Ella Fitzgerald sings “Elvis, Elvis Presley…” (1957)

[pmp]

Thanks to pmp for insightful thoughts on Ella's work , talents and attitude to music . It seems she was very
responsive to songs recorded by The Beatles . That's understandable considering their impact in the latter
part of the sixties .
But I'd like to mention that she also recorded a lot of songs we associate with Mama Presley's son . Songs like ,
Crying In The Chapel , See See Rider , Dixie ( the first part of American Trilogy ), Fools Rush In and
Winter Wonderland .

Of course , all of can be considered standards or evergreens . Likewise , Ella recorded some Gospel songs and
Christmas songs that also was covered by Elvis .

I completely forgot about See See Rider and Crying in the Chapel. I can't think of the last time I played These are the Blues, the album that See See Rider comes from. Jazz organ just drives me nuts, and it never lets up on that one!

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on Ella up-thread, pmp, but didn't want to quote a long post. You mentioned three recently released concerts - I'm aware of the Hollywood Bowl set, but what are the other two? Thanks.

A performance from 1959 came out just before Christmas on the Steeplechase label. Steeplechase are a jazz label in Denmark, and have only recently started releasing new "archive" concerts again after a very long break. The date on the front cover is a mistake; it should say April instead of May.

716043650323.jpg

The other one came out on Friday of this last week, and is the first CD release of her performance at Montreux in 1969. Not a new concert as such as it had been on DVD before, but this is the first time on CD, and in much better sound. This one is issued by Universal/Mercury.

s-l1600 (7).jpg

Ella's shows were often taped for radio broadcast, or broadcast live, and Norman Granz made many more recordings of his acts than he needed at the time, and many of those broadcasts and tapes have appeared over the years, both through the major labels and companies specialising in the release of such out of copyright material in Europe, generally getting the tapes directly from the radio stations. Which is why the PD laws here are extremely precious, as much of the music would never have seen the light of day.

The following is from a performance of I Can't Give You Anything But Love in 1969, some twelve years after the Newport show. As you can hear, she continued the "ad libs" even all that time later. You can hear the references to Elvis at 2.50. I must try to find a copy of that CD, I might add, as this release sounds far superior to the one I have.

[londonflash]

Thank you @pmp. I've not ventured far beyond the 50s / early 60s with Ella but it sounds like there's lots to explore.

[drjohncarpenter]

There's an Ella tune that one may argue influenced a teen-ager named Elvis.

Our own George Smith made the case back in 2012:

As I wrote, I've been following up some research on the "Elvis Inspiration" angle. Here are my thoughts regarding some of the early ballads.

1 My Happiness
I'm happy to acknowledge that Elvis knew the Jon and Sondra Steele version but vocally I'm pretty sure he was drawing from Ella Fitzgerald's release from the same year. Listen to Elvis' occasional "slip-note" vocals - he's copying Ella. The giveaway is during Ella's final "there'll be no blue memories then" (2:48): Elvis can be heard to copy this quite clearly. In fact, during the whole of his performance he seems to be almost parodying (in the nicest possible sense) Ella's sexy drawl. If my conclusions are correct (and I think they are) it's interesting to note that Elvis is copying a black female artist who is an exceptionally talented Singer.

ELLA 1948







ELVIS 1953

[splanky]

In this thread we have seen a lot of examples of Ella liking a lot of the songs that The Beatles made , but also that she
appreciated Elvis Presley . She performed on the the Jackie Gleason Stage Show on February ,11 1956 which was also the
third appearance of Elvis on that show . The show was hosted by the The Dorsey Brothers , therefore it is sometimes
called The Dorsey Show.

What would be really interesting to know is whether there was any meeting between Ella and Elvis , and if there are
any pictures of the two together in existence . The Doc pointed to the fact that the kinescope of Ella's perfomance has
not yet been found .

That Ella continued to be fascinated by Elvis later on , is evidenced by the fact that Ella wrote a song high-lighting
Elvis Presley's contribution to the new youth culture way back in the fifties .
More on that later .

[drjohncarpenter]

In this thread we have seen a lot of examples of Ella liking a lot of the songs that The Beatles made , but also that she
appreciated Elvis Presley . She performed on the the Jackie Gleason Stage Show on February ,11 1956 which was also the
third appearance of Elvis on that show . The show was hosted by the The Dorsey Brothers , therefore it is sometimes
called The Dorsey Show.

What would be really interesting to know is whether there was any meeting between Ella and Elvis , and if there are
any pictures of the two together in existence . The Doc pointed to the fact that the kinescope of Ella's perfomance has
not yet been found .

That Ella continued to be fascinated by Elvis later on , is evidenced by the fact that Ella wrote a song high-lighting
Elvis Presley's contribution to the new youth culture way back in the fifties .
More on that later .

The variety program was always titled "Stage Show."

551001_Stage Show opening title.jpg

Stage Show (TV series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_Show_%28TV_series%29



However, as it was produced by Jackie Gleason Enterprises, and linked to his thirty-minute, single-season, filmed edition of "The Honeymooners," sometimes folks used his name when mentioning it. Elvis himself did this, you can hear this during some of his summer 1969 monologues on stage in Vegas.

There are no known photos or stories of Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis together. I have no doubt he was extremely courteous when they crossed paths backstage. And of course, that was the night he finally debuted his new RCA single, using a very jazz-infused arrangement to boot.






Elvis Presley "Heartbreak Hotel" (CBS-TV's "Stage Show" - Saturday, February 11, 1956)
Network debut of his new single, on his third appearance. He also debuted his cover of "Blue Suede Shoes."
Other guests were singer Ella Fitzgerald and comedian Jackie Miles.
Trumpet solo by Charlie Shavers.




Thank goodness that amalgam was never used again.

[splanky]

In a couple of posts I have mentioned that Ella was happy to record some songs made by The Beatles .
Not only that , but she also paid tribute to the so-called new music for the younger generation in a
song that she created herself and put on the B-side of a fairly rare single release in the latter part of the 60's .
Ella wrote in the song about her enthusiasm for the new trends in modern music the following line :

"It started back with Elvis and his Gibson guitar " !

Quite heavy , if you ask me , but it's really a tribute to the new rhythms that were popular among
young people in the the 50's and 60's .

[drjohncarpenter]

In a couple of posts I have mentioned that Ella was happy to record some songs made by The Beatles .
Not only that , but she also paid tribute to the so-called new music for the younger generation in a song that she created herself and put on the B-side of a fairly rare single release in the latter part of the 60's .
Ella wrote in the song about her enthusiasm for the new trends in modern music the following line :

"It started back with Elvis and his Gibson guitar " !

Quite heavy , if you ask me , but it's really a tribute to the new rhythms that were popular among young people in the the 50's and 60's .

Well, it certainly was cute.

It started back with Elvis and his Gibson guitar
Chubby Checker went a-twistin' and became a star
Then along came a drummer with the Beatles four
He beat a kinda rhythm and they clamored for more

Of that Ringo beat, yeah yeah yeah
That Ringo beat, yeah yeah

Ella Fitzgerald "Ringo Beat" (Verve 10340, December 5, 1964)





The single did not chart, but did get a B+ in Cash Box!

Also, be sure to look at one of the "Newcomer Picks," a rock classic from a new, young U.K. quartet.

ELLA FITZGERALD (Verve 10340)
RINGO BEAT (1:52) [Lynstorm, ASCAP — Fitzgerald]

Ella Fitzgerald pays a musical tribute to the music of the younger generation on this swingin’ self-penned uptempo chorus-backed jazzy item complete with yeah, yeah yeah’s. Tune, which was sung on a recent Ed Sullivan TV’er, could break quickly.

(B+)

Cash Box - December 19, 1964

'

[splanky]

You found the right song ,Doc.

Ella wrote the song herself . The full title of the song is That Ringo Beat , but on the single release I have got
it only says Ringo Beat , just like Cash Box says .
Ella recorded the song on Oct 23 , 1964 at Radio Recorders , Los Angeles , studios that Elvis used a lot.

[pmp]

The B-side of Ringo Beat was much better, I think, and was written by Barney Kessel (both sides were arranged by him), who played on several Elvis soundtrack sessions.

[FRENCHGUY]

Thanks for these links with Elvis in these live renditions of I can't give you anything but love. Very interesting.
Regarding Ringo Beat, I remember very well that the song could be heard back then on radio Europe 1 but I didn't notice the sentence mentioning Elvis (my english was too poor in my teenager's years).
While I never was a fan of her scat singing (hear her version of Mack the Knife in Berlin 1960 for example), there are plenty of her other recordings I truly cherish, including her great covers of up-tempo songs made famous by others like Cow Cow Boogie or Come on my House.
And when it comes to deep emotions and greatness, listen to her famous duet with Armstrong on Summertime...

[splanky]

It seems to be difficult to find other connections between Ella and Elvis than those that have been
pointed out in previous posts . I was hoping to learn more about Ella's TV appearance on Stage Show
on February 11, 1956 , since that show was the third time Elvis appeared on Stage Show .

The few other songs that both of them sang include such standards as :
The First Nöel , O Come All Ye Faithful , Silent Night , Silver Bells , White Christmas , Winter Wonderland ,
O Little Town Of Bethlehem , Alrigt Okay, You Win , I Shall Not Be Moved , Happy Birthday ,
Just A Closer Walk With Thee ,Tennessee Waltz , and finally When The Saints Go Marchin' In.

There might be others , so hopefully , someone could could " come to the rescue" and mention them.

[drjohncarpenter]

It seems to be difficult to find other connections between Ella and Elvis than those that have been
pointed out in previous posts . I was hoping to learn more about Ella's TV appearance on Stage Show
on February 11, 1956 , since that show was the third time Elvis appeared on Stage Show .

The few other songs that both of them sang include such standards as :
The First Nöel , O Come All Ye Faithful , Silent Night , Silver Bells , White Christmas , Winter Wonderland ,
O Little Town Of Bethlehem , Alrigt Okay, You Win , I Shall Not Be Moved , Happy Birthday ,
Just A Closer Walk With Thee ,Tennessee Waltz , and finally When The Saints Go Marchin' In.

There might be others , so hopefully , someone could could " come to the rescue" and mention them.

"Happy Birthday"?

You're reaching for connections that don't exist.

[splanky]

[splanky]

The title seemed so familiar and intrinsicly connected with Elvis , and it's a good song .
Elvis also admired The Ink Spots and copied some of their mannerisms .