| | |  | Jazz Fusion | Home » » » Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Long considered a jewel in Verve Records' very impressive crown, Fitzgerald's songbook collections of various composers--a series that was started by the success of this set--are all wonderful, but her natural wit and intelligence was at its most perfect with Cole Porter's erudite, urbane songs. While not as scat-oriented as her small group outings, these Porter sets offer her most realized pop performances. Also, the gold remastering does a fine job of bringing out the nuances in the arrangements, making this a treasure for the serious collector and the casual listener alike. A true American music gem. --Skip Heller | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| June 24, 1997 | | Studio:
| Polygram Records | | Number Of Discs:
| 2 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 43 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | Disc: 1 | | | 1. | All Through the Night - Ella Fitzgerald, Porter, Cole Albert | | 2. | Anything Goes | | 3. | Miss Otis Regrets | | 4. | Too Darn Hot | | 5. | In the Still of the Night | | 6. | I Get a Kick Out of You | | 7. | Do I Love You? | | 8. | I'm Always True To You In My Fashion | | 9. | Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) | | 10. | Just One of Those Things | | 11. | Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye | | 12. | All of You | | 13. | Begin the Beguine | | 14. | Get Out of Town | | 15. | I Am in Love | | 16. | From This Moment On | | | Disc: 2 | | | 1. | I Love Paris | | 2. | You Do Something to Me - Ella Fitzgerald, Porter, Cole Albert | | 3. | Ridin' High | | 4. | Easy to Love | | 5. | It's All Right with Me | | 6. | Why Can't You Behave? - Ella Fitzgerald, Porter, Cole Albert | | 7. | What Is This Thing Called Love? | | 8. | You're the Top | | 9. | Love for Sale | | 10. | It's De-Lovely | | 11. | Night and Day | | 12. | Ace in the Hole | | 13. | So in Love | | 14. | I've Got You Under My Skin | | 15. | I Concentrate on You | | 16. | Don't Fence Me In - Ella Fitzgerald, Fletcher, Robert | | 17. | You're the Top [Alternative][#][*] | | 18. | I Concentrate on You [Alternate Take][#][*] | | 19. | Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love) [Alternate Take][#][*] | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
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SMOOTHFeb 28, 2010
WHEN MUSIC WAS MUSIC. TOO BAD WE DON'T HEAR SMOOTH VOCALS LIKE THIS ANY MORE.
ELLA WILL RULE FOREVERJan 25, 2010
Just as fine as the Rodgers and Hart songbook
this is Ella at her finest!
Cole Porter Fans should not miss this one.
Ella's interpretations of Cole's Music is
exquisite. This is Magical!!!
Ella never let's us down, hit after hit!Nov 10, 2009
She is indeed our "First Lady of Song", and no one will ever take that
spot from her.
From her first to last song on this CD, she brings life to each Cole Porter treasure, and as usual,
turns each one into a hit. Her rendition of "Miss Otis Regrets", to her light and fun
"Let's Do It" is a real treat and not too be missed.
This is a "must have" for anyone's music library, and too be enjoyed again and again.
No one should be without this collection.Apr 06, 2009
So much has already been said about the quality of Ella's performances and Cole's unequivocal song-smithing and the overall artistic merit and completeness of this collection. It's all true and I have little to add, but I will say this: buy this simply for the remastering. It is a stunning example of what a dedicated sound engineer can do to bring forth all of the nuance and delicacy of these songs (and the performances that bring them to stunning life). Have you ever heard an older song used in a film to stunning effect and thought: Gosh, I wish I had a recording of that sing that sounded so dense and alive? (Bob Dylan's Man in Me from The Big Lebowski is my personal favorite) This entire collection sounds just like that. A must have...
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Exquisite Ella . . . Perfect PorterMar 02, 2009
In any rational list of the 20th-century's top song-stylists, Ella Fitzgerald would have to rank in the Top 5. Ella had a wonderful, distinct voice and style. Many singers have great skills. Many have perfect pitch and great intonation. But very few singers can use their voice like a fine instrument. Ella was one of those select few.
Apart from having a wonderful voice, Ella was next to incomparable when it came to interpreting lyrics. It is no wonder that lyricists loved her and were ecstatic when she covered one of their songs. It is also no wonder that during the course of her career Ella recorded various "Song Books" in which she took the work of a great composer/lyricist and dedicated an album or two to their work. Ella did Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Rodgers & Hart, the Gershwins', and Jerome Kern song books among others. They are all wonderful to listen to, all 5-star performances (with the possible exception of the Gershwin song book) but my favorite of all her song books is this one: "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book".
Although the first half of the 20th century had a surplus of great songwriters (see the above) there was something about Cole Porter's work that has kept his lyrics fresh and even edgy in the 21st-century. The pairing of Fitzgerald and Porter then is the equivalent of the perfect storm: A lyricist whose lyrics are funny, witty, charming and, yes, poetic; and a singer capable of doing justice to those great lyrics makes for a memorable CD.
This is a 2-CD set. It contains an awful lot of Porter's great songs. Anything Goes, Too Darn Hot, Let's Do it, and I'm Always True to You in My Fashion are my highlights for CD-1. Night and Day, I've Got You Under My Skin, Love for Sale, and You're the Top, top off CD-2. Ella recorded these in 1956 under the auspices of the wonderful producer Norman Granz. Verve Records has restored the masters and the sound quality is excellent for a re-mastered recording.
Cole Porter once said that "In olden days a glimpse of stockings, was looked on as something shocking, Now heaven knows, anything goes." Well, all these decades later these songs go great with anything. You can enjoy them "in the still of the night" or "all through the night". These songs "do something to me" and I can say nothing more than this CD is the tops, it's the Tower of Pisa, it's the smile on the Mona Lisa.
If you can find this available, do yourself a favor and buy it, then sit back and enjoy.
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