Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 30, 1996)
• Original Release Date: January 30, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000004711
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,075 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Ella recorded five LPs' worth of Gershwin tunes for her songbook series, which was frankly a little much, so this single disc skims the cream. These songs are the ur-texts of American pre-war pop, straightforward love songs made to flow off a singer's tongue, and here they're in the hands of a master. Nelson Riddle's arrangements tend toward the soupy side--the bombastic string sections are distinctly nonjazz--but Ella, as always, sings with absolute taste and authority. She doesn't seem to be living inside the lyrics the way she does with, say, the Cole Porter songbook, but the simplicity of the Gershwins' melodies and sentiments let her get across some gently nuanced, technically exquisite singing. --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh Lady Be Good is BETTER Than Good!, July 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook (Audio CD)

For those who want to hear Ella weave her magic in crisp, sparkling STEREO this is one of the VERY best of her many CDs. On this one she performs a unique, slow-tempo "Oh Lady Be Good" (that's right, SLOW and MELLOW as you've never heard it before and as only she could do it - and this alone is worth the price of admission). All the other top Gershwin goodies ("A Foggy Day", "But not For Me", "The Man I Love", etc.) are enhanced by Nelson Riddle's incomparable arrangements recorded in magnificent wrap-around sound that puts you right in front row center. So buckle up. This is a thrill-ride you'll want to experience again and again and again!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He loves, and she loves, and they all love this CD!, July 10, 2000

By 

Jon Hill (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook (Audio CD)

This is one of the top collections of Ella Fitzgerald. Her smooth voice brings such joy when you hear her sing "I Got Rhythym." The best song on this CD is probably "Someone To Watch Over Me," which is an absolutely lovely song. It almost makes you cry. I highly recommend that you buy this CD if you are interested in Ella Fitzgerald; this is some of her top work.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Share this lovely masterpiece with the one you love., July 31, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Eden Prairie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oh Lady Be Good: Best of Gershwin Songbook (Audio CD)

Her intonation, timing and sweet delivery are astonishing on this CD. Superb pop/swing arrangements by Nelson Riddle. Beautiful, romantic and entertaining. I don't care who you are, you will regard this as one of the greatest CDs you have ever heard. Not pure jazz like her other "must have" CD's, but this collection of superb Gershwin tunes is her most beautiful.

The liner notes included with this CD sum it up perfectly: "If, as is widely believed, Ella Fitzgerald is the best female jazz singer... her songbook albums constitute her best work... the Gershwin volume is the best of the songbook series and... this is the best of the Gershwin collection, then what you have here is the best of the best of the best of the best."