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R&B singer Ella Johnson, born in South Carolina in 1919, was the sister of pianist and bandleader Buddy Johnson, and when she was a teenager she joined him in New York to start performing with his band at the Savoy Ballroom, drawing comparisons with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She made her first records in 1940, and after a decade or more having hits with Buddy she branched out and made records under her own name in the 1950s, and was active into the rock ‘n’ roll era. This 51-track 2-CD collection comprises releases with The Buddy Johnson Orchestra and under her own name on the Decca, Harlem, Mercury and Wing labels from these years. It includes all the US pop and R&B hits on which she is featured, among them the R&B No. 1 “When My Man Comes Home”, the R&B No. 2 “That’s The Stuff You Gotta Watch”, plus “I Don’t Care Who Knows”, “Hittin’ On Me”, “I’m Just Your Fool”, “Gotta Go Upside Your Head”, “I Don’t Want Nobody” and “Bring It On Home To Me”. She was a fine singer who was a very important part fo brother Buddy’s success over the years, and she was one of the artists who bridged the gap between jump blues, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll during the ‘40s and ‘50s.
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