Billie Holiday - Greatest Hits (Sony) [Original recording remastered]

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 17, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 17, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000FC7M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,549 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic and wonderful, December 23, 2002

By 

cortney (VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Billie Holiday - Greatest Hits (Sony) (Audio CD)

I really enjoyed this particular selection of Holiday's work. I looked everywhere for a compiliation CD that included "The Very Thought of You" (my copy of Lady's Decca Days didn't) and this one had it, along with other songs that weren't included on Decca Days either. Short of purchasing a wildy expensive boxed set of her work, I would reccomend this for anyone even remotely interested in the talent of Billie Holiday: the sound quality is excellent and the choice of songs is great, as well. Even the liner notes are an welcome addition---they include an informative bio about Billie as well as her rise to fame and anecdotes from some of the people she worked with.
As a side note, the only song I would have added to this collection is "Strange Fruit," one of the most haunting and politically-charged Holiday songs to date. If you get a chance to hear that, you'll be doing yourself a favor. Otherwise, this album is a great choice.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh What a Little Billie Can Do....., June 30, 2003

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Greatest Hits (Audio Cassette)

This review refers to the Audio Cassette of "Billie Holiday..Greatest Hits"(Columbia).....

So there I was on a hot and smoggy afternoon, on an L.A. Freeway stuck in rush hour traffic, with plenty of time to choose just the right music to spend the two hours it would take to go the ten miles home. Rummaging through my tapes and rejecting most, there she was..my recently purchased Billie Holiday tape. I popped it in and spent the most delightful time in my car with this music.

Billie's soulful,soothing and uniquely recognizable vocals, accompianied by such greats as The Teddy Wilson Orchestra, Count Basie and His Orchestra, Lester Young on Sax, Buck Clayton on Trumpet, Freddie Green on Guitar,Jo Jones on Drums, and many more wonderful artists,had me smiling and took me away to another time and place. I loved it so much I listened to it several times on the drive.

The album is a great mix of Blues, Standards and songs that just say "Billie!", and You may just want to sing along.This wonderful treat includes "A Sailboat in the Moonlight"(Lombardo/Loeb)), "I Can't Get Started"(Gershwin/Duke),"Solitde"(Ellington/Mills/Delange),"God Bless The Child"(Holiday/Herzog),my personal favorite, "What a Little Moonlight Can Do"(Woods), the oh so marvelous "The Very Thought of You"(Noble), and of course "Billie's Blues(I Love My Man"). There are thirteen intoxicating tracks in all(see buying info for complete list), that will have you humming them for days after.

It's a very good recording of these old songs, although a little low and does have to be turned up a few notches in volume. You'll be under the infulence of Billie from the minute you start listening...and..you won't care about that guy who just cut you off!!!!

A great addition to your Billie Holiday collection or a great way to get to know her! But watch out! You may get hooked!

Enjoy...Laurie

also recommended:
Love Songs
Dust My Broom
Nothing But the Best -- USPS Special Edition (includes first day cover of Sinatra stamp and rare bonus track)

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs More Fast "Swingers", September 26, 2000

By 

Peter (East of Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Billie Holiday - Greatest Hits (Sony) (Audio CD)

To many, Billie Holiday is tragically linked to drugs and alcohol, including the rapid decline of her unique voice after the 1940s. But as this set demonstrates, her voice was still in peak form in the 1930s and early 40s, the eras from which this set culls the songs. For this greatest hits, Sony-Columbia picks mostly slow tempo songs despite the fact that Billie swings fast tempo songs aplenty back then. The only fast one here is "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", otherwise the rest are ballads and slow burners. I wish Columbia had included more "swingers" in their remastered hits package. No doubt this will NOT be the last Billie Holiday reissue or hits compilation we'll see from Sony-Columbia. There will be more to come---just put more "fast ones" on the next one. For that shortcoming, I rate this package 4 stars instead of 5. But the singing here is still inspiring and enjoyable as any Lady Day CD from the 1930s.