Collection: Quintessential 1 2 & 3 (Rpkg) (Slip)

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 31, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0009I7NUI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,953 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Budget repackaging..., June 13, 2005

By 

M. McM "AOTT-TMF" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Collection: Quintessential 1 2 & 3 (Rpkg) (Slip) (Audio CD)

Sony (or Columbia/Legacy) has repackaged their catalog numerous times; THE BILLIE HOLIDAY COLLECTION is another installment in their recent 'COLLECTION' series, which repackages three previously released CD's from the same artist into a 'box set,' marked down at a reduced price.

In the case of THE BILLIE HOLIDAY COLLECTION, the three previously released CD's repackaged by Sony are: THE BILLIE HOLIDAY COLLECTION VOL. 1 (2003), THE BILLIE HOLIDAY COLLECTION VOL. 2 (2003), and THE BILLIE HOLIDAY COLLECTION VOL. 3 (2003).

All three CD's are available separately, but you might save a few dollars purchasing them this way. Digital clones from the comprehensive LADY DAY: THE COMPLETE BILLIE HOLIDAY ON COLUMBIA box set were used for this set, so the sound quality is the same.

These are some of the best recordings made in Billie's career: her singing on her later Verve recordings is better, and she was saddled with some pretty bad songs during her years at Columbia, but new listeners may prefer the youthful voice of these recordings, and the instrumental backing here gets the edge, particularly those with Teddy Wilson (on piano) and Lester Young (on tenor saxophone) who compliments Billie beautifully.

These aren't great compilations, but they're still pretty good, hitting most of the highlights of her early Columbia recordings. It's not perfect either, but the two-disc set LADY DAY: THE BEST OF BILLIE HOLIDAY is a better introduction, and if you can get it for less money, I'd get it.