More Joy: Ella in Berlin

[marycrawford]

sdwolfpup has declared today More Joy Day, and I like the idea very much, and seeing all the cheerful things posted on my flist.

I've posted this song before, a year or two ago, but it's still my #1 song for an instant mood lift. I hope it makes some of you smile, too.

This is Ella Fitzgerald, during an electrifying live performance in Berlin, singing Mack The Knife. Bobby Darin had just had a hit with his jazz version of it, I think, and as she says in the intro, "We haven't heard a girl sing it, and since it's so popular we'd like to try and do it for you; we hope we remember all the words."

Ella singing Mack The Knife in Berlin (at Mediafire, 5.2 Mb)

Things start off well, and then after the first four verses the fireworks begin when Ella loses the lyrics.

I'd think if I were a singer this would be a nightmare. Ella, however, turns it into a fantastic impromptu performance: she makes up her own lyrics on the fly (and they RHYME - my favorite is "And now Ella, Ella/And her fellas/Are making a wreck/Of Mack the Knife", how awesome is that?), and she does a really uncannily good imitation of Louis Armstrong, and the whole thing is just full of joy and the sheer delight of winging it and turning a mistake into something exhilarating.

(These are the real lyrics.)

Comments

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! And oh, yeah, that one is awesome too - so happy and, well, joyous. Ella is just amazing.