Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Arlen Songbook 2

A Hidden Treasure

John Lawrence | London United Kingdom | 07/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of Ella's best loved tracks are recycled endlessly on compilation albums but buying a collection like this gives you a chance to unearth a hidden treasure. One track in particular - Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe - is just such a treasure. Ella sings the beautiful lyrics in perfect harmony with the laid-back Billy May arrangements which sweep across the whole album. You won't hear tracks like this on the radio. Buy them for yourself."

One of the Classics

John Lawrence | 03/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorite Ella recordings..... she sings these beautiful songs with the purity of voice and her own special interpretive style that no other singer has been able to match. Her rendition of "Written in the Stars" alone is worth the price of the set, but just about everything on it is great."

Ella and Arlen combine to make pure magic--BRAVO !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 03/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ella Fitzgerald is one of my very favorite all time female singers; and just one listen to any of her albums tells you she will forever be The First Lady Of Song. Ella's voice sounded like no other; and when she sang you listened--and you listened closely because she always made each song a masterpiece with her impeccable timing and her sensitive interpretations of the ballads she performed. This CD is certainly no exception; and here we get Ella Fitzgerald singing Volume 2 of The Harold Arlen Songbook. Of course, Ella gets some of the best music anyone could ever ask for: Harold Arlen was a top notch writer and they never do come too much better than Harold!



"When The Sun Comes Out" starts the album with Ella singing sweetly and she handles the tempo and key changes like the chanteuse she was and still remains! "Come Rain Or Come Shine" gets the royal treatment from Ella who sings this a bit slower than I'm used to hearing it--but make no mistake about it, Ella sings this swinging gently and her positive energy makes "Come Rain Or Come Shine" a major highlight of this CD. "Come Rain Or Come Shine" is also a perfect example of how Harold Arlen could write a song about a love so pure and solid that it will last forever--how wonderful! "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" was sung many times by others; and Ella's rendition is one of the best I've ever heard. She sings some rarely heard opening lyrics to this song and when she starts the main portion of this ballad this really takes flight! The jazzy arrangement works perfectly for "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe."



"The Man That Got Away" was written by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin for the movie "A Star Is Born" with Judy Garland and James Mason; and wow, how they must have been proud to hear Ella deliver this with so much grace and style. With "The Man That Got Away" we see how Ella could take the lyrics to any song and massage them so that even a very sad song seemed to be the most beautiful ballad you had ever heard.



"Get Happy" was written by Arlen in the late 1920s, I believe; and Ella's version plays with the tempo a bit to make this a really awesome number! She again sings some rarely heard lyrics to make "Get Happy" a major highlight of this album. "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" features Ella squarely front and center--and that's all right with me!



"Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" is, of course, from "The Wizard Of Oz" and the orchestra that accompanies Ella really works well even though they never drown her out. This is Ella's number and the musicians know it--wow, how Ella sings this one out! Great! The album ends with Ella Fitzgerald performing "Over The Rainbow." Rumor has it that Ella didn't want to record "Over The Rainbow" because she was friends with Judy Garland and Ella believed that "Over The Rainbow" was Judy's "territory;" but if the rumor is true it's obvious the record label made her do it! Anyway, Ella sings "Over The Rainbow" beautifully and this song makes a lovely ending for this CD.



Ella Fitzgerald never seemed to fail her fans; and she treated them to five star quality performances as long as she could. We rarely ever get someone as talented as Ella Fitzgerald in our midst; and albums like this prove it. I treasure all my Ella Fitzgerald albums; and this is certainly a very special album for her fans and fans of the great Harold Arlen.

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