I finally found time to binge-watch the new Guy Ritchie series The Gentlemen this week and, man, I should have made time earlier as it is astonishingly entertaining and fun.
Just as superb as the original film it is a spin-off from, the eight-episode drama features fabulous performances, a fascinating plot and even a surprising choice of music on its soundtrack.
Songs like the one that ended the comedy action drama’s first episode — The Gentlemen, Season 1, Episode 1, “Refined Aggression” — playing over the end credits, right after Freddy shoots Dixon in the head and then escapes out onto the lawn.
That tongue-in-cheek song is Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Old McDonald‘, which added even more humor to that hilarious ending scene. ”
E-I-E-I-O, anyone?
When did Ella Fitzgerald release ‘Old McDonald‘?
The now-late American jazz singer recorded and released her version of the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Old McDonald‘ (Had a Farm) in 1966 on her Whisper Not studio album.
The album came out on the Verve label, and was Ella Fitzgerald‘s last album for the label, before she moved to the Capitol Records label.
Fitzgerald’s ‘Old McDonald‘ features a fun, jazzed up, faster version of the original children’s song, with the lyrics being sung in an even more playful way.
Yet, at the same time, it sounds just as sophisticated as everything else the superb singer ever released.
Listen to Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Old McDonald‘ from The Gentlemen end credits in the video of her live performance of the song on The Ed Sullivan Show back in November, 1964, and on her Whisper Not album via Spotify.
All 8 episodes of The Gentlemen are now streaming on Netflix.