Billie Holiday - Lady Sings The Blues LP

2002 German Speakers corner limited edition 12-track LP pressed on 180gram VIRGIN VINYL featuring a collection of rare blues numbers recorded during the course of her long career from 1933 to 1959 including a varied mixture of titles from the American songbook and her own compositions, produced by her accompanying musicians Tony Scott and Paul Quinichette who are two names that made their mark on her music in the mid-Fifties, presented in sealed replica of the original picture sleeve and stickered.

Tracks
01. Lady Sings The Blues
02. Trav`lin` Light
03. I Must Have that Man
04. Some Other Spring
05. Strange Fruit
06. No Good Man
07. God Bless The Child
08. Good Morning Heartache
09. Love Me Or Leave Me
10. Too Marvelous For Words
11. Willow Weep For Me
12. I Thought About You

Although Billie Holiday’s repertoire covered barely more than a dozen pure blues numbers during the course of her long career from 1933 to 1959, music critics always referred to her as the ‘Lady [who] sings the blues’. And that hasn’t changed to this day. In truth the recordings she made for Columbia in the Thirties and those for Clef/ Verve between 1953 and 1957 were a highly varied mixture of titles from the American songbook and her own compositions.
Her interpretations were a benchmark against which all aspiring singers were measured. Highly expressive, almost visual ballads went hand in hand with Billie Holiday’s life and voice - and only she alone could sing them! Her voice was always embedded in the sound carpet produced by her accompanying musicians: Tony Scott and Paul Quinichette are two names who made their mark on her music in the mid-Fifties, and the rhythm group of Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell and Chico Hamilton is really first class. The trumpeter Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, a long-time friend from the Count Basie Band, sensitively accompanies the singer’s mature voice.
This album in its original cover proves for first time just how great the old Clef recordings by Norman Granz can sound. And surely almost no-one will still possess a well-preserved copy (with lyrics!) of MGC-721 on their shelf …

Billie Holiday (voc); Tony Scott (arr, cl); Harry Edison (tp); Willie Smith (as); Bobby Tucker, Wynton Kelly (p); Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell (g); Red Callender (b); Chico Hamilton (dr); and others

Recording: September 1954 in Los Angeles and June 1956 in New York City
Production: Norman Granz