Customer Reviews

Billie Holiday Love Songs

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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This compilation collects the very love songs from what is probably Billie's best records, the early Columbia (Brunswick/Vocalion) records. Those records do not equal her later records in terms of recording quality nor does it match the nuanced phrasing of her Verve records. What they have going is a young and fresh sounding Billie fronting unbeatable arrangements and performances. They also have some great upbeat material that would become increasingly absent towards the end of Billie's recording career, showing just how much she could do (as her voice faded, she became less capable of handling such material convincingly).

All the Columbia material was collected on the 9 volume "Quintessential" set, but unfortunately, while half of the stuff is pure gold, there's also a lot of dreck. Furthermore, all 9 volumes have poor, compressed sound, and some great stuff comes off limp and lifeless. "Love Songs" rectifies this, and it's just amazing how much better everything is once it's been put through Sony's 20-bit fairy dust. Now if they would only go back and re-do it all in a tightly packaged 6 CD set...

What can one say here, that hasn't already been said of Billie Holiday... I come not to praise but simply to say, "Pick this up!" 11 bux (unless you get it used) for a fat-load, a veritable goldmine, of great tunes sung by one of the last century's most soulful and velvetine singers, each with incredibly superb backing (the players include Count Basie((!!!)), Gene Krupa, Lester Young, Al Casey and Freddie Green, among other badass greats of the time).

Each note of these songs is art. Language shudders under the weight of describing how wonderful this music is. The songs always end making you wish teh band had just played on... And the thematic unity is never cumbersome- yes they're all love songs, but what are looking for? Protest music?

Also Recommended- if you get this plus the Sony comp "Blue Billie," (I love that collection, cheap copies abound, and it's not really soooo bluesy- just more meditative and pensive songs and many of the songs have the term "blue" in the title, but most swing!). Get those two and you got 31 great tracks of swingin', depression-era Billie. Only one overlap track- "Night and Day." Both CDs are remastered lovely and nice, the sound is clear, warm, sumptuous.

Or pick up Lady in Autumn (another fave of mine), for more voluptuous recordings, later in her life.

Honestly though, you can't go wrong with Billie.

Sony-Columbia once again comes up aces in their great job remastering and choosing the songs on this collection. Billie not only sounds wonderful, the sound quality itself is excellent. Majority of the hisses have been taken out. Holiday recorded these songs at a time when she was still fresh and upbeat, and this is reflected in her singing (or her drug habit hadn't fully kicked in yet). The song selection is hard to fault, most of them waxing romantic optimism. Even on the torchier numbers, the mood is still wistful as opposed to downright depressing as she would sound later in her career. One only wishes Sony had included more numbers on this set. Maybe there'll be a Love Songs Volume 2 next time?

My addiction to Billie Holiday since my childhood makes it impossible for me to do with just this much of Billie from the 1930s and early 1940s. I have it all!

Still, if you are not ready to take the ultimate step and get it all, this is a wonderful place to start. Too much is said about Billie Holiday as a life tragedy in various stages, when what is important is her life as a jazz musician and singer. In that regard these are revolutionary records that will be treasured as long as people have ears. It is very hard to really explain how good these recordings are. You simply need them and listen and enjoy them and have them swing you to know.

Holiday swings in a way that no singer to her time, even her one predecessor of note, The Great Louis Armstrong, swings. She swang so well that she immediately attracted the greatest of swing musicians who wanted to be part of these sessions for the musical experience. In a sense these recordings were a chance for them to jam together in loose arrangements and be more innovative and creative than they were with the orchestras they played with.

Of course, the great collaboration captured on so many of these recordings is the one between Lester Young and Billie. They were great musical friends and personal friends until Billie became a heroin addict at which point Lester didn't much want to be around her.

As much as I am a Lester Young man to the death (his framed picture hangs in my home), Billie's collaboration with pianist Teddy Wilson who plays on and directed most of these recordings (many were recorded as Teddy Wilson Orchestra sides)needs to be explored. Likewise, her work with the great bassists and rhythm players on these records needs to be appreciated. My favorite sides are the ones in which she has the benefit of Basieites like her dear friend Freddy Green on guitar and the great Walter Page on bass. Likewise, Billie's musical closeness with the great Buck Clayton and his role on these sides is also underestimated.

Yet, it doesn't matter if Billie had recorded these sides with some high school band members from Winslow, Arizona. This is good music to listen to, good music to smile to, music to fall in love to, and music to dance too. Contrary to the tendency to get maudlin and milk her personal image she developed as her life and her musical skill declined in the late 1950s, even the songs with the sadest lyrics possess a great joy, swing, and spirit of the wonders of Jazz.

It's one of those names that e'ybody's heard, but lotsa people, 'specially my age group (the under-25 category), have yet to truly embrace. But, lemme tell y'all that Lady Day was one of a kind. There's been certain vocalists over the past century that have an alluring quality about them and who's impact has etched them into history, allowing them to constantly be re-discovered by a new generation. It's when music becomes more than music. It's when it becomes a part of our collective conscious and everyday lives. Billie Holiday is an artist that my ol' grandmother used to listen to, and she probably woulda never thought that I would be comin' home from work, sittin' back in my easy chair, and listenin' to these old songs from the 30s and 40s crackle out of my stereo speakers. As with all the great singers, I feel every word she sings. While there are many legendary jazz musicians that are providing her with her backdrop, including Duke Ellington, Ben Webster, Lester Young, and others, Holiday's delivery is the real showcase. She sang straight from her gut. Her voice is smooth and rough, rich and gritty, raw and lovely, all at the same time. These are all sweet, romantic and cherishable love songs that are absolutely timeless in appeal. The story of her life is certainly a tragic one, but hearing her sing these wistful and almost-innocent numbers you'd never know it. If you've never listened to Ms. Holiday, don't deprive yourself of such great music any longer. This is a great place to get started. Chances are, once you hear this, you'll want to hear more. As for me, I think I'm gonna go crack a few brews, sit in my easy chair, put my feet up, and put this in my stereo. Ahhh, yeah, it doesn't get much better than this.

This is the best Billie compilation I've ever heard, mostly from fairly early in her career (her style was markedly different in the 50's).

This basically the best tunes from the columbia set that contains around 12 CD's. This is THE Billie holiday cd to buy if you don't have one.

This CD is an excellent collection of great songs performed by the incomparable and legendary Billie Holiday. Billie could conquer any song--from the most vulgar to the most sublime with an electric performance that rivals the best singers of the 20th century.

The CD begins so beautifully with Billie singing "All Of Me" and continues on into "You Go To My Head" by Gillespie and Coots. As with the rest of the songs on this CD, there is some background surface noise as these recordings by Billie were made in the 1930s and the very early 1940s. Nevertheless, there is a certain romantic style to each recording that leaves the listener wanting more after every track.

There songs on this CD are truly timeless; Billie sings such standards as "You Go To My Head," "The Man I Love," "Let's Do It," "The Way You Look Tonight" and "The Very Thought Of You." Don't play this CD for the first time without having time to relax and enjoy it with a glass of your favorite wine--you'll want to listen to it again after you've played it through because it's that beautiful and special.

The liner notes include an essay by Delfeayo Marsalis, the song credits and the dates Billie recorded them, a beautiful black and white photograph of Billie singing at the microphone on stage and the lyrics to "You Go To My Head" and "Easy Living."

I highly recommend this CD for fans of Billie Holiday, classic vocals and the standards of the entire 20th century. Although it is only one CD, it still is a very good representation of Billie's talent. It makes a great starter CD for people who want to find out more about Billie before they purchase box sets, too. A terrific experience to be enjoyed! SMILE

There are so many fabulous reviews for this CD and I have to agree with them. I've been a Billie Holiday fan for years and own many discs of her music, but I find myself reaching for this one a lot. It's a great collection of songs and her voice is so sweet and true here. She's in top form and the arrangements on the songs are all excellent. Whoever put this CD together knew what they were doing. This is definitely Billie during the earlier part of her career and there's a real lightness to this music. (Her later music is great too, but very different.) Most of the songs on this CD are classics and even if you're unfamiliar with her, you'll probably still recognize many of them. There is some crackling background noise on some of the songs, since they were recorded back in the late thirties/early forties, though it's not that bad and most of the time you barely notice it. Some of the stand outs are "You Go To My Head", "The Very Thought of You", "Let's Do It", "The Way You Look Tonight", just to name a few. I think this would be a great introductory CD for someone who is curious about her and would like to hear some of her music.

This album is smooth as silk, and as deep as the ocean. The music penetrates your soul and leave you feeling warm and calm on the inside. Everytime I play this album I dance to the melody, write my poems, or use music to calm me down. Billie's smooth voice drowns out anythings that bother me. But to understand my experience you'll have to listen to the album yourself.

This is a wonderful collection that I would recommend to anyone interested in Billie's voice. Here she is performing the work of several well-known composers. It's a pretty mellow album, but undeniably sensitive. High quality recording. A good first album of hers to buy, but also great for die-hard fans.