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ELLA FITZGERALD
Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book
 VERVE Master
edition 589 108-2
Ella Fitzgerald (Vocal) with Billy May’s Orchestra.
Recorded August 1960 and January 1961 in Los Angeles.
Crotchet
£25
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Disk One
- Blues in the Night
- Let’s Fall in love
- Stormy Weather
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
- My Shining Hour
- Hooray for Love
- This Time the Dream’s on Me
- That Old Black Magic
- I’ve Got the World on a String
- Let’s Take a Walk Around the Block
- Ill Wind
- Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive
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Disk Two
- When the Sun Comes Out
- Come Rain or Come Shine
- As Long as I Live
- Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe
- It’s Only a Paper Moon
- The Man That got Away
- One for My Baby
- It was Written in the Stars
- Get Happy
- I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
- Out of this World
- Over the Rainbow
- Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead
- Let’s take a Walk around the Block
- Sing My Heart
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When Norman Granz got Ella Fitzgerald out of the recording
contract she had with Decca, so that she could record more appropriate
material for his record company, I am sure that even he did not realise
what a momentous moment for popular music he had brought about. He decided
that he would record Ella singing the works of the great American composers,
using the very best recording studios, the best arrangers and the best
musicians. By this decision, he created the Ella Fitzgerald ‘Song Book’
series, which has laid down for posterity the work of these composers
of popular music. The Cole Porter Album was first and Rogers and Hart,
Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin and George and Ira Gershwin followed it.
Next up was this classic Harold Arlen Album.
To be successful in such a monumental programme required
a singer with an enormous range, most of these tunes came from Broadway
Shows and they use dramatic intervals to heighten the stage impact of
the songs. Secondly perfect diction was required; there is no point
in recording somebody’s life’s work if you can’t hear the beauty of
the word forms. Thirdly, to sustain an audience through such a long
performance perfect timing is required and this is where the jazz influence
of Ella provided the essential musical ingredient.
The Musical Direction for this album was handled by
Billy May and it would have been impossible to have anyone better suited
to the task. May knows all about writing for singers, he has made musical
arrangements for all the very best.
Unlike many ‘Divas’, Ella never knew how good she was,
she always had the most modest demeanour and during the recording of
the album, it was she who called for retakes unless her own performance
was to her liking. Billy May observed later that often after the band
had applauded her performance in the studio (something bands don’t very
often do!), but she would call foe a retake.
The songs themselves are all really enjoyable and I
was surprised that many of the less well known of them, are as enjoyable
as ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, after a couple of hearings. Many different
people wrote the lyrics, but they themselves are all worthy of careful
attention.
This is as near to the perfect album as you can get,
there is no better music, the packaging is neat and attractive and the
sleeve notes both original and new, interesting and informative. Your
record collection is not complete if you don’t own this album.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
