We don't all come to music when our first chance arrives.
The critics and hipsters would besmirch people for being late to the party, but fuck 'em - great music is not some exclusive party with a limited time for admission.
As I've aged and lost a few contrarian steps, I moved to the better late than never school, so I'm starting a new tradition here.
We all stumble onto albums long after their release. I've found a lot this year, through my newfound obsessions for vinyl and the Great American Songbook, but one revelation topped them all.
Nothing else I've heard holds a candle to the otherworldly fire generated between Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
There's just something about those voices - one sweet and pristine, the other grizzled and ancient, both beautiful in their own ways.
Sadly, my previously exposure to Let's Call the Whole Thing Off came courtesy of Christopher Walken deadpanning the lyrics on Saturday Night Live. But hearing these two take on Gershwin couldn't sound more organic.
On My Love is Here to Stay, Louis sounds as if he'll be around to see the Rockies crumbled and Gibraltar tumble. Ella sounds like she could set them tumbling with a few of those legendary high notes.
This morning I needed a little I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm to distract me from the scorching 9 degrees Fahrenheit outside my front door. They clash so well on this one; their voices serve best when mingling, not when they sing their parts in a vacuum.
The tenderness in their voices on Nearness of You is as sweet as it gets in popular music.
Their interpretation of Porgy and Bess, the last collaboration, leaves you wanting more.
With three albums of blissful duets I ended a lifetime of ignorance. Otis & Carla could have contended if Redding's death had not limited their partnership to one album, but pop music has not equalled the sheer power of these duets. But records are stepped in the highest quality and a once-in-a-century pairing.
I came late to the Ella and Louis party, yet now wonder how my ears went without them.
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