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By the time these recordings were made in 1956 and 57, Billie Holiday's life and career were ebbing to premature close. It's a story which has been told, twisted and embellished ad nauseum. Die-hard fans are bemused that her later work, with her voice reflecting the accumulated scars of addiction and misuse, should be so highly regarded. They prefer to listen to the prodigious output of her early recording career which started as early as 1935, and which reveals her talent as a vocal musician in all its youthful glory. But as biographer Donald Clarke's accompanying notes suggest, the decline of her voice actually heightened her
By the time these recordings were made in 1956 and 57, Billie Holiday's life and career were ebbing to premature close. It's a story which has been told, twisted and embellished ad nauseum. Die-hard fans are bemused that her later work, with her voice reflecting the accumulated scars of addiction and misuse, should be so highly regarded. They prefer to listen to the prodigious output of her early recording career which started as early as 1935, and which reveals her talent as a vocal musician in all its youthful glory. But as biographer Donald Clarke's accompanying notes suggest, the decline of her voice actually heightened her ability as an interpreter of lyrics and it's this quality which makes these sessions so compulsive to listen to. In fact, they originally comprised two classic albums, Songs for Distingue Lovers and Body and Soul, made for Norman Granz's pioneering Verve label. True, the material is heavily biased towards the torch song, but there are a number of light pop standards ("Moonlight In Vermont" and "April In Paris") which make it absolutely clear that Holiday was never, even at this late stage, a one-dimensional tragedienne. --Piers Ford
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Manufacturer: Polygram Records
Release date: 24 October 1995
Number of discs: 2
EAN: 0731452922625 UPC: 731452922625
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