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Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book

1958 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 5, 2025
Entity authorityQ1586926 ↗
Source-derived summary

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book is a 1958 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, focusing on the songs of Irving Berlin. It was part of the popular and influential Songbook series.

Grammy Awards

At the inaugural Grammy Awards, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Fitzgerald won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Female for her performance on the album.

Reception

In a review for AllMusic, Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. wrote: "For fans who have enjoyed other songbook recordings, this reissue is a must-have; for those unfamiliar with Fitzgerald's songbook work, this is an excellent place to start."

David Adler of All About Jazz called the album "essential in any music library," and commented: "Ella Fitzgerald's talent speaks for itself, as does Berlin's. The compatibility of these two American legends is unmistakable."

Track listing

For the 2-LP set originally released on the Verve label in 1958: Verve MGV 4019-2.

Side One:

"Let's Face the Music and Dance" – 2:57

"You're Laughing at Me" – 3:18

"Let Yourself Go" – 2:20

"You Can Have Him" – 3:47

"Russian Lullaby" – 1:55

"Puttin' On the Ritz" – 2:18

"Get Thee Behind Me Satan" – 3:49

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" – 2:43

Side Two:

"Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" – 2:36

"How About Me?" – 3:17

"Cheek to Cheek" – 3:48

"I Used to Be Color Blind" – 2:34

"Lazy" – 2:40

"How Deep Is the Ocean?" – 3:11

"All by Myself" – 2:29

"Remember" – 3:26

Side Three:

"Supper Time" – 3:19

"How's Chances?" – 2:48

"Heat Wave" – 2:25

"Isn't This a Lovely Day?" – 3:29

"You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" – 3:35

"Reaching for the Moon" – 2:18

"Slumming on Park Avenue" – 2:24

Side Four:

"The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)" (lyrics by Beda Loehner) – 2:30

"I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" – 3:01

"Now it Can Be Told" – 3:12

"Always" – 3:09

"It's a Lovely Day Today" – 2:28

"Change Partners" – 3:18

"No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)" – 3:03

"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" – 3:00

Bonus Track; Issued on the Verve 2000 2CD re-issue, Verve 830533-2

32."Blue Skies" – 3:43 (Note: This track was added to later vinyl re-issues)

All music and lyrics written by Irving Berlin.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book” as 1958 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1958, 2000—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1958. The account is most persuasive where Ella, Fitzgerald and Sings can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1958 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1586926. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958 and 2000.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book primary sources, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book archive and Ella research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.