The birthday of the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald, comes around next Thursday, April 25th. Born in 1917 in Newport News, Virginia to Temperance (Tempie) Henry and William Fitzgerald, the singer moved with her mother to Yonkers, New York a few years later after her parents separated.

The story of her discovery is now the stuff of legend.

“In the fall of 1934, Ella Fitzgerald—then a homeless, 17-year-old girl in Harlem—took the stage at the Apollo Theater’s very first Amateur Night. She had planned on dancing in hopes of securing her shot at fame but was intimidated by a tap-dancing act who won the crowd over with their fancy footwork before her turn. She sang the songs ‘Judy’ and ‘The Object of My Affection’ instead and won the evening’s top prize. The rest is history.“

I was fortunate to have seen Fitzgerald perform live twice, first around 1978 at midnight on the lawn at the College of Charleston where she fronted a big band (what a fabulous once-in-a-lifetime experience) and then again in 1982 when Fitzgerald sang with a small combo at an intimate outdoor amphitheater in Atlanta. She shared the bill that evening with the Oscar Peterson Trio (another memorable night).

I’m on the road this weekend with limited time to write, but I wanted to capture the anniversary and encourage readers to go online to find some of the many pieces about Fitzgerald’s groundbreaking career.

First, the Smithsonian’s Musuem of American History has a wonderful piece about her place in civil rights history, describing how she broke down racial barriers with her voice. Discover Music has a nice birthday write-up from last year featuring 20 memorable jazz classics that we associate with this performer, who was both a pioneer and a powerhouse.

And for a few of my favorites, to whet your appetite, let’s begin with Airmail Special which finds Ella at her scat-singing best.

I’m not the only one who adores her live recording from Berlin of Mack the Knife. She forgot the lyrics . . . but that doesn’t mean a thing to a great improviser like Ella. She just made up new ones and the performance won her a Grammy. I love how she kept on singing despite forgetting the lines and along the way mimics Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong’s voice.

“You won’t recognize it | It’s a surprise hit.”

Indeed!

And finally, Cry Me a River was originally written for a movie called “Pete Kelly’s Blues,” where it was to be sung by Fitzgerald.

“However the producers of the movie objected to the line ‘told me love was too plebian,’ saying that a black woman wouldn’t use a word like ‘plebeian.’ The songwriter refused to change the lyrics, so they dropped the song. A year or two later, the song was used in another movie, ‘The Girl Can’t Help It,’ where it was sung by Julie London. It was the only Number One hit she ever had.

Ella did finally record the song, and her version has all the emotion one would need with those classic opening lines:

“Now you say you’re lonely | You cried the long night through | Well, you can cry me a river | Cry me a river | I cried a river over you.”

Make a toast this week to the First Lady of Song and put some Ella Fitzgerald on your Pandora or Spotify stations to remind yourself of just what a treasure she was.

More to come . . .

DJB

Photo of Ella Fitzgerald from the Museum of American History.