Everything you ever wanted to know about Mack the Knife

There are some songs and some singers about which I'm a bit nuts. I have to own recordings of each of my favorite singers singing each of my favorite songs. Among the singers are Frank Sinatra, Lady Day, Tony Bennet, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Willie Nelson. Among the songs are classics like `Dream a little dream,' `Fly me to the moon,' `Young at heart.' and 'Somewhere over the rainbow'. 'Mack the Knife' is one such song, and the history and story around and behind the song are really interesting. It has to be the only song in the classic American pop repetoire that comes from a Bertolt Brecht (and here) opera.

My favorite versions of Mack the Knife? Ella Fitzgerald's, Louis Armstrong's, and Sinatra's.