one day is nowhere close to enough to celebrate Cole Porter
so here are more Cole Porter tunes. I am pairing each of Ms. Ella's interpretations with the performers in the wonderful Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue, released in 1990 (and rereleased in 2006) by the red hot foundation as an AIDS benefit and to increase the awareness of and education on AIDS.
the red hot foundation is a worldwide organization fighting the spread of AIDS. I encourage everyone to check them out and the other releases in the Red Hot series - I think they are up to 15 now.
the tribute to Cole Porter, Red Hot + Blue is available at Amazon.
Ms. Ella's interpretation of So in Love is impeccable, but k.d. lang's take is heartbreaking
I love Kirsty Maccoll. when together with The Pogues, even more so
David Byrne's twangy take in this song may be nearer Porter's intent. maybe
I think Annie Lennox is the contemporary singer closest to Ella Fitzgerald
Tom Waits goes off in his own distant tangent. wouldn't expect any less
a fun naughty bit. both Ms. Ella and the boys from Erasure go to town
Neneh Cherry's take delivers more of the creep and paranoia implied in the lyrics
edit: as per mmb's request, here's one more pairing.
Comments
Red Hot & Blue is one of my favorite cds of all time! I remember when it came out and how there was a tv special with all the videos for the songs on it.
The Annie Lennox song is just haunting, and the Aztec Camera song is a close 2nd.
amazon has the 2006 release, which besides having the songs in the original remastered, also has a DVD of all the videos from the MTV special: I'm very tempted to get it, but the reviews of the DVD are horrible - it seems to be a transfer from the VHS tape without remastering or anything...