Ella Fitzgerald, THE GREATEST SINGER EVER

Ella and Count Basie cant be beat

Agreed. Sinatra was a big fan as well, and he's up at the top, too. Love her Live in Rome album when she turned 40.

All the Songbooks are fantastic. This is one of my favorites.

She sang like a woman looking for change in her purse.

I love her B,B&B, R3. Lord. What a voice.

Love her. She didn’t have to screech and do all kinds of crazy acrobatics. She just eased those songs out like it was no thing.

Very feminine voice, sexy but restrained. No one as good today.

I’m her biggest fan.

Jennifer Hudson can play her in the biopic.

She is perfection.

She is perfection.

NO r8....she doesnt have the casual delivery...and impeccable phrasing and diction Ella has.

Norman Granz had to work with her on pronouncing many of the Cole Porter lyrics. Ella was colossally great, but she wasn't exactly a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music.

Completely perfect, nobody could touch her talent.

She was great.

But I prefer both Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone.

Marilyn was a big fan.

She was certainly one of the greatest. She was capable of being an emotive singer, but it wasn’t what she was known for. Her songbook albums are masterful, and no one who tried to do albums in that vein could touch her.

Her Verve-era discography is basically flawless.

I love Ella and jazz music, but I sure hate the corny elderkweens on Datalounge who ONLY like jazz music.

I provided tons of great songs by punk and metal musicians to the "Halloween Songs" thread, but only my Fitzgerald / Sinatra suggestions got likes. People actually dissed any rock suggestion older than 1976.

Fuck you ancient squares who only appreciate jazz music!

And I do think Aretha was THE GREATEST FEMALE SINGER EVER.

[quote] I remember reading some critic say that the fault in Ella was that she sang perfectly but didn't emote or some other bullshit. That she was all technique and no feeling. My ass. She had a lot of feeling, but classy and refrained. Love her. Her 'Cole Porter songbook' IS FUCKING PERFECTION.

You're not exactly "classy "yourself, are you, Little Miss Pottymouth?

Certainly one of the all time greats. Flawless voice and diction. She had great taste in music.

I just find her sounding somewhat detached.

Looking for change in her purse sounds about right.

I agree, OP. But I also think Sarah Vaughan is VERY close also.

THE best singer ever with THE best vocal group ever. Almost fifty years on and proving she still had it. Pure class.

Utter fabulousness

Dionne Warwick said Ella is the greatest singer of all time.

A dreamy little gem...

i saw one of her last performances, at a posh hotel club in dallas

she could barely walk, had to be helped onto the stage, wore glasses like coke bottles and looked like a church lady.

but when she opened her mouth and sang is was as young and beautiful as ever.....she was perfection

a sublime evening i remember well 30+ years later

The song that started it all!

Love it, R25. Her "It's Only a Paper Moon" is great too.

But did she ever play the Continental Baths?

Like butter. Such a smooth vocalist.

Whenever I hear this song I envision it’s 1944 and I am in an airplane hanger in northern England waiting for my dashing fighter pilot to come back from a dangerous bombing run over Nazi Germany. Sigh...

r22, I love how she looks like she's just standing at the bus stop and then she comes out with fabulous singing

[R3]...horizontally he’s at his very best...and worship the trousers that cling to him! The genius of Rodgers and Hart delivered by the genius of Ella!!!

well, lorenz would be pining for clinging trousers, just never could do anything about it?

DIDN'T GET THE RECOGNITION SHE DESERVED??? OP you're either illiterate or twelve years old. Ella is considered the Gold Standard for many musicians and music fans. Her voice was beautiful, but she barely scratched the surface of the lyrics she sang, you probably don't understand that, OP.

Her early years with Chick Webb in the '30's are the best.

My go-to vocalist is typically Dinah W, because she was sassy, snarky and I could imagine her drinking while she sang.

But yes, Ella is by far one of the most technically proficient singers ever. She could literally sing chord changes with extended chords and substitutions and all kinds of crazy shit. Plus, no one can sing so delicately and breezily.

"DIDN'T GET THE RECOGNITION SHE DESERVED??? OP you're either illiterate or twelve years old"

Yeah, because twelve-year-olds can't get enough Ella Fitzgerald

the ones with duke were pretty good also

Whitney Houston was a big fan and said when she met her, she felt like she'd met all her influences.

I like this one

How appropriate she was in the back of the bus in R27's link.

This may be Frank’s song, but Ella could serve it too!

Teenage Doris Day was a huge fan and modeled her style on Ella. You can hear it in Doris' early recordings.

[quote]How appropriate she was in the back of the bus in [R27]'s link.

maybe, but the gurl moved uptown to the 90th floor,

R43 She does a mean "Tender Trap" too!

I love you, R31. I love that song. I love the Hits Archive series on YouTube, which is an irreplaceable treasure trove of the greatest years of American popular music.

Here’s the other Ink Spots/Ella song from ’44. It expresses a sentiment I feel from time to time myself.

One legend - Nancy Wilson - pays homage to another - Ella.

48 posts and no one's mentioned her scat fetish?

[quote]Whenever I hear this song I envision it’s 1944 and I am in an airplane hanger

Oh, dear.

Flawless.

Well thank you [47]! I also like “Into Each Life”. Love how Ella does a little scat vocalizing under the spoken word part of the song. Subtle, but something that would later become her trademark.

Ella was a supreme stylist, but less skilled as an interpreter of lyrics. Which is fine. She had nothing to prove.

The Ink Spots were great, too

LOVE HER!

And people who say she wasn't an "emotive" singer don't know what they're talking about. Her versions are often definitive.

Case in point (and there are dozens more):

Love this one

Eh, R56. Not her best blues, but that organ was on fire.

I love that coldness/coolness in her voice. Not everythings need to be raw and gritty.

Had the great joy of seeing her at Fairmont San Francisco many years ago.

Not a big fan of the film The Master but one of the most striking sequences is the use of this song. Stunning.

Her songbook albums really are essential. Not just great music but educational.

Also, the mastering on her Verve albums is superb.

Sorry - forgot to link the song

R26, I had the same experience in the early 90s at Radio City. An old lady was led onstage to a stool, and when she opened her mouth, she was still Ella. Nobody better. Check this out:

OP years ago I downloaded all her songbooks - Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Gerschwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer.

I learned everything about songwriting and lyrics thanks to Ella.

Oh, and her Summertime album with Louis Armstrong. It’s in my Top 5.

She's good, but a tad overrated imo. I can see where some say she's not very emotive. Personally I prefer more experimental and dramatic vocalists (but not screechy like J Hudson) with some subtlety counterbalance, but it's a matter of taste.

I don’t think anyone will agree on who is the “best “ singer because we all have our own tastes. Having said that, Ella Fitzgerald isn’t held in such regard for nothing. She was a highly polished and tasteful stylist, but could also let rip singing jazz, and always in perfect pitch.

A truly sensational live set.

Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe both had similar messed up (for lack of better words) childhood and teen aged years (including both being abused as young girls), that it was't surprising they became close and life long friends.

When famous LA nightclub the Mocambo refused to hire Ella Fitzgerald (not because of her race, but looks/weight), Marilyn Monroe made a deal; if they engaged EM, she would be there every night sitting right up front. Done and EM got her Mocambo gig.

Few can touch Ella Fitzgerald's cover of "These Foolish Things"

Ella was great but she's no Belinda Carlisle

That was fantastic R69. Ella's version of Angel Eyes was used so beautifully in The Crown, with Vanessa Kirby having a gorgeously shot breakdown as Margaret. I admit I only knew this song by Sinatra. Is there a great song that Ella didn't record or sing beautifully? Probably.

She didn’t wear a spangled leotard and have backup dancers and pyrotechnics.

How did anyone even notice her?

Hard hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA!

Another great standard covered by Ella Fitzgerald.

Her voice, phrasing... everything about Ms. Fitzgerald is on point.

she was a sassy big black mamama

I don't regard anyone as 'the greatest singer ever'.

However, I'm happy to refer to certain people as 'one of the greatest singers ever' and Ella Fitzgerald most certainly belongs on that list.

R63, don’t forget about the Duke Ellington Songbook. It’s terrific.

Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormè, Nat King Cole....impeccable singers that fail to move me.

r73 Meh. I did it better.

Ella was at the top. Like all performers she had her idiosyncrasies. But when the fuse was lit she gave fireworks.

Sarah Vaughan had a better instrument and delivered more bravura cuts, but she also was more self-absorbed and her judgment sometimes showed an "I'm doing it this way and don't try to stop me or I'll take it even farther out there" approach.

Ella was always focused on the song, and was willing to deliver a studied, almost too careful rendition at times in order to preserve its integrity.

But then she'd rip things out when she felt she had the approval of the work and the composer. "It Don't Mean a Thing" is a good example. Or her scat.

Ella won 13 Grammys. I’d hardly call that a lack of recognition.

R74, simply my favorite

She was the first jazz singer I loved and still do. All the live albums, the Gershwin songbook, gorgeous.

She was the first jazz singer I loved and still do. All the live albums, the Gershwin songbook, gorgeous.

she was the first jazz singer

Ella and Basie....Sunny Side of the Street

Ella and Basie...Them There Eyes....it doesnt get any better than this.....

As a babygay the first LP album I bought was Ella Fitzgerald Sings Cole Porter. I still have it.

A genuine American Tragedy. If only she'd been born with white privilege, she might've amounted to something . . .

R70 And thank heavens for that tender mercy.

Like this one:

Judy Garland was not impressed with Ella and wondered aloud to friends why Ella was so revered. Saying something to the effect of "what's the big deal with her? I don't get it." An old queen who was personally acquainted with Garland told me that.

Garland wasn’t that much

Torme was a fucking genius.

R74 Her recording of that song is the gold standard. Untouchable!

Tormè like Fitzgerald sung songs "correctly".

They were so good at it though, you really have to accept them for what they were.

I prefer more of an edge, an interpretation with more depth and originality but I can't knock the greatness of Ella or Mel.

There's no accounting for taste.

I would agree with you OP

This is my favorite Ella Fitzgerald song because it reveals her sense of humor (she forgets the lyrics at around 1:45)

R15 one of my all time favorite photos. Marilyn wasn't just a fan - she was a friend, and they were mutual supporters of each other's careers. Read up about it, it's a sweet story.

"Tormè like Fitzgerald sung songs "correctly"."

You obviously have never heard Torme. Absolute good taste? Always. "Correctly?" Never. Torme will launch into a 15-minute aleatoric scat that will singe the hair right off your head.

[quote]Tormè like Fitzgerald sung songs "correctly".

Oh, dear.

Nonsense to claim anyone as greatest ever.

Firstly we know it's all subjective.

And there are different musical genres with different types of singing styles to appeal to different folk.

Finally, culturally, one artist doesn't necessarily translate in another country of a different culture and artistic sensibilities.

Don't freak out Datalounge eldergays. LISTEN. Cynthia Erivo would be an excellent choice to star in an Ella biopic. Her voice is remarkably agile and she can add texture and rasp at will or sing in the sweetest clear tones. Like Ella she has remarkable pitch and improvisational skills. This is all acapella and unrehearsed. Some of it is oversung, but Erivo is much more than a Broadway Belter with too much gospel in her style. There isn't a place for a voice like hers today. A shame. Ella had an amazing life and journey. Incredible success and a lasting legacy. Cynthia should play her. She obviously could approximate Ella's look and sound with beautiful intention and heart.

She was a hophead.

R101 Oops, sorry about that!

Garland didn't get her? I guess because her voice had none of the histrionic nonsense or post-suicidal ruin of Garland's voice.

Ella toured the world for sixty years.

She also stated "Billie Holiday was the greatest Jazz singer who ever lived."

R107

It is enough to say at time of her passing no one had a single bad thing to say about Ella Fitzgerald both from within entertainment industry or outside. For a career that spanned long as Ms. Fitzgerald's did, that is saying something.

I've always said that Billie did it all and the some. Sarah smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. And Ella was squeaky clean.

Maybe around 1947 - a favorite clip of mine

[quote]She also stated "Billie Holiday was the greatest Jazz singer who ever lived."

So she did and Ella was right. Billie was first, always and only a jazz singer. And the best who ever lived. There were fancier ones and some with much better voices. But no one as good. Sinatra felt the same way. He credited Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby for all he knew about singing. His voice was his own.

Ella was a good jazz singer AND so much more than that. When we talk about great singers, we often have to separate the voice from the technique from the interpretation. Not so with Ella. She had a near perfect voice, was a fantastic technical singer and utilized these great gifts to serve and elevate a song. Any song. Every song. Most always.

I like a livelier Ella

Her samba version of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"

Since people keep throwing up Frank Sinatra's name; a Bugs Bunny cartoon brought me this, *LOL*

Many only know FS from late in his life; but the man did have a fantastic instrument for a skinny New Jersey kid.

No fan of Ella Fitzgerald should be unaware of Sinatra's talent R114. Sinatra was afraid of Ella, because she was kind of proper as a person and he liked to joke around when he sang. Ella sang anything but was not the ideal duet partner for Frank. He treated her like a queen - even more than most other famous women. On stage - he was reportedly a bit nervous around her.

This is a well known clip. They're both older and great but it's a bit frantic. Frank's show. Fantastically fast.

Ella's ladylike version of "Heat Wave"

The Cole Porter Song Book

She can't touch Jo Stafford

Mr Paganini live

R103. I’ve stated many times, over many years on this site, that Ella is the greatest singer bar none. Better than Aretha, better than Streisand, better than Whitney, better than everyone else. But is her life compelling enough for a biopic?

She had a rough marriage because of all the travel but it would really just be a biopic about an amazing singer singing

What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

If we can get a Helen Reddy biopic, why not an Ella biopic?

R120 is right. After Ella became famous, she didn’t have much of a life. She got married a couple of times and adopted her sister’s child. But she spent most of her time on the road until she physically couldn’t anymore.

R120. If you watch the American Masters on Ella, you would know she had plenty of drama in her life, especially at the start and near the end of her life. Her mother died in a car accident, she was sexually abused by her stepfather and later sent to reform school. All that glory in the middle. Decades of it. But with racism and some personal drama. Her first marriage to a drug dealer. The second to a famous bass player Ray Brown. In the late 50s Ella married the young tall Norwegian who was sentenced to jail before he got to America. All her beautiful explorations and successes as a recording artist and live performer around the world for 50 years. But she was seldom on television and only Dinah Shore had the guts to embrace her black guest stars. Ella's long and pretty terrible decline from Diabetes, that left her almost blind, and both legs amputated. A stroke and death. Her incredible devotion to her family and children's charities. The child she raised that was not her own. There's plenty of drama and glory for a biopic. It won't happen. I was just suggesting Erivo. She would be close to perfect casting. But Ella's voice was too sublime to copy for a whole film and Erivo would be a waste to lip synch to old recordings. That is always the challenge of making biopics of great singers. I don't want to hear anyone but Whitney sing as Whitney. Some feel the same way about Garland. But Jamie Foxx did a fine job as Ray Charles. And Zellweger just won an Oscar for not sounding at all like Garland. Rambling. Sorry. Ha.

Marilyn helped her get a gig at the Mocambo Club in Hollywood. The owner wouldn't let Ella perform there because she was fat, had no sex appeal, so MM said she'd be there every night if he did.

Marilyn helped her get a gig at the Mocambo Club in Hollywood. The owner wouldn't let Ella perform there because she was fat, had no sex appeal, so MM said she'd be there every night if he did.

I love her voice, but, as I said about 20 years ago on DL: She interprets all her songs with such wan disinterest, it's like she's searching through the bottom of her purse for a pack of Lifesavers as she sings.

R128, you must have listened to her sing ethereal ballads. Listen to her live performances. Hear her on fire at the Santa Monica Civic in 1972.

Ella: "I Can't Stop Loving You"

Beauty

Playing her as I type. Thanks for this awesome thread, OP.

[quote] Garland didn't get her? I guess because her voice had none of the histrionic nonsense or post-suicidal ruin of Garland's voice.

I am only the messenger. Specifically, I was told that Garland was "unimpressed" by Ella and it always fascinated me that anyone would be "unimpressed" by her. Moreso, another great interpreter of song who should have immediately recognized Ella's extraordinary gift -- even if they don't like her or her singing.

R133 I bet part of it is related to R128's observation::

[quote]She interprets all her songs with such wan disinterest

At least when singing the Standards, Ella tends to gloss over the lyrics. She can sound almost computer generated.

Or sound like she's thinking about what she's going to have for lunch.

Judy tore lyrics apart, mining every drop of emotion.

Sinatra (in his prime) was able to take lyrics and make it sound like he was speaking directly to you about an experience he really lived through.

Ella, on the other hand, rarely sounded vulnerable. Or wounded.

She just sailed along on her beautiful voice.

Diabetes and hypertension have carried off so many famous (and not so) African-Americans. Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross are but two, but there are others.

Ella Fitzgerald really should have slowed down due to health issues in 1970's, but she kept up a grueling tour/concert schedule what was rough on her body. Ironically Ms. Fitzgerald otherwise lead a healthy lifestyle, she didn't smoke or drink , but somethings are just genetic I suppose.

Fully recommend PBS/American Masters special on Ella Fitzgerald "Something to Live For"

A comparison:

This is Ella singing the Standard of Standards "My Funny Valentine"

It's glorious. Her voice is magnificent.

Now listen to a master of phrasing Frank Sinatra. Note the difference, Frank gets right to the heart of the lyrics, the message, the story, in a way that Ella just doesn't.

I love both Ella and Sinatra. I also love Billie. Not everything has to be a competition.

Judy and Frank approached songs from a actor's dramatic perspective; Ella approached songs from the musician's perspective. Both valid based on their specific and extraordinary skills.

Garland was a great performer on occasion and her voice could thrill. But she is not in the same league as Sinatra, Holiday or Ella as a singer. Sorry.

Ella is smooth. i like her, but she's a bit too smooth.

she's so smooth, and sounds so effortless that she makes you think you can sing along with her.

Ella is smooth when smooth is called for and raucous when she wants to be. I don't think there was a lot of preparation for those Songbook recordings. In many cases, I think she was sight-reading the songs. I thinkthey wanted to present the songs pretty much as written and she would sing them straight without much embellishment. When she had the songs under her belt and sang in live performance, her musical interpretation was much more free-wheeling and inventive. R141, try singing along with this "C-Jam Blues."

There's a poll by a magazine in pre-internet days (I forget which) of singers that who were asked about their opinion of the most gifted singer on record and Sarah Vaughan came on top. Again, I can't remember the actual magazine but I distinctly recall from the article, B.B.King, Whitney Houston and Harry Connick Jr talking up Sarah the most.

Here's an allegedly sick Sarah Vaughan singing Misty live. Easy to see why she was the singers' singer.

We've all seen that clip a thousand times R144. Sarah was great. She invented being extra. She has her own threads.

Dinah Washington… A very very close second.

I think many performers were just jealous of Ella. So they said they preferred other singers. Ella had a beautiful voice and shouldn’t be put down out of jealousy.

Blind and couldn’t walk but she could sing

Sarah Vaughan is a fantastic vocalist who could use her voice in ways no other singer could. From the 1970s on, part of the fun was seeing how far she could go over the top just because she could. She had amazing range and could color notes like no one else. Her florid style was very different from Ella Fitzgerald's more direct approach. Both brilliant singers.

Sarah Vaughan was also a very heavy smoker and drinker.

No need for OP to slag off Billie Holiday; she’s perfect for sexy atmosphere. When I’m feeling more romantic than sexy, I put on some Ella Fitzgerald. I love them both.

[quote]Judy and Frank approached songs from a actor's dramatic perspective; Ella approached songs from the musician's perspective. Both valid based on their specific and extraordinary skills.

I appreciate Ella but her buttery style just doesn't pull me in.

For the classics I'll take Dinah Washington, Sinatra, Carmen McCrea, Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennet, Jack Jones, even Rosemary Clooney over Ella.

*Carmen McRae

A terrific singer. Love her recordings with Louis Armstrong. A current favorite of mine is Joyce Breach.

r153 And Tony BENNETT.

"Ella was a supreme stylist, but less skilled as an interpreter of lyrics. Which is fine. She had nothing to prove."

No, actually she had nothing to say. Ella did not want to be a actress who sings.

R68 is way over the top. Ella and Marilyn were friendly acquaintances, and yes the Mocambo story is true. They were never "live long friends," that complete horseshit.

[quote]No, actually she had nothing to say. Ella did not want to be a actress who sings.

Unfortunate since most of the Standards are wholly formed dramatic pieces.

It's been remarked by some who worked with Ella that she sometimes didn't understand the lyrics she was singing. She was sweet, but not a brain. She had the most beautiful sound, but I prefer someone with edgier interpretation like Carmen McRae. Love Sarah too - she took many more chances than Ella. Sarah and Carmen were coke-booze-weed pals where Ella would never have fit in. Ella's life was very clean, not much sex, no drugs, little booze. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

"But she was seldom on television and only Dinah Shore had the guts to embrace her black guest stars"

Where did you read that bull? I saw Ella frequently on plenty of shows like Dean Martin, Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, even Tom Jones.

Excellent diction but boring.

Carmen and Ella

Love all these singers from that era, great thread!

Definitely one of the greats- a musical instrument. But for me she lacks the expressive and emotional coloring of at least two of the other greats- Garland and Streisand.

The day can't begin until charlie farts out gas from his perfumed ass. Delusional old queen. Streisand is the worst interpreter of standards ever, next to Linda Ronstadt.

[quote]Streisand is the worst interpreter of standards ever,

I'm not that poster but your comment is absurd.

Even if you don't personally like her style, her phrasing is wonderful.

I don't agree that Streisand is better than Fitzgerald, but if you think Ronstadt and Streisand are the worst interpreters of standards you clearly never heard Rod Stewart's songbook albums. I worked at a Barnes and Noble in college and that shit was always playing.

Streisand had a tendency towards stridency, especially in her earlier discs as if she was trying to out-torch Garland. She got better as she got older.

Love Ella. Anyone who thinks she can't emote should listen to her disc with Oscar Peterson recorded in the 70's, and then STFU.

Love Sarah Vaughan, but her singing became more about style for its own sake as she got older.

PLEASE DO NOT POLLUTE THIS THREAD by turning into another Garland or Streisand one. We have 20 of those.

....

Ella Fitzgerald Barbie® Inspiring Women™ Doll!

I'd love to have that Barbie :))

[quote]PLEASE DO NOT POLLUTE THIS THREAD by turning into another Garland or Streisand one.

Especially because this is the MISS ELLA FITZGERALD thread.

I was lucky enough to see Carmen McRae in a very small venue in NJ way back in the day. Carmen on a piano and a stand up bass player and drummer entertained the crowd for two hours. Gorgeous and thrilling. So nice to her fans. Under rated and appreciated for sure.

Some singers are hard for me to watch, but I can listen to them sing all day long. Ella and Mel Torme come to mind.

So Ella saying she didn’t know the words was honest, but Sarah Vaughan claiming she was sick was a.clear lie? Herein lies the reason why everybody liked Ella as a person.

Stevie Wonder in ‘Sir Duke’: “And with a voice like Ella’s ringing out there’s no way the band can lose”

I always loved that lyric.

R146

Dinah Washington deserves her own thread! Equally spectacular as Ella Fitzgerald, but in her own way.

Wasn't around then, but from what one understands singers were encouraged (or had to) develop their own unique style. Audiences wanted and often demanded this in that every singer had their own "sound", and that is what people paid money to hear. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Diana Washington, Carmen McRae, and others all could inhabit same universe or even be on same stage together but there wasn't competition per se, because each had their own gifts.

[quote]PLEASE DO NOT POLLUTE THIS THREAD by turning into another Garland or Streisand one. We have 20 of those.

Agreed.

But we also don't need infants posting things like: "Streisand is the worst interpreter of standards ever,"

Miss Cassandra Wilson needs to be mentioned in this thread!

Sarah was high 95% of the time and forgetting words happens. This isn't a contest between Ella and Sarah, they were both magnificent in their own way.

I've always loved this live performance of Summertime, Ella does get into the lyrics much more than usual.

R175, Streisand's name should not appear in this thread. If someone baits you, RESIST.

The reason everyone liked Ella was because she was quiet - they didn't know her. She socialized within her small group of musicians and a friend or two, she mostly kept to herself.

Among the great singers of Standards, let's mention Cleo Laine. Forgotten today.

This is so so sophisticated.

^^^I love that tree. I want that tree. Someone dig it up and bring it to me. That tree is life!

"Miss Cassandra Wilson needs to be mentioned in this thread!"

As well as the divine Miss Dianne Reeves.

Sarah Vaughan at top of her game!

Again Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald inhabited different worlds stylistically. No real competition because each had their own unique style.

Not taking anything from Ella, but she couldn't pull this off, well not in same way as Sarah Vaughan.

One of my favourite go to recordings when a certain mood descends.....

[quote]Not taking anything from Ella, but she couldn't pull this off, well not in same way as Sarah Vaughan.

Ella lacked sexiness.

True, and think we both mean this not in a bad way.

Ella Fitzgerald was never about glamour and sex appeal, that was left to others like Julie London, Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, etc....

What Ella had was a fantastic instrument and rock solid technique , again every one brought something different to the party. This is why clubs could book these female singers almost back to back and still fill seats.

True

I love her three-way with Sarah and Pearl!

Ella Fitzgerald - Sunshine Of Your Love (1969) BEFORE Cream recorded it!

Well since I brought up her name... Miss. Julie London!

For those that only knew Ms. London from that head nurse on television show Emergency it is worth price of admission to visit her prior musical career.

Not wishing to stir the pot; but Julie London was offered and got her own television show; something Ella, Sarah, Dianah and other AA "jazz singers" of equal or some might say greater talent did not. They could make guest appearances but that is far as things went.

Behold the greatest Jazz singer of us all.

Dinah Washington cover of "Cry Me A River"

This Girl's In Love With You

Dinah was Patti Austin's godmother, r174.

Dinah Washington was known for (among other things) crisp, clear and smooth diction when singing. Not that affected mess of clipped diction Lena Horne gave out like "ahhh think they’re the always suhprahhhsing Cole Pawtuh tunes" or "Thank you varuh much"....

BBC did a pretty good documentary on Dinah Washington, you can see it on YT.

For all you queens - early version of Sarah singing Over the Rainbow, 2:31.

Anita O'Day is still my favorite. "Indestructible" is a great documentary.

Dinah Washington / Since I Fell for You

R190, in her day Julie London was an adult pop singer - not a "jazz singer." There was actually a market for the over 30 crowd marketed from the labels of Sinatra, Ella, Peggy Lee, Vic Damone, Tony Bennett, and later Jack Jones, Astrid Gilberto, Ms S, etc. It was nice, and it wasn't for teenagers.

[Quote]Not that affected mess of clipped diction Lena Horne gave out

Bitch, my singing is sublime! I'm also very pretty!

Sinatra and Lena HATED each other. Someone else tell the story if asked why.

Heres Lena doing Stormy Weather when she was 80....shes still quite good...and its a good example of the clipped diction referenced in R195.

[quote]Not wishing to stir the pot; but Julie London was offered and got her own television show;

Julie London never had her own TV show. An anyway, as R199 pointed out, she was a pop singer.

[quote]something Ella, Sarah, Dianah and other AA "jazz singers" of equal or some might say greater talent did not. They could make guest appearances but that is far as things went.

No jazz singer was going to be given a weekly TV show.

This thread is boring now. Old Queens trying to outdo each other. The posted music don't even get listened to. charlie is responsible for that. Stupid Barbara Streizand.

Ella is the gold standard. I love all the Verve songbooks, but my favorite is Harold Arlen. This might be my favorite track.

The CD "Jazz Round Midnight Again" was the background music for a dimly lit fuck marathon ff a few years ago with a young rish lad with black chest fur and a huge cut cock.

R204

Am not old, so you can drop that comment.

Also knock it off; this has been one of the few pleasant threads on DL in some time. Go play in traffic or something if you don't have anything else better to do.

Dinah Shore was in the forefront of featuring great African-American performers in her show. She featured Ella as early as 1959 (two years after Marilyn and the Mocambo) . Ella, Mahalia Jackson and Pearl Bailey made regular appearances.

Dinah Shore and Pearl Bailey, it doesn't get much better than this....

[Quote]Sinatra and Lena HATED each other. Someone else tell the story if asked why.

R201, according to James Gavin's biography of Lena Horne, it was Bing Crosby who she disliked. He even referenced this Dean Martin performance, in which she focuses her body language attention on Dean, and pretty much gives Bing the cold shoulder.

I agree that her Songbook series and Verve recordings are her best. A personal favorite is "Miss Otis Regrets". Ella's version is much more sanguine than that the versions by Kirsty Maccoll or the Divine Miss M. It's not as heart wrenching as "Strange Fruit", but touching/sad in its own way.

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Ella perform live in 1977 when she performed at a local college. I was in HS then, but had been exposed to the Porter and Arlen Songbooks by my parents.

R209, Lena hated BOTH Crosby and Sinatra and the feeling was mutual. James Gavin is an asshole...and Lena was alive when his bio came out. So - no bisexuality and no real reason why Sinatra hated her ;)

R207, so did Perry Como. Get over yourself.

[quote]Dinah Shore was in the forefront of featuring great African-American performers in her show.

Dick Clark, Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen were in the forefront as far as AA performers were concerned even more so than Dinah Shore in the 1950s.

And Mitch Miller had Leslie Uggams as a featured weekly regular on his show. That was 1961.

And there was the short-lived Nat King Cole Show in 1956-57

R211 Yes, Perry too.

Hazel Scott had a short lived variety show in 1950.

R212, I totally agree with you with the exception of Dick Clark. Dick Clark and Bandstand was a cheap shitty daytime show...HE tried to falsely inflate it to equal Sullivan for decades. The truth is that Clark's show carefully copied prime time advancements when it was convenient. Clark was a phony who desperately hoped that youngsters would buy the shit he was selling. Guess it worked for some...

R125, Ella wasn’t on tv very much? She was on hundreds of times. The only singer Sinatra allowed as much stage time and reverence was she. Someone else mentioned Norman Granz helping her with pronunciation. More nonsense, her reading comprehension was fine, her pronunciation was without peer. She did ask about lyrical context. She was very sweet and a surprisingly complex woman. Her house was spectacular and like being in a candy store to a fan. I think she was the most universally admired singer. Reminder that her obituary in Time posited in a sentence”...If she was America’s greatest singer...” Heady stuff.

Revered, sorry.

Things did not progress much with respect to racial harmony even into the '60s. I remember the HUGE controversy when Petula Clark touched Harry Belafonte's arm on her 1968 special.

R214

You don't know what you're talking about.

Dick Clark had a primetime show in 1958-1960.

He was a pioneer in television. His daytime show was groundbreaking.

And his Saturday night show featured black performers nearly every week.

never understood the appeal of this lady, she bee bops a few sounds and mumbles onward oh so jazzily....

Since this has become a pissing contest:

Georgia Brown can sing them all under the table.

Dinah Washington was the best, Her version of Moonglow is all-time iconic...

Anita, high as a kite.....

R217, you "remember" that? It was a sponsor problem that didn't prevent the show being aired as is. In New York, the media capital, nobody who didn't read the trades knew about it - it was a non-story.

The victim thing is a favorite among many. R218, YOU ARE WRONG. Dick Clark was NEVER prime time unless you count his lame attempt to recreate a Sullivan-like show in the 70s-80s. He was always DAYTIME. Look it up, fool.

Well things had progressed a bit more than 1950's where Billy Eckstine pretty much had his career wrecked over a picture that appeared in Life magazine. It featured a white female with her head on Mr. Eckstine's chest and hand on shoulder; people went livid!

[quote]The victim thing is a favorite among many. [R218], YOU ARE WRONG. Dick Clark was NEVER prime time unless you count his lame attempt to recreate a Sullivan-like show in the 70s-80s. He was always DAYTIME. Look it up, fool.

No asshole. You look it up.

Google: "The Dick Clark Show"

Know this thread is primarly about Ella Fitzgerald and female jazz singers, but since odd male is mentioned, have to bring in Billy Eckstine. The man had a smooth rich voice few could equal.

Offending picture

I love Ella. I love Sarah. I love Billie. I love Dinah.

The best thing is you don't have to pick and choose. They are all great, all in different ways.

But, if I had to pick just one, Dinah is the tip top for me.

It is important to remember in large parts of USA African-American singers (jazz or whatever else) were treated same as any other 'coloured" person. They had to enter clubs through service entrances, had to stay in segregated accommodations, were often paid far less than their talent was worth, and so on...

Civil rights legislation wouldn't start being passed until 1960's and even then things didn't change overnight. It wasn't any wonder then that Ella, Sarah and others spent much time touring in Europe where on average treatment was far better.

[quote]were often paid far less than their talent was worth, and so on...

In the 50s recording artists like Johnny Mathis, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Berry etc were making lots of money.. by 1958 Mathis was earning 1 million a year.

I am in awe that so many of you guys got to see Ella live. Wow.

How short was Sinatra? He looks the same height, or shorter, than Ella.

Why does she look like the hulk in Op’s photo.

Ella don't do nothing for me neighter…. them goofy sounds she make is called singing??

R233

Ella Fitzgerald wasn't heavy as a young girl or even woman. While many women gain weight as they get older, usually this is in part due to childbearing, which didn't apply to Ella Fitzgerald. The lady did have diabetes which can and often does cause weight gain.

Dinah Washington made me want to be a singer....#1 in my book.

Carol Sloane

Not Lena Horne, R229

Thank you for that version of "I Remember Sky", one of Sondheim's most beautiful ballads. I'm not supposed to mention- but Streisand does a gorgeous take on it as well. To my knowledge Ella did not record Sondheim- at least I don't have it. Lots or great YouTube posts from great performances on this thread.

[quote]To my knowledge Ella did not record Sondheim

Sondheim was considered too intellectual by many singers. Any singer who wasn't ace at lyrics wouldn't have attempted his work. Additionally, it's difficult to take some of his songs out of the context of his show. He's not like Gershwin where every song can stand alone. It really wasn't until Cleo Laine recorded her Sondheim album that people, other than Broadway performers, began to feel they could tackle his songs.

Well, "I Remember Sky" stand alone just fine.

[quote]Well, "I Remember Sky" stand alone just fine.

Which is probably why Cleo Laine put it on her Sondheim album rather than something from "Sunday In the Park..." like "Finishing The Hat."

There's also a very beautiful song from "Evening Primrose" called "Take Me To The World" which is the flip side of "I Remember" but nobody ever records it.

Below are Norman Bates and Liesl von Trapp singing it from the original tv broadcast.

The REAL reason Ella never recorded Sondheim was that her manager, impresario Norman Granz HATED Sondheim.

Her prime was also a bit before his prime. She kind of preceded him.

charlie, a song can be sung at anytime in any era, it doesn't need a "prime." Congratulations, is this the first post you've written that doesn't kiss Babs' ass?

[quote]charlie, a song can be sung at anytime in any era, it doesn't need a "prime."

I think what was meant was that Ella was headed for retirement by the time that Sondheim came into popularity. Yes, Ella could have sang "Send In The Clowns" or "Being Alive" but they were already covered by everyone in the 1970s. By the time Sondheim's new material came in the 1980s and 90s, Ella was not singing new material.

I know what he means, R246. Ella was performing through the 1980s at least, plenty of time to sing Sondheim, and he was "in" during that period.

Yes, r247, her scat version of No One Is Alone would have sold ten million copies.

Somehow just cannot picture Ella doing "Being Alive", "Send In The Clowns" or much of Sondheim's book.

Others like Frank Sinatra gave it a go with various results.

As Mr. Sondheim once stated in an interview SITC along with some of his other songs were written for actors/actresses who didn't have greatest voices, but could manage something if written in a certain way. Many of Sondheim's songs are more spoken than sung, and that is where real singers (or those who like to consider themselves such), get into trouble.

You also have fact few singers outside of theater understand Sondheim's music and thus songs they want or tried to sing. Mr. Sondheim once asked Frank Sinatra what "Send In the Clowns" was about. His answer was "find a girl, lose a girl, send in the clowns...." Clearly the man didn't have a clue, but since song was popular and "everyone was doing it", he thought best give it a shot.

[quote] Ella Fitzgerald, THE GREATEST SINGER EVER

Not bloody likely!

What the fuck is the MR Sondheim shit, R249?

Thank you, r250.

R250

You're joking aren't you?

No sane person would compare jazz or popular singers to classically trained operatic voices; the two are no were near alike.

For this reason one's ears cringe to hear most opera singers attempts at singing jazz, (most) musical theater and popular music standards; it's just not their area. It's like using a sledge hammer to swat a fly.

Operatic singing is basically controlled screaming, hardly suitable for subtle nuances of many jazz or pop standards.

Miss. Joan Sutherland's instrument was so powerful at her prime she couldn't even do messa di voce properly, she just couldn't get things blow foghorn level.

If you don't know "messa di voice", watch and learn

Fuck you, R253. Pompous ass. Go read the subject heading on this thread and tell us where you find the word "jazz."

Not only was she a fabulous artist, she always wore impeccable support garments.

Ella sends me to this other place no matter when or where I hear this.

R254

You're an even bigger ass than previously thought, if that were even possible.

Regardless of if jazz was included in OP title or not, comparing Ella Fitzgerald, or any of other singers mentioned to opera is just foolish.

As pointed out in this thread there are many types of singers and no one is "best" in all categories. No lone instrument has that sort of talent.

R25, Billie and Ella could take the same song and make it their own, though vastly different.

Same with this one...

r256 - That's MY song, bub!

Oh please. The opening gambit was Trolling Statement 101. There is no "greatest singer" ever - the range is too vast. Why not point it out, among all this syrupy hyperbole. I swear old gay men get squishy brains or something.

Your brain will squish too some day, R261.

[quote]"I Remember Sky"

Is that Sarah Brown's big 11 o'clock number in "Guys and Dolls?"

Billie Holiday did not have a great instrument. Her range was narrow and tone often thin and harsh; but man oh man what she could do with a song.

Ms. Holiday sang with an intensity that couldn't had hasn't been matched IMHO. She gave emotions with her songs that not only varied by her own when singing, but were a mixture of complex feelings.

Her "Hush Now Don't Explain" reaches out to those who have ever been there; loving a man you have to share if you want him at all. There's a certain sadness if not disgust with having to "love" a man like that, but Ms. Holiday is clearly as happy that he's back.

Ella probably could do that song and be technically on point, but it just wouldn't be same.

My auditory canals are leaning back and smoking a cigarette from the prolonged eargasm brought on by this thread.

Have a cup of coffee, Della.

Lol! and Smoooches, Doll, r266. I LOVED that.

Anyway, that song earlier posted "Why Was I Born" song by Ella FLOORED me. I had never heard it before.

I too, hear Miss Fitzgerald's technical virtuosity with a lyric, while experiencing a lesser emotional reaction to her sound, but man, hearing "WWIB" by her clutched my heart with bittersweet poignancy.

[quote]Have a cup of coffee, Della.

Well, since you begged, I will do one number!

Hit it, Earl!

*giggling*

You guys are too much.

Miss Faye

What the fuck is this MS Holiday shit, R264???

I guess there's nothing to do and nothing to say

But simply go on my way

And call it a day

I guess I'm ready to go right back on the shelf

Because at last I've learned

Where you're concerned

I've just been fooling myself

June Christy was underrated—like Ella, only smokier.

Case in point...

Ella Fitzgerald doing "Good Morning Heartache"

Now Billie Holiday...

The two women just aren't inhabiting same universe with this song. Even when done with full orchestra/band treatment there is a pain and sorrow that comes through with Billie Holiday.

More in that vein, R275--first Ella bringing the beat up, more wistful than sad, while Billie pulls the band back down to her tempo of lament.

Agree with r273. Love June Christy !

Sarah struggling over the word "Parthenon" in Thanks for the Mammaries. Another Phi Beta Kappa grad of the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music.

Apparently it's one memory, two mammaries.

Are we going to ignore the media's racism in their assessment of black singers? Like when they alleged Billie Holiday didn't understand the meaning of 'Strange Fruit'?

Why was Billie's album, the one with the strings, panned? It's aged very well.

[quote]Why was Billie's album, the one with the strings, panned? It's aged very well.

Her voice was shot by this time, but I actually like the roughness of it on some songs.

Do you have a link about that allegation, R281? Here's an excerpt about the history and impact of Strange Fruit on Holiday and on the public at large.

R282, Ray Ellis and all those strings are a poor mix and contrast, overwhelming Billie's voice at that stage when just a piano and a guitar suited her better. Verve was a much better label for her than Columbia was.

[quote]Are we going to ignore the media's racism in their assessment of black singers?

You're tiring. No one gives a shit.

Try as I may, I've just never liked Holiday's voice.

June Christy's "How High the Moon" (with the Stan Kenton Orchestra)

Rosie!

Love them all........but for me, it all results in Carmen.

get a grip on yourselves, gals

I agree Carmen McRae is one of the greats. I enjoy listening to her more than Ella or Sarah because I am not a fan of vocal improvisation and scatting. Carmen and Dinah are best at straight vocalising.

[Quote]J. Sutherland, M. Callas, L. Pavarotti

R250 Actually, Joan Sutherland performed with Ella Fitzgerald on The Dinah Shore Show, with the three ladies jointly singing Three Little Maids and Lover Come Back. At 2:30, Dinah comedically has the boom man lower the microphone to her and Ella's mouths, since their voices simply cannot compete with Joan's.

Carmen McRae Live at the Dug in Japan. Her best album with her playing the piano. She recorded a lot of junk like "Only Women Bleed".

Friend and I loved seeing her in NYC in the 70s; he loved her for her dykey pants suits. We could only take her in small quantities.

Saw her in a small boîte in Montreal in the 70s; late-night set and everybody was smoking weed and doing coke. She accompanied herself on the piano and was magnificent. Remember her adjusting an earing so matter-of-factly while playing difficult chord progressions.

R293

Thank you for that clip!

Ella Fitzgerald getting up and moving away is a natural reaction from any singer faced with same situation; being blown out of water by a more powerful voice.

I fall into a dream world when she sings Someone to Watch Over Me.

I love Ella of course but the album of hers that really floored me was her "soul' album, SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE. The smooth vocals have been replaced with a gritty, Janis Joplin-esque earthiness that is authentic and unlike anything she had done before.

Her Songbook series are a treasure. Kern is the best and the Arlen series is good, too.

JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS, in theaters April 3 —

[quote] Directed by the award-winning Leslie Woodhead and produced by journalist/novelist Reggie Nadelson, Just One Of Those Things is an intimate look at “The First Lady Of Jazz.” Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with such luminaries as Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, Johnny Mathis, and a rare conversation with Ella’s son Ray Brown, Jr., this documentary traces Ella’s history from her youth on the streets of Harlem and her breakout performance at the famed Apollo Theater to the international renown she achieved as a pioneering jazz vocalist. Narrated by actress/singer Sharon D. Clarke, Just One Of Those Things explores the life of this revolutionary artist, whose musical innovation and spirit broke down barriers of racism and sexism.

Her arms were so small! For God's sake, someone get this woman a cheeseburger!