February 1956

Ella Fitzgerald released 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book' in February 1956 on the Verve label, the first in a celebrated series that would include the songbooks of Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, and others. The recordings were critically acclaimed as definitive interpretations of the American popular songbook and cemented Fitzgerald's reputation as the First Lady of Song. The Songbook series elevated both the songs and the singer to canonical status in American music.

Ella Fitzgerald released her landmark Cole Porter Songbook on Verve Records, the first in her Songbook series. The two-disc set was an artistic and commercial triumph that repositioned Fitzgerald as an interpreter of the Great American Songbook and inspired the series format.