Search - Ella Fitzgerald :: Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald
Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists

Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
1. Fascinating Rhythm
2. 'S Wonderful
3. Someone to Watch over Me
4. He Loves and She Loves
5. Oh, Lady, Be Good!
6. A Foggy Day
7. How Long Has This Been Going On?
8. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
9. But for Me
10. My One & Only
11. I've Got a Crush on You
12. Nice Work if You Can Get It
13. The Man I Love
14. Funny Face
15. Embraceable You
16. They Can't Take That Away From Me
17. I Got Rhythm

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CD Details

All Artists: Ella Fitzgerald
Title: Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 2
Label: Polygram Records
Original Release Date: 1/30/1996
Release Date: 1/30/1996
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Swing Jazz, Traditional Jazz & Ragtime, Vocal Jazz, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Classic Vocalists, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
Other Editions: Oh, Lady, Be Good! Best of the Gershwin Songbook
UPCs: 731452958129, 0731452958129

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording

Ella recorded five LPs' worth of Gershwin tunes for her songbook series, which was frankly a little much, so this single disc skims the cream. These songs are the ur-texts of American pre-war pop, straightforward love songs made to flow off a singer's tongue, and here they're in the hands of a master. Nelson Riddle's arrangements tend toward the soupy side--the bombastic string sections are distinctly nonjazz--but Ella, as always, sings with absolute taste and authority. She doesn't seem to be living inside the lyrics the way she does with, say, the Cole Porter songbook, but the simplicity of the Gershwins' melodies and sentiments let her get across some gently nuanced, technically exquisite singing. --Douglas Wolk

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Member CD Reviews

Alton C. from RAPID CITY, SD
Reviewed on 5/9/2009...

Absolutely outstanding! I give every song on this CD at least four stars and most are five. Classic Ella. I have been searching for another female vocalist who even comes close to this beautiful voice and have yet to find one. Dianna Krall, Norah Jones, and Trintje Oosterhuis come close, but can't touch this lady!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

CD Reviews

Oh Lady Be Good is BETTER Than Good!

07/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those who want to hear Ella weave her magic in crisp, sparkling STEREO this is one of the VERY best of her many CDs. On this one she performs a unique, slow-tempo "Oh Lady Be Good" (that's right, SLOW and MELLOW as you've never heard it before and as only she could do it - and this alone is worth the price of admission). All the other top Gershwin goodies ("A Foggy Day", "But not For Me", "The Man I Love", etc.) are enhanced by Nelson Riddle's incomparable arrangements recorded in magnificent wrap-around sound that puts you right in front row center. So buckle up. This is a thrill-ride you'll want to experience again and again and again!"

The Best of the Best....

nabbott6 | Scottsdale, AZ United States | 09/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ella's voice is part of my childhood. She and George Gershwin played my lullabies. Not a bad introduction to music. Even now when I can't sleep I bring her back and let her sing in my head. Was there ever anything as lovely as Ella's voice? Everything falls away except the for the pure magic of her voice, the orchestra soaring...
This CD comes as close to the old "Ella Sings Gershwin" LP my parents had that I have found. Only "Clap a'Yo Hands" is missing. These are songs you love to listen to and love to sing. All my life I'll be grateful that Ella taught me how to sing! How can you not sing when you hear "Someone to Watch Over Me"? "The Man I Love"? How sweet is "I've Got a Crush on You"? I feel like I've just found buried treasure! I've got more Ella recordings that anything else in my collection, but like the CD itself says, "The Best of the Best of the Best of the Best." It's fabulous to have the all these amazing songs on one CD.
I just got myself a great present. You should get one too!"

He loves, and she loves, and they all love this CD!

Jon Hill | Chapel Hill, NC United States | 07/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the top collections of Ella Fitzgerald. Her smooth voice brings such joy when you hear her sing "I Got Rhythym." The best song on this CD is probably "Someone To Watch Over Me," which is an absolutely lovely song. It almost makes you cry. I highly recommend that you buy this CD if you are interested in Ella Fitzgerald; this is some of her top work."

Share this lovely masterpiece with the one you love.

toddcarlsen@earthlink.net | Eden Prairie | 08/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Her intonation, timing and sweet delivery are astonishing on this CD. Superb pop/swing arrangements by Nelson Riddle. Beautiful, romantic and entertaining. I don't care who you are, you will regard this as one of the greatest CDs you have ever heard. Not pure jazz like her other "must have" CD's, but this collection of superb Gershwin tunes is her most beautiful.The liner notes included with this CD sum it up perfectly: "If, as is widely believed, Ella Fitzgerald is the best female jazz singer... her songbook albums constitute her best work... the Gershwin volume is the best of the songbook series and... this is the best of the Gershwin collection, then what you have here is the best of the best of the best of the best.""

Ella 'S wonderful...

sanstv | 09/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Perfection. Ella Fitzgerald at the height of her immense powers. She was fortunate to have orchestrations by Nelson Riddle, who was also at the top of his game. Ella was the greatest interpreter of show tunes (only Frank Sinatra was her equal in this regard), and her voice is silk on this CD. " 'S Wonderful" is wonderful; "Facinating Rhythm" gives me shivers. "But Not For Me" is both heartbreaking and joyous, and her version of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is the best ever -- except for the duet she did with of it with Louis Armstrong. This is not for people who want an introduction to Ella's jazz singing -- you won't hear her scat on this recording. But it is a great introduction to her singing, and it's less intimidating than the entire three-disc set of all the Gershwin tunes."