![]() I’m sure she had a good sense of humour in her personal life but when singing she was always very straight and that leaves this tribute album trapped by a misfortune rare in music and often seen in film: miscasting. ![]() Ella was never a playgirl – she was fully “girl next door” material right up to the Sings Gershwin album, and a lady ever after. Which brings me to Ella Fitzgerald, and more importantly, Ella’s persona. However, it is important to remember that Cole lived an extravagant playboy lifestyle, one which is reflected in every one of his songs – above all else he sought to entertain, flaunting his cleverness at every opportunity. Much of his work hinges on displays of wit but he could also write some of the most emotionally intense numbers in the Songbook, often hinged on overwhelming and frustrated desire. Lyrically, he could be astonishingly clever with word games and sly phrases – but he could also be embarrassingly stupid with the same technique. A song like ‘Anything Goes’ or ‘Begin the Beguine’ inspires a cheerful disposition any time I hear them. He wrote truly fabulous melodies, some of them so good it hardly even matters who sings them provided they leave the melody alone. I don’t think I can rate it so highly though.Ĭole Porter (1891 -1964) was one of the greatest songwriters of the early 20th Century. The Songbook series was one of the biggest things on the late 50s market, a cementing of The Great American Songbook as cultural heritage and probably the reason Ella Fitzgerald became the female equivalent to Frank Sinatra as the “voice of jazz.” The albums were a huge crossover success in the pop market and the first one in the series, Ella Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, is always high on the list of greatest albums of 1956. ![]() Interesting that the colour palette is dominated by salmon and teal. Black turtleneck, hand on hip, sideways glance – Ella’s got the moves down. Cover critique: Very hipsteresque, which is funny on such a conservative, commercial record. ![]()
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