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List Price: $33.98 | | Label: Polygram Records
Salesrank: 3809
Released: June 24, 1997 |
| Our Price: $24.48 |
| Used Price: $17.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Long considered a jewel in Verve Records' very impressive crown, Fitzgerald's songbook collections of various composers--a series that was started by the success of this set--are all wonderful, but her natural wit and intelligence was at its most perfect with Cole Porter's erudite, urbane songs. While not as scat-oriented as her small group outings, these Porter sets offer her most realized pop performances. Also, the gold remastering does a fine job of bringing out the nuances in the arrangements, making this a treasure for the serious collector and the casual listener alike. A true American music gem. --Skip Heller
Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook Reviews:
Ella never let's us down, hit after hit! 
2009-11-10 - She is indeed our "First Lady of Song", and no one will ever take that
spot from her.
From her first to last song on this CD, she brings life to each Cole Porter treasure, and as usual,
turns each one into a hit. Her rendition of "Miss Otis Regrets", to her light and fun
"Let's Do It" is a real treat and not too be missed.
This is a "must have" for anyone's music library, and too be enjoyed again and again.
No one should be without this collection.
2009-04-06 - So much has already been said about the quality of Ella's performances and Cole's unequivocal song-smithing and the overall artistic merit and completeness of this collection. It's all true and I have little to add, but I will say this: buy this simply for the remastering. It is a stunning example of what a dedicated sound engineer can do to bring forth all of the nuance and delicacy of these songs (and the performances that bring them to stunning life). Have you ever heard an older song used in a film to stunning effect and thought: Gosh, I wish I had a recording of that sing that sounded so dense and alive? (Bob Dylan's Man in Me from The Big Lebowski is my personal favorite) This entire collection sounds just like that. A must have...
Exquisite Ella . . . Perfect Porter
2009-03-02 - In any rational list of the 20th-century's top song-stylists, Ella Fitzgerald would have to rank in the Top 5. Ella had a wonderful, distinct voice and style. Many singers have great skills. Many have perfect pitch and great intonation. But very few singers can use their voice like a fine instrument. Ella was one of those select few.
Apart from having a wonderful voice, Ella was next to incomparable when it came to interpreting lyrics. It is no wonder that lyricists loved her and were ecstatic when she covered one of their songs. It is also no wonder that during the course of her career Ella recorded various "Song Books" in which she took the work of a great composer/lyricist and dedicated an album or two to their work. Ella did Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Rodgers & Hart, the Gershwins', and Jerome Kern song books among others. They are all wonderful to listen to, all 5-star performances (with the possible exception of the Gershwin song book) but my favorite of all her song books is this one: "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book".
Although the first half of the 20th century had a surplus of great songwriters (see the above) there was something about Cole Porter's work that has kept his lyrics fresh and even edgy in the 21st-century. The pairing of Fitzgerald and Porter then is the equivalent of the perfect storm: A lyricist whose lyrics are funny, witty, charming and, yes, poetic; and a singer capable of doing justice to those great lyrics makes for a memorable CD.
This is a 2-CD set. It contains an awful lot of Porter's great songs. Anything Goes, Too Darn Hot, Let's Do it, and I'm Always True to You in My Fashion are my highlights for CD-1. Night and Day, I've Got You Under My Skin, Love for Sale, and You're the Top, top off CD-2. Ella recorded these in 1956 under the auspices of the wonderful producer Norman Granz. Verve Records has restored the masters and the sound quality is excellent for a re-mastered recording.
Cole Porter once said that "In olden days a glimpse of stockings, was looked on as something shocking, Now heaven knows, anything goes." Well, all these decades later these songs go great with anything. You can enjoy them "in the still of the night" or "all through the night". These songs "do something to me" and I can say nothing more than this CD is the tops, it's the Tower of Pisa, it's the smile on the Mona Lisa.
If you can find this available, do yourself a favor and buy it, then sit back and enjoy.
Best Female Vocalist
2007-12-05 - She is the best female vocalist of all time. I have been listening to her since I was a child in the 1970s. When she passed on in the mid 1990s, I was saddened. All the songs in this album is the best of all her song books and other singer's songbooks. Her voice is so marvelous, natural and smooth. She is simply the best and no other vocalists can beat her.
I Love Ella in Paris!
2007-01-30 - I received this CD for Christmas. I never listened to
another Christmas carol after this started playing.
This not only has Ella's great vocals, but it has songs
that everyone, at least everyone of my age, knows
and loves. On a trip to Paris we listened
to it every evening in our apartment while sipping our wine and watching
the barges glide down the Seine. When Ella sang "I Love
Paris", that did it for my friend. She bought it as soon as she got back home.
