Lady Sings the Blues (180g)

The mid-fifties were troubled times for Billie. In his biography of the singer, titled Billie’s Blues, John Chilton spoke about that period: “Most of the contemporary reviews of Billie’s work that appeared in music magazines during the 1950s dwelt heavily on her past achievements. Lady disliked any comparisons between her earlier records and her later work –she said emphatically that she was singing better than ever, and that was that. But time, a thousand fixes, and a sea of swallowed brandy took its toll on Billie’s health: the warning signs were indicating that it was time to ease up. The years of disregard were shearing away Billie’s vocal technique. She never lost the art of conveying deep emotions, but by the mid-1950s, her range had narrowed considerably, and her voice had taken on a troubled quality. Yet on the nights that Lady felt good, nothing could stop her being the greatest jazz vocalist on earth. She looked as glamorous as ever, and when people spoke of her past as her ‘golden years’, she felt irritated and hurt. She said, ‘Always comebacks, but nobody says where I’ve been’; nothing irked Lady more than wrinkled adults coming up to say, ‘I’ve loved your records since I was a child... so high’.” The recordings included on the classic album Lady Sings the Blues come from two different studio dates, a complete session recorded in 1956, and four tunes from a 1954 date. An additional track from the latter session has also been added here as a bonus. The emphasis on both sessions is placed on Billie’s singing. Although important musicians are present on both dates (Charlie Shavers, Tony Scott, Paul Quinichette and Wynton Kelly, on the 1956 session, and Harry “Sweets” Edison, Willie Smith and Barney Kessel, on the 1954 date), little room is left for any instrumental improvisation. Billie’s voice is clearly the showcased instrument here, which as Miles Davis stated, sounded like a horn anyway.

B3-B7: Harry “Sweets” Edison (tp), Willie Smith (as), Bobby Tucker (p), Barney Kessel (g), Red Callender (b), Chico Hamilton (d). “I Thought About You” is a Billie Holiday-Bobby Tucker duet. Los Angeles, September 3, 1954.

• Trav'lin Light
• I Must Have That Man
• Some Other Spring
• Lady Sings The Blues
• Strange Fruit
• God Bless The Child
• Good Morning, Heartache
• No Good Man
• Love Me or Leave Me
• Too Marvelous For Words
• Willow Weep For Me
• I Thought About You
• P.S. I Love You