing was confirmed.

Pressing tier summary

References

• Discogs (master, all versions): https://www.discogs.com/master/249899

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