Early Morning Open Thread - [Niedermeyer's Dead Horse]

Good morning.

I've been listening to a lot of Billie Holiday lately and, I am ashamed to admit, I've never paid due attention to Ella Fitzgerald. Sure, I have a few of her hits on my IPhone, but I haven't immersed myself in her music.

A little while ago I bought one of her CDs and have become so beguiled by her ease and talent and so annoyed (to say the least) that I've only, really, recently come to know her music. I now regret every wasted 3+ minutes I've spent listening to the latest pop wretch when I could have been listening to Ms. Fitzgerald.

It's a funny thing, however, that her talent is so immense that one has the feeling that if she had simply stood on stage, her mouth agape, that the vocals would have flowed through her without effort. A certain type of snobbery pokes at me that "She just isn't working for it." As a fan of Holiday, I think that, perhaps, it's the lack of the gut-wrenching drama that's missing but, HEY!, isn't music about love and joy as well?

And the lyrics... Oh my! Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is terrific storytelling.

Take that Katy Perry. How about a left hook, Beyonce?!

Keep singing about your ass. I feel less than confident that anyone will be waxing rhapsodic about you 50 years from now. In 75 years, nobody will remember you, but new generations will still sing along with these incredible talents.

Now, for the other end of the spectrum. Want proof of how phenomenal Ella was at her craft?

Compare.

Have a lovely day, folks.

posted by Open Blogger at 07:31 AM

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