Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. All Through the Night
2. Anything Goes
3. Miss Otis Regrets
4. Too Darn Hot
5. In the Still of the Night
6. I Get a Kick Out of You
7. Do I Love You?
8. Always True to You in My Fashion
9. Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)
10. Just One of Those Things
11. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
12. All of You
13. Begin the Beguine
14. Get Out of Town
15. I Am in Love
16. From This Moment On

Disc 2:

1. I Love Paris
2. You Do Something to Me
3. Ridin' High
4. Easy to Love
5. It's All Right With Me
6. Why Can't You Behave?
7. What Is This Thing Called Love?
8. You're the Top
9. Love for Sale
10. It's De-Lovely
11. Night and Day
12. Ace in the Hole
13. So in Love
14. I've Got You Under My Skin
15. I Concentrate on You
16. Don't Fence Me In
17. You're the Top
18. I Concentrate on You
19. Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

Disc 3:

1. Have You Met Miss Jones?
2. You Took Advantage of Me
3. Ship Without a Sail
4. To Keep My Love Alive
5. Dancing on the Ceiling
6. Lady Is a Tramp
7. With a Song in My Heart
8. Manhattan
9. Johnny One Note
10. I Wish I Were in Love Again
11. Spring Is Here
12. It Never Entered My Mind
13. This Can't Be Love
14. Thou Swell
15. My Romance
16. Where or When
17. Little Girl Blue

Disc 4:

1. Give It Back to the Indians
2. Ten Cents a Dance
3. There's a Small Hotel
4. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
5. Ev'rything I've Got
6. I Could Write a Book
7. Blue Room
8. My Funny Valentine
9. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
10. Mountain Greenery
11. Wait Till You See Her
12. Lover
13. Isn't It Romantic?
14. Here in My Arms
15. Blue Moon
16. My Heart Stood Still
17. I've Got Five Dollars
18. Lover

Disc 5:

1. Rockin' in Rhythm
2. Drop Me off in Harlem
3. Day Dream
4. Caravan
5. Take the "A" Train
6. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues
7. Clementine
8. I Didn't Know About You
9. I'm Beginning to See the Light
10. Lost in Meditation
11. Perdido
12. Cotton Tail
13. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me

Disc 6:

1. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
2. Solitude
3. Rocks in My Bed
4. Satin Doll
5. Sophisticated Lady
6. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
7. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
8. Azure
9. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
10. In a Sentimental Mood
11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
12. Prelude to a Kiss
13. Mood Indigo
14. In a Mellow Tone
15. Love You Madly
16. Lush Life
17. Squatty Roo

Disc 7:

1. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
2. All Too Soon
3. Everything But You
4. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
5. Bli-Blip
6. Chelsea Bridge
7. Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald: Royal Ancestry/All Heart/Beyond Category
8. E and D Blues (E for Ella, D for Duke)
9. Rehearsal
10. Chelsea Bridge [Alternate Take]

Disc 8:

1. Let's Face the Music and Dance
2. You're Laughing at Me
3. Let Yourself Go
4. You Can Have Him
5. Russian Lullaby
6. Puttin' on the Ritz
7. Get Thee Behind Me Satan
8. Alexander's Ragtime Band
9. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
10. How About Me?
11. Cheek to Cheek
12. I Used to Be Color Blind
13. Lazy
14. How Deep Is the Ocean?
15. All by Myself
16. Remember

Disc 9:

1. Supper Time
2. How's Chances?
3. Heat Wave
4. Isn't This a Lovely Day?
5. You Keep Coming Back Like a Song
6. Reaching for the Moon
7. Slumming on Park Avenue
8. Song Is Ended
9. I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket
10. Now It Can Be Told
11. Always
12. It's a Lovely Day Today
13. Change Partners
14. No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)
15. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
16. Blue Skies

Disc 10:

1. Ambulatory Suite: Promenade (Walking the Dog) /March of the Swiss ...
2. Preludes: Prelude 1/Prelude 2/Prelude 3 [Instrumental]
3. Sam and Delilah
4. But Not for Me
5. My One and Only
6. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
7. (I've Got) Beginner's Luck
8. Oh, Lady Be Good
9. Nice Work If You Can Get It
10. Things Are Looking Up
11. Just Another Rhumba
12. How Long Has This Been Going On?
13. 'S Wonderful
14. Man I Love
15. That Certain Feeling
16. By Strauss
17. Someone to Watch over Me
18. Real American Folk Song (Is a Rag)
19. Who Cares?

Disc 11:

1. Looking for a Boy
2. They All Laughed
3. My Cousin in Milwaukee
4. Somebody from Somewhere
5. Foggy Day
6. Clap Yo' Hands
7. For You, For Me, For Evermore
8. Stiff Upper Lip
9. Boy Wanted
10. Strike up the Band
11. Soon
12. I've Got a Crush on You
13. Bidin' My Time
14. Aren't You Kind of Glad We Did?
15. Of Thee I Sing (Baby)
16. Half of It, Dearie, Blues
17. I Was Doing All Right
18. He Loves and She Loves

Disc 12:

1. Love Is Sweeping the Country
2. Treat Me Rough
3. Love Is Here to Stay
4. Slap That Bass
5. Isn't It a Pity?
6. Shall We Dance?
7. Love Walked In
8. You've Got What Gets Me
9. They Can't Take That Away from Me
10. Embraceable You
11. I Can't Be Bothered Now
12. Boy! What Love Has Done to Me!
13. Fascinating Rhythm
14. Funny Face
15. Lorelei
16. Oh, So Nice
17. Let's Kiss and Make Up
18. I Got Rhythm
19. Somebody Loves Me
20. Cheerful Little Earful
21. Oh, Lady Be Good [Alternate Take][#]
22. But Not for Me

Disc 13:

1. Blues in the Night
2. Let's Fall in Love
3. Stormy Weather
4. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
5. My Shining Hour
6. Hooray for Love
7. This Time the Dream's on Me
8. That Old Black Magic
9. I've Got the World on a String
10. Let's Take a Walk Around the Block
11. Ill Wind
12. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive

Disc 14:

1. When the Sun Comes Out
2. Come Rain or Come Shine
3. As Long as I Live
4. Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe
5. It's Only a Paper Moon
6. Man That Got Away
7. One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)
8. It Was Written in the Stars
9. Get Happy
10. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
11. Out of This World
12. Over the Rainbow
13. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
14. Sing My Heart
15. Let's Take a Walk Around the Block [#]
16. Sing My Heart [Alternate Take][#]

Disc 15:

1. Let's Begin
2. Fine Romance
3. All the Things You Are
4. I'll Be Hard to Handle
5. You Couldn't Be Cuter
6. She Didn't Say Yes
7. I'm Old Fashioned
8. Remind Me
9. Way You Look Tonight
10. Yesterdays
11. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
12. Why Was I Born?

Disc 16:

1. Too Marvelous for Words
2. Early Autumn
3. Day In - Day Out
4. Laura
5. This Time the Dream's on Me
6. Skylark
7. Single-O
8. Something's Gotta Give
9. Trav'lin' Light
10. Midnight Sun
11. Dream
12. I Remember You
13. When a Woman Loves a Man

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5680 in Music
• Released on: 1993-11-02
• Number of discs: 16
• Format: Box set

Album Description
16 CD limited edition box set release to commerorate her 75th birthday.

Amazon.com
This 16-CD set collects all of Ella Fitzgerald's Songbooks, a monumental tribute to the American popular song and its greatest composers, recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1964. There is likely no other singer possessed of the mix of talents that Fitzgerald brought to the project, a combination of sheer vocal technique, creativity in phrasing and rhythm, and fidelity to lyrics and intent. The sheer scale of the project contributes to its value, for Fitzgerald went far beyond the standard repertoire, rediscovering little-known gems by many of her subjects: Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington. The discs of Ellington material still stand out, illuminated by the presence of Duke and his band. They put Ellington, a master melodist as well as a great composer, in his rightful place in the pantheon of American songwriters. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

5 Stars Are Not Enough
This staggering 16 disc, extensively annotated collection, is well worth the hefty price-tag. Virtually a musical museum unto itself, this set would make an ideal time capsule. All the great songs from the best popular songwriters of the first half of the 20th Century are represented here, and sung brilliantly by the fabulous Ella. Stunning arrangements played by superb musicians. If my house were on fire I would rescue my dog first and this box set second. For those who don't want to spring for the whole collection, these songbooks are available as separate units. I recommend starting off with Ella's Rodgers & Hart Songbook: it is the finest of all her songbooks, with her Cole Porter set running a close second. Also, the "Best of the Songbooks" CDs are quite good, though I have some alternate favorites not included there.

16 CD's worth of timeless jazz history - priceless!
I was able to hear Ella at Ravinia here in Chicago a year or two before her death and at the time was more familiar with her name than with the breadth of her musical talent. The evening was one of those experiences that is etched permanently in my mind, and I feel truly privileged to have heard Ella in person.

It was after that that I looked longingly at this set of hers for a couple of years before I had the nerve to bite the bullet and buy it, despite its high asking price. Looking back at the literal "days" of listening pleasure I've received from this set, as well as the visual feast that is included, with the individual CD jackets featuring the original cover artwork, I have to say it has been one of the wisest "impulse" purchases I've ever made. (Wise is not an adjective usually applied to an impulse purchase, but in this case it is an accurate description. The only other impulse purchase I've made that conjures up a similar emotional response from me is the Bose Wave System, which makes Ella sound just fine, by the way(!)...)

I felt passionate enough about this set to actually take the time and scan in the individual CD covers so they would appear within iTunes in my Mac when I played the tracks on my computer. Given that the scanned images were still available, I've uploaded them onto Amazon's website on this page for your perusal, enjoyment, right-clicking to save for your own use in iTunes, whatever. Oh, and did I say, enjoy this set!

pricey but...
worth every cent!

the true blue fan can't sometimes help but think that the sheer enormousness of this collection seem to make up for the quality of material ella recorded for decca (with "pure ella with ellis larkins" an exception). the albums on this set arguably defined her career and might as well be the tribute to her visionary producer and manager, norman granz. with bonus tracks, miniaturized versions of the books found on the vinyl versions of some of the cd's (check out the gershwin songbook!) and the elegantly packaged box the 16 discs comes in, you can't get any more de luxe than this!