Melancholy Baby (album)

Melancholy Baby
Studio album by Della Reese
Released	1956 (1956)
Genre	Blues jazz
Label	Jubilee
Della Reese chronology
Melancholy Baby (1956) Amen! (1958)
Singles from Melancholy Baby
"My Melancholy Baby" Released: 1956

Melancholy Baby is a studio album by American singer Della Reese. It was released in 1956 by Jubilee Records and was the debut studio release in Reese's career. The album was a collection of standards performed by Reese in a blues style. The album received a positive response from music publications such as Billboard and Cashbox magazines. It spawned one single which happened to be the collection's title track.

Background, recording and content

Della Reese was later known as an actress (notably on the series Touched by an Angel) but she began her career as a singer who recorded blues, jazz and pop. She first signed a recording contract in 1954 with Jubilee Records. The label would issue her first LP Melancholy Baby. The album was a collection of 12 tracks that were described by Billboard as "standards" such as "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "Say It Isn't So". According to the liner notes, Reese performed the tracks in a Blues style.

Release, critical reception and singles

Melancholy Baby was first released to operators in 1956 and received a positive response upon its initial release according to Cash Box. It was released by Jubilee Records and was offered as a vinyl LP in mono format with six tracks on each side of the disc. It received a positive response from music publications following its release. Billboard magazine found the album to showcase Reese's "dramatic, stylized thrushing". Cashbox similarly wrote, "Her bursts of energy, her clever elongated phrasing, and a convincing wistful delivery are spread over 12 sturdy pieces." Although no formal review was given, AllMusic rated the album three out of five stars. The album's title track was the only single spawned from the collection.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"My Melancholy Baby"	George Norton Ernie Burnett
2.	"Who Can I Turn To?"	Alec Wilder
3.	"Mood Indigo"	Albany Bigard Duke Ellington Irving Mills
4.	"I Get Along Without You Very Well"	Hoagy Carmichael
5.	"Cottage for Sale"	Larry Conley Wilford Robinson
6.	"They Can't Take That Away from Me"	George Gershwin Ira Gershwin

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"One for My Baby"	Harold Arlen Johnny Mercer
2.	"I Could Have Told You So"	Jimmy Van Heusen Carl Sigman
3.	"When Your Lover Has Gone"	E. A. Swan
4.	"Say It Isn't So"	Irving Berlin
5.	"All Alone"	Irving Berlin
6.	"It's Monday Every Day"	Sidney Robin

Personnel

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Melancholy Baby.

• Sid Bass – Arrangements
• Mort Goode – Liner notes
• Urbie Green – Trombone
• Al Hall – Bass
• Milt Hinton – Bass
• Osie Johnson – Drums
• Sy Leichman – Photography
• Lecihman -Seide Association – Cover
• Lew McGarrity – Trombone
• Billy Mure – Guitar
• Jimmy Nottingham – Trumpet
• Carl Prager – Alto saxophone
• Margaret Ross – Harp
• Frank Saracco – Trombone
• Charlie Shavers – Trumpet
• Rex Solomon – Trumpet
• Billy Taylor – Piano

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
North America	1956	LP Mono	Jubilee Records
Japan	2016	Compact disc	Jubilee Records (Jazz Masters Collection)
North America	circa 2020	Music download streaming	Parlophone Records