Billie Holiday - Lady In Satin (1958)
Track Listing (standout tracks in bold)
1. I'm a Fool to Want You
2. For Heaven's Sake
3. You Don't Know What Love Is
4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
5. For All We Know
6. Violets for Your Furs
7. You've Changed
8. It's Easy to Remember
9. But Beautiful
10. Glad to Be Unhappy
11. I'll Be Around
First off – as I have said in other reviews - I admit to be an extreme novice when it comes to jazz – so all of the jazz records I’ve been listening to have been a total learning experience for me. I knew very little about Billie Holiday, other than that the Diana Ross movie “Lady Sings The Blues” was loosely based on her Holiday’s life. I approached this record with some anticipation thinking this would be just a fantastic listen as I had always read where Billie Holliday was the voice all other jazz greats were compared too! I was severely disappointed.
I have since learned, that the hard life (including an 8 month prison run in 1947) and severe amount of drug usage had essentially left Billie’s voice completely shot by the time she recorded these sides. There is a unique bareness and honesty to the vocals – chock full of emotion, but her vocals are so bad it makes it very hard to listen to this album. I initially thought these were recordings of a 70-80 year old woman, and was surprised to read she was 43 when these were recorded! Her croaking voice is at times unbearable. Not surprisingly, she died just over a year after these recordings were released of heart and liver disease.
Not recommended.
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