Where some albums are a sprint, such as Elvis’s eponymous debut, there are others that are just a marathon. None on the 1001 list fits this bill more so than Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook which at a running time of about 3 and a quarter hours is nearly 20 minutes longer than the second longest album on the list (The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs) which I will also be listening to one day. The strange thing being that both of these albums are ones that I had actually listened to in their entirety before I even began this project. Thus I don’t really feel guilty for listening to these only once. Hurrah!A listening tactic for this album, at least for me, is not to be focussing solely on this album but do something else where music provides an excellent accompaniment. Personally, I decided to start some research on my dissertation for this attempt but before I just had it on my iPod as I went into town one weekend to do some grocery shopping and a bit of a finagle around the shops.
Ella Fitzgerald is, as always, brilliant and versatile but it’s really weird how out of the last four albums there have been three very different forms of female vocaliss. I mean you have Billie Holiday who has emotionality with none of the power and then there was Sarah Vaughan with perfect pitch and control but somehow on the really slow songs such as Embraceable You falls slightly short of what you would expect. Finally we now have Ms. Fitzgerald whose voice is definitely the most captivating of the three. Not because she has a better voice than Sarah Vaughan or a better degree of emotionality than Billie Holiday but because out of the three she is the best at inspiring joy. You listen to songs like Things Are Looking Up and you can not help but dance a little bit in your chair. In my opinion this was where her strength was truly found.
I understand that this album is more of a 3CD collection rather than one continuous work, or at least I hope it is. As no matter how amazing Ella is, after a while you drift in and out of noticing it. After all, when I watch long-ass films such as Gone With The Wind I need to take a brief respite half-way through to recharge my batteries so I can pay attention again. This is a tactic that I took here and I believe that it helped me to enjoy the album more.
However, there are many songs that could easily be left out for the sake of the sameness. Yet this can not be done since this is Ella singing the Gerswin Songbook in what I believe is almost in it’s entirety. This as such provides the album’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. Therefore the rating may not be as high as it could be, or I would like it to be considering the talent on offer here, but it can not be as high as Lady In Satin, At Mister Kelly’s or Song’s For Swingin’ Lovers as it is such a mountain to climb and the idea of a complete re-listen is rather daunting and to be honest a bit of a turn-off.
8.0/10
Fab Four:
Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off
Things Are Looking Up
Stiff Upper Lip
I Got Rhythm
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