'Three Little Maids..' Joan Sutherland Dinah Shore Ella Fitzgerald

[kerryincolumbus]

OMG!! THIS IS GREAT!!!! Thanks for posting it !

[weightfeather1]

I've actually seen the video that accompanies this song and I'm sorry it isn't here, because it is delightful! All three ladies contribute a bit of "ham" and they're all having great fun with it!

[fastborzoi]

I adore this

[CriticalListener]

What an unlikely combo--and yet it works! Thank you for posting this interesting little treasure.

[Tobytrim]

The 3 icons of their individual genres, and the generation, on the one stage.

What other type of song could you possibly get these three to collaborate on?

What a rarity!

[joecburke]

This is the best of early television. Ella Fitzgerald doing Gilbert and Sullivan? With a pop crooner?? And a leading classical operatic Soprano??? At the time each of these artists was at the top of their fields and the combination is great fun and a wonderful sound!

[ebony1911]

Like JoanNilson, I also saw this the night it was televised. Yes , Arkelk2010, they did have fun.!!!! --being 16 --dainty and operatically Japanese., in a Caballe/Arroyo/Tebaldi kind of way. OH, JoanNilsson , You didn't remind the readers that the three songstresses were attired in "authetic" Japanese dress complete with Japanese hair do's. . I hope somebody can find a photo of that night.and post it. Oh! StuartPapa58 in that crowd Ella did stand out. HaHaHa!

[Chimier]

LOL how cute!

[Arkelk2010]

I wonder if they had a much fun doing it as we are having listening to it? Sounds like it. Thanks for posting it.

[StuartPapa58]

Ella Fitzgerald doesn't stand out because she sang the vocal line of Peep Bo...which is rather unremarkable ... even the role of Peep Bo takes a back seat to the roles of Yum Yum and Pitti Sing....

[JoanNilson]

I remember seeing this on TV live!!!!!!!!!!! - and the funniest part of this was at the end right before the commercial - Dinah Shore quipped that she needed the mike in her throat when singing with Dame Joan!! And as aI recall Ella responded by fanning herself! Thanks so for this - and I agree - Sutherland's laugh was AMAZING!

[pullformore]

Such a pity we don't have the video of this - I think this is clip where Dinah and Ella are trying to get the boom mike moved over to their heads, and away from Joan's, so that they can be heard over Joan's voice.

It was obviously a staged gag but it was very funny.

[formby2]

@pullformore No, they also did a trio of "Lover come back to me" in that same show and that's where the mic gag came in. A video clip of this was included in a documentary about Joan, so that's how I know. Sadly, I've never seen video of the G&S trio, but if the other survives then so must this!

[weightfeather1]

@formby2 I have definitely seen some of the G & S video. Whether it survives in its entireity, I don't know, but at least part of it was shown on a PBS documentary about Dinah Shore around 10 years ago. It's the one on which Dinah's daughter did part of the narration about her mother.

[Crumphorn]

Thanks for uploading this - I always heard of the fabled Ella Fitzgerald version of 'Three Little Maids' and this must be it. I think she must have held back because Sutherland and Shore seem to stand out while Fitzgerald is lost.

[jakob2828]

Love Dame Joan. As for Dinah and Ella-Americans should not perform G and S or Shakespeare

[jfdp75009]

Thank you! I've been praying someone would upload this for two years!

[mca1218]

There is about 26 seconds of this on kinescope in the "Ella: Something to Live For" documentary. (Of course, what I want to know is whether or not there's a taped performance in color. Much of Dinah's series was taped, and a lot of that tape survives, so I keep seeing here on on YT.) The idea to put three distinctively different ladies of song together in the same lilting trio is stupendous. Great audio.

[xxbabeegurl15xx]

The harmony and blend is superb

[lanonromantica]

love the laugh! =)

[miffy1950]

@lanonromantica

Me too, this was really great!!!

[VealParmigiana]

In my opinion, Dinah sound the best of the three.

[Richiesutherland]

She eventually, late in her career, sang the whole number (middle section of the number was cut in the TV show) in some Australian Opera galas...and she was the smallest one of the "Three LIttle Maids" (Heather Begg and Rosina Raisbeck were Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo). Doesn't the harmony of Dinah and Ella sound lovely here? Great voices of a different type, and excellent musicians.

[OrpheuCe]

ahahaha  AMAZING!!!!!!

[MedeAilinel]

Fantastic!!! Thanks for posting!!!

[alfemv76]

como siempre... fantástica!

[newstart2009]

about time we hear the full audio. Thank you!

[andreasscholl]

OMG this is GREAT!!!!!!!!

Ha ha ha ha.