(A Memory from Liz)
My friend and I booked into a B and
B and readied ourselves for the big night. I had this cream suit, it was a
beauty, and I wore it with pride as it was a special sort of outfit, and very
fitting that I should wear it in this night of nights.
My heroes of popular music of the
40’s, 50’s and beyond were Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Their
interpretation of the great American Songbook backed by the wonderful
arrangements by the top bands of the day gave the world enormous pleasure.
So…I’ll never forget the time I saw these two giants of song live, in person,
on stage.
First there was Ella; this was way
back in the early 50’s. My dad asked me if I would like to see her live at
Leeds Odeon. Although I had barely heard of her, I knew that she must be
something special as my dad was an authority on jazz, and he knew all the best
performers. We travelled there by train – it was the wettest night I can
remember - standing in a long queue and
getting soaked! This concert was part of a tour by “Jazz at the Philharmonic” promoted,
of course, by Norman Granz. Granz was associated with most of the great jazz
performers of his time and was both loved and hated for his anti racist
beliefs. He overruled segregation; always insisting that his artists were treated equally irrespective of race. Norman Granz managed Ella throughout her life.
Ella was pure magic that night, a
young black woman with a God given voice, a natural, who had an amazing range.
She could sing sweet and she could sing scat like I had never heard before. I
was hooked; I don’t believe she has ever been bettered in her genre. Not for
nothing has she always been dubbed “The first lady of song.“ I ultimately
bought and collected her records over the years, never wasting an opportunity
to listen to her on radio, later to watch her TV shows, and sing along with all
of those wonderful songs she made so popular with her own inimitable style.
In the case of Frank Sinatra, I
had idolised him from my teens, much like thousands of other young girls, and
anyone who appreciated his extraordinary quality of voice and ability to
interpret a lyric in the way the writer had meant it to be. I already had many
of his LP’s by the 70’s when one day I read that he was to perform at the Royal
Albert Hall. I just knew I had to see him. How I managed to get a ticket, let
alone afford it, escapes my memory, but get a ticket I did.
My friend and I booked into a B and
B and readied ourselves for the big night. I had this cream suit, it was a
beauty, and I wore it with pride as it was a special sort of outfit, and very
fitting that I should wear it in this night of nights.
We found our seats, we weren't together, but mine was very near to the stage and an armchair sort of affair,
it was very grand. The place was packed to the rafters, banners were held aloft
in the boxes, with messages such as “Hi Frankie”, and it was pure magic. We
were restless in the first half of the show as it was the Brazilian Sergio
Mendes and his band…but we hadn’t come to see Sergio, talented though he was,
oh no!
When finally the second half
began, there was a hush, and a voice from afar announced “Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr Frank Sinatra”…well we just went wild, and for a moment I thought I would
faint with excitement, and had to take deep breaths to calm down, and then we
were off, song after song, wonderful arrangements from the finest musicians. He
went from slow and dreamy to fast and paced. All of the time he was on, gifts
were being brought down from fans to the edge of the stage by the security men.
There were dozens of presents and flowers too. It was amazing.
The rest is a beautiful blur. How
fortunate I have been to see live two of the world’s finest performers of
modern song. They have stood the test of time, and their music lives on.
Liz.
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