Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book (1961) VBR

Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book VBR

Year 1961


Disc 1
1. Blues In The Night 7:14
2. Let's Fall In Love 4:05
3. Stormy Weather 5:17
4. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 2:26
5. My Shining Hour 4:02
6. Hooray For Love 2:45
7. This Time The Dream's On Me 4:39
8. That Old Black Magic 4:13
9. I've Got The World On A String 4:54
10. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block 4:03
11. Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) 3:55
12. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 3:37

Disc 2
1. When The Sun Comes Out 5:09
2. Come Rain Or Come Shine 3:24
3. As Long As I Live 3:48
4. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe 3:30
5. It's Only A Paper Moon 3:37
6. The Man That Got Away 5:21
7. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) 3:58
8. It Was Written In The Stars 5:11
9. Get Happy 3:33
10. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues 5:12
11. Out Of This World 2:46
12. Over The Rainbow 4:21
13. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead 3:19
14. Sing My Heart 2:49
15. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block 4:07
16. Sing My Heart 2:32

If only for these sessions, Billy May, leader of the swingin' band for so many great vocalists throught the years, provides the backdrops here for Lady Time in these timeless recordings of the immortal Harold Arlen. Norman Granz had May earmarked for this project for a long while, and the results prove it. May's brash, swinging brass infused orchestra forms the perfect frame for Ella when she wants to swing, and a blue, smoky curtain when she wants to hush down with a ballad. It is interesting to note that so many of Arlen's songs became "signature" songs for singers who utilized them. Ella, who's had a few signature songs of her own, never tries to upstage the originals here (although anytime Ella opened her mouth it became a red letter event) STORMY WEATHER, immortalized by Lena Horne, is given the full blown treatment here, included is oft-skipped verse and intro, and the band and the singer are both in fine swinging form. Ella takes a little of that pathos from "STORMY" and uses it in the lovely "MY SHINING HOUR". Here we can witness Billy May knew how to write ballad charts just as beuatifully as he could swing, and the tempo is moody, reflective. "HOORAY FOR LOVE" finds Ella in a cheery mood, exuding all the ups, downs and in-between emotions that Cupid's arrows can provide. May's easy swing tempo, infused with quick brass jots are classic.
Back to a ballad mood may be the very anchor and best gem of this whole set, the wistful "THIS TIME THE DREAM'S ON ME", with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The arrangement is nothing short of marvelous here, and Ella knows just where to use the slightest of pitch changes for dramatic effect. A definite heartstring tugger. The happy feeling "LET'S TAKE A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK" puts across while transporting us "all over the map" really evokes a smile. Again, May knows just how to lead Ella across the globe and back without ever intruding on her own groove.
"ONE FOR MY BABY ( and one more for the road)", long a Sinatra crowd pleaser and torch song extraordinaire, gets the swinger's rush here; and the message is still there, it's a torch song, but fueled by martinis! And unlike Sinatra's heartbroken version(s), the listener isn't exactly sure when that "one more for the road" is coming, it seems like there's a party going on with no end! Harold Arlen's claim to fame might be summed up in a "shining hour" of his own, the music to the MGM classic "THE WIZARD OF OZ". There is no way to get close to Judy Garland when it comes to "OVER THE RAINBOW", but Ella's version stands on its own merit as plaintive and to-the-point. And while they were on the Yellow Brick Road, May leads Ella into a jubilant free-for-all with "DING-DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD". Extensive liner notes in this final leg of the popular Ella Songbooks series, as all the others (Berlin, Porter, Rodgers&Hart, Ellington, Gershwin, Kern and Mercer) have been remastered and reissued with bonus material. Great listening, part of American music history that you'll be proud to own!