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The Very Best of Billie Holiday |
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| Styles: |
5 - Jazz - Labels - Verve - S - V |
| Media: |
Audio CD |
| Release Date: |
6 September 1999 |
| Label: |
Verve |
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| UPC Catalogue No: |
731454749428 |
| Amazon Sales Ranking: |
4597 |
| Number of Discs: |
2 |
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Description |
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After her classic sessions of the 1930s, the three years during which Billie Holiday recorded for Norman Granz in the late 50s produced her best recordings. Granz worked her hard and there are 33 of her best latter-day tracks here. The top jazz musicians involved are legion, with the historic group that included Ben Webster, Harry Edison and Jimmy Rowles at the heart of the album. But there are great performances from Willie Smith on "Stormy Blues" and a variety of subtle adornments from Buck Clayton, Coleman Hawkins, Tony Scott, Benny Carter and so on. Many of her classic interpretations from the earlier period like "Good Morning Heartache", "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit" and "Lady Sings The Blues" are here. Her best versions of "Stormy Weather", "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You" and other standards only recorded for Granz are also included. The set makes a wonderful introduction to Holiday, but collectors will want it because it has so many tracks from rare sessions like the one with Charlie Shavers, Wynton Kelly and Kenny Burrell. And all the way through the natural jazz of Harry Edison and Ben Webster keeps bursting through. --Steve Voce |
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Tracks |
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| 1 |
Good morning heartache |
| 2 |
Summertime |
| 3 |
My man |
| 4 |
Strange fruit |
| 5 |
Lover man |
| 6 |
God bless the child |
| 7 |
Lady sings the blues |
| 8 |
I've got my love to keep me warm |
| 9 |
Billie's blues (aka I love my man) |
| 10 |
I cried for you |
| 11 |
Stormy blues |
| 12 |
Lover come back to me |
| 13 |
Fine and mellow |
| 14 |
Love is here to stay |
| 15 |
Don't explain |
| 16 |
Please don't talk about me when I'm gone |
| 17 |
Travellin' light |
| 18 |
All of me |
| 19 |
Gee baby ain't I good to you |
| 20 |
Man I love |
| 21 |
Love for sale |
| 22 |
Body and soul |
| 23 |
Stormy weather |
| 24 |
Love me or leave me |
| 25 |
I don't want to cry anymore |
| 26 |
Fine romance |
| 27 |
Don't worry 'bout me |
| 28 |
It had to be you |
| 29 |
I got a right to sing the blues |
| 30 |
I must have that man |
| 31 |
Do nothin' 'til you hear from me |
| 32 |
Sophisticated lady |
| 33 |
One for my baby (and one more for the road) |
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Customer Reviews |
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Billie has a hypnotic voice and every good song is here |
Rating: 5.0 |
What a magical voice. Billie Holiday is absolutely amazing and this cd is about as inclusive as they come. Any jazz lover is bound to absolutely adore this cd - as is anyone with a number of different Billie Holiday cd's that don't quite include all the songs you want to hear. Billie is a true legend, and this cd is proof why. Her voice is completely intriguing and emotional and sultry- all the things that make you want to listen to a cd over and over again. The cd really couldn't get much better than this. If you do enjoy this kind of music, there are also great cd's with Louis Armstrong. Highly recommended. |
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Nice music, shame about the packaging |
Rating: 3.0 |
Undoubtedly this is a nice collection of the later recordings of Billie Holiday which, to most listeners, will be more accessible than earlier recordings, mainly due to the inevitably better sound quality.
To my mind, though, the collection is spoilt by the packaging, particularly the lack of information contained therein. Information against each track is limited to an unhelpful 'published' date and a (sometimes erroneous) track run-time. A list of (most of) the backing musicians is provided, but no indication of which tracks they appear on - its nice to know that greats such as Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson etc. are amongst the cast, but it would be even nicer to know on which tracks they play!
The information provided makes it difficult at best to work out when and where each track was recorded, and which musicians were featured.
Perhaps the inclusion of 'Summertime', a track from another era, leased from another company, and featured on a front-of-case sticker because it was used in a TV commercial for a well-known chocolate bar, tells the story of the origins of this particular release.
In summary, a good collection for those who just want to 'stick it on and listen to some good music', but not for the serious collector nor, probably, for those who have more than just a passing interest in what they are listening to. |
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