Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook

ELLA and BILLY MAY TOGETHER AT LAST!

Giovanni | Chicago, IL | 10/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

A timeless recording!

Jim Holtz | Madison, Wi United States | 06/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of Ella's & this series' best! I never thought Ms. Fitzgerald could take on the challenge of doing a complete Harold Arlen set so successfully. I use to think a belter like Judy Garland could only do his melodies justice. I was wrong! Here, Ella showed that good taste & restraint works just as well! Don't get me wrong, Ella still used projection & dramactics to display the needed emotion for each song but she did it subtlety. She never overwhelmed which critics of Ethel Merman would say. Now to the songs! There are several I didn't know until I heard this tribute. Let's Take a Walk Around the Block sure romaticized the depreesion. Ella surely knew how to have fun with this dated song & still keep it fresh. This Time the Dreams on Me, which is also on the Johnny Merecr Songbook, makes me say they don't write them like that anymore. Arlen & Mercer were unbeatable. Why can't sophisticated love lyrics like that be written as often today. The classics on these 2 discs, which there are many, have never been done better! Blues In the Night opens the set with a 7 minute version that never gets boring. This was before Hey Jude & American Pie. I've never heard Ella in better voice, belting out the song in an original arrangement of this overdone but fabulous song! Accentuate the Positive is joy, gospel, & glorious pop all wrapped together. Both songs with opposite moods show how versatile Ella's singing was. With everyone knowing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, it took Ella to record it. Why didn't Verve release it orginally? Ella has has much fun with this dark novelty song as she must have had with her own sweeter but tragic A Tisket A Tasket. Fitzgerald is up there on the fun tunes. I must mention arranger Billy May doing the impossible of taking a big band & having them deliver an unique, fresh, creative, bright & brassy back-up jazz sound. Only the saxes on My Shining Hour sounds out of place. Another complaint is that songs such as Right as the Rain & Anyplace I Hang My Hat should have been included. Still, so many Arlen masterpieces are. In conclusion, if one desires timeless material done by a timeless artist; this double album is it."

Ella, and Billy May...

daantjededaan | Netherlands | 02/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tonight I played the album which made me a devoted Ella Fitzgerald fan; it is Ella Fitzgerald sings the Harold Arlen Songbook. From the first time I played the LP my father left me, I loved her voice, and the atmosphere on this particular recording. I liked the swinging but sophisticated arrangements by Billy May. And right now when I switch my music off, I read on the Internet Billy May has passed away. He has the age for it (87), but it is a great loss anyway, although I didn't know he was still with us.
Ella sings beautiful (especially on the second dis): Over the Rainbow, Happiness is just a thing called Joe, One for my baby, the man that got away... listen to them; learn to love Ella, and think of Billy May... both their genius are somewhere over the rainbow now."