Ella Johnson

Ella Johnson (June 22, 1919 – February 16, 2004)^[1][2] was an American jazz and rhythm and blues singer.

Music career

Born Ella Mae Jackson in Darlington, South Carolina, United States,^[2] she joined her brother Buddy Johnson in New York as a teenager,^[3] where he was leading a popular band at the Savoy Ballroom. Her singing drew comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.^[1]

Johnson scored her first hit with "Please, Mr. Johnson" in 1940.^[4] Subsequent hits included "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?", "When My Man Comes Home" and "Hittin' On Me". Her popular 1945 recording of "Since I Fell for You", composed by her brother, led to its eventual establishment as a jazz standard. She continued to perform with Buddy Johnson into the 1960s. AllMusic noted that her "later solo sides for Mercury are pale imitations of her work with the band."^[3]

In February 2004, she died of Alzheimer's disease in New York at the age of 84.^[1][3]

Selected discography

• Rock and Roll (Mercury, 1956)
• Walkin' (1957)
• Swing Me (Mercury, 1958)^[4]
• Go Ahead and Rock (Roulette, 1959)^[5]
• Say Ella (Juke Box, 1983)^[4]

Compilations

• 1953-1964 4CD (Bear Family Records, 1992)^[6]
• Rockin' and Rollin (1995)^[7]
• Jukebox Hits: 1940-1951 (Acrobat, 2004)
• Gotta Go Upside Your Head: The Rock & Roll Years 1953-1955 (Rev-Ola, 2006)
• Rock On! The 1956-62 Recordings (Hoodoo, 2015)
• The Decca Years (Jasmine, 2025)
• The Mercury Years (Jasmine, 2025)