Albums and album box sets Studio albums ;Notes
Live albums Soundtrack / stage & screen albums ;Notes
Compilation albums ;Notes
Re-issue albums ;Notes
Singles Dates shown in the Singles tables below are recording dates. Singles are grouped into tables according to the release year. Some singles were not immediately released or were re-issued, so the year of the recording date may not match the year of release. This is especially evident during the
1942–1944 musicians' strike, which started on July 31, 1942, and lasted through November 11, 1944, for the
Columbia label. Striking musicians were prohibited from recording in the studio during this time, so the record labels released unissued recordings from their stockpiles, or they re-issued recordings from previous years. A second musicians' strike lasted from January 1, 1948, through December 1948. U.S. peak chart positions are from
Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954: The History of American Popular Music. Chart dates shown are from the same source and are the date the song first charted. R&B chart positions are from MusicVF.com and Barry Kowal's HitsOfAllDecades.com. At the time of James's charts,
Billboard magazine referred to the R&B chart as "
The Harlem Hit Parade".
10" 78 rpm singles, 1938 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1939 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1940 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1941 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1942 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1943 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1944 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1945 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1946 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1947 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm singles, 1948 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm and 7" 33 rpm singles, 1949 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm and 7" 33 rpm singles, 1950 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm and 7" 45 rpm singles, 1951 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm and 7" 45 rpm singles, 1952 ;Notes
10" 78 rpm and 7" 45 rpm singles, 1953-1966 ;Notes
7" 45 rpm single reissues 10" 78 rpm and 7" 45 rpm box sets 7" 33 and 45 rpm EPs and EP sets ;Notes == Appearances and multiple-artist compilations ==