Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book is a studio album released in 1961 on Verve Records, as part of Ella Fitzgerald's Song Book series. It was recorded in 1960 in Los Angeles, California, and features songs composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by various collaborators such as Ted Koehler, Johnny Mercer, and Yip Harburg. The album is the eighth in the series and was produced by Norman Granz.
The album includes 23 songs spanning Arlen's career, from early hits like "Stormy Weather" to Broadway and film classics such as "Over the Rainbow" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." The arrangements were done by Billy May, who orchestrated a big, sophisticated sound that complements Fitzgerald's voice. The recording highlights Fitzgerald's vocal precision and ability to convey emotion in each track.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book was critically acclaimed and is considered one of the best volumes in the Song Book series. The album helped solidify Harold Arlen's legacy as one of the great 20th-century composers, and Fitzgerald's interpretation is seen as a benchmark for these standards. The project was a commercial and artistic success, reaffirming Fitzgerald's mastery of the Great American Songbook repertoire.