100 years of Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald would have turned a hundred years old last April 25. To commemorate the event, recordings she made for the Verve and Decca labels were compiled together in four re-mastered discs with excellent sound quality in the album Ella Fitzgerald: 100 Years For A Centennial. It is a prized package that costs almost two thousand bucks but a great gift for anybody who ever enjoyed Ella’s expressive vocals, her precise delivery, her sweet, perfect tones. 

I also strongly recommend this, or any of Ella’s other recordings, for anybody who enjoys the wonderful experience of listening to beautiful music. We do not get much of those nowadays. And I guarantee that anybody who gets a listen of Ella will end up mesmerized. The collection is not perfect. Truth to tell, I believe that another album with 100 cuts can be easily put together with those recordings that are not included in this one. 

Still I say, check out the line-up. Listen and be in awe of greatness.

Disc 1: Sing Me A Swing Song (and Let Me Dance) If You Can’t Sing It, You’ll Have To Swing It, Dedicated To You, Big Boy Blue, I Got A Guy, A-Tisket A Tasket, I Found My Yellow Basket, MacPherson Is Rehearsin’ To Swing, F.D.R. Jones, Undecided, I Want The Waiter (With The Water), Imagination, Five O’Clock Whistle, Cow-Cow Boogie, When My Sugar Walks Down The Street, I’m Making Believe, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine, I’m Beginning To See The Light, It’s Only A Paper Moon, You Won’t Be Satisfied Until You Break My Heart, Stone Cold Dead In The Market (He Had It Coming), I Love You For Sentimental Reasons, My Happiness, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

Disc 2: Lady Be Good, That Old Feeling, I Hadn’t Anyone till You, Black Coffee, Soon, There Never Was A Baby Like My Baby, Walking By The River, Taking A Chance On Love, Until The Real Thing Comes Along, You Leave Me Breathless, Lullaby Of Birdland, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, It Might As Well Be Spring, Miss Otis Regrets, You Do Something To Me, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Moonlight In Vermont, Cheek To Cheek, Manhattan, Thou Swell, I Wish I Were In Love Again, Blue Moon, In My Solitude, Comes Love, I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.

Disc 3: Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off, In A Mellow Tone, I Never Had A Chance, What Will I Tell My Heart, Summertime, Little White Lies, You Hit The Spot, You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me, Let’s Face The Music And Dance, Isn’t This a Lovely Day To Be Caught In The Rain, Putting On The Ritz, You Make Me Feel So Young, Moonlight Becomes You, Let’s Fall In Love, My Old Flame, They All Laughed, I Can’t Be Bothered, My One And Only, I Got Rhythm, Stairway To The Stars, Misty, Hooray For Love, Out Of This World, Come Rain Or Come Shine, Stella By Starlight.

Disc 4: I Hear Music, Love Me Or Leave Me, Hallelujah I Love Him So, The Very Thought Of You, Warm All Over, Almost Like Being In Love, All The Things You Are, A Fine Romance, Yesterdays, Honesuckle Rose, Sunny Side Of The Street, Tea For Two, Trouble In Mind, See See Rider, Can’t Buy Me Love, Sweetest Sounds, Skylark, Something’s Gotta Give, Dream, Cotton Tail, Duke’s Place, Something To Live For, Whisper Not, Time After Time and Mack The Knife.

Ella came from the school of hard knocks. Her impoverished childhood turned from bad to worse after her mother died and she had to stay with relatives and try to earn a living. She was homeless for a while and even worked as a lookout for a brothel. She was 17 when it was discovered that she could sing and this marked the start of an illustrious career that saw her at the top of her game with a singing style deemed unsurpassed to this day.

Ella fell ill from complications due to diabetes in her later years. Both of her legs had to be amputated. She suffered from failing eyesight. She was frequently in the hospital for heart and respiratory problems for several years. She was 79 years old when she died in her Los Angeles mansion on June 15, 1976.