Betty Carter
Encyclopedia
Betty Carter was an American
jazz
singer renowned for her improvisational
technique and idiosyncratic vocal style. Her devotion to the jazz idiom was such that her fellow vocalist Carmen McRae
once claimed that "there's really only one jazz singer - only one: Betty Carter."
and grew up in Detroit, where her father led a church choir. She studied piano
at the Detroit Conservatory. She won a talent contest and became a regular on the local club circuit, singing and playing piano. When she was 16, she sang with Charlie Parker
, and she later performed with Dizzy Gillespie
, Ray Charles
and Miles Davis
.
ability while on tour with Lionel Hampton
in the late 1940s. Hampton's wife Gladys gave her the nickname
"Betty Bebop
", a nickname she reportedly detested. In the 1950s Carter made recordings with King Pleasure
and the Ray Bryant
Trio. Her first solo LP, Out There
, was released on the Peacock
label in 1958.
Carter's career was eclipsed somewhat through the 1960s and 1970s, though a series of duets with Ray Charles
in 1961, including the R&B
-chart-topping "Baby, It's Cold Outside
," brought her a measure of popular recognition. In 1963 she toured in Japan
with Sonny Rollins
. She recorded for various labels during this period, including ABC-Paramount
, Atco
and United Artists
, but was rarely satisfied with the resulting product.
In 1970, a record company A&R
man tried to run off with a set of her master recording
s; the incident led her to establish her own record label, Bet-Car
. Some of her most famous recordings were originally issued on Bet-Car, including the double album
The Audience with Betty Carter
(1980). In 1980 she was the subject of a documentary film
by Michelle Parkerson, But Then, She's Betty Carter.
In the last decade of her life, Carter finally began to receive wider acclaim and recognition. In 1987 she signed with Verve Records
, who reissue
d most of her Bet-Car albums on CD for the first time and made them available to wider audiences. In 1988 she won a Grammy
for her album Look What I Got!
and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show
(episode "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"). In 1994 she performed at the White House
and was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall
. In 1997 she was awarded a National Medal of Arts
by President Bill Clinton
. Carter remained active in jazz until her death from pancreatic cancer
in 1998, aged 69.
and Charles Mingus
, Betty Carter recruited members of the younger generation of performers to bring her creations to life. She insisted that she "learned a lot from these young players, because they're raw and they come up with things that I would never think about doing." Her collaborators became a veritable musical school - what the New York Times called "jazz's best university: Betty Carter U."
In 1993 Carter helped launch the Jazz Ahead program for young musicians at the Kennedy Center. She also devoted much of her time and energy in her last few decades touring colleges and grade-schools across the country.
Peacock
ABC
Atco
United Artists
/Capitol
Roulette
Bet-Car
/Verve
Compilations
On multi-artist compilations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer renowned for her improvisational
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
technique and idiosyncratic vocal style. Her devotion to the jazz idiom was such that her fellow vocalist Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
once claimed that "there's really only one jazz singer - only one: Betty Carter."
Early life
Carter was born in Flint, MichiganFlint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
and grew up in Detroit, where her father led a church choir. She studied piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at the Detroit Conservatory. She won a talent contest and became a regular on the local club circuit, singing and playing piano. When she was 16, she sang with Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, and she later performed with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
.
Career
Carter honed her scat singingScat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
ability while on tour with Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
in the late 1940s. Hampton's wife Gladys gave her the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Betty Bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
", a nickname she reportedly detested. In the 1950s Carter made recordings with King Pleasure
King Pleasure
King Pleasure was a jazz vocalist and an early master of vocalese, where a singer sings words to a famous instrumental solo....
and the Ray Bryant
Ray Bryant
Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American Jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ray Bryant began playing the piano at the age of six, also performing on bass in junior High School...
Trio. Her first solo LP, Out There
Out There (Betty Carter album)
Out There is a critically acclaimed avante-garde bop album by Betty Carter, released in February 1958. Ron Wynn of Allmusic called the album "a dynamic set."...
, was released on the Peacock
Peacock Records
Peacock Records was a record label started in 1949 by Don D. Robey in Houston, Texas."Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton was a bit hit for Peacock in 1953. Other significant rhythm & blues artists on Peacock were Marie Adams, James Booker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Little Richard, Memphis Slim, and...
label in 1958.
Carter's career was eclipsed somewhat through the 1960s and 1970s, though a series of duets with Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
in 1961, including the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
-chart-topping "Baby, It's Cold Outside
Baby, It's Cold Outside (song)
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a pop standard with words and music by Frank Loesser.-Background:Loesser wrote the duet in 1936 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their Navarro Hotel housewarming party...
," brought her a measure of popular recognition. In 1963 she toured in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
. She recorded for various labels during this period, including ABC-Paramount
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
, Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
and United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
, but was rarely satisfied with the resulting product.
In 1970, a record company A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man tried to run off with a set of her master recording
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
s; the incident led her to establish her own record label, Bet-Car
Bet-Car Records
Bet-Car Records was a record label founded by jazz singer Betty Carter in 1970 to release her own recordings after her negative experiences with other recording companies. In 1983 Bet-Car also began to serve as her production and management company under the name Bet-Car Productions...
. Some of her most famous recordings were originally issued on Bet-Car, including the double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
The Audience with Betty Carter
The Audience with Betty Carter
The Audience with Betty Carter is a 1979 live double album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter. It is considered by some critics to be the finest jazz vocal performance ever recorded....
(1980). In 1980 she was the subject of a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Michelle Parkerson, But Then, She's Betty Carter.
In the last decade of her life, Carter finally began to receive wider acclaim and recognition. In 1987 she signed with Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, who reissue
Reissue
A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions....
d most of her Bet-Car albums on CD for the first time and made them available to wider audiences. In 1988 she won a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for her album Look What I Got!
Look What I Got!
Look What I Got! is a 1988 album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.At the 31st Grammy Awards, Carter's performance on this album won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female.-Track listing:...
and sang in a guest appearance on The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
(episode "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"). In 1994 she performed at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and was a headliner at Verve's 50th anniversary celebration in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. In 1997 she was awarded a National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Carter remained active in jazz until her death from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in 1998, aged 69.
Legacy
Like Art BlakeyArt Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
and Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Betty Carter recruited members of the younger generation of performers to bring her creations to life. She insisted that she "learned a lot from these young players, because they're raw and they come up with things that I would never think about doing." Her collaborators became a veritable musical school - what the New York Times called "jazz's best university: Betty Carter U."
In 1993 Carter helped launch the Jazz Ahead program for young musicians at the Kennedy Center. She also devoted much of her time and energy in her last few decades touring colleges and grade-schools across the country.
Miscellaneous
- Carter is mentioned along with other jazz luminaries in Gang StarrGang StarrGang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
's jazz rapJazz rapJazz rap is a sub-genre of hip hop which incorporates jazz influences, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and general positivism...
"Jazz Thing."
- In 1999 she was posthumously inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of FameDown BeatDown Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
.
- She is name checked in Chapter 22 of Saul WilliamsSaul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
' "The Dead Emcee Scrolls".
Discography
ColumbiaColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
- 1955 Meet Betty Carter and Ray BryantMeet Betty Carter and Ray BryantMeet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant is a 1955 album by Betty Carter and Ray Bryant.Some of the tracks featuring Carter are also included on her album Social Call.-Track listing :...
(with Ray BryantRay BryantRaphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American Jazz pianist and composer.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ray Bryant began playing the piano at the age of six, also performing on bass in junior High School...
) - 1956 Social CallSocial CallSocial Call is an album by Betty Carter featuring Ray Bryant and a big band arranged by Gigi Gryce. Of its eleven tracks, the first six were recorded in 1955 and originally released as part of the album Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant...
Peacock
Peacock Records
Peacock Records was a record label started in 1949 by Don D. Robey in Houston, Texas."Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton was a bit hit for Peacock in 1953. Other significant rhythm & blues artists on Peacock were Marie Adams, James Booker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Little Richard, Memphis Slim, and...
- 1958 Out ThereOut There (Betty Carter album)Out There is a critically acclaimed avante-garde bop album by Betty Carter, released in February 1958. Ron Wynn of Allmusic called the album "a dynamic set."...
ABC
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
- 1960 The Modern Sound of Betty CarterThe Modern Sound of Betty CarterThe Modern Sound of Betty Carter is a 1960 album by Betty Carter.The album has been available since 1992 on CD format as I Can't Help It on GRP Records's Impulse! label series . - Track listing :# "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" The Modern Sound of Betty Carter is a 1960 (see 1960 in music) album...
- 1961 Ray Charles and Betty CarterRay Charles and Betty CarterRay Charles and Betty Carter is a 1961 album by Betty Carter and Ray Charles. The pair's recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" on the album topped the R&B charts...
(with Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
)
Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
- 1963 'Round Midnight
United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
/Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
- 1964 Inside Betty CarterInside Betty CarterInside Betty Carter is a 1964 Betty Carter album. It contains the first recording of Carter's signature song, "Open the Door". Originally released on the United Artists label with eight tracks, it was reissued by Capitol Records in 1993 with seven previously unreleased tracks from a 1965 recording...
Roulette
Roulette Records
Roulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
- 1975 Finally, Betty CarterFinally, Betty CarterFinally, Betty Carter is a live album by Betty Carter. Though it was recorded in 1969, its release was delayed until 1975 because the master recording was stolen...
(liveLive albumA live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
) - 1975 Round MidnightRound Midnight (1969 album)Round Midnight is a 1975 live album by Betty Carter. It was recorded at the same 1969 concert as her album Finally, Betty Carter. It is not to be confused with Carter's similarly titled 1963 studio album, Round Midnight.-Track listing:...
(live) - 1976 Now It's My TurnNow It's My Turn (album)-Track listing:#"Music Maestro, Please"/"Swing Brother Swing" – 4:29#"I Was Telling Him About You" – 5:04#"Wagon Wheels" – 7:17#"New Blues " – 5:25#"Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love" – 3:03#"Making Dreams Come True" – 2:55...
Bet-Car
Bet-Car Records
Bet-Car Records was a record label founded by jazz singer Betty Carter in 1970 to release her own recordings after her negative experiences with other recording companies. In 1983 Bet-Car also began to serve as her production and management company under the name Bet-Car Productions...
/Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
- 1970 At the Village VanguardBetty Carter at the Village VanguardBetty Carter at the Village Vanguard is a 1970 live album by Betty Carter featuring her performing with her trio at the Village Vanguard. It was Carter's first live album to be released, and the first album issued on her own label, Bet-Car Records...
(original title Betty Carter) (live) - 1976 The Betty Carter AlbumThe Betty Carter AlbumThe Betty Carter Album is a 1976 album by Betty Carter. It is unique among her albums in its use of overdubbing on some tracks to allow her to record multiple vocal lines. It was also her first album for which she wrote the majority of the songs herself....
- 1979 The Audience with Betty CarterThe Audience with Betty CarterThe Audience with Betty Carter is a 1979 live double album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter. It is considered by some critics to be the finest jazz vocal performance ever recorded....
(live) - 1982 Whatever Happened to Love?Whatever Happened to Love?Whatever Happened to Love? is a 1982 live album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter. It is her only live album to include a string section on some tracks."Abre la Puerta" is a wordless version of Carter's signature tune "Open the Door"....
(live) - 1987 The Carmen McRae – Betty Carter Duets (live, with Carmen McRaeCarmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
) - 1988 Look What I Got!Look What I Got!Look What I Got! is a 1988 album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.At the 31st Grammy Awards, Carter's performance on this album won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female.-Track listing:...
- Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, FemaleGrammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, FemaleThe Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality jazz vocal performances... - 1990 Droppin' ThingsDroppin' ThingsDroppin' Things is a 1990 live album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.At the 32nd Grammy Awards, Carter's performance on this album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female.-Track listing:...
(live) - Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female - 1992 It's Not About the MelodyIt's Not About The MelodyThe Allmusic review by Ron Wynn awarded the album four stars, and described Carter as "a vocal improviser in a manner few have equaled, and if her voice lacks the clarity and timbre of the all-time greats, she's more than compensated with incredible timing, flexibility and power."-Track...
- Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female - 1993 Feed the Fire (live)
- 1996 I'm Yours, You're MineI'm Yours, You're MineI'm Yours, You're Mine is a 1996 album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.This was the last album that Carter recorded before her death, three years later.-Track listing:For the 1996 Verve CD, 559 623-2.#"This Time" – 7:43...
Compilations
- 1990 Compact Jazz - PolygramPolyGramPolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
- Bet-Car and Verve recordings from 1976 to 1987 - 1992 I Can't Help ItI Can't Help It (album)I Can't Help It is a 1992 Betty Carter compilation album. It contains all the tracks from her albums Out There with Betty Carter and The Modern Sound of Betty Carter...
- Impulse!/GRPGRP RecordsGRP Records is an American jazz record company, owned by Universal Music Group and operates through its Verve Music Group. The company's name has had different meanings. In its early days, it stood for "Grusin/Rosen Productions," after the founders...
- the Out There and Modern Sound albums on one compact disc - 1999 Priceless Jazz - Verve RecordsVerve RecordsVerve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
- ABC-Paramount and Peacock Recordings from 1958 and 1960 - 2003 Betty Carter's Finest Hour - Verve Records - Recordings from 1958 to 1992
On multi-artist compilations
- Performs "I'm Wishing" on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney FilmsStay Awake (album)Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films is a 1988 tribute album recorded by various artists performing songs from Disney films...
(1988).