Song Lyric Sunday: Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra, “All The Things You Are”

Song Lyric Sunday, Song of the Day 1 Minute

Jim got this prompt from Maggie:

Songs that feature wind instruments which includes Brass instruments (horns, trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas) and Woodwind instruments (recorders, flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones, and bassoons)

I figured that the best way to fill the bill would be to choose a song that featured an orchestra, and for that we have Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra, who have worked with singers such as Frank Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt, and as we’ll hear in a minute, Ella Fitzgerald. Everyone should know by now that I believe there is no one who sings the standards better than she. I’ve chosen a song from her 1963 album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Jerome Kern Songbook, "All The Things You Are." Kern wrote it with Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1939 musical Very Warm For May, and it’s a favorite for teaching nascent jazz musicians to improvise over the ii-V7-I chord changes. If you listen with headphones, you’ll hear the brass (trumpets and trombones) in the right ear and the reeds (saxophones and clarinets) in the left ear. Or, if you wear your headphones "backwards" as I do, those will be reversed…

There are verses, but generally only the chorus is sung. Lyrics are from AZLyrics:

You are the promised kiss of springtime
That makes the lonely winter seem long.
You are the breathless hush of evening
That trembles on the brink of a lovely song.
You are the angel glow that lights a star,
The dearest things I know are what you are.
Some day my happy arms will hold you,
And some day I’ll know that moment divine,
When all the things you are, are mine!

[Orchestra break and the last 5 lines repeated]

If someone else chooses this one, you can probably imagine I’ll be back later…

That’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for October 31, 2021.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

31 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Ella Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra, “All The Things You Are””

  1. Pingback: The Standard Time Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

      1. Thanks, and yes I knew that about Spotify. I loved your pick, but I thought you might go with an unusual Chicago brass song today. I thought everyone would pick “Color My World”. I am glad you enjoyed the prompt.

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        1. Surprising that no one did songs by Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Lighthouse, The Ides of March, Crow, Tower of Power, Kool & The Gang, The Isley Brothers, Huey Lewis & The News etc. etc. Guess everyone figured they were a little on-the-nose…

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          1. Some of us enjoy the nuance of the instrumentation, I think. Maybe I was exposed to so many types of music, I had too many to goose from. And what about Tower of Power, too?

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    1. When worn correctly, the Bluetooth controls are on the right ear. Unfortunately, my right hand was affected by a stroke close to 15 years ago, and lacks the dexterity needed to work the controls. I had been reaching around with my left hand, then realized that was silly and turned them around so the controls were on the left, and all is now tickety-boo…

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  12. What a gorgeous voice, what incredibly beautiful singing; as you say, singing of standards doesn’t get any better. This is one of those standards with a beauty and depth that, for me at least, recall classical music.

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    1. The great American composers (Kern, Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers, Romberg, Mancini etc.) are as important to popular music as Beethoven, Brahms, Bach etc. are to classical music. They learned from the classical composers and brought that to the masses.

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