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This discography has taken pains to include all albums recorded with Betty Carter as a main performer. The history of her recordings can be confusing at times - she recorded on many labels, and her recordings went mostly unnoticed until 1988, when she signed with Verve. Verve rereleased almost all of her older albums, often combining albums and/or changing the names. Painstaking research has traced these albums back to their roots, and albums which were previously released are so noted under the "Production Notes" section. In addition, you can also find lists of albums on which Ms. Carter appeared as a guest performer, as well as compilations that culled one or more cuts from Ms. Carter's catalogue.
Following the link to each album will reveal an image of the album cover, information about sidemen, a list of songs on the album, and any reviews/comments I can collect. The dates below are the dates the albums were recorded, not necessarily the dates they were released.
| Meet Betty Carter (1955) | Social Call (1956) | I Can't Help It (1958-60) |
| Ray Charles and Betty Carter (1961) | 'Round Midnight (1962-3) | Inside Betty Carter (1964) |
| Finally, Betty Carter (1969) | 'Round Midnight (1969) | At the Village Vanguard (1970) |
| The Betty Carter Album (1972) | Now It's My Turn (1976) | I Didn't Know What Time It Was (1976) |
| The Audience with Betty Carter (1979) | Whatever Happened to Love? (1982) | Carmen McRae-Betty Carter Duets (1987) |
| Look What I Got (1988) | Droppin' Things (1990) | Compact Jazz - Betty Carter (1990 compilation) |
| It's Not About the Melody (1992) | Feed the Fire (1993) | I'm Yours, You're Mine (1996) |
| 1955-1969 (1998 compilation) | Jazz Buhne Berlin '85 (1985) |
In addition to these albums, there may be forthcoming (and I'm really jumping the gun here) a 'lost' recording. I recently received an E-mail from a man named Danny Michael who writes:
In April 1978, I was hired to mix the sound on a PBS special of a Betty Carter concert held at the Joserh Papp Theatre in NYC. The concert never aired because there turned out to be a problem with one of the video recorders. For my own entertainment I made a 2 track recording of the concert (about 90 minutes) and recently dug it up to take a listen. The tape did not store well and has some dropouts in spots and of course was recorded at a slower speed (7 1/2 IPS) without noise reduction. Considering these shortcomings the recording is pretty decent and the performance is quite special. Her mood seemed to be high because of the TV shooting. I have been wondering if you could shed some light on whether there would be enough interest in a release of this music assuming the legal side of it could be worked out.
This is, of course, exciting news indeed. Any recording from the period that produced, among others, The Audience with Betty Carter, would be something to hear. Legally speaking, I have no real idea where something like this might fall (although I'd assume the people at Verve would have some say, and the people at PBS and/or whoever wanted the concert recorded might also have a claim). If anyone out there has had dealings with the music industry involving something like this, please E-mail me and I'll pass the info on.
I've heard nothing back from Mr. Mitchell, and I'm assuming that this project has yet to go forward. If I do hear anything, I'll post it here...
These albums feature Betty as a guest performer with another artist or group. Of special interest is the King Pleasure Sings album, which contains the earliest available recording of Ms. Carter. I have tracked down some evidence of the early airchecks with the Lionel Hampton band, and I am in the process of acquiring these. When I get the information on what must be her earlist known recordings, I'll post it here. Note that, unlike in the compilations section, these tracks are not available on her earlier albums.
I recently received E-mail from a British fan who says that he has an Italian record featuring the Lionel Hampton orchestra taken from some late 1940s radio broadcasts. On the track "Jay Bird", Betty can be heard singing a few bars (though she is not named on the album cover). As far as I can tell, then, this would represent the earlist recorded evidence we have of Betty Carter, and possibly the only extant recording of her with the Hampton orchestra. The album info -
These albums contain tracks pulled from previously released material. Listed here you will find the album title and label, the year the compilation was released, the title of the song Ms. Carter sings. When known, the original album from which the track is taken; however seeing as I don't own any of these albums and seeing as Ms. Carter recorded several versions of some of the included songs, I can't be sure in some cases.
Video and television recordings of Betty Carter are not plentiful, probably because she spent so much of her time living on the outskirts of the industry. However there are a few notable exceptions, and they are listed here:
Thanks to Tom Storer, Adam Rubin, Danny Michael, John Walker and Bruce Robinson for supplying and/or correcting information found on this page.
If you know of any album that have been left off of this list, or if you are able to provide missing information about any of the regular albums, guest albums, or compilations please E-mail me and I'll see that the information gets added. Thank you.