Your favorite Ella Fitzgerald's song and why.
By joshua_w
@joshua_w (501)
Malaysia
August 27, 2007 5:02am CST
This is my second music post after some time. Music remains my favorite post but it doesn't seem to attract much discussion on it. Interested to see if there are any Ella Fitzgerald's music lover out there in Mylot.
First started listening seriously to Ella's music about a year ago. It was many, many years ago when i first heard a voice. A voice i was unfamiliar with on the local radio station (it was a chinese station, by the way). The voice was so captivating that i couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. I was eager to find out the name of the singer. Finally, the DJ announced it was none other than the First Lady of Song. It wasn't until a year ago that i really had the chance to listen to her songs.
What struck one most was the voice. It was so warm and intimate. You could hear every word, every nuance she sing, clearly. And it was pitch perfect too, i believe. She doesn't possess those "big" voices you hear in most of today's female singer from the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston or Shakira. Or even the great Aretha Franklin. But she sings from her heart and the emotions which flowed from her every song was affecting. Many artists today seem to have forgotten that music is about emotion. Most seem too keen to show off their impressive vocal abilities than to convey heartfelt emotion.
My favorite song of her at the moment (as i had only listened to her earlier works, in singles form mostly, from the late 30's to early 50's) would have to be "How long has this been going on" and "Someone to watch over me". "How Long" is the kind of love song that is sung so intimately. The subtle shades of innocence in her voice is rarely heard in today's singer. "Someone to watch over me" is just too beautiful for words. The way she cooed "I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood". The way she hung on to her every words makes for a very hypnotic listen everytime and makes one wish the world was not so complicated. Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Sometimes our mind makes it difficult to understand simple things. Incidentally, both song were written by the Gershwin brothers, George and Ira. And it's a rather sad realisation that if an artists were to sing this way today, not many people would listen to them. She clearly belong to another era.
I do not know of anyone personally who have listened or like her music. Many have not even heard of her. Don't know if this will receive any reply but if there are anyone here who shares a love for Ella's music and who see this, your thoughts and comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
2 people like this
4 responses
@wonderful1 (2075)
• China
27 Aug 07
i like music very much, and i often post discussions and responses with listening to music.
Ella Fitzgerald, i had never heard of it. can u introduce it to me. is it a man or a woman? where is it from?
what kind of music he/she sings?
have you heard some Chinese music? there are some good music, but i don't think you can know its meaning.
3 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
27 Aug 07
Ella Fitzgerald had a great voice and was an enormous talent. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of people listening to that kind of music these days, and her voice would be under-appreciated by those who listen to the likes of Fergie, et al.
You didn't mention Ella's scat singing! If you can find it anywhere, you should listen to an album she did with Louis Armstrong, although I cannot remember the name of the album, I think it was pretty simple. Just Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, or something like that.
If you like Ella, have you listened to Sara Vaughn? Etta James?
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
28 Aug 07
You just named 3 of my all-time favorite singers when you said Ella, Sara and Etta. They sure don't make them like that any more.
2 people like this
@joshua_w (501)
• Malaysia
28 Aug 07
Fergie of Black-Eyed Peas, i would presume? No offence to her as a person, but would not think of her work or those of her group as music. Product for the masses maybe but music is more than looking sexy and showing skins (although can't argue she "may" be good to look at).
Yes, i do know of Ella's famous scat singing although i'd only listened to a few, actually. And i'd read some articles that said Louis Armstrong actually liked working with her because she's so easy to get along with. I'd heard of Sara Vaughn and Etta James but had not the privilege to listen to any of their music yet.
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
27 Aug 07
Ella's Someone to Watch Over Me is one of my all time favorites. Here is someone else who sang that song, someone you probably never heard of, but even though she is 80 years old people still travel all over the world to hear one of her live performances:
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist.aspx?ob=per&src=prd&aid=2983
From that link it is possible to hear samples of her music, but Napster has a very large collection of her songs as well.
You probably like Billie Holiday's songs, too, am I right?
2 people like this
@joshua_w (501)
• Malaysia
28 Aug 07
Really. We seem to share some similar musical preference here. I'd check the website you provided and you were right, i have not heard of Dearie before. Noticed the Verve label was also one of Ella's previous record company. I'll try to look around there when i have the time. There's a lot of very good artists that people have never heard of, especially jazz artists.
Yes, i loved Lady Day's song too. Her voice and her life is another thing altogether. A voice full of emotion that is so sad at the same time. Her love song is made more tragic by her voice. Her life was a tragic one too, dying alone in a hospital. Perhaps we could discuss her song in another day.
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