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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
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
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
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 that has kept those lyrics fresh and even edgy in the 21st-century. The pairing of Fitzgerald and Porter then is the equivalent of the perfect. 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 (the product description lists it incorrectly as 4). 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, exactly half a century ago 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.
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 that has kept those lyrics fresh and even edgy in the 21st-century. The pairing of Fitzgerald and Porter then is the equivalent of the perfect. 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 (the product description lists it incorrectly as 4). 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, exactly half a century ago 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.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By Michael F. Freer
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
Ella is always a pleasure to listen to, but Ella with classy material is something special. This is what you get on this double album. The "Song Book" series is renown and this is arguably the best.
I own the earlier CD releases as well as this later double album. There is a difference in the sound as a result of the re-mastering but I would not like to say which sounds the better. I do wonder why Verve bothered to re-master when the originals still sound wonderful but do not let this consideration of fine judgement prevent you from buying a great album.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you are a jazz fan, you've heard most of the songs on this album a hundred times in a thousand different versions, mostly as instrumentals. Now is your chance to hear them as Cole Porter wrote them and, in particular, to pay attention to the lyrics. Porter's powerful poetry would often be banned in today's politcally correct world. Thank god we still have these recordings.
We all have a tendency to think that Sinatra put down the official american songbook soundtrack (please **** off, Rod Stewart, Jaimie whatsit, Bubley and all the rest of you new converts) but Ella's recordings sit side by side with the Chairman of the Board's.
None of Ella's fantastic scat here. Just plain straight forward singing of the songs of one of the 20th century's greatest composers with wonderful arrangements and a fantastic diction which makes printed lyrics unnecessary.
We can all complain about the Cole Porter songs that are missing from this set, but it is wonderful. A couple of tracks with 1950s latin feel have aged enormously, but the majority is just plain brilliant.
If you are a musician you will agree tha Cole Porter's are amongst the most difficult standards to play. Ella will give you a lesson in simplicity that you will never forget.
Just listen to Miss Otis Regrets. This is clearly a desert island disc.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
MakeNoMistake
Just to be clear, sometimes music form this era gives the impression of being post 'assembled' into a cd set with a common theme. Read more
Published 23 days ago by GeeStrod
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Magic
One of the greatest jazz singers of the era singing the songs of one of the most prolific songwriters of the twentieth century. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. J. Sansom
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing music
This is a must if you love Ella, if you love music at all. Together with Ella Gold, you have some of the greatest creations of humankind.
Published 6 months ago by av
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Magical Combination
Ella Fitzgerald had (for me) probably the voice nearest to perfection of any singer, in terms of its purity. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Keith M
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beyond criticism
My dictionary defines beauty as "that quality or combination of qualities which affords keen pleasure to the senses". Ella Fitzgerald and Cole Porter. Enough said.
Published 21 months ago by ACB (swansea)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ella and Louis
I have been listening to this wonderful recording for over 50 years, and I still find it as fresh as the day I purchased the original LP. Read more
Published 24 months ago by V. W. Arnold
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ella Sings Cole Porter
This is a wonderful collection of 32 tracks (+ 3 alternative takes) of some of the best of the tunes of Cole Porter. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2010 by Dr. H. A. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ellas and Louis
This is the first 12" LP that my father bought and I still own the vinyl original. That aside, it's just one of the best jazz LPs going, Ella and Louis at their best giving so much... Read more
Published on 28 May 2010 by Brian the Cabbie
5.0 out of 5 stars
John,s lucky find
I was over the moon to find this Ella and Louis CD. In 1956 I bought the LP, as a present for my
girl friend, it increased her interest in jazz, and in me, fortuneatly. Read more
girl friend, it increased her interest in jazz, and in me, fortuneatly. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2010 by Kilo Watts
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ella sings Cole Porter
This superb two-disk album combines the talents of perhaps the greatest song-writer of the last century with, arguably, the greatest female non-classical vocalist. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Richard Jennings
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