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♪ I'm going out ♪
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♪ I'm gonna rave and shout ♪
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♪ I wanna go out,I wanna go out ♪
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♪ We're gonna go way out ♪
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♪ Way out with the boys ♪
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♪ From Ipanema ♪
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♪ Fly me to the moon ♪
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♪ And let me seeWhat's way up there ♪
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♪ Take me to the moon ♪
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♪ I wanna goWay, way up there ♪
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♪ I wanna seeWhat's up there ♪
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♪ Way, way, way, way, wayWay up in the moon, yeah ♪
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♪ We're gonna do the moonwalk ♪
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♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪
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♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪
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♪ Got to do the moonwalk ♪
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["If Dreams Come True"
by Chick Webb plays]
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All the greats came
here, everyone.
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♪♪
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And we went
through these doors,
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and you were aware
you were in Harlem!
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Harlem.
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It wasNovember of 1934
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when Norma Miller, who is100 years old now,
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first heard a skinnyteenage girl sing.
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A shabby street kid entered'Amateur Night' at the Apollo.
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The girl has neversung in public.
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She's shaking.
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Her dress is dirty.
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The audience laughed at her.
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They introduced this new girl
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called Ella Fitzgerald.
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We booed her!
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'Cause they were introducingsomebody we didn't know.
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We were all kids, a bunch of
rowdy teenagers in the balcony.
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Oh, we were mad anyway.
"Boo"!
37
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Say, can you imagine,
we booed Ella Fitzgerald?
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We went to the Apollo and
I was the one that was chosen.
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My legs were so skinny,I used to wear boots
40
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so nobody could seethe bottom of my legs.
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She's just 16.
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Ella has survived the deathof her beloved mother,
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a brutal reform school,
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and a homeless lifein the Harlem streets.
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But she's tough.She likes a dare.
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And she wants to dance.
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At the Apollo,she takes her chances.
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I was what they called
49
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you know, the greatestlittle dancer in Yonkers.
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And there were two sisters
51
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who were the dancing-est
sisters in the world,
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called The Edwards Sisters.
53
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And they were starring
at the Apollo.
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And when I sawthose ladies dance,
55
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I said, "No way I'm goingout there and try to dance,
56
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'cause they'd stop the show".
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The man said, "You're outhere", he says, "Well,do something".
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And I sang,
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♪ If her voice can bring ♪
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♪ Every hope of the spring ♪
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♪ That's Judy ♪
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And everybody says,
"Oh, that girl can sing".
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Oh, that's funny.
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It was likeone of those defining moments
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where, "I'm here,
I have to do something",
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something has
to be accomplished.
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And to be able to pull
out of you, out of yourself,
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something that's magical,
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you know, that's pretty amazing.
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And we heard a sound,
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I'm telling you,
it was so perfect.
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I said, "She shut us up
so quick,
73
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you can hear
a rat piss on cotton".
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That was the story
of Ella Fitzgerald.
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♪ It was just ♪
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♪ One of those things ♪
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♪ Just one of thoseCrazy flings ♪
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I was always looking for heroes.
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♪ Bells that nowand then ring ♪
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[Mvula] Icons that
looked like me.
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♪ Just one of those things ♪
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A black woman
that was really black.
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♪ It was great funBut it was... ♪
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She made it seem
like anything is possible.
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♪ ...those things ♪
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There's no other Ella, sorry.
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♪ One of those ♪
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♪ Things ♪
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["Billie's Blues" by
Billy Holiday plays]
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Ella Fitzgerald'slife was always aboutmoving on.
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In 1919, when Ella was two,
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the family left Virginiafor New York.
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They joinedthe Great Migration,
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tens of millions of AfricanAmericans who fled the racism
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and the poverty of the South.
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The GreatMigration was bringing
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so many people,like Ella's mother,
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all with economic dreams,
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cultural dreams,social dreams.
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The world would
have been opening up.
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Ella's mother,'Tempie',
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settled the family in Yonkers,
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a few miles north of Harlem.
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Heart of Harlem,
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the largest coloured cityin the world,
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with a population of 220,000.
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The action forblack teenagers is in Harlem.
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From Yonkers, it's only a tram
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and a five-cent subway trainto get there.
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♪ Hurry, hurry, hurry ♪
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♪ Get, get, get, getGet, get, get, get ♪
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♪ Come on ♪
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♪ You must take the 'A' train ♪
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♪ If you really want to goTo Harlem ♪
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-♪ Come on and take ♪
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♪ Take the 'A' train ♪
Thank you.
117
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♪ Find the quickest wayTo get to Harlem ♪
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♪ Hurry, hurry, boyIt's comin' ♪
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♪ Can't you hearthose engines strumming? ♪
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♪ All aboardGet on the 'A' train ♪
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♪ You'll find the quickest wayTo get to Harlem ♪
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The earlieststory I have,
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from her lips to my ears,
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she said she used to dance
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on the street corners in Harlem
for nickels,
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she and her friend Charles.
127
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I wanted to be a dancer,and I ran away from home.
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But I got out thereand I got hungry
129
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and I was glad toget back home,
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and I was glad whenmy mother whipped me.
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I was just so glad to knowthat I had a home to come to,
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a warm bed and,brother, that was it.
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EllaFitzgerald is cominginto Harlem
134
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when it was the high point
135
00:08:04,359 --> 00:08:06,111
of what we now call
the Black Renaissance,
136
00:08:06,153 --> 00:08:07,862
the Harlem Renaissance.
137
00:08:13,452 --> 00:08:14,786
There were all these theatres
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and there werefully staged revues.
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It was this veryunique occurrence
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that never really happenedanywhere else,
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or in any other time.
142
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It was just thisincredible flowering
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of African-American musicaltalent that was concentrated
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in this very small specificarea of just a few blocks.
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One of the lovely things
about the Renaissance
146
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is this mixture of music.
147
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Okay, so of course
you're hearing blues,
148
00:08:53,867 --> 00:08:56,036
of course you're hearingoriginal jazz compositions.
149
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You're also hearingmusical theatre,
150
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songs of the day, and thoseare all in the mix.
151
00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:05,170
["Dinah" by
Louis Armstrong plays]
152
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So Ella is taking it in
and getting ready
to join the swing age.
153
00:09:15,763 --> 00:09:17,474
All the bandswere on the radio.
154
00:09:17,516 --> 00:09:19,434
Duke Ellington madea point to be on the radio,
155
00:09:19,476 --> 00:09:21,853
and Louis Armstrong
was all over the airwaves.
156
00:09:21,895 --> 00:09:24,398
♪ DinahWith her Dixie eyes blazin' ♪
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♪ Love to sit and gaze in ♪
158
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♪ To the eyes of Dinah Lee ♪
159
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♪ Yet, every night ♪
160
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♪ My, how I shake with frightOh ♪
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♪ 'Cause my Dinah might ♪
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♪ Change her mind ♪
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[Friedwald] Louis Armstrong isthe only major scat singer
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before Ella Fitzgerald.
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He definitely was
a big influence on Ella.
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["Girl Crazy: I Got Rhythm"
by Fred Rich plays]
167
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[narrator] The Broadwaytheatres are lit upwith new musicals.
168
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Everyone listens tothe songs on the radio,
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including a teenage Ella.
170
00:10:04,145 --> 00:10:09,067
Everybody calls it to this day
the Great American Songbook,
171
00:10:09,109 --> 00:10:12,653
That's Gershwin, Irving Berlin
and Cole Porter,
172
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and all the great ones.
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♪ They're writing songsof love ♪
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♪ But not for me ♪
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All the greatestsongs that everybody loves
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to this day.
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♪ A lucky star's above ♪
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Ella is hearing
the young composers
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00:10:39,306 --> 00:10:43,435
whose music she'll be doingin song books years later.
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00:10:43,477 --> 00:10:48,231
♪ With love to lead the way
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00:10:48,273 --> 00:10:50,191
She's hearingIrving Berlin songs,
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she's hearing Rodgers and Hart,
183
00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:53,612
she's hearing the wonderfulHarold Arlen.
184
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She's hearing all of that
185
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being sung by black singersas well as white.
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♪ Than any Russian play ♪
187
00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:11,838
♪ Could guarantee ♪
188
00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:13,590
And people wouldthink, "Oh, those little
189
00:11:13,632 --> 00:11:15,049
dumb little 'Tin Pan Alley',
190
00:11:15,091 --> 00:11:16,759
'Moon June Spoon' songs,
191
00:11:16,801 --> 00:11:20,013
but this became not only thesoundtrack of the 20th Century,
192
00:11:20,054 --> 00:11:23,975
but helped to define itin a sense
193
00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:27,686
that it became the American
equivalent of classical music.
194
00:11:27,728 --> 00:11:30,482
You know, where the Europeans
have Bach and Beethoven,
195
00:11:30,524 --> 00:11:32,817
we have Jerome Kern and
Cole Porter and Duke Ellington.
196
00:11:32,859 --> 00:11:38,532
♪ I guess he's not ♪
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♪ For ♪
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00:11:41,868 --> 00:11:47,832
♪ Me ♪
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00:11:50,709 --> 00:11:53,421
["Harlem Shout" by
Jimmie Lunceford plays]
200
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I was raisedwith the jazz age,
201
00:11:58,385 --> 00:12:01,804
so all I ever heard was jazz.
202
00:12:01,846 --> 00:12:03,473
So, it was natural for me.
203
00:12:03,515 --> 00:12:06,601
Me and jazz came up together.
204
00:12:08,478 --> 00:12:10,980
For kidslike Ella and Norma,
205
00:12:11,022 --> 00:12:13,274
the jazz music and the dancing
206
00:12:13,316 --> 00:12:17,778
are an escape from livesshaped by poverty and racism.
207
00:12:20,114 --> 00:12:23,159
Now my mothergot two babies,
208
00:12:23,201 --> 00:12:27,372
20 years old, unskilled,never had a job.
209
00:12:28,747 --> 00:12:31,292
You had to find a way
of getting money.
210
00:12:31,334 --> 00:12:33,127
You can't work for nobody,
'cause remember,
211
00:12:33,169 --> 00:12:35,714
slavery is over,
you don't have jobs.
212
00:12:37,006 --> 00:12:38,841
How do you pay the rent?
213
00:12:45,515 --> 00:12:48,142
My mother used to givehouse rent parties.
214
00:12:50,270 --> 00:12:53,147
"Norma could dance".She threw me out on the stage
215
00:12:53,189 --> 00:12:54,857
so I can entertain her people
216
00:12:54,899 --> 00:12:57,569
so she can charge for pig feet
and potato salad.
217
00:12:59,613 --> 00:13:01,448
And that's howI started in showbiz,
218
00:13:01,489 --> 00:13:03,366
in my mother's living room.
219
00:13:05,826 --> 00:13:07,870
Everything was race.
220
00:13:07,912 --> 00:13:10,998
You couldn't go to Woolworthacross the street.
221
00:13:15,503 --> 00:13:17,922
If you were a black personand you wanted to buy a hat,
222
00:13:17,964 --> 00:13:20,550
you couldn't try it on.
223
00:13:20,592 --> 00:13:24,845
They wouldn't have blackgirls on the cash registers.
224
00:13:24,887 --> 00:13:27,848
You couldn't goout of your zone.
225
00:13:27,890 --> 00:13:30,893
Right up the streetwas the Cotton Club.
226
00:13:30,935 --> 00:13:32,853
We couldn't go inthe Cotton Club.
227
00:13:32,895 --> 00:13:35,565
We could work at the CottonClub, but you couldn't go in.
228
00:13:35,607 --> 00:13:37,734
So the confinement left you.
229
00:13:37,776 --> 00:13:40,236
What you had to do, you had
to do it amongst yourselves.
230
00:13:44,616 --> 00:13:46,159
♪♪
231
00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:52,624
Ella tolda schoolfriend
232
00:13:52,666 --> 00:13:55,834
"One day, you're gonnasee my name in lights".
233
00:14:11,476 --> 00:14:15,229
In 1929, the stockmarket crashes.
234
00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:20,109
The Great Depression hammersthe country for a decade.
235
00:14:20,151 --> 00:14:22,821
Millions are devastated.
236
00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:28,201
By 1932, half of blackAmericans are out of work.
237
00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:32,121
There are whites who insistblack workers are fired,
238
00:14:32,163 --> 00:14:34,957
the whites given their jobs.
239
00:14:37,627 --> 00:14:41,881
For Ella Fitzgerald,there is also personal tragedy.
240
00:14:43,132 --> 00:14:45,009
The big divide in Ella's life
241
00:14:45,051 --> 00:14:47,470
was the tragedy
of losing her mother
242
00:14:47,512 --> 00:14:50,097
when she was 13 years old.
243
00:14:50,139 --> 00:14:54,143
She describes her motherin very loving terms,
244
00:14:54,185 --> 00:14:57,313
and kept a picture ofher mother in her home.
245
00:14:57,355 --> 00:15:01,693
Tempie was a formidable woman,and it was a devastating blow,
246
00:15:01,735 --> 00:15:05,112
because her mother had beenthe continuity in her life.
247
00:15:05,154 --> 00:15:07,699
And Ella was lost.
248
00:15:12,953 --> 00:15:16,123
Friends said Ella'sstepfather neglected her,
249
00:15:16,165 --> 00:15:19,335
and there wererumours of abuse.
250
00:15:19,377 --> 00:15:22,672
Her aunt in Harlem took her in.
251
00:15:22,714 --> 00:15:26,885
Ella, hurt, angry, lost,ran away.
252
00:15:28,969 --> 00:15:32,223
Cops picked her upoff the street.
253
00:15:32,265 --> 00:15:34,934
She runs away from home,
she's a truant.
254
00:15:34,975 --> 00:15:39,731
She gets caught and does time
in a state reformatory
for girls.
255
00:15:39,773 --> 00:15:41,982
This is brutal.
256
00:15:42,024 --> 00:15:46,863
It was the combinationof reform school cruelties
257
00:15:46,905 --> 00:15:50,283
and the particular abusesand insults
258
00:15:50,324 --> 00:15:53,661
handed out tothe young black girls.
259
00:15:57,498 --> 00:15:59,208
[narrator] The TrainingSchool for Girls
260
00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:01,252
had begun 30 years earlier
261
00:16:01,294 --> 00:16:04,380
as a home for unwed mothers.
262
00:16:04,422 --> 00:16:08,968
In Ella's time, it'sa reformatory foryoung truants.
263
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:16,559
Ella is locked up here in 1933,more than 100 miles from home.
264
00:16:19,270 --> 00:16:23,107
Like other black girls,she is beaten by male staff
265
00:16:23,149 --> 00:16:26,026
and held in solitaryconfinement.
266
00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:31,115
Ella never spoke about it.
267
00:16:32,659 --> 00:16:37,747
A report noted Ella Fitzgeraldis "ungovernable"
268
00:16:37,789 --> 00:16:41,167
and "will not obeylawful commands".
269
00:16:44,671 --> 00:16:47,214
She is a "judged delinquent".
270
00:16:51,218 --> 00:16:56,975
Before long, she runs away,back to the streets of Harlem.
271
00:16:57,016 --> 00:17:02,229
She hits the street,
sleeping in little nothings,
272
00:17:02,271 --> 00:17:05,817
you know, doing what we see
any homeless person doing
273
00:17:05,859 --> 00:17:07,861
under little piles of refuse.
274
00:17:09,654 --> 00:17:13,407
And she wants to be
a dancer, which I love.
275
00:17:13,449 --> 00:17:15,451
You know, "I will be a dancer,
276
00:17:15,493 --> 00:17:19,413
even though I'm this
unglamorous little critter".
277
00:17:19,455 --> 00:17:22,082
["One O'clock Jump"
by Count Basie plays]
278
00:17:25,003 --> 00:17:28,422
Ella is backin Harlem.
279
00:17:28,464 --> 00:17:31,676
It's the Apollo'sfirst amateur night.
280
00:17:39,017 --> 00:17:40,852
She takes the gamble.
281
00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:45,690
This is her one shot.
282
00:17:45,732 --> 00:17:48,651
It changes the restof her life.
283
00:18:05,793 --> 00:18:10,048
She used to say
"I kept on", that is it.
284
00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:12,550
"I kept on".
285
00:18:12,592 --> 00:18:17,722
In the end, once she started,
she never stopped.
286
00:18:17,764 --> 00:18:20,140
She lived, she survived,
she became famous,
287
00:18:20,182 --> 00:18:21,935
so she kept on keeping on.
288
00:18:21,976 --> 00:18:26,814
At what inner price?
We don't know.
289
00:18:26,856 --> 00:18:28,942
["My Wild Irish Rose" by
Chick Webb plays]
290
00:18:30,443 --> 00:18:32,612
Chick Webb,king of the drums!
291
00:18:39,035 --> 00:18:40,703
At theSavoy Ballroom,
292
00:18:40,745 --> 00:18:44,123
Chick Webb is Harlem'stop bandleader.
293
00:18:47,668 --> 00:18:49,796
Swing is all the rage.
294
00:18:49,837 --> 00:18:54,550
Good time dance music,a break from hard lives.
295
00:18:54,592 --> 00:18:57,219
Chick Webb just had a beat
that was like no other.
296
00:19:00,723 --> 00:19:03,142
He swung his arse off.
297
00:19:07,146 --> 00:19:13,277
Just an incredibly swinging
musical drummer and bandleader.
298
00:19:13,319 --> 00:19:14,988
He really knewhow to lead a band
299
00:19:15,029 --> 00:19:17,406
with his personality andwith his musicianship.
300
00:19:17,448 --> 00:19:18,908
But he was kind of faded
301
00:19:18,950 --> 00:19:21,452
just because ofhis physical handicap.
302
00:19:21,494 --> 00:19:24,371
He was, you know, a dwarf
and he was a hunchback.
303
00:19:27,249 --> 00:19:29,460
One of hismusicians tells Chick
304
00:19:29,502 --> 00:19:32,922
he has to hear the girlwho won at the Apollo.
305
00:19:32,964 --> 00:19:37,010
The guy says, "She'sscuffling on the street".
306
00:19:37,051 --> 00:19:39,053
Chick Webbdidn't want no girl
307
00:19:39,095 --> 00:19:41,889
travelling with the band,
'cause you've got 16 guys.
308
00:19:41,931 --> 00:19:44,433
He said, "I'm not going to be
taking no girl on the road, 16,
309
00:19:44,475 --> 00:19:47,645
and got a bunch of horny guys,
I'm not going to have it".
310
00:19:47,687 --> 00:19:50,564
They had to fight to have Ellasing with the band.
311
00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:56,904
"I don't want thatugly old thing", Webb says
312
00:19:56,946 --> 00:19:59,824
when he sees Ella wearinga shabby dress
313
00:19:59,866 --> 00:20:02,827
and workman's boots.
314
00:20:02,869 --> 00:20:06,288
You would think that a man
with a tubercular spine
315
00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:08,166
might not be so careless
316
00:20:08,207 --> 00:20:11,961
with his put-downs
of Ella's looks.
317
00:20:12,003 --> 00:20:15,589
But he gave her a huge start.
318
00:20:18,509 --> 00:20:22,680
There are some people who wereborn with God-given talent,
319
00:20:22,722 --> 00:20:26,600
and then there are
the rest of us.
320
00:20:26,642 --> 00:20:29,436
My mother hadGod-given talent
321
00:20:29,478 --> 00:20:33,858
and obviously that was thelittle seed that was planted,
322
00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:38,529
and someone said, "Well,let's help this garden grow".
323
00:20:38,571 --> 00:20:43,743
And so that was Chick,
who was a fabulous mentor.
324
00:20:43,784 --> 00:20:45,745
["I'm Just A Jitterbug" by
Fitzgerald & Chick Webb plays]
325
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,711
Ella joinsChick Webb in early 1935.
326
00:20:53,753 --> 00:20:56,964
Singing with Chick's bandgives her a future.
327
00:20:59,592 --> 00:21:01,802
She's on a roll.
328
00:21:01,844 --> 00:21:04,847
She wanted to escape
the life that she had,
329
00:21:04,889 --> 00:21:07,767
and the way she could escape it
was in show business.
330
00:21:07,808 --> 00:21:09,309
♪ I'm just a jitterbug ♪
331
00:21:09,351 --> 00:21:10,686
A naive kid.
332
00:21:10,728 --> 00:21:13,064
♪ A happy jitterbug ♪
333
00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:17,235
She was not cultured, she was
not haute couture at all.
334
00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:18,861
She was Ella.
335
00:21:18,903 --> 00:21:20,905
♪ I'm not a corny hick ♪
336
00:21:24,242 --> 00:21:29,080
♪ 'Cause I'm a jitterbugMight glad that I'm alive ♪
337
00:21:29,122 --> 00:21:31,916
♪ Give me a solid ascender ♪
338
00:21:31,958 --> 00:21:34,334
♪ Not just an elbow bender ♪
339
00:21:34,376 --> 00:21:38,214
♪ Don't want no old-time jazzNo razzamatazz ♪
340
00:21:38,256 --> 00:21:39,882
♪ Just swing ♪
341
00:21:39,924 --> 00:21:42,593
♪ 'Cause I'm just a jitterbug ♪
342
00:21:42,635 --> 00:21:45,179
♪ A happy jitterbug ♪
343
00:21:45,221 --> 00:21:47,848
♪ A little jitterJitter jitterbug ♪
344
00:21:47,890 --> 00:21:51,644
♪ Lookin' for a place to jive ♪
345
00:21:51,685 --> 00:21:55,148
The audienceloves Ella.
346
00:21:55,189 --> 00:21:59,652
She plugs into theirexcitement and gives itback tenfold.
347
00:21:59,693 --> 00:22:02,196
♪ The trumpet's goin' crazy ♪
348
00:22:02,238 --> 00:22:06,617
Chick knew he had somethingvery special with Ella.
349
00:22:06,659 --> 00:22:10,121
He took her on the roadwith the band.
350
00:22:10,163 --> 00:22:12,832
Norma Miller and half a dozenLindy Hoppers
351
00:22:12,873 --> 00:22:15,209
were the opening act.
352
00:22:15,251 --> 00:22:16,836
See, we were the
young generation.
353
00:22:16,877 --> 00:22:18,378
She impressed us.
354
00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:21,007
♪ And now a-listen, folksAnd you will hear ♪
355
00:22:21,048 --> 00:22:23,509
♪ Of the drummer of the band ♪
356
00:22:23,550 --> 00:22:25,928
♪ Now, I know thatHe's the drummer ♪
357
00:22:25,970 --> 00:22:28,889
♪ By that drumstickin his hand ♪
358
00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:37,898
She wasa girl of her time.
359
00:22:37,940 --> 00:22:41,652
It's something amazing
about life: your time.
360
00:22:41,694 --> 00:22:44,822
She reached all of us.
We were the kids coming up.
361
00:22:44,864 --> 00:22:48,993
♪ Love and kissesnever misses ♪
362
00:22:49,035 --> 00:22:54,081
♪ Making a heaven for two ♪
363
00:22:54,123 --> 00:22:58,085
Within six months,every band wants her.
364
00:22:58,127 --> 00:23:00,296
She's cutting records,
365
00:23:00,338 --> 00:23:03,883
singing on Benny Goodman's'Coast to Coast' radio show,
366
00:23:03,924 --> 00:23:07,887
playing nightclubs andballrooms from Bostonto Philly,
367
00:23:07,928 --> 00:23:10,931
Chicago to New Orleans.
368
00:23:10,973 --> 00:23:13,475
Guyswould finish a show,have a little drink
369
00:23:13,517 --> 00:23:16,854
and they'd bring a big spliff on
the bus and they'd all get high.
370
00:23:16,896 --> 00:23:20,024
And Ella never wanted to get
high, she didn't do drugs,
371
00:23:20,066 --> 00:23:23,027
and she would always go all
the way to the back of the bus.
372
00:23:23,069 --> 00:23:25,863
She would take her coat
and put it over her head
373
00:23:25,905 --> 00:23:28,657
and create her own
personal filtration system.
374
00:23:30,408 --> 00:23:32,578
So, that's the way shetook care of herself.
375
00:23:32,619 --> 00:23:37,415
♪ Mr Paganini, please playmy rhapsody, and if... ♪
376
00:23:37,457 --> 00:23:40,127
Then,in October 1936,
377
00:23:40,169 --> 00:23:43,630
one of Ella's recordsbecame a hit.
378
00:23:43,672 --> 00:23:46,550
♪ You simply have to swing it ♪
379
00:23:46,592 --> 00:23:48,426
♪ I said, "Swing it" ♪
380
00:23:48,468 --> 00:23:50,263
♪ Oh, swing it ♪
381
00:23:50,304 --> 00:23:52,848
She recorded"Mr. Paganini" with Chick Webb
382
00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:55,351
when she was 19.
383
00:23:55,393 --> 00:23:59,021
It stayed a favourite in herconcerts for decades.
384
00:23:59,063 --> 00:24:01,481
♪ With wild applause ♪
385
00:24:01,523 --> 00:24:03,401
♪ But what a great ovation ♪
386
00:24:03,441 --> 00:24:06,070
Chick Webband his wife looked after Ella,
387
00:24:08,446 --> 00:24:11,284
but she's making her own money.
388
00:24:11,325 --> 00:24:15,579
She has her own room,new clothes, even furs.
389
00:24:17,206 --> 00:24:21,377
A girl on the town,Ella has plenty of admirers,
390
00:24:21,419 --> 00:24:24,504
including one of PresidentRoosevelt's sons.
391
00:24:35,141 --> 00:24:37,893
["A-Tisket A-Tasket"
by Ella Fitzgerald plays]
392
00:24:43,690 --> 00:24:45,859
I was trying to remember
what was the first song
393
00:24:45,901 --> 00:24:49,322
I ever remember hearing
by Ella Fitzgerald.
394
00:24:49,363 --> 00:24:52,325
♪ A-tisket a-tasket
395
00:24:52,366 --> 00:24:55,535
♪ A brown and yellow basket
396
00:24:55,577 --> 00:24:57,413
It was "A-Tisket A-Tasket".
397
00:24:57,455 --> 00:25:01,750
And my sisters used to play
that all day long, every day.
398
00:25:01,792 --> 00:25:03,127
"A-Tisket A-Tasket".
399
00:25:03,169 --> 00:25:05,879
"A-Tisket A-Tasket"
was her idea,
400
00:25:05,921 --> 00:25:08,466
and it became
this blockbuster hit.
401
00:25:08,506 --> 00:25:12,094
♪ Picked it upand put it in her pocket ♪
402
00:25:12,136 --> 00:25:14,680
"A-Tisket A-Tasket"went to number one
403
00:25:14,721 --> 00:25:16,807
on the American Hit Parade.
404
00:25:18,267 --> 00:25:20,894
It made Ella a national star,
405
00:25:20,936 --> 00:25:23,897
and it earned her a rolein a Hollywood movie.
406
00:25:23,939 --> 00:25:27,026
♪ She was truckin' on downThe avenue ♪
407
00:25:27,067 --> 00:25:29,445
♪ With not a single thingto do ♪
408
00:25:29,487 --> 00:25:32,865
♪ She went a-peck, peckPecking all around ♪
409
00:25:32,906 --> 00:25:34,574
I listened to my voice then,
410
00:25:34,616 --> 00:25:39,372
and it sounds like, well,what I was, a little girl.
411
00:25:39,413 --> 00:25:41,790
♪ A yellow basketand if she... ♪
412
00:25:41,832 --> 00:25:46,670
I laugh because my voicewas so thin and small.
413
00:25:46,712 --> 00:25:49,756
But I guess it's likeanything else, you mature
414
00:25:49,798 --> 00:25:54,345
and I'm grateful for thosethin, small, childish voice,
415
00:25:54,387 --> 00:25:57,723
because without that,nothing could have happened.
416
00:25:57,764 --> 00:26:03,312
♪ Oh, dear, I wishThat little girl I could see ♪
417
00:26:03,354 --> 00:26:05,272
She was no different
from her singing.
418
00:26:05,314 --> 00:26:09,693
She was understated, she was
shy, she was like a little girl.
419
00:26:09,735 --> 00:26:11,445
♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪
420
00:26:11,487 --> 00:26:12,863
♪ Love my little... ♪
421
00:26:12,905 --> 00:26:15,782
♪ My little yellow basket ♪
422
00:26:15,824 --> 00:26:17,868
As Lena Horne famously said,
423
00:26:17,910 --> 00:26:21,080
"After that record, a whole
generation of us girl singers
424
00:26:21,121 --> 00:26:23,541
went looking for that
damn yellow basket".
425
00:26:25,459 --> 00:26:28,670
["Chew, Chew, Chew
(Your Bubble Gum)" by
Ella Fitzgerald plays]
426
00:26:29,629 --> 00:26:31,340
Yeah!
427
00:26:31,382 --> 00:26:36,345
Ella was votedAmerica's number one vocalist.
428
00:26:36,387 --> 00:26:39,515
Just four years afterhe first met the teenager,
429
00:26:39,557 --> 00:26:42,726
Chick's fortunes werealso skyrocketing.
430
00:26:45,438 --> 00:26:49,191
And Chick knewit was because of Ella.
431
00:26:49,233 --> 00:26:53,362
Together, they recordeda string of novelty numbers.
432
00:26:53,404 --> 00:26:54,821
Ella really goes to town
433
00:26:54,863 --> 00:26:57,491
with "Chew ChewYour Bubble Gum".
434
00:26:59,076 --> 00:27:01,661
♪ Chew, chew, chew, chewYour bubble gum ♪
435
00:27:01,703 --> 00:27:04,415
♪ Chew, chew, chew, chewYour bubble gum ♪
436
00:27:04,457 --> 00:27:07,543
♪ Chew, chew, chew, chewYour bubble gum ♪
437
00:27:07,585 --> 00:27:10,003
♪♪
438
00:27:12,465 --> 00:27:16,802
But Chick Webbis struggling with healthproblems.
439
00:27:16,843 --> 00:27:19,637
He was a feisty individual.
440
00:27:19,679 --> 00:27:21,974
He was the meanest...
441
00:27:22,015 --> 00:27:24,684
See, we didn't understand,
he was just always mean,
442
00:27:24,726 --> 00:27:26,979
but because he was
always in pain.
443
00:27:27,854 --> 00:27:30,149
We just didn't know it.
444
00:27:30,190 --> 00:27:34,111
All those years, his playing,and the back...
445
00:27:34,153 --> 00:27:36,572
It must have been very painful.
446
00:27:36,614 --> 00:27:39,408
Sometimes they had to carry him
off the bandstand,
447
00:27:39,450 --> 00:27:41,118
and we just didn't know that.
448
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,371
We said, "What the fuck's wrong
with him?" you know.
449
00:27:44,413 --> 00:27:46,415
We didn't have sympathyfor Chick
450
00:27:46,457 --> 00:27:49,251
until we saw him in the casket.
451
00:27:49,293 --> 00:27:52,171
In the early summer of 1939,
452
00:27:52,212 --> 00:27:56,049
Chick Webb knows he can'thang on much longer,
453
00:27:56,091 --> 00:27:59,052
but he's still concerned abouthis young singer.
454
00:28:00,137 --> 00:28:02,055
He says to one of his guys,
455
00:28:02,097 --> 00:28:06,018
"Anything happens to me,take care of Ella".
456
00:28:06,059 --> 00:28:08,437
["I Never Knew Heaven Could
Speak" by Chick Webb plays]
457
00:28:10,063 --> 00:28:14,652
He died a few days later,aged just 30.
458
00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:22,576
Thousands of mournerslined the streets
459
00:28:22,618 --> 00:28:25,912
for Webb's funeralin Baltimore.
460
00:28:25,954 --> 00:28:28,624
Traffic was haltedacross the city.
461
00:28:30,668 --> 00:28:35,047
At the church, Chick's bodywas viewed by crowds of fans.
462
00:28:37,174 --> 00:28:40,093
Ella sings "My Buddy".
463
00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:42,596
["My Buddy" by
Ella Fitzgerald plays]
464
00:29:00,406 --> 00:29:03,742
From thehome of happy feet,
465
00:29:03,783 --> 00:29:05,118
the famous Savoy Ballroom,
466
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,454
Uptown Harlemalong Lenox Avenue,
467
00:29:07,496 --> 00:29:11,041
it's music by Ella FitzgeraldAnd Her Famous Orchestra.
468
00:29:16,796 --> 00:29:19,925
When Chick Webb died, it was
announced as her band.
469
00:29:19,966 --> 00:29:23,512
And I know she wasn't hiring
and firing the musicians,
470
00:29:23,554 --> 00:29:25,931
but she was in charge,
and she was the leader.
471
00:29:25,972 --> 00:29:29,017
She was the star.
472
00:29:29,059 --> 00:29:33,647
♪ I've paid my tuitionFor my one ambition ♪
473
00:29:33,689 --> 00:29:35,524
Probably deep within her
474
00:29:35,566 --> 00:29:39,819
was an immense amount of
ambition and drive,
475
00:29:39,861 --> 00:29:44,283
which came out entirelyin her undeniable singing.
476
00:29:44,324 --> 00:29:47,244
♪ Shall dance with glee ♪
477
00:29:51,915 --> 00:29:53,584
She wasn'tdazzling them
478
00:29:53,626 --> 00:29:55,753
with the dress she waswearing, or dancing.
479
00:29:55,794 --> 00:30:00,006
You know, she did it with
her voice and her humour
and her humanity.
480
00:30:00,048 --> 00:30:02,050
♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪
481
00:30:02,092 --> 00:30:04,261
♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪
482
00:30:04,303 --> 00:30:11,310
♪ Oh, boy, I'm in the groove ♪
483
00:30:11,351 --> 00:30:15,481
There was particular pressures
there that any woman performer
484
00:30:15,522 --> 00:30:17,857
and, most particularly,for black women,
485
00:30:17,899 --> 00:30:22,780
the demands of glamourof sexuality.
486
00:30:22,821 --> 00:30:25,907
All of those werecoursing through the culture,
487
00:30:25,949 --> 00:30:30,912
and Ella Fitzgerald did not fit
any of those expectations.
488
00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:33,499
["Crazy Rhythm" by
Chick Webb plays]
489
00:30:35,793 --> 00:30:37,043
From her late teens,
490
00:30:37,085 --> 00:30:39,588
Ella's weightmade her miserable.
491
00:30:41,674 --> 00:30:46,011
Reporters called herthe 'Plump Chanteuse'.
492
00:30:46,052 --> 00:30:48,388
They laughed when she wastrapped in an elevator
493
00:30:48,430 --> 00:30:54,520
and wrote, "220 poundsof songstress hauled outby three men".
494
00:30:56,271 --> 00:30:58,023
She was probably ashamed
495
00:30:58,064 --> 00:31:03,654
of some of those earlierhumiliations and cruelties.
496
00:31:03,696 --> 00:31:09,242
She was made fun of for beingnot glamorous, for being hefty.
497
00:31:09,284 --> 00:31:12,705
And, coming from a rough life,
498
00:31:12,746 --> 00:31:18,293
could be turned against
a performer by the press,
499
00:31:18,335 --> 00:31:19,878
particularly if you were
a woman.
500
00:31:19,919 --> 00:31:21,880
♪ Crazy rhythmHere's the doorway ♪
501
00:31:21,921 --> 00:31:23,757
♪ I'll go my wayYou go your way ♪
502
00:31:23,799 --> 00:31:27,678
♪ Crazy rhythmFrom now on, we're through ♪
503
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,596
♪ Here is whereWe have a showdown ♪
504
00:31:29,638 --> 00:31:31,473
♪ I'm too high-hatYou're tow low-down ♪
505
00:31:31,515 --> 00:31:34,434
♪ Crazy rhythmIt's goodbye to you ♪
506
00:31:34,476 --> 00:31:37,229
♪ I know that when a highbrowMeets a lowbrow ♪
507
00:31:37,270 --> 00:31:39,105
♪ Walking along Broadway ♪
508
00:31:39,147 --> 00:31:40,982
♪ Soon a highbrowHe has no brow ♪
509
00:31:41,024 --> 00:31:43,569
♪ Ain't it a shame?And you're to blame ♪
510
00:31:43,610 --> 00:31:49,867
She worked so hard when she was
singing that she often sweated.
511
00:31:49,908 --> 00:31:54,454
She's drenched
after, like, two songs,
512
00:31:54,496 --> 00:31:58,500
because it involves
all of who she is.
513
00:31:58,542 --> 00:32:00,377
♪ Crazy, crazy ♪
514
00:32:00,419 --> 00:32:02,546
There's some real stuff, man.
515
00:32:02,588 --> 00:32:05,173
♪ Crazy ♪
516
00:32:05,215 --> 00:32:11,722
Seeing a woman that looks like
my grandma and my aunty in one,
517
00:32:11,764 --> 00:32:13,640
that's, like, the coolest thing.
518
00:32:13,682 --> 00:32:17,895
♪ Give me that rhy-thm ♪
519
00:32:17,936 --> 00:32:21,481
And then she's thispioneer as a musician.
520
00:32:21,523 --> 00:32:24,317
♪ Soon a highbrow he hasno brow, ain't it a shame? ♪
521
00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:27,320
She made it seem like
anything is possible.
522
00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:28,988
♪ Got rock, we got roll ♪
523
00:32:29,030 --> 00:32:30,741
♪ We want to tryTo satisfy your soul ♪
524
00:32:30,783 --> 00:32:32,951
♪ We'd like to tryTo do the kind of song ♪
525
00:32:32,992 --> 00:32:34,745
♪ You know, the kindThat you like to hear ♪
526
00:32:34,787 --> 00:32:36,622
♪ Like old song, new song ♪
527
00:32:36,663 --> 00:32:40,375
When you listen toElla's voice and her music,
528
00:32:40,417 --> 00:32:42,461
there are no limits.
529
00:32:42,502 --> 00:32:46,005
She can go to places
530
00:32:46,047 --> 00:32:48,842
that we can't even imagine,
531
00:32:48,884 --> 00:32:52,805
which, to me, is what is part
of the mystery of music making.
532
00:32:58,226 --> 00:33:00,520
♪ Crazy rhythm ♪
533
00:33:00,562 --> 00:33:03,690
There she is, this stocky woman
534
00:33:03,732 --> 00:33:07,110
who looked likeshe could be a piano teacher
535
00:33:07,152 --> 00:33:10,363
or a librarianor a schoolteacher.
536
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,286
That's not what anyone expected
537
00:33:16,328 --> 00:33:22,250
of the girl who was
fronting the Chick Webb Band.
538
00:33:22,292 --> 00:33:24,503
["My Wubba Dolly" byElla Fitzgerald plays]
539
00:33:26,755 --> 00:33:29,257
Those yearswhen Ella had her own band,
540
00:33:29,299 --> 00:33:31,927
some of the guys resented heras the leader.
541
00:33:35,096 --> 00:33:37,891
A few said she was tough,
542
00:33:37,933 --> 00:33:40,978
sometimes downright nasty.
543
00:33:41,019 --> 00:33:47,066
After all, a girl's role wasto sing, shut up and sit down.
544
00:33:47,108 --> 00:33:49,903
["Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by
The Andrews Sisters plays]
545
00:33:57,577 --> 00:34:02,207
In December 1941, Americaentered World War II.
546
00:34:02,248 --> 00:34:05,544
♪ He was a famous trumpet manFrom out Chicago way ♪
547
00:34:05,585 --> 00:34:08,254
♪ He had a boogie styleThat no one else could play ♪
548
00:34:08,296 --> 00:34:11,090
Many musicianswere drafted.
549
00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:12,467
♪ But then his number came up ♪
550
00:34:12,509 --> 00:34:14,011
♪ And he was gonewith the draft ♪
551
00:34:14,052 --> 00:34:15,261
♪ He's in the army now ♪
552
00:34:15,303 --> 00:34:17,014
♪ A-blowin' reveille ♪
553
00:34:17,055 --> 00:34:20,350
♪ He's the boogie woogie bugleBoy of Company B ♪
554
00:34:20,392 --> 00:34:22,227
Within months,Ella Fitzgerald's
555
00:34:22,268 --> 00:34:23,937
Famous Orchestra disbanded.
556
00:34:26,815 --> 00:34:29,442
Ballads by a soulfulyoung Sinatra
557
00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:31,987
and Glenn Miller'ssentimental swing
558
00:34:32,029 --> 00:34:35,657
reflected the subdued moodof a country at war.
559
00:34:40,746 --> 00:34:43,206
Ella slipped fromthe Hit Parade.
560
00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:52,049
Ebony magazine asked, "What isElla Fitzgerald's style today?"
561
00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:54,843
["Flying Home" by
Ella Fitzgerald plays]
562
00:35:10,525 --> 00:35:14,738
She gave her astonishinganswer in 1944,
563
00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:18,241
when she embracedthe bop revolution.
564
00:35:32,505 --> 00:35:36,802
Fitzgerald's fascinationwith bebop startedin the early '40s,
565
00:35:36,843 --> 00:35:39,596
but now she was readyto plunge in.
566
00:35:48,063 --> 00:35:52,109
The heart of the new music isMinton's Playhouse in Harlem,
567
00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:54,987
where Ella sometimesbopped with the boys.
568
00:36:01,576 --> 00:36:03,036
She hung outwith Dizzy Gillespie
569
00:36:03,078 --> 00:36:06,081
for two tours,and two tours later
570
00:36:06,123 --> 00:36:08,625
she was improvising
like a bebop musician.
571
00:36:15,841 --> 00:36:18,259
I can sum Ella up in one word...
572
00:36:20,345 --> 00:36:22,014
Wow.
573
00:36:31,397 --> 00:36:35,276
Ella was doing something that
hadn't been done before,
574
00:36:35,318 --> 00:36:37,070
and not to that level.
575
00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:43,785
She could solo using her voice
576
00:36:43,827 --> 00:36:46,746
to the same level,with the same ease
577
00:36:46,788 --> 00:36:50,500
that a trumpeter ora saxophonist could.
578
00:36:57,632 --> 00:37:01,845
And I thought,
"How is this humanly possible?"
579
00:37:07,433 --> 00:37:11,188
It's a feat of nature,
it's a freak of nature.
580
00:37:11,229 --> 00:37:13,899
["Sweet Georgia Brown"
by Charlie Parker plays]
581
00:37:19,988 --> 00:37:23,742
Bop laidnew territory for jazz.
582
00:37:23,783 --> 00:37:29,164
The heady cocktailof tearaway temposand complex new harmonies
583
00:37:29,206 --> 00:37:32,542
blew away the conventionsof swing music.
584
00:37:36,462 --> 00:37:40,175
That speaks toher musical adventurousness
585
00:37:40,217 --> 00:37:44,554
and her performer's awareness
586
00:37:44,596 --> 00:37:50,810
that she had to locate herself
on a new and exciting landscape.
587
00:37:56,315 --> 00:37:58,985
It had to feel powerful,
588
00:37:59,027 --> 00:38:01,113
moving from being a girl singer,
589
00:38:01,154 --> 00:38:04,950
you know, to being the woman
singer as musician.
590
00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:18,504
That had to be fantastic.
591
00:38:27,764 --> 00:38:29,348
In 1989,
592
00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:33,103
40 years after Ellawas hanging out at Minton's,
593
00:38:33,145 --> 00:38:36,773
Kenny Barron would playon her final album.
594
00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:39,943
It was called 'All That Jazz'.
595
00:38:46,950 --> 00:38:48,994
She had great ears, you know.
596
00:38:49,035 --> 00:38:51,955
'Cause sometimes
it's not just about
597
00:38:51,997 --> 00:38:54,624
knowing harmony and theory,
intellectually,
598
00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:56,876
but it's also about
what you can hear.
599
00:38:56,918 --> 00:39:00,255
And great singers
have great ears.
600
00:39:00,297 --> 00:39:04,467
Even if they're not learned,
they have great ears.
601
00:39:04,509 --> 00:39:08,721
They can hear where you're going
and where the music should go.
602
00:39:16,562 --> 00:39:21,567
The beboppers use a harmonic
vocabulary that was not known
603
00:39:21,609 --> 00:39:24,445
before Charlie Parkerand Dizzy Gillespie.
604
00:39:28,074 --> 00:39:29,742
And things like"How High The Moon"
605
00:39:29,784 --> 00:39:32,078
were very much informed bythe bebop movement.
606
00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:43,006
♪ Somewhere there's heaven ♪
607
00:39:43,048 --> 00:39:46,759
♪ It's where you are ♪
608
00:39:46,801 --> 00:39:50,471
Ella Fitzgeraldmarried bass player Ray Brown,
609
00:39:50,513 --> 00:39:52,849
one of the key figuresin bebop.
610
00:39:55,894 --> 00:39:59,898
They had fallen in loveon tour with Dizzy Gillespie.
611
00:39:59,939 --> 00:40:03,568
♪ Until you willHow still my heart ♪
612
00:40:03,609 --> 00:40:06,363
♪ How high the moon ♪
613
00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:09,115
She came intothis world with that voice.
614
00:40:09,157 --> 00:40:11,117
She could just sing.
615
00:40:11,159 --> 00:40:14,787
But although her sound
and her abilities
616
00:40:14,829 --> 00:40:16,706
were set in stone
from the beginning,
617
00:40:16,748 --> 00:40:18,958
she developed hugely
as a singer.
618
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,377
♪ How high the moon ♪
619
00:40:20,418 --> 00:40:22,587
♪ Does it touch the stars ♪
620
00:40:22,628 --> 00:40:24,714
She kept up withthe boys, there's no question,
621
00:40:24,756 --> 00:40:27,633
and most of the timeshe outplayed them.
622
00:40:27,675 --> 00:40:31,054
She was improvising beboplike a great bebop musician.
623
00:40:38,353 --> 00:40:40,188
Ella had this genius way
624
00:40:40,230 --> 00:40:42,774
of incorporating otherkinds of songs
625
00:40:42,815 --> 00:40:46,194
into the main bodyof her scat singing.
626
00:40:46,236 --> 00:40:49,948
It's not just, 'scattywah, dot, dot, dot'.
627
00:40:49,989 --> 00:40:52,325
Every note she sings
is harmonically sound,
628
00:40:52,367 --> 00:40:55,161
it fits within a certain
pre-ordinated chord structure.
629
00:40:55,203 --> 00:40:57,330
And when she does these quotes,
630
00:40:57,372 --> 00:40:59,416
they're also from
the same chord structure.
631
00:40:59,457 --> 00:41:01,960
And that's the thing
that's so genius,
632
00:41:02,001 --> 00:41:04,462
that she could be able to pull
that stuff out of the air.
633
00:41:10,676 --> 00:41:12,220
It's that part of singing
634
00:41:12,262 --> 00:41:18,143
that's just the most
joyous place to sing from.
635
00:41:18,184 --> 00:41:23,648
You know,
skipping through puddles
636
00:41:23,689 --> 00:41:28,820
that could be six feet deep
and never sinking.
637
00:41:28,861 --> 00:41:30,905
It's like a rollercoaster ride.
638
00:41:30,947 --> 00:41:33,241
♪ Though the wordsmay be wrong to this song ♪
639
00:41:33,283 --> 00:41:38,121
♪ We hope to make high, high
High, high ♪
640
00:41:38,163 --> 00:41:39,914
It's one thing to sing,
641
00:41:39,956 --> 00:41:42,417
it's another thing to improvisesinging or scatting,
642
00:41:42,459 --> 00:41:44,419
because you're using
a musical language
643
00:41:44,461 --> 00:41:47,088
that is so different
to straight singing.
644
00:41:53,761 --> 00:41:57,890
[narrator] During a memorableconcert in Berlin in 1960,
645
00:41:57,932 --> 00:42:02,603
Ella explodes witha five minute scat version
646
00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:04,856
of "How High The Moon".
647
00:42:13,781 --> 00:42:15,783
These are the songs
that she quotes:
648
00:42:15,825 --> 00:42:18,370
"Poinciana", "Deep Purple",
649
00:42:18,411 --> 00:42:22,790
"Love In Bloom", "Ornithology","I Cover the Waterfront"...
650
00:42:27,045 --> 00:42:31,007
"The Irish Washerwoman",
"Hawaiian War Chant"...
651
00:42:31,049 --> 00:42:32,384
"The Peanut Vendor".
652
00:42:39,265 --> 00:42:40,599
"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater",
653
00:42:40,641 --> 00:42:43,228
which is another swinging
nursery rhyme.
654
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,236
Quoting frommore than 40 songs,
655
00:42:51,277 --> 00:42:53,321
nursery rhymes, symphonies,
656
00:42:53,363 --> 00:42:57,909
folk tunes, jigs, bop solos,show hits,
657
00:42:57,950 --> 00:43:00,828
a joyous torrent of invention.
658
00:43:04,665 --> 00:43:06,084
"Stormy Weather",
659
00:43:06,125 --> 00:43:08,461
"Yes We Have No Bananas",
although in minor,
660
00:43:08,503 --> 00:43:09,879
usually played in major,
661
00:43:09,921 --> 00:43:11,630
a little bit of"Flight of the Bumblebee",
662
00:43:11,672 --> 00:43:13,883
another few notes of"Deep Purple".
663
00:43:13,925 --> 00:43:16,261
"Did You Ever SeeA Dream Walking".
664
00:43:18,555 --> 00:43:19,889
"Got To Be This Or That",
665
00:43:19,931 --> 00:43:23,059
which was a novelty song
from about 1946.
666
00:43:23,101 --> 00:43:26,687
A few notes of the"Rhapsody in Blue". "Idaho".
667
00:43:29,899 --> 00:43:34,320
♪ I guess these people wonderWhat I'm singing ♪
668
00:43:34,362 --> 00:43:37,698
After that there's
"A-Tisket A-Tasket".
669
00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:39,700
♪ Dream walkingWell, I did ♪
670
00:43:39,742 --> 00:43:42,912
♪ A-tisket a-tasketI lost my yellow basket ♪
671
00:43:42,954 --> 00:43:47,041
♪ Guess I'd better quitWhile I'm ahead ♪
672
00:43:47,083 --> 00:43:50,044
And then she ends the scat with"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".
673
00:43:50,086 --> 00:43:54,632
♪ They ask me how I knewMy true love was true ♪
674
00:43:54,673 --> 00:43:56,509
She sings "as sweat
gets in my eyes",
675
00:43:56,551 --> 00:43:58,844
because by that point
she's really perspiring.
676
00:43:58,886 --> 00:44:02,181
♪ Sweat gets in my eyes ♪
677
00:44:02,223 --> 00:44:05,768
♪ High, high, high,high, high ♪
678
00:44:05,810 --> 00:44:12,108
♪ Is the moon ♪
679
00:44:15,487 --> 00:44:17,738
Her mind just wentfrom one song to another.
680
00:44:17,780 --> 00:44:20,617
What kind of a catalogue do you
have in your head to do that?
681
00:44:20,658 --> 00:44:23,328
I can't even begin
to think about that.
682
00:44:23,369 --> 00:44:24,996
And again, in the '70s,
683
00:44:25,037 --> 00:44:27,582
right here on this stage
at Ronnie Scott's.
684
00:44:27,624 --> 00:44:33,588
♪ No girl made has got a shadeOn sweet Georgia Brown ♪
685
00:44:33,630 --> 00:44:35,256
♪ Two left feet ♪
686
00:44:35,298 --> 00:44:36,841
The way she plays
687
00:44:36,882 --> 00:44:39,093
with that ancient song,"Sweet Georgia Brown",
688
00:44:39,135 --> 00:44:40,845
it swings so hard.
689
00:44:40,886 --> 00:44:42,597
That's the
other thing about her.
690
00:44:42,639 --> 00:44:47,644
Her sense of swing, it makes you
do that swing face.
691
00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:51,063
It's like it almost hurts you
it swings so hard.
692
00:44:51,105 --> 00:44:53,941
♪ No gal, not a gal ♪
693
00:44:53,983 --> 00:44:56,819
♪ Got a shadeon Georgia Brown ♪
694
00:44:56,861 --> 00:44:59,696
♪ Two feet, so neat ♪
695
00:44:59,738 --> 00:45:02,741
♪ Hey, that Georgia Brown ♪
696
00:45:02,783 --> 00:45:05,453
♪ They sigh, and want to cry ♪
697
00:45:05,495 --> 00:45:08,080
♪ For Georgia Brown ♪
698
00:45:08,122 --> 00:45:10,791
♪ Listen, while I tell ya ♪
699
00:45:10,833 --> 00:45:12,544
♪ You know, you know,you know, you know ♪
700
00:45:12,585 --> 00:45:14,379
♪ You know I don't lie ♪
701
00:45:14,420 --> 00:45:15,963
You can't helpbut be reeled in
702
00:45:16,005 --> 00:45:18,966
by that level of joyand excellence.
703
00:45:19,008 --> 00:45:20,218
It's one of the reasons
704
00:45:20,259 --> 00:45:22,220
it's worth being
on this planet, right?
705
00:45:23,971 --> 00:45:26,474
["Miss Blandish" by
John Scott plays]
706
00:45:30,645 --> 00:45:32,438
From 1947,
707
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:35,358
Herman Leonardbegan documenting jazz,
708
00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,527
and especiallythe rise of bebop.
709
00:45:39,487 --> 00:45:42,490
He photographed Ella,and their friendship
710
00:45:42,532 --> 00:45:45,742
produced some of hermost lasting images.
711
00:45:54,085 --> 00:45:55,712
♪♪
712
00:46:08,015 --> 00:46:10,101
Ella adored children.
713
00:46:12,186 --> 00:46:16,107
She had always wanted kids,but she couldn't have her own.
714
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:24,781
In 1949, Ray and Ella adoptedher half-sister's infant son.
715
00:46:26,284 --> 00:46:28,827
They called him Ray Junior.
716
00:46:30,747 --> 00:46:32,373
I grew up in this business
717
00:46:32,415 --> 00:46:34,959
seeing people
who had huge careers
718
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,086
and they all had
one thing in common,
719
00:46:37,128 --> 00:46:39,796
they all had very screwed up
private lives
720
00:46:39,838 --> 00:46:43,760
because they all
led that dual existence.
721
00:46:46,178 --> 00:46:48,347
Ella and herhusband struggled
722
00:46:48,389 --> 00:46:53,060
to reconcile a non-stop touringschedule with their marriage.
723
00:46:53,102 --> 00:46:56,105
I saw the collateral damage
from women in the business
724
00:46:56,147 --> 00:46:58,983
who had said,
"I'm going to have a career
725
00:46:59,024 --> 00:47:01,402
and I'll be back in a minute",
to the kids,
726
00:47:01,444 --> 00:47:03,946
and "I'll be back in a couple
of weeks", to the husband.
727
00:47:03,988 --> 00:47:05,364
And after a while, it's like,
728
00:47:05,406 --> 00:47:06,949
"Who's this woman coming
into our house?"
729
00:47:08,576 --> 00:47:14,165
By 1953,Ray and Ella were divorced,
730
00:47:14,206 --> 00:47:17,585
but they never stoppedplaying and touring together.
731
00:47:20,212 --> 00:47:21,880
WhenI first met her,
732
00:47:21,922 --> 00:47:25,134
I think her marriagehad broken up with Ray
733
00:47:25,176 --> 00:47:30,348
and she never seemed to havea strong love life in her life.
734
00:47:31,474 --> 00:47:33,017
It gives you strength,
735
00:47:33,058 --> 00:47:37,605
when you've got a bloke
that will support you.
736
00:47:37,647 --> 00:47:41,693
You always need a bloke
to support you.
737
00:47:41,734 --> 00:47:45,446
In 1941, when I started Jazz
at the Philharmonic,
738
00:47:45,488 --> 00:47:48,658
I used many of the musicians
from the Chick Webb Orchestra,
739
00:47:48,700 --> 00:47:52,161
that was then led
by Ella Fitzgerald.
740
00:47:52,203 --> 00:47:54,038
To show you how bad
my taste was,
741
00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:56,541
I used everyone in
the orchestra but the singer.
742
00:47:56,582 --> 00:47:58,543
And so now I'd like
to correct that
743
00:47:58,584 --> 00:48:01,587
and introduce the best
singer there is in jazz today,
744
00:48:01,629 --> 00:48:02,797
the great Ella Fitzgerald.
745
00:48:05,758 --> 00:48:06,967
Thank you.
746
00:48:09,220 --> 00:48:10,429
Thank you.
747
00:48:13,641 --> 00:48:18,354
♪ Love ♪
748
00:48:18,396 --> 00:48:25,319
♪ For sale ♪
749
00:48:25,361 --> 00:48:31,283
♪ Advertising young love ♪
750
00:48:31,325 --> 00:48:37,039
♪ For sale ♪
751
00:48:37,081 --> 00:48:38,957
Ella's lifeand her music
752
00:48:38,999 --> 00:48:42,294
took another new directionin the 1950s.
753
00:48:42,336 --> 00:48:47,216
It brought her internationalacclaim and enduring fame.
754
00:48:47,258 --> 00:48:49,635
Her new manager,Norman Granz,
755
00:48:49,677 --> 00:48:52,764
was determined to take her outof the little jazz clubs
756
00:48:52,805 --> 00:48:56,809
and on to the world's greatconcert stages.
757
00:48:56,851 --> 00:49:00,229
♪ A foggy day ♪
758
00:49:00,271 --> 00:49:03,775
♪ In London town ♪
759
00:49:03,816 --> 00:49:09,739
Had me low, had me down ♪
760
00:49:09,781 --> 00:49:11,490
♪ I viewed the morning ♪
761
00:49:11,532 --> 00:49:13,576
Granz matchedElla's voice
762
00:49:13,618 --> 00:49:16,662
with the music ofthe Great American Songbook.
763
00:49:16,704 --> 00:49:18,581
♪ The weather is frightening ♪
764
00:49:18,623 --> 00:49:24,545
♪ The thunder and lightningSeem to be having their way ♪
765
00:49:24,587 --> 00:49:27,799
♪ But as far as I'm concerned ♪
766
00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:29,966
♪ It's a lovely day ♪
767
00:49:30,008 --> 00:49:33,930
The records arethe heart of Granz'new Verve label,
768
00:49:33,970 --> 00:49:36,056
that he'd created for Ella.
769
00:49:36,098 --> 00:49:40,269
♪ A fine romance ♪
770
00:49:40,311 --> 00:49:43,397
♪ With no kisses ♪
771
00:49:43,439 --> 00:49:47,902
An affluent post-warAmerica can afford the new LPs
772
00:49:47,944 --> 00:49:50,028
and the hi-fis to play them on.
773
00:49:51,405 --> 00:49:52,698
Norman Granz had this idea
774
00:49:52,740 --> 00:49:55,576
to have her do
these Songbook albums,
775
00:49:55,618 --> 00:50:00,247
which were sophisticated
records with orchestras.
776
00:50:00,289 --> 00:50:03,584
It wasn't "A-Tisket A-Tasket"
or "When I Get Low I Get High".
777
00:50:03,626 --> 00:50:05,210
It wasn't novelty tunes,
778
00:50:05,252 --> 00:50:08,046
it was her as a more mature
woman, as a more mature artist,
779
00:50:08,088 --> 00:50:09,799
and now reinventing herself.
780
00:50:09,841 --> 00:50:12,301
So, Norman Granzis responsible for that.
781
00:50:12,343 --> 00:50:16,180
♪ Every time ♪
782
00:50:16,221 --> 00:50:20,434
♪ We say goodbye ♪
783
00:50:20,476 --> 00:50:24,480
♪ I die a little ♪
784
00:50:25,898 --> 00:50:27,316
First I thought, I said,
785
00:50:27,358 --> 00:50:29,276
"My gosh, what is Norman doing?
786
00:50:29,318 --> 00:50:31,612
He's taking me awayfrom my jazz
787
00:50:31,654 --> 00:50:34,782
and who wants to listen to me
singing this?"
788
00:50:34,824 --> 00:50:40,663
♪ Heaven, I'm in heaven ♪
789
00:50:40,705 --> 00:50:47,545
♪ And my heart beatsSo that I can hardly speak ♪
790
00:50:47,586 --> 00:50:54,343
But it was funny, I justgained oh so many fansall over the world,
791
00:50:54,385 --> 00:50:56,804
so it was like a new beginning.
792
00:50:56,846 --> 00:50:58,848
♪ Let's do it ♪
793
00:50:59,891 --> 00:51:05,229
♪ Let's fall in love ♪
794
00:51:05,270 --> 00:51:08,566
Norman Granztook Ella out of the jazz clubs
795
00:51:08,607 --> 00:51:12,028
and put her in the world ofthe American Songbook.
796
00:51:12,068 --> 00:51:14,488
And he took her out of
"A-Tisket A-Tasket" world
797
00:51:14,530 --> 00:51:16,490
into another world.
798
00:51:16,532 --> 00:51:22,246
♪ There is nothing for me ♪
799
00:51:22,287 --> 00:51:29,336
♪ But to love you ♪
800
00:51:29,378 --> 00:51:33,632
I liked Ella when she sang
ballads, I must say, very much.
801
00:51:33,674 --> 00:51:36,218
I found them very
touching, very moving,
802
00:51:36,260 --> 00:51:38,596
and I thought she knewwhat she was talking about.
803
00:51:38,637 --> 00:51:45,185
♪ Just the way you look ♪
804
00:51:45,227 --> 00:51:52,108
♪ Tonight ♪
805
00:51:52,150 --> 00:51:53,903
Norman seizedthat moment,
806
00:51:53,945 --> 00:51:56,572
using not onlythe definitive songwriters,
807
00:51:56,614 --> 00:51:59,700
but Ella Fitzgerald,who he realised
808
00:51:59,742 --> 00:52:01,285
was the definitive interpreter
809
00:52:01,326 --> 00:52:04,622
of that music, and helped
to establish her as that
810
00:52:04,663 --> 00:52:06,749
with these great
Songbook packages.
811
00:52:06,791 --> 00:52:08,960
♪ It's very fancy ♪
812
00:52:09,001 --> 00:52:13,129
♪ On old Delancey StreetYou know ♪
813
00:52:13,171 --> 00:52:16,008
People did not take these songsseriously before Ella,
814
00:52:16,050 --> 00:52:18,510
they just thought thatthey were ephemeral.
815
00:52:18,552 --> 00:52:22,138
♪ When Broadway breezes blow ♪
816
00:52:22,180 --> 00:52:24,475
♪ To and fro ♪
817
00:52:24,516 --> 00:52:28,646
But for Normanand Ella, to come alongand preserve these songs
818
00:52:28,687 --> 00:52:31,774
and say, "This is whatAmericans should be proud of
819
00:52:31,816 --> 00:52:33,776
and this is the wayto present them",
820
00:52:33,818 --> 00:52:35,444
was really a radical move.
821
00:52:35,486 --> 00:52:40,282
♪ Gliding by ♪
822
00:52:40,324 --> 00:52:42,827
To think that this girl thatsang "A-Tisket A-Tasket",
823
00:52:42,868 --> 00:52:45,287
20 years after that, was making
the definitive Songbook
824
00:52:45,329 --> 00:52:48,582
of George Gershwin, of Richard
Rodgers, of Jerome Kern,
825
00:52:48,624 --> 00:52:51,251
and the one who would be taking
jazz and the American Songbook
826
00:52:51,293 --> 00:52:56,007
to Berlin, to Helsinki,to Tokyo.
827
00:52:56,048 --> 00:52:59,093
You know, to think that shewould go from that beginning
828
00:52:59,135 --> 00:53:01,470
to be the one who definedthe Songbook,
829
00:53:01,512 --> 00:53:04,348
to me, is just miraculous.
830
00:53:04,389 --> 00:53:08,310
♪ We'll go to ConeyAnd eat baloney ♪
831
00:53:08,352 --> 00:53:12,064
Ella's Songbooksconfirmed her as a superstar.
832
00:53:12,106 --> 00:53:15,818
♪ In Central Parkwe'll stroll ♪
833
00:53:15,860 --> 00:53:18,236
♪ Where our first kisswe stole ♪
834
00:53:18,278 --> 00:53:20,823
But the reluctanceof music promoters
835
00:53:20,865 --> 00:53:24,910
and TV and radio producersto book black artists
836
00:53:24,952 --> 00:53:29,331
remained a frustrationfor both Granz and Fitzgerald.
837
00:53:29,373 --> 00:53:33,794
♪ We both may see it close ♪
838
00:53:33,836 --> 00:53:37,422
♪ Someday ♪
839
00:53:37,464 --> 00:53:43,428
♪ The city's clamourCan never spoil ♪
840
00:53:43,470 --> 00:53:48,642
♪ The dreams ofa boy and goil ♪
841
00:53:48,684 --> 00:53:50,769
I got that line right.
842
00:53:50,811 --> 00:53:53,064
♪ We'll turn Manhattan ♪
843
00:53:53,105 --> 00:53:58,986
♪ Into an isle of joy ♪
844
00:54:05,993 --> 00:54:08,328
Fancy nightclubswere also unwilling
845
00:54:08,370 --> 00:54:12,248
to offend white customersby booking black stars.
846
00:54:14,292 --> 00:54:16,294
Norman Granz wastrying to get her booked
847
00:54:16,336 --> 00:54:17,963
in these high class,
848
00:54:18,005 --> 00:54:22,342
very, very white upper-crusty
Hollywood establishments.
849
00:54:22,384 --> 00:54:25,429
And at that pointthey were very hesitant
850
00:54:25,470 --> 00:54:27,305
to hire African Americans.
851
00:54:27,347 --> 00:54:30,726
♪ You're just too marvellous ♪
852
00:54:30,768 --> 00:54:34,438
♪ Too marvellous for words ♪
853
00:54:34,479 --> 00:54:37,149
Marilyn Monroeloved Ella Fitzgerald,
854
00:54:37,191 --> 00:54:40,027
and said, "Whatever you need,however I can help you,
855
00:54:40,069 --> 00:54:41,570
I am going to do that".
856
00:54:41,612 --> 00:54:44,823
And she went tothe owner at a club,
857
00:54:44,865 --> 00:54:48,202
she said, "If you don't open
these doors to everybody,
858
00:54:48,244 --> 00:54:51,080
I'll make sure nobody
shows up".
859
00:54:51,122 --> 00:54:52,873
And she came
to the club every night,
860
00:54:52,915 --> 00:54:54,666
and half the reason
people showed up
861
00:54:54,708 --> 00:54:57,293
was because Marilyn Monroe is
sitting in the front row going,
862
00:54:59,046 --> 00:55:00,505
"Yo, Ella!"
863
00:55:00,547 --> 00:55:04,426
♪ And so I'm borrowing ♪
864
00:55:04,468 --> 00:55:07,721
♪ A love song from the birds ♪
865
00:55:07,763 --> 00:55:11,058
♪ To tell you thatYou're marvellous ♪
866
00:55:11,100 --> 00:55:17,439
♪ Too marvelous for words ♪
867
00:55:24,529 --> 00:55:26,282
But in the South,
868
00:55:26,322 --> 00:55:31,536
Fitzgerald and Granz facedthe harsh realities of racism.
869
00:55:31,578 --> 00:55:34,832
One night, there were
three Houston detectives
870
00:55:34,873 --> 00:55:37,417
who said they wanted
to be backstage,
871
00:55:37,459 --> 00:55:42,464
and ended up bustinginto Ella's dressing room.
872
00:55:44,675 --> 00:55:47,970
Somebody was shootingdice and I got arrested.
873
00:55:48,012 --> 00:55:50,181
And they took meto the jail.
874
00:55:50,222 --> 00:55:52,683
And they took all of usto the jail, right.
875
00:55:54,392 --> 00:55:56,854
The detectivepulled a gun on Norman
876
00:55:56,895 --> 00:55:59,273
and said, "I oughtto shoot you".
877
00:56:01,608 --> 00:56:03,359
Norman said,"I'll cancel this show,
878
00:56:03,401 --> 00:56:05,070
and that's 2,000 people".
879
00:56:05,112 --> 00:56:07,948
"That's your problem,you deal with that".
880
00:56:09,825 --> 00:56:12,452
But he'd been pushing it
from the very beginning
881
00:56:12,494 --> 00:56:16,040
when he came in
the afternoon of the concert
882
00:56:16,081 --> 00:56:19,210
and personally took down the
'white' and 'coloured' signs
883
00:56:19,251 --> 00:56:20,794
from the doors.
884
00:56:22,420 --> 00:56:24,173
It was so funny,they wouldn't want us
885
00:56:24,215 --> 00:56:26,717
to go in a restaurantor have something to eat.
886
00:56:26,758 --> 00:56:28,260
And yet, the momentI walked in to jail,
887
00:56:28,302 --> 00:56:30,386
they were all askingfor my autograph.
888
00:56:32,139 --> 00:56:34,725
By the timethey got down to the station,
889
00:56:34,766 --> 00:56:36,352
the press was there.
890
00:56:36,392 --> 00:56:40,147
He just knew that yes,this really was a set-up,
891
00:56:40,189 --> 00:56:46,028
and ended up suingthe police departmentto get the bail back.
892
00:56:46,070 --> 00:56:50,448
If you messed with Norman Granz,
you swallowed the hook whole.
893
00:56:53,702 --> 00:56:56,080
Ella Fitzgeraldjoined Norman Granz
894
00:56:56,121 --> 00:56:59,624
and his musicianson long international tours
895
00:56:59,666 --> 00:57:03,545
under the bannerJazz at the Philharmonic.
896
00:57:03,587 --> 00:57:06,215
And now Miss Fitzgerald,
Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson,
897
00:57:06,257 --> 00:57:08,800
the rest of the show combined
to give you a jazz classic
898
00:57:08,842 --> 00:57:11,427
called "It Don't Mean A Thing
If It Ain't Got That Swing".
899
00:57:14,306 --> 00:57:19,895
JATP wascelebrated for itsuproarious jam sessions,
900
00:57:19,937 --> 00:57:23,941
sometimes dismissed by puristsas a circus.
901
00:57:23,982 --> 00:57:25,984
♪ It don't mean a thing ♪
902
00:57:26,026 --> 00:57:29,113
♪ If you ain't got that swing ♪
903
00:57:32,908 --> 00:57:34,826
♪ It don't mean a thing ♪
904
00:57:34,868 --> 00:57:37,121
Ella wasan essential presence,
905
00:57:37,162 --> 00:57:38,789
bringing her Songbook ballads
906
00:57:38,830 --> 00:57:41,666
-and up-tempo scat to the mix.
-[crowd chatter]
907
00:57:41,708 --> 00:57:46,504
♪ It makes no differenceif it's sweet or hot ♪
908
00:57:46,546 --> 00:57:48,215
We travel, almost...
909
00:57:48,257 --> 00:57:52,636
Every day we're playinga different country or city.
910
00:57:54,012 --> 00:57:56,181
Sometimes we playtwo cities a day.
911
00:58:02,146 --> 00:58:04,356
Norman Granzwas always obsessed
912
00:58:04,398 --> 00:58:05,649
with his jazz concerts
913
00:58:05,690 --> 00:58:08,777
as a wayof fighting prejudice.
914
00:58:08,819 --> 00:58:14,074
He called JATP "a race blinddemocracy of talent".
915
00:58:19,204 --> 00:58:23,792
As a character, Norman Granz
was a righteous man.
916
00:58:23,834 --> 00:58:28,964
He really saw evils ofsegregation and was determined
917
00:58:29,006 --> 00:58:32,926
to campaign against segregationwithin jazz music.
918
00:58:42,478 --> 00:58:45,314
When Granzemerges and says,
919
00:58:45,356 --> 00:58:46,857
"I believe in equality,
920
00:58:46,898 --> 00:58:49,276
I believe that black musicians
and white musicians
921
00:58:49,318 --> 00:58:50,902
should be
equally presented.
922
00:58:50,944 --> 00:58:52,696
They should be able to stay inthe same hotels,
923
00:58:52,737 --> 00:58:54,781
they should be able to sharethe same bandstand".
924
00:58:54,823 --> 00:58:56,450
It's not only radicalin the period,
925
00:58:56,492 --> 00:58:58,202
but it certainly earnedsome of the respect
926
00:58:58,243 --> 00:59:01,246
of a lot of musicians,both black and white.
927
00:59:03,874 --> 00:59:07,961
Norman Granz producedthe very first tourI did to Europe,
928
00:59:08,003 --> 00:59:10,255
I was with Dizzy at the time.
929
00:59:10,297 --> 00:59:12,508
But one of the things thatNorman did there was,
930
00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:18,347
mid-way through the tour hegave all sidemen a $100 bill,
931
00:59:18,389 --> 00:59:20,682
which was a lot of money then.
932
00:59:20,724 --> 00:59:22,226
And he said, "Look, this is just
933
00:59:22,267 --> 00:59:25,396
for being on time
and doing your job".
934
00:59:25,437 --> 00:59:26,646
Which I thought was great.
935
00:59:31,527 --> 00:59:33,445
The relationshipbetween Norman Granz
936
00:59:33,487 --> 00:59:36,740
and Ella Fitzgeraldwasn't always easy.
937
00:59:36,781 --> 00:59:40,702
He was dictatingmany of her music choices,
938
00:59:40,744 --> 00:59:44,831
but his urge to controlcould be stifling.
939
00:59:44,873 --> 00:59:49,545
Norman,whenever he was aroundeither Basie or Ella,
940
00:59:49,586 --> 00:59:52,381
he would tell them, "You're
gonna open with this,
941
00:59:52,423 --> 00:59:54,466
you're gonna do this,
you're gonna play this".
942
00:59:54,508 --> 00:59:57,177
He was almost like Svengali.
943
00:59:57,219 --> 00:59:58,803
Norman could be nasty
944
00:59:58,845 --> 01:00:03,725
and control was his
total direction in life,
945
01:00:03,767 --> 01:00:06,811
to control his world.
946
01:00:06,853 --> 01:00:08,646
Frank Sinatra wastalking to Ella ,
947
01:00:08,688 --> 01:00:11,066
and Norman Granz comes upand starts telling Frank
948
01:00:11,108 --> 01:00:13,610
what he thinks Frank
should open with,
949
01:00:13,651 --> 01:00:16,447
and Frank had him thrown outof the theatre.
950
01:00:16,488 --> 01:00:19,116
Norman was a proud guy,
and at that point he said,
951
01:00:19,157 --> 01:00:23,328
"OK, Ella Fitzgerald doesn't
work with Frank Sinatra
anymore".
952
01:00:23,370 --> 01:00:27,958
But always,Ella remained Ella.
953
01:00:27,999 --> 01:00:32,129
Norman Granzwas a voluminous collectorof Picasso.
954
01:00:32,170 --> 01:00:36,633
He also knew Picasso,hung with Picasso.
955
01:00:36,674 --> 01:00:40,429
And he asked Ella if she wouldlike to go and meet Picasso
956
01:00:40,471 --> 01:00:44,516
and she said, "No, I'm darning
socks this afternoon".
957
01:00:44,558 --> 01:00:49,854
♪ All you've gotta dois swing ♪
958
01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:51,982
He did his job.
959
01:00:52,023 --> 01:00:54,234
He had a goal in mind.
960
01:00:54,276 --> 01:00:56,320
He was focused on that goal,
961
01:00:56,361 --> 01:01:00,449
and they reachedthat goal together.
962
01:01:00,491 --> 01:01:03,743
So, it was a good marriagein that way.
963
01:01:10,792 --> 01:01:13,753
One of theall-time greats ofpopular music
964
01:01:13,795 --> 01:01:17,715
is a wonderful ladyby the name of Ella Fitzgerald.
965
01:01:17,757 --> 01:01:20,969
In between her tours,Ella Fitzgerald and her son
966
01:01:21,011 --> 01:01:23,263
live in this houseon a quiet street
967
01:01:23,305 --> 01:01:25,599
in Los Angeles, California.
968
01:01:25,641 --> 01:01:28,143
-Hello, Ella.
-Hi, Charles.
969
01:01:28,185 --> 01:01:30,604
It was the 1950s.
970
01:01:30,646 --> 01:01:32,606
Beverly Hills was not happy
971
01:01:32,648 --> 01:01:35,192
about African Americansmoving in.
972
01:01:36,109 --> 01:01:38,111
Ella was a global star,
973
01:01:38,153 --> 01:01:42,199
but Norman Granz had to buyher house in his name.
974
01:01:42,240 --> 01:01:43,992
I know how busyyou are,
975
01:01:44,034 --> 01:01:45,743
I'm glad we caught youbetween tours.
976
01:01:45,785 --> 01:01:48,746
Thank you. Yes, you're right
when you say between tours.
977
01:01:48,788 --> 01:01:51,542
We just finished
a 6-weeks tour in Europe
978
01:01:51,583 --> 01:01:54,794
and we're about ready to go to
South America for 6 weeks.
979
01:01:54,836 --> 01:01:56,754
With yourschedule, it sounds to me
980
01:01:56,796 --> 01:01:58,423
as though you don't getto spend much time
981
01:01:58,465 --> 01:02:00,258
at home here in California.
982
01:02:00,300 --> 01:02:04,012
I wish I could.
Unfortunately I don't, Charles.
983
01:02:04,054 --> 01:02:07,683
But I would love to,
especially because of my son.
984
01:02:09,142 --> 01:02:11,895
Here's my son, Raymond Brown Jr.
985
01:02:11,936 --> 01:02:14,022
Ray, are youplanning a career in music
986
01:02:14,064 --> 01:02:16,483
like your motheror haven't you decided yet?
987
01:02:16,525 --> 01:02:20,862
Well, I like piano, but I think
I'd rather be a baseball player.
988
01:02:23,657 --> 01:02:25,659
Musicians thatmy mother worked with
989
01:02:25,701 --> 01:02:29,787
would let me play their hornsor play drums.
990
01:02:29,829 --> 01:02:32,832
Yeah, there are some really,really nice moments.
991
01:02:32,874 --> 01:02:35,835
Roy Eldridge used to
let me play his trumpet.
992
01:02:37,588 --> 01:02:40,298
We went to Basie's house,
993
01:02:40,340 --> 01:02:46,137
and he had this huge table
with a train set on it,
994
01:02:46,179 --> 01:02:47,931
and it was just spectacular.
995
01:02:51,685 --> 01:02:54,854
Occasionally, my mumwould call me out on stage
996
01:02:54,896 --> 01:02:57,023
and we'd dance together
on stage.
997
01:02:58,650 --> 01:03:00,068
I loved my mum.
998
01:03:03,947 --> 01:03:10,579
We had the usual turmoils
that go on in family life.
999
01:03:10,621 --> 01:03:13,957
I can rememberhaving those moments
1000
01:03:13,998 --> 01:03:17,711
when I was very upsetwith my mother, andI ran up to my room.
1001
01:03:17,753 --> 01:03:20,756
And I had my little turntable,
1002
01:03:20,797 --> 01:03:25,552
and I would put on
The Who's "My Generation".
1003
01:03:25,594 --> 01:03:27,971
I'd just crank it
as loud as I could
1004
01:03:28,012 --> 01:03:30,307
'cause that's
how I felt about it.
1005
01:03:30,348 --> 01:03:31,933
Yeah.
1006
01:03:36,396 --> 01:03:38,732
There was a couplethat she had hired,
1007
01:03:38,774 --> 01:03:41,610
Chester and Juanita Matlock,
1008
01:03:41,652 --> 01:03:45,238
and it was Chester's job
1009
01:03:45,280 --> 01:03:48,908
to keep me
on the straight and narrow.
1010
01:03:50,243 --> 01:03:53,163
At some point,they told my mother
1011
01:03:53,204 --> 01:03:58,209
that I needed a littlemore discipline in my life.
1012
01:03:58,251 --> 01:04:01,838
And so they recommendeda Catholic military school.
1013
01:04:09,680 --> 01:04:15,310
The joy of getting up everymorning and going to Mass,
1014
01:04:15,352 --> 01:04:20,732
I got to fight every daywith my fellow classmates.
1015
01:04:22,484 --> 01:04:25,696
Marching, fight time.
1016
01:04:28,114 --> 01:04:29,533
I tried out for the orchestra,
1017
01:04:29,574 --> 01:04:31,117
and they said,"What do you wanna play?"
1018
01:04:31,159 --> 01:04:32,661
I said,"I wanna play trumpet".
1019
01:04:32,703 --> 01:04:35,079
So the band master looked at meand he said,
1020
01:04:35,121 --> 01:04:38,291
"Well, you can't play trumpet,
your lips are too big".
1021
01:04:40,752 --> 01:04:42,754
So they gave me a trombone.
1022
01:04:45,131 --> 01:04:49,594
Because you have suchlong periods of being apart,
1023
01:04:49,636 --> 01:04:54,307
and who knows how longit'll be before you seeeach other again,
1024
01:04:54,349 --> 01:05:00,897
there are times that's lonelyand I think music really helps.
1025
01:05:00,938 --> 01:05:04,234
It's something that helpssettle the heart.
1026
01:05:06,152 --> 01:05:11,157
♪ I could cry salty tears ♪
1027
01:05:12,450 --> 01:05:15,662
♪ Where have I been ♪
1028
01:05:15,704 --> 01:05:19,916
♪ All these years? ♪
1029
01:05:19,957 --> 01:05:22,919
♪ Little wow ♪
1030
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,881
♪ Tell me now ♪
1031
01:05:25,922 --> 01:05:32,804
♪ How long has thisBeen going on? ♪
1032
01:05:32,846 --> 01:05:35,640
["A House Is Not A Home"
by Ella Fitzgerald plays]
1033
01:05:39,269 --> 01:05:42,773
Now my son is at the agewhere I would really like
1034
01:05:42,814 --> 01:05:45,191
to spend a littlemore time at home.
1035
01:05:50,655 --> 01:05:53,491
And I am a woman,and you do get lonesome.
1036
01:05:53,533 --> 01:05:56,369
And I don't care how muchsinging you do,
1037
01:05:56,411 --> 01:05:59,330
and I don't care how muchaudience you have,
1038
01:05:59,372 --> 01:06:04,961
there are times when you gohome, it's kinda lonesome
1039
01:06:05,002 --> 01:06:10,341
without that one personthat you could tellthose troubles to.
1040
01:06:13,762 --> 01:06:16,640
Someone that you just feel youcan say something to them,
1041
01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:18,224
the little intimatethings that you
1042
01:06:18,266 --> 01:06:21,185
wouldn't think of sayingto anyone else.
1043
01:06:21,227 --> 01:06:22,646
I've got this big house,
1044
01:06:22,687 --> 01:06:25,315
but a house isn't a housewithout a man.
1045
01:06:25,356 --> 01:06:31,321
♪ A chair is still a chair ♪
1046
01:06:31,362 --> 01:06:35,116
♪ Even when there's no one ♪
1047
01:06:35,158 --> 01:06:39,788
♪ Sitting there ♪
1048
01:06:40,997 --> 01:06:43,249
I love my work.
1049
01:06:43,291 --> 01:06:45,836
I guess that's one reason whyI haven't gotten married again,
1050
01:06:45,877 --> 01:06:48,254
because I don't thinkI would ever want
1051
01:06:48,296 --> 01:06:51,257
to really just stopsinging altogether.
1052
01:06:51,299 --> 01:06:56,137
It would have to besomeone that realisedI love what I'm doing.
1053
01:06:56,179 --> 01:07:01,100
♪ And no one thereyou can kiss ♪
1054
01:07:01,142 --> 01:07:04,813
♪ Goodnight ♪
1055
01:07:04,855 --> 01:07:08,232
I would have to maybe cut thejobs down and be a housewife,
1056
01:07:08,274 --> 01:07:10,694
because I think it can be done.
1057
01:07:10,735 --> 01:07:13,530
And if you don't havethat experience,
1058
01:07:13,571 --> 01:07:15,239
life just doesn'tmean anything.
1059
01:07:15,281 --> 01:07:17,617
A woman's got to havethat kind of experience.
1060
01:07:17,659 --> 01:07:23,247
I miss it now more and more,and as I see my son grow up,
1061
01:07:23,289 --> 01:07:27,084
I realise that I wantto spend more time at home.
1062
01:07:27,126 --> 01:07:30,630
♪ And a house is not a home ♪
1063
01:07:30,672 --> 01:07:37,345
♪ When the two of usAre far apart ♪
1064
01:07:37,387 --> 01:07:39,848
♪ And one of us ♪
1065
01:07:39,890 --> 01:07:46,187
♪ Has a broken heart ♪
1066
01:07:48,773 --> 01:07:50,817
I just love to sing,
1067
01:07:50,859 --> 01:07:54,696
I don't know, I just feel thatif I couldn't sing,
1068
01:07:54,738 --> 01:07:56,489
I don't know what I would do.
1069
01:07:56,531 --> 01:07:59,993
♪ And suddenlyyour face appears ♪
1070
01:08:00,035 --> 01:08:02,286
As soon as I have hadthat first week off,
1071
01:08:02,328 --> 01:08:04,581
I'm ready to hit the roadagain. It's like well, gee,
1072
01:08:04,622 --> 01:08:06,207
that's part of my family.
1073
01:08:06,249 --> 01:08:08,459
I've got to get out to seehow my family's doing.
1074
01:08:08,501 --> 01:08:12,255
♪ It's so nice to have a man ♪
1075
01:08:12,296 --> 01:08:15,508
♪ Moon round the house ♪
1076
01:08:17,010 --> 01:08:20,055
♪ It's so nice ♪
1077
01:08:20,096 --> 01:08:25,268
♪ To have a manAround the house ♪
1078
01:08:25,309 --> 01:08:29,439
♪ I'm not meant to live alone ♪
1079
01:08:29,480 --> 01:08:34,193
♪ Turn this house into a home ♪
1080
01:08:34,235 --> 01:08:37,447
♪ When I climb the stairs ♪
1081
01:08:37,488 --> 01:08:40,450
♪ And turn the key ♪
1082
01:08:40,491 --> 01:08:45,914
♪ Oh, please be there ♪
1083
01:08:45,956 --> 01:08:52,587
♪ Still in love with ♪
1084
01:08:52,629 --> 01:08:58,676
♪ Me ♪
1085
01:09:02,013 --> 01:09:08,019
♪ A house is not a home ♪
1086
01:09:08,061 --> 01:09:14,859
♪ A home is not a house ♪
1087
01:09:14,901 --> 01:09:20,197
♪ A house is not a homeAnd a home is not a house ♪
1088
01:09:20,239 --> 01:09:26,579
♪ Without a man ♪
1089
01:09:30,166 --> 01:09:36,047
♪ Without a man ♪
1090
01:09:39,050 --> 01:09:40,885
Thank you.
1091
01:09:40,927 --> 01:09:43,638
We'd like to do somethingfor you now.
1092
01:09:43,680 --> 01:09:47,433
We haven't heard a girlsing it, and sinceit's so popular,
1093
01:09:47,475 --> 01:09:49,686
we'd like to try it and do itfor you.
1094
01:09:51,021 --> 01:09:53,148
We hope we rememberall the words.
1095
01:09:56,109 --> 01:09:58,653
Well, Ella wasa road rat.
1096
01:09:58,695 --> 01:10:01,280
You know, if she wasn't working
what was she was doing?
1097
01:10:01,322 --> 01:10:02,699
She was sitting home alone.
1098
01:10:02,740 --> 01:10:05,952
I don't think Ella
could ever stay home,
1099
01:10:05,994 --> 01:10:08,830
and do the cooking for a man.
1100
01:10:08,872 --> 01:10:11,582
I think she would prefer
to sing for a man.
1101
01:10:13,459 --> 01:10:16,129
She was always ina rush to go somewhere.
1102
01:10:17,130 --> 01:10:18,882
That's when she was happiest:
1103
01:10:18,923 --> 01:10:23,970
in front of people screaming
out, "We love you Ella".
1104
01:10:24,012 --> 01:10:26,723
I think that
meant everything to her.
1105
01:10:26,764 --> 01:10:30,018
♪ Oh, the shark has ♪
1106
01:10:30,060 --> 01:10:33,270
♪ Pearly teeth, dear ♪
1107
01:10:33,312 --> 01:10:40,195
♪ And he shows themPearly white ♪
1108
01:10:40,236 --> 01:10:43,073
For decades,from the late 1950s,
1109
01:10:43,114 --> 01:10:46,951
Ella embarked on an endlessseries of concert tours,
1110
01:10:46,993 --> 01:10:50,121
performing in dozens ofcountries around the world,
1111
01:10:50,163 --> 01:10:53,332
from Germany to Braziland Japan.
1112
01:10:53,374 --> 01:10:57,003
♪ Oh, the shark bites ♪
1113
01:10:57,045 --> 01:11:00,840
♪ With its teeth, dear ♪
1114
01:11:00,882 --> 01:11:04,177
One concert wasin Berlin in 1960,
1115
01:11:04,219 --> 01:11:06,888
and it was a yearbefore the Wall went up,
1116
01:11:06,930 --> 01:11:10,600
and this was as far at the
boundaries of the Soviet Union
1117
01:11:10,641 --> 01:11:13,853
as a major American artist
had come.
1118
01:11:13,895 --> 01:11:18,691
♪ So there's notNot a trace of red ♪
1119
01:11:18,733 --> 01:11:20,651
Norman Granzsuggested
1120
01:11:20,693 --> 01:11:25,031
Ella should try a recent BobbyDarin hit, "Mack the Knife".
1121
01:11:25,073 --> 01:11:28,576
♪ Round the cornerTell me, could it be ♪
1122
01:11:28,618 --> 01:11:30,703
She saidshe was going to do it,
1123
01:11:30,745 --> 01:11:34,040
but she wasn't sure she
remembered all the lyrics.
1124
01:11:34,082 --> 01:11:37,961
♪ Oh, what's the next chorus ♪
1125
01:11:38,002 --> 01:11:41,214
♪ To this song now? ♪
1126
01:11:41,256 --> 01:11:47,678
♪ This is the one nowI don't know ♪
1127
01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:51,599
♪ But it wasthe swinging tune ♪
1128
01:11:51,641 --> 01:11:54,560
♪ And it's a hit tune ♪
1129
01:11:54,602 --> 01:12:01,651
♪ So we tried to do"Mack The Knife" ♪
1130
01:12:01,692 --> 01:12:05,446
♪ Ah, Louis Miller ♪
1131
01:12:05,488 --> 01:12:09,408
♪ Oh, somethin' 'bout cash ♪
1132
01:12:09,450 --> 01:12:11,828
♪ Yeah, Miller ♪
1133
01:12:11,869 --> 01:12:14,080
♪ He was spendin' that trash ♪
1134
01:12:14,122 --> 01:12:15,706
The wayshe covers up
1135
01:12:15,748 --> 01:12:17,583
forgetting the wordswas just so brilliant
1136
01:12:17,625 --> 01:12:22,463
and so inventive and innovative
that it didn't matter.
1137
01:12:22,505 --> 01:12:24,507
♪ Yes, we sung it ♪
1138
01:12:24,548 --> 01:12:25,883
It workedbrilliantly.
1139
01:12:25,925 --> 01:12:28,636
♪ You won't recognise it ♪
1140
01:12:30,138 --> 01:12:32,640
♪ It's a surprise tune ♪
1141
01:12:32,682 --> 01:12:35,685
♪ We told you look outLook out, look out ♪
1142
01:12:35,726 --> 01:12:41,983
♪ Old Macheath's back in town ♪
1143
01:12:58,457 --> 01:13:00,293
There's asuper-charged atmosphere,
1144
01:13:00,335 --> 01:13:03,587
lots of racial antagonismflared into violence.
1145
01:13:03,629 --> 01:13:06,174
Firemen turned their hoseson the angry crowd.
1146
01:13:06,216 --> 01:13:09,426
Police dogs were brought into disperse shouting Negros.
1147
01:13:11,762 --> 01:13:14,974
The civil rightsstruggles of the early 1960s
1148
01:13:15,016 --> 01:13:19,603
became the background to EllaFitzgerald's overseas tours.
1149
01:13:21,647 --> 01:13:24,192
Travelling,you'll be surprised at things
1150
01:13:24,234 --> 01:13:26,027
that peoplein other countries say
1151
01:13:26,069 --> 01:13:27,904
when they read the papersabout it,
1152
01:13:27,945 --> 01:13:30,281
"My gosh, what isthis going on?"
1153
01:13:32,200 --> 01:13:34,160
And you feel embarrassed,really you do,
1154
01:13:34,202 --> 01:13:36,412
because you say, "Well, gee,what can you say?"
1155
01:13:36,453 --> 01:13:41,125
What can you say?There's nothing,and it's really pitiful.
1156
01:13:42,668 --> 01:13:45,713
During a radiointerview in 1963
1157
01:13:45,755 --> 01:13:47,340
with Fred Robbins,
1158
01:13:47,382 --> 01:13:50,551
a prominent radio show hostand trusted friend,
1159
01:13:50,593 --> 01:13:54,597
Ella surprisingly spoke outabout prejudice in America.
1160
01:13:56,473 --> 01:13:57,975
Maybe I'm stepping out,
1161
01:13:58,017 --> 01:13:59,936
but I have to say becauseit's in my heart,
1162
01:13:59,977 --> 01:14:02,063
but it makes you feelso bad to think
1163
01:14:02,105 --> 01:14:06,025
that we can't go down tocertain parts of the South
1164
01:14:06,067 --> 01:14:08,652
and give a concertlike we do overseas,
1165
01:14:08,694 --> 01:14:12,823
and have everybody justcome to hear the musicand enjoy the music,
1166
01:14:12,865 --> 01:14:18,871
because of the prejudice thingthat's going on.
1167
01:14:23,876 --> 01:14:26,296
I used to always liketo clam up,because you say,
1168
01:14:26,337 --> 01:14:30,133
"Well, gee, show peopleshould stay out of politics".
1169
01:14:30,174 --> 01:14:36,013
But we have travelled so muchand been embarrassed so much.
1170
01:14:36,055 --> 01:14:41,102
They can't understand whywe don't play in Alabama,"You don't play there.
1171
01:14:41,144 --> 01:14:44,730
Why can't you have a concert?
Music is music".
1172
01:14:46,649 --> 01:14:48,943
She never made
a political statement
1173
01:14:48,985 --> 01:14:53,697
except the one that I heard her
say was only three words,
1174
01:14:53,739 --> 01:14:57,660
and it was the most
complete definition
1175
01:14:57,701 --> 01:15:00,413
of the ignorance
of the world
1176
01:15:00,455 --> 01:15:03,916
in the way they
treat African Americans.
1177
01:15:03,958 --> 01:15:07,628
She said,
"Tony, we're all here".
1178
01:15:07,670 --> 01:15:10,840
In three words,she said the whole thing.
1179
01:15:15,845 --> 01:15:17,930
The diehards,they're going to just die hard,
1180
01:15:17,972 --> 01:15:19,723
they're not going to give in.
1181
01:15:19,765 --> 01:15:23,436
And then you've got to try toconvince the younger ones,
1182
01:15:23,478 --> 01:15:25,771
they're the ones thathave got to make the future.
1183
01:15:25,813 --> 01:15:29,025
And those are the oneswe gotta worry about,not those diehards.
1184
01:15:35,531 --> 01:15:36,866
I really ran my mouth.
1185
01:15:36,907 --> 01:15:38,409
- Really?-Where does this go?
1186
01:15:38,451 --> 01:15:39,869
This goes all over the world.
1187
01:15:39,910 --> 01:15:41,704
- It does?
- Yes, it does.
1188
01:15:41,745 --> 01:15:43,998
Is it going down...-It's going down South, too.
1189
01:15:44,040 --> 01:15:45,749
You think they're gonnabreak my records upwhen they hear it?
1190
01:15:45,791 --> 01:15:47,668
No, they won't.
1191
01:15:51,130 --> 01:15:52,548
This is unusual for me,
1192
01:15:52,589 --> 01:15:55,468
but I'm so happythat you had me,
1193
01:15:55,510 --> 01:15:57,720
because instead of singing,for a change,
1194
01:15:57,761 --> 01:16:01,474
I got the chance to geta few things off my chest.
1195
01:16:02,933 --> 01:16:04,601
I'm just a human being.
1196
01:16:06,020 --> 01:16:08,856
The interviewwas never broadcast.
1197
01:16:11,650 --> 01:16:14,278
Back in the daywhen Ella was coming up,
1198
01:16:14,320 --> 01:16:16,072
it had to be horrible.
1199
01:16:16,113 --> 01:16:18,449
I've been through horror.
1200
01:16:18,491 --> 01:16:20,826
I've been through
the Civil Rights Movement,
1201
01:16:20,868 --> 01:16:23,954
I was there for that, the
sit-ins and the marching,
and the this and the that.
1202
01:16:23,996 --> 01:16:27,917
Going and sitting at thecounter in the restaurants,
1203
01:16:27,958 --> 01:16:31,087
where, first of all, theydidn't want youto come in there.
1204
01:16:31,128 --> 01:16:34,090
You sit there for an hour,
an hour and a half
1205
01:16:34,131 --> 01:16:37,843
before somebody would come and
say, "We wish you would leave".
1206
01:16:39,845 --> 01:16:43,433
We were travellingin the South many times.
1207
01:16:43,474 --> 01:16:45,684
We couldn't stay at anyof the major hotels.
1208
01:16:45,726 --> 01:16:48,271
Gosh, and this isin the '60s and the '70s.
1209
01:16:48,312 --> 01:16:49,939
We couldn't stay
in the major hotels.
1210
01:16:49,980 --> 01:16:52,483
We had to go to the black side
of town and stay in...
1211
01:16:52,525 --> 01:16:54,651
They had roominghouses over there.
1212
01:16:56,612 --> 01:16:59,240
But artists like Ellafought that fight
1213
01:16:59,282 --> 01:17:02,118
to break down those doorsand break down those barriers
1214
01:17:02,159 --> 01:17:04,287
for people like me.
1215
01:17:04,328 --> 01:17:10,626
Race was obviously
something that we lived with,
1216
01:17:10,667 --> 01:17:12,378
continue to live with.
1217
01:17:13,879 --> 01:17:17,883
♪ That's why the ladyis a tramp ♪
1218
01:17:17,925 --> 01:17:21,762
♪ Doesn't dig dice gamesWith barons and earls ♪
1219
01:17:21,804 --> 01:17:25,266
♪ I won't go to HarlemIn ermine and pearls ♪
1220
01:17:25,308 --> 01:17:29,770
♪ She won't dish the dirtWith the rest of those girls ♪
1221
01:17:29,812 --> 01:17:32,856
♪ That's why the ladyis a tramp ♪
1222
01:17:32,898 --> 01:17:37,736
♪ I love the free, fresh windIn my hair ♪
1223
01:17:37,778 --> 01:17:39,530
♪ Life without care ♪
1224
01:17:39,572 --> 01:17:40,781
♪ I'm broke ♪
1225
01:17:40,823 --> 01:17:42,074
♪ That's OK ♪
1226
01:17:45,411 --> 01:17:47,788
♪ Sweet, lovely lady, be good ♪
1227
01:17:47,830 --> 01:17:50,666
♪ Oh, lady, be good to me ♪
1228
01:17:50,707 --> 01:17:53,752
♪ 'Cause I'mSo awfully misunderstood ♪
1229
01:17:53,794 --> 01:17:57,006
♪ Oh, lady, oh lady,Oh, lady, be good to me ♪
1230
01:17:57,047 --> 01:17:59,300
[narrator] Ella was theFirst Lady of Song.
1231
01:17:59,342 --> 01:18:04,430
Loved, admired, respectedby audiences and musicians.
1232
01:18:05,973 --> 01:18:09,268
♪ Oh, lady, oh lady,Oh, lady, be good to me ♪
1233
01:18:15,399 --> 01:18:17,776
♪ I'm so lonesome today ♪
1234
01:18:17,818 --> 01:18:21,572
♪ And so, lady, oh, lady, ladyWon't you be so good to me? ♪
1235
01:18:21,614 --> 01:18:22,865
♪ Please, please ♪
1236
01:18:22,906 --> 01:18:25,075
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
1237
01:18:35,503 --> 01:18:39,798
Ella had her ownsorrows, her own troubles,
1238
01:18:39,840 --> 01:18:44,637
and she had found her own way
to master suffering,
1239
01:18:44,679 --> 01:18:49,725
unhappiness, grief, shame
and make it something else.
1240
01:18:51,644 --> 01:18:54,021
And one of those thingsis joy.
1241
01:18:59,109 --> 01:19:03,280
She had beensinging for 60 years.
1242
01:19:03,322 --> 01:19:09,953
"The kids call me 'Mama Jazz'"she said, "that's so cute".
1243
01:19:09,995 --> 01:19:16,043
The thing about Ella is, like,
perfection, great artistry.
1244
01:19:16,085 --> 01:19:17,503
Thank you.
1245
01:19:17,545 --> 01:19:20,464
There's only one
thing that you cannot teach,
1246
01:19:20,506 --> 01:19:23,800
and that's that certain magic.
1247
01:19:23,842 --> 01:19:27,012
You cannot teach magic.
You can't.
1248
01:19:27,054 --> 01:19:31,183
And then when Ella turns
a phrase, that's magic.
1249
01:19:31,225 --> 01:19:34,687
♪ He'll look at me and smile ♪
1250
01:19:35,896 --> 01:19:40,484
♪ And I will understand ♪
1251
01:19:40,526 --> 01:19:46,073
♪ And in a little whileYou'll take my hand ♪
1252
01:19:48,117 --> 01:19:50,327
Ella's punishingtour schedule
1253
01:19:50,369 --> 01:19:54,790
kept her on the roadin to her seventh decade.
1254
01:19:54,831 --> 01:19:58,210
Paul Smith,the pianist, one timehe told me
1255
01:19:58,252 --> 01:20:02,131
she had worked something like
48 weeks out of 52.
1256
01:20:02,172 --> 01:20:05,593
He said he and Stan Levy,
who at the time was the drummer,
1257
01:20:05,635 --> 01:20:08,345
after that last concert
they took their tuxedos,
1258
01:20:08,387 --> 01:20:11,265
ripped them up and threw them
in the garbage can.
1259
01:20:11,307 --> 01:20:13,476
And they had had it.
1260
01:20:13,517 --> 01:20:18,481
♪ He'll build a little home ♪
1261
01:20:18,522 --> 01:20:20,357
♪ Just meant for two ♪
1262
01:20:20,399 --> 01:20:22,735
One more tourin the mid-'80s
1263
01:20:22,777 --> 01:20:25,529
seemed to be the endof the road for Ella.
1264
01:20:29,325 --> 01:20:31,619
We were on the roadwith Ella,
1265
01:20:31,661 --> 01:20:35,122
we had been out for12 days, four concerts.
1266
01:20:35,164 --> 01:20:38,375
And I'm checking out ofthe Hilton in Niagara Falls
1267
01:20:38,417 --> 01:20:41,462
and the elevator doors open up,
and Ella is standing there,
1268
01:20:41,504 --> 01:20:43,339
grasping her chest,
1269
01:20:43,380 --> 01:20:47,884
holding on to
her road manager, Pete,
1270
01:20:47,926 --> 01:20:50,095
saying, "I can't
catch my breath".
1271
01:20:50,137 --> 01:20:52,848
She was having
congestive heart failure.
1272
01:20:52,889 --> 01:20:55,768
["The Man I Love" by
Ella Fitzgerald]
1273
01:20:58,562 --> 01:21:02,024
We're coming up
to Ella's house right now.
1274
01:21:02,065 --> 01:21:03,526
Jim Blackman
1275
01:21:03,567 --> 01:21:05,820
fell in love with EllaFitzgerald's music
1276
01:21:05,861 --> 01:21:07,738
when he was 15.
1277
01:21:07,780 --> 01:21:12,201
For half a century,he was her most loyal fan.
1278
01:21:12,242 --> 01:21:17,914
He became her trusted friendand her final road manager.
1279
01:21:17,956 --> 01:21:20,292
She knew
I was honest with her.
1280
01:21:20,334 --> 01:21:22,919
She knew that
she could trust me.
1281
01:21:24,714 --> 01:21:27,216
After her operation in '86,
1282
01:21:27,257 --> 01:21:30,052
when they thought she wouldn'tbe able to sing again,
1283
01:21:30,093 --> 01:21:32,262
Ella wanted to rehearse.
1284
01:21:32,304 --> 01:21:35,057
She was raring to go
three months later.
1285
01:21:35,098 --> 01:21:38,602
♪ The way you wear your hat ♪
1286
01:21:40,771 --> 01:21:45,609
♪ The way you sip your tea ♪
1287
01:21:45,651 --> 01:21:48,195
I met herat the airport,
1288
01:21:48,237 --> 01:21:51,073
and this was a time when
her doctor was saying,
1289
01:21:51,114 --> 01:21:53,200
"Ella, don't travel".
1290
01:21:53,242 --> 01:21:57,079
♪ They can't take thatAway from me ♪
1291
01:21:57,120 --> 01:21:58,121
I said,"Where are you going?"
1292
01:21:58,163 --> 01:21:59,707
She said, "I can't wait,
1293
01:21:59,749 --> 01:22:01,375
I'm going to do a date".
1294
01:22:01,417 --> 01:22:04,587
She loved the audience,
she loved to perform that much
1295
01:22:04,628 --> 01:22:08,465
that thousands of miles away
from where she was going,
1296
01:22:08,507 --> 01:22:10,967
she couldn't wait
to get on that stage
1297
01:22:11,009 --> 01:22:14,555
to get that audience and give
them the time of their life.
1298
01:22:14,597 --> 01:22:19,017
♪ They can't take that away ♪
1299
01:22:19,059 --> 01:22:20,519
♪ Away ♪
1300
01:22:26,191 --> 01:22:32,656
♪ Can't take thataway from me ♪
1301
01:22:38,078 --> 01:22:39,455
Thank you.
1302
01:22:39,496 --> 01:22:40,831
When she'd do a concert
1303
01:22:40,873 --> 01:22:42,708
people would be screamingat the end
1304
01:22:42,750 --> 01:22:45,878
and then she'd come off and say
"Do you think they liked me?"
1305
01:22:51,091 --> 01:22:56,430
I mean, the woman was a genius
who had no idea,
1306
01:22:56,472 --> 01:23:00,893
no idea of her own genius.
None.
1307
01:23:05,731 --> 01:23:08,859
People truly loved her.
1308
01:23:08,901 --> 01:23:12,028
I was in Ukraine doing
a concert.
1309
01:23:13,989 --> 01:23:19,328
It was cold, I mean it was cold.
1310
01:23:19,369 --> 01:23:25,584
We ran out of the venue
and we got on the bus.
1311
01:23:25,626 --> 01:23:27,837
The windows were
all frosted over.
1312
01:23:30,130 --> 01:23:33,884
And this man,
standing outside the bus,
1313
01:23:33,926 --> 01:23:37,429
says, "I loved your mother,
she was so wonderful".
1314
01:23:37,471 --> 01:23:42,058
He had these flowers and
he wanted to give them to me.
1315
01:23:55,656 --> 01:23:57,825
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
1316
01:24:01,787 --> 01:24:02,830
Thank you.
1317
01:24:02,872 --> 01:24:04,999
And I'm so proud to be in class
1318
01:24:05,040 --> 01:24:07,918
with all of these younger ones
coming up.
1319
01:24:07,960 --> 01:24:10,629
They ain't going to leave me
behind, I'm learning how to rap.
1320
01:24:14,508 --> 01:24:17,427
Every now and then I said, "I'm
thinking about coming back".
1321
01:24:17,469 --> 01:24:21,849
She says, "I'll believe it
when I see it". You know.
1322
01:24:21,891 --> 01:24:26,812
So, I didn't come back
until I found out
1323
01:24:26,854 --> 01:24:30,024
that she was seriously ill.
1324
01:24:39,992 --> 01:24:46,498
Of course, the dynamics in our
lives had changed tremendously.
1325
01:24:47,290 --> 01:24:52,922
But to see grace likeyou'd never seen before,
1326
01:24:52,963 --> 01:24:58,468
in someone who knows
they have a limited lifespan...
1327
01:24:58,510 --> 01:25:00,429
-Did you say "thank you"?
-Thank you.
1328
01:25:00,470 --> 01:25:03,849
...to see the way that theydeal with people every day,
1329
01:25:03,891 --> 01:25:05,559
You want one, too?
1330
01:25:06,685 --> 01:25:08,520
and to see such kindness...
1331
01:25:09,646 --> 01:25:13,692
it was amazing.
1332
01:25:13,734 --> 01:25:17,153
Aww, you gave it to me.
1333
01:25:17,195 --> 01:25:20,365
Turn around,
Daddy is taking your picture.
1334
01:25:20,407 --> 01:25:23,660
We've got to get
a picture. Alright, yeah.
1335
01:25:23,702 --> 01:25:25,788
Okay, now let me
get in here.
1336
01:25:25,829 --> 01:25:27,915
You've got to
get in there, too.
1337
01:25:33,169 --> 01:25:35,171
Curtis, open your eyes!
1338
01:25:38,092 --> 01:25:40,218
You'd see a little baby,
'cause she loved kids,
1339
01:25:40,260 --> 01:25:43,388
and then she'd just go,
"How you doing, my little..."
1340
01:25:43,430 --> 01:25:45,891
and she'd just
start singing to the baby.
1341
01:25:45,933 --> 01:25:52,272
♪ Your daddy's rich ♪
1342
01:25:55,567 --> 01:26:01,824
♪ And your ma is good lookin' ♪
1343
01:26:06,578 --> 01:26:12,918
♪ So hush, little baby ♪
1344
01:26:14,920 --> 01:26:21,217
♪ Baby, don't ♪
1345
01:26:23,261 --> 01:26:26,849
♪ You cry ♪
1346
01:26:26,890 --> 01:26:29,018
I rememberthe funeral.
1347
01:26:29,059 --> 01:26:33,105
And I'd got all changed,
1348
01:26:33,147 --> 01:26:35,315
and I had to go
to the grocery store.
1349
01:26:35,357 --> 01:26:37,067
I'm in the grocery store.
1350
01:26:39,862 --> 01:26:41,738
and what comes on?
1351
01:26:42,781 --> 01:26:44,116
Her music.
1352
01:26:44,158 --> 01:26:49,579
♪ I could cry ♪
1353
01:26:49,621 --> 01:26:54,793
♪ Salty tears ♪
1354
01:26:54,835 --> 01:26:58,172
♪ Where have I been ♪
1355
01:26:58,213 --> 01:27:03,301
♪ All these years? ♪
1356
01:27:03,343 --> 01:27:09,183
♪ Little wow, tell me now ♪
1357
01:27:09,224 --> 01:27:15,689
♪ How long has this beenOccurrin'? ♪
1358
01:27:17,566 --> 01:27:22,529
♪ How long has this ♪
1359
01:27:22,571 --> 01:27:27,367
♪ Been going ♪
1360
01:27:27,409 --> 01:27:33,373
♪ On? ♪
1361
01:27:43,842 --> 01:27:46,428
Everything comes back around.
1362
01:27:47,429 --> 01:27:50,057
The way that Ella
was reserved,
1363
01:27:50,099 --> 01:27:53,309
and the way she was
poised and passionate,
1364
01:27:53,351 --> 01:27:56,939
you could never tellwhat her feelings were
1365
01:27:56,980 --> 01:27:58,607
until she got to the music.
1366
01:27:58,648 --> 01:28:01,359
And then it was always
happiness and joy,
1367
01:28:01,401 --> 01:28:04,238
and everything else that
you could have ever hoped for.
1368
01:28:04,279 --> 01:28:07,241
♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪
1369
01:28:07,282 --> 01:28:09,868
♪ A brown and yellow basket ♪
1370
01:28:09,910 --> 01:28:12,537
♪ I sent a letter to my mummy ♪
1371
01:28:12,579 --> 01:28:14,706
♪ And on the way I dropped it ♪
1372
01:28:14,748 --> 01:28:17,667
♪ I dropped it, I dropped it ♪
1373
01:28:17,709 --> 01:28:19,920
♪ My little yellow basket ♪
1374
01:28:19,962 --> 01:28:22,589
♪ A little girlyShe picked it up ♪
1375
01:28:22,631 --> 01:28:25,134
♪ And put it in her pocket ♪
1376
01:28:25,175 --> 01:28:30,680
♪ Oh, gee, I wonder wheremy basket could be ♪
1377
01:28:30,722 --> 01:28:35,769
♪ So do we, so do weSo do we, so do we, so do we ♪
1378
01:28:35,811 --> 01:28:41,191
♪ Oh, why was I so carelessWith that basket of mine? ♪
1379
01:28:41,233 --> 01:28:43,777
♪ That itty-bitty basket ♪
1380
01:28:43,819 --> 01:28:46,488
♪ Was a joy of mine ♪
1381
01:28:46,529 --> 01:28:49,407
♪ A-tisket a-tasket ♪
1382
01:28:49,449 --> 01:28:51,952
♪ I lost my yellow basket ♪
1383
01:28:51,994 --> 01:28:54,621
♪ Oh, can somebodyHelp me find it ♪
1384
01:28:54,663 --> 01:28:57,166
♪ And make me happyagain, again ♪
1385
01:28:57,207 --> 01:28:59,751
♪ Was it red? No, no, no, no ♪
1386
01:28:59,793 --> 01:29:02,129
♪ Was it blue? No, no, no, no ♪
1387
01:29:02,171 --> 01:29:05,132
♪ Was it green?No, no, no, no ♪
1388
01:29:05,174 --> 01:29:10,012
♪ My little yellow basket ♪
113787
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