Best of Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song

Performer: Ella Fitzgerald
Engineer: Val Valentin
Producer: Norman Granz
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals), Louis Armstrong (vocals, trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Charlie Parker, Bill Doggett (alto saxophones), Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Stuff Smith (violin), Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Tommy Flannagan, Oscar Peterson (piano), Jim Hall, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel (guitars). Includes previously unreleased material. This is packaged in a hardcover book that contains more than sixty pages of essays on Ella Fitzgerald's life and music, as well as photographs and reproductions of all her Verve LP cover art. THE BEST OF ELLA FITZGERALD: FIRST LADY OF SONG contains highlights from the FIRST LADY OF SONG 3-CD set on Verve (517 898). Personnel: Ella Fitzgerald (vocals). Liner Note Author: Geoffrey Mark Fidelman. Comprising 16 of the 51 tracks (one-third) from the original First Lady of Song three-CD collection, this edited single disc is for those disinclined to purchase the full set or complete works. It might be advisable first to search for any full album sides of specific sessions or tributes to composers that Ella Fitzgerald had done, but this smaller compilation does contain some of her better songs, falling short of an essential greatest-hits or best-of effort. Such all-time classics as "Can't We Be Friends?," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'," "Baby, Don't You Go 'Way Mad," "I Won't Dance," and "Don't Be That Way" are definitive Ella, and are included. The bargain hunter in you might find this at a good price, but saving up for the larger sets should be your aim. ~ Michael G. Nastos This attractive three-CD set gives listeners an overview of Ella Fitzgerald's Verve recordings, although the inclusion of seven previously unissued cuts (in addition to 44 that are mostly available in more complete form elsewhere) will frustrate some completists. However the careful selection of representative performances along with the informative and lengthy text make this highly enjoyable reissue (which captures her in prime form) recommended even to collectors who have most of the singer's albums. ~ Scott Yanow Comprising 16 of the 51 tracks (one-third) from the original First Lady of Song three-CD collection, this edited single disc is for those disinclined to purchase the full set or complete works. It might be advisable first to search for any full album sides of specific sessions or tributes to composers that Ella Fitzgerald had done, but this smaller compilation does contain some of her better songs, falling short of an essential greatest-hits or best-of effort. Such all-time classics as "Can't We Be Friends?," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'," "Baby, Don't You Go 'Way Mad," "I Won't Dance," and "Don't Be That Way" are definitive Ella, and are included. The bargain hunter in you might find this at a good price, but saving up for the larger sets should be your aim. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Entertainment Weekly (4/30/93, p.53) - "...FIRST LADY OF SONG is as much a tribute to [Verve founder] Norman Granz--and the overlooked role of marketing in the careers of aesthetic icons like Fitzgerald--as it is to the work of Granz's client..." - Rating: A Q (7/93, p.106) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...By the '50s, the voice was in its prime: richly resonant and poised, and ready to record the definitive versions of the great American songbooks (Gershwin, Porter, Arlen etc.)...well chosen..." JazzTimes (8/93, p.63) - "...[FIRST LADY OF SONG] makes one hell of an initial visual impact....the sound reproduction is generally good..."

Through unparalleled ability and judicious choice of repertoire, Ella Fitzgerald became the foremost female interpreter of the 20th-century Great American Popular Song Book. With producer Norman Granz she worked on the "songbook" series, placing on record definitive performances of the work of America's leading songwriters. Fitzgerald had a wide vocal range, but her voice retained a youthful, light vibrancy throughout the greater part of her career, bringing a fresh and appealing quality to most of her material, especially her scat singing. While there are still numerous excellent artists whose work has been strongly influenced by Fitzgerald, the social and artistic conditions that helped to create America's First Lady of Song no longer exist, and it seems highly unlikely that we shall ever see or hear her like again.

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