Customer Reviews

High Times Hard Times

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seems like a truly honest, candid account of the jazz life of a famous jazz singer, warts and all. Very touching in its candor in which the singer's habits brought down her considerable talents and what could have seemed like a glamorous life on the road really was far more debased than what one might imagine. Besides the sordid side, a lot of opinions about the jazz abilities of a lot of famed musicians of the forties and fifties; generally, a very honest, open and sometimes painful account of the jazz life of a great artist. I had the pleasure of meeting the aritst in person at a performance a few years ago, and she revealed that she had never read the final product herself. Highly worthwhile.

I gobbled this one up. Fascinating, intimate , deeply honest.I agree that parts of Anita's story do sound like a gritty hardboiled paperback pulp novel- but that's the way it was.Interesting to see the effects of the first foray in the "war against drugs"- Anita was set up several times by government officials and she served hard prison time for a couple of pot seeds, insane! Anita seems part Bille Holiday- part Frances Farmer- because she definitely lived on her own terms and paid the price.
An interesting part of the book is the background,where the authors painted a realistic portrait of a single parent household in the depression ;Anita's mother was one of the coldest I can recall- although not outright abusive, she was just not capable of warmth period.Readers will find a rare look at the show business of the Depressin 30's where Anita cut her teeth in the walkathon circuit. This arena has not been covered to death in memoirs- a large swatch of the public, looking for cheap live entertainment, went to traveling shows of a sort - a cross between vaudeville and the circus I suppose, where a living could be made by show biz aspirants , by marathon dancing.This was tough stuff.
I find that Anita's passion for jazz- song styling- is immense, it is essentially the the only beacon in her long rough and tumble life.She is able to articulate just what it is that she is learning all along the way. Never commercial, she was a true non-diva bohemian. The 14 year heroin addiction is a sad story- but it goes right along with the program. After two jail stints and upon discovering a tea-totalling religious fanatic that has one small caveat ( he only likes things he can inject with a hypo), Anita figures- I got the name, why not play the game? She figured it would keep the cirrosis at bay. No kidding...
This book is about her life- the multi dimensions, unlike other showbiz memoirs, it 's not about name dropping, it's just about how it was for her, and much time is spent on the "craft" and what it means.

At 3 a.m. last night I finally read a last chapter,couldnt put it down before.Yes,Anita O'Day writting voice sounds very much like her singing self: ironic,witty,tough hip "swing chick" (her words) who didnt give a damn what others think.Her self-destructivness very much echoes another famous artist (in rock music) Marianne Faithfull,in fact this two women have much more in common than you think.Both survivors,both eventually come back and yes,both are still live preformers.Her opinion about other jazz singers are sometimes strange ("Like me,Ella never had a great voice"?) - but think that she was commercially oversahdowed by Fizgerald.As much as Anita's "Verve" albums are beautiful and timeless (I really think woman was a highest-class jazz improvisator,she grew up from Billie Holiday and made her own style) this book is sometimes painful to read.I believe there is a general curiousity about somebody's dirty linen,in this case it almost overshadow her art - at some points it reads like 50's detective story,with smokey jazz clubs,jazz musicians as a drug addicts and cops always around to "find" (read:set up) drugs in dressing room.With all beautiful music she made,its a pity that editor of the book find more interesting to emphasise her drug addiction,since her arrests,sanatoriums,jails and courts get more space than anything else.I dont think this was her intention,probably publisher wanted scandalous story,but if you dont know her music,this book can make you think that Anita O'Day was a famous junkie who had a music as a hobby.

I have not finished the book yet. I have been savouring it over lunch for a few weeks. Not wanting to end the experience too soon. If it is not mostly the words of Miss O'day herself, the ghost writer should have received several awards for his work. So true does the voice of the teller read.
The writing style is so open and conversational, if not outright confessional, that at times, it feels as if, I am sitting at a bar stool, in one of the great old jazz clubs, on a rainy afternoon, Anita herself telling me her stories directly. So genuine is the voice that jumps off of the pages.
Pulling no punches on those she comments on, herself included. Told with a great sense of humor, even in the dark moments. When self pity creeps in, she calls it for what it is. Touching and sympathetic at times, as well, the Judy Garland episode particularly comes to mind.
I am amazed at how many names of my long favorites that I had not connected with her before, she herself cites as sources of inspiration. Zoot Sims being a strong case in point.
If you are already a fan, it is a must read. If you are not, but are interested in Jazz at all, read the book, then seek out and devour the Anita O'Day catalogue. Track down the Mosaic box set if you can.
While Ella and Sarah, "may" have had better voices according to some. Few would argue for the consistancy of their catalogues when compared to Anita O'Day's. Her book mirrors the consistancy of her catalogue, while giving her reader, the clearest and most open view "behind the looking glass", likely to found, of the Jazz era, and it's players, great and small.

Thanks Anita

Anita is raw, honest, and candid in this autobiography. Although this book is many many years old, I do not think I have read a book quite as raw and honest as this book. Anita may have been dealt a poor hand but turned her life into something beautiful. She may have made some bad choices when it came to drugs or the scene, but she took control and persevered. To me, this book is a story of Anita's life delivered in a way that we can all learn from her experiences and see past the forest... a witty and charming soul who strived for something more and found it in music even if her new family, music, was disfunctional she survived unlike her idol, Billie Holiday. A vocalist who sings with such soul and depth is full of pain, strength, and wisdom. Read the book, learn more about Anita O'Day and apply her life lessons to yourself - we all have something to learn from each other.

This autobiography is very entertaining. She comes off the pages like a real life character out of a Damon Runyon story. This is how she talked, there is nothing contrived or artificial about her manner. Her comments about other performers say a lot about her integrity. She said that Ella Fitzgerald was "number one" at the time of creating the book (~1980). Her opinion was that Billie Holiday was the best of all time, but Anita regretfully admitted that Billie had no use for her so she never got a chance to tell Billie how much she owed to her and admired her. She talked a lot about timing, and frankly, Anita really knew about timing, not merely a strength she was unequaled then or since among jazz singers. Carmen McRae did everything well in Anita's opinion, she has all the tools. She really liked the quality of Sarah Vaughn's voice. I found her observations about Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong very enlightening. Anita learned how to play the drums and improve her own rhythmic sense from her first husband, drumming great Don Carter. But she latched onto an even better drummer (in my opinion anyway), John Poole. No wonder she was always right on the beat. She and John Poole collaborated for 32 years and her description of their relationship is very interesting. She spends more time on her 15 year heroin addiction than it merited, but she admitted that most of the time she was "as high as a kite" and didn't remember too much about that period. What comes out loud and clear is her overwhelming joy at being able to sing. Boy could she sing. This book is a celebration of Anita O'Day, a national treasure and worth while for not only her fans.

Although I love jazz vocalists--Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn in particular--I had never heard of Anita O'Day until I listened to a replay of an interview she did with Terri Gross for Fresh Air. I actually bought and read her autobiography before (or at least while) I was getting to know her music.

What I enjoy about this book and O'Day's music is that she keeps it simple and honest. It is true that her career suffered because of heroin addiction. But it's her style to simply say: "And that's how that went down." Period. No regrets. Meanwhile, she made an important contribution to jazz, and she was there for much of its high season--swing, bebop, cool. There is so much joy in her singing--and that's what she said she wanted in life: to make people happy though music. Every time I hear Honeysuckle Rose, she lifts me up!

if you like jazz you must read this book...
it is just as wonderful as hearing Anita sing...
What a life, what a voice!

A delightful, yet, sad story of a truly wonderful entertainer. Anita was born to delight people; wish she was still performing....

This was a good book. Anita O'Day was one crazy lady but what a singer. I have some of her albums and they are great. Her book sheds some light on her life and how she won some battles and lost some too. I found it interesting that she never blames anyone for the path she chose thru life. I have now come to appreciate jazz from the 40's 50's and 60's. I am a die hard heavy metal fan but truly enjoy Anita O'Day. I would recommend this book to all.