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Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday

Billie HolidayAudio CD
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

Price: $43.58 & FREE Shipping. Details
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Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
MP3 Music, 36 Songs, 2001 $16.99  
Audio CD, 2009 $14.99  
Audio CD, 2001 $43.58  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         


Disc 1:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
listen  1. What A Little Moonlight Can Do (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday;Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra 2:57$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  2. These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 3:19$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  3. I Cried For YouTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 3:13$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Summertime (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:55$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  5. Billie's Blues (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:40$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  6. If You Were MineTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 3:11$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  7. A Fine Romance (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:53$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  8. Easy To LoveTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 3:12$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  9. I've Got My Love To Keep Me WarmBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:57$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen10. I Must Have That ManTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 2:56$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen11. Me, Myself And IBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:37$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen12. They Can't Take That Away From MeBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 3:03$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen13. Easy LivingTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra;Billie Holiday 3:04$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen14. A Sailboat In The MoonlightBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen15. Trav'lin' All AloneBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:14$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen16. When A Woman Loves A ManBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:25$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen17. You Go To My HeadBilly Holiday 2:54$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen18. Billie's BluesTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra 3:03$0.99  Buy MP3 


Disc 2:

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
listen  1. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me (Alternate Take)Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra 2:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  2. The Very Thought Of You (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:46$0.69  Buy MP3 
listen  3. I Can't Get StartedBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:48$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Long Gone BluesBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 3:06$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  5. SugarTeddy Wilson & His Orchestra 2:46$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  6. Some Other SpringBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 3:02$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  7. Them There EyesBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  8. The Man I LoveBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 3:06$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  9. Body And SoulBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:59$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen10. Swing! Brother, Swing!Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:56$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen11. Night And DayBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:59$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen12. Let's Do ItBillie Holiday;Accompanied By Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra 2:56$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen13. God Bless The Child (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:56$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen14. Solitude (78rpm Version)Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra 3:15$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen15. I Cover The WaterfrontBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra 2:57$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen16. Gloomy SundayBillie Holiday;Accompanied By Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra 3:12$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen17. Until The Real Thing Comes AlongBillie Holiday;Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra 3:10$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen18. All Of MeBillie Holiday & Her Orchestra;Accompanied By Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra 3:52$0.99  Buy MP3 


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Frequently Bought Together

Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday + Billie Holiday's Greatest Hits (Decca) + Billie Holiday Love Songs
Price for all three: $65.63

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (October 2, 2001)
  • Original Release Date: 1933
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Label: Sony / Columbia Legacy
  • ASIN: B00005Q45Y
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,412 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Lady Day: The Best Of Billie Holiday is an ideal introduction to the Voice of Jazz in all its enduring glory. This incomparable collection draws on the 10-CD boxed set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944) (CXK 85470), representing not only her finest work, but American jazz and pop singing at its zenith. Accompanied sublimely by a Who's Who of the Swing Era (including her soulmate Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jo Jones, and pianist-arranger Teddy Wilson, who was often at the helm when Holiday entered the studio), Billie Holiday masterfully renders a host of mostly-classic pop tunes. Fans are drawn to her musical triumphs and personal tragedies. She is a mysterious icon in the same vein as Miles Davis. Columbia possesses the first and finest recordings of her entire career! This material has never sounded clearer and more intimate!

Customer Reviews

The packaging is beautiful, with the box resembling a 78 record storage booklet. Jeffrey Harris  |  11 reviewers made a similar statement
Everyone with a set of ears should be more or less required to have this music and enjoy it. Tony Thomas  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
120 of 122 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best collection of the best of early Lady Day... December 28, 2001
Format:Audio CD
In 2001, Billie Holiday's landmark recordings from the first decade of her recording career have finally been remastered for best-ever sound quality on the 10-CD boxed set. The historical value of that collection is enormous, but not all admirers of Lady Day are going to have the half-day needed to absorb everything on there. Furthermore, there are a lot of similar-sounding alternate takes on the last few discs of the box. It's a paradise for collectors, but what about those who want a smaller dose of these jazz classics?

This 2-CD anthology is the answer, providing a generous helping of memorable cuts, with an preference for high-quality songs (frankly, quite a few of the tunes on the boxed set aren't worthy of Britney Spears, let alone a peerless vocalist like Billie, albeit Lady Day is renowned for turning trite songs into art). There are other one-disc collections culled from these sessions, but I highly recommend this collection above all others--the sound quality is as good as possible, and with two discs there's enough of a sampling to give the listener a good idea of what Billie and her accompiament were up to during this era...and what they were up to revolutionized popular music!

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66 of 68 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Art of Artlessness May 28, 2003
Format:Audio CD
Unless you plan to invest in the "Complete Lady Day on Columbia," this is the Billie Holiday collection either to start with or to own (if you plan to stick to one). There is much of value on Billie's later, Verve recordings, but they can't match the timeless beauty to be found on her Columbia sessions. The singular "emotion" with which Billie is identified wears best and longest when we feel it as a property of the song as much as of the singer. On the Columbia outings, it's the combination of Billie's musical talents and the strength of her "persona" that results in very possibly the most believable and influential interpretations of the "American Songbook" ever recorded. It's from these recordings that Sinatra learned his most valuable singing lessons: first, trust the material; second, establish a persona that, in the listener's mind, would be capable of experiencing the story and emotions of the song; third, make it "natural"--American popular song and singing are all about the art of artlessness.

Since I own the box set of LP's already, I settled for this "Best Of" CD version. It's a judicious selection of material, the audio quality affords slightly more "presence" to Billie's voice than on the originals, the liner notes by Gary Giddins are informative and provocative, and the photos are revealing (contrasting the early buxom, spontaneous Billie with the later posed, slimmed-down star).

Columbia-Sony has obviously invested much thought and care in the production of this package. Unlike many of my CD acquisitions, this one is not going to be played once and set aside.

Comment | 
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88 of 97 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Great music, but... November 5, 2001
Format:Audio CD
These John Hammond-organized sessions are, together with the Louis Armstrong Hot Five And Seven recordings, my very favorite, and I very much wanted to love this set. The sound quality of the previous Columbia releases (Quintessential Billie Holiday, vols. 1-9) was dismal (all the hiss and crackle hamfistedly removed so that it sounded like the stereo had been stuffed under a pillow) and I was looking forward to a breakthaking upgrade. Well, the sound is a lot better, and they have not been afraid of leaving in some of the hiss, but the fact is, there are better sounding transfers out there, and at this price, there shouldn't be. I compared one track, "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," with a transfer made by John R.T. Davies, who is the master of this kind of work. On all counts -- warmth of tone, clarity, full bodied bass, realistic ambiance, and even lack of hiss -- the John R.T. transfer was better. (His transfers of the Armstrong Hot 5s and 7s for JSP was much better than Columbia's, too.) The packaging looks great, the music is great, and it costs a great deal of money. SOund quality is just good though, and that's a great shame.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Rainy Day Therapy
There's something about Billie Holiday's voice that has soothed many a soul. After Karen Carpenter, she is probably my favorite vocalist of all time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Angie
5.0 out of 5 stars gift
My sister in law had this on her wish list. As far as I know she is enjoying her gift
Published 3 months ago by Elizabeth A Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure joy
Finally, Columbia has done justice to their Billie Holiday recordings, which are among the finest in the history of jazz. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Anthony Braxton
5.0 out of 5 stars Transported To Another Time
Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday is my favorite Billie Holiday collection and the one I listen to the most. Even my children enjoy it! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ocean Breezes
4.0 out of 5 stars Lady Day: Best of Billie Holiday
This is a very good collection of songs that Billie Holiday sang during the jazz era of America. It has an old fashioned sound as if it is being played on one of those antiquated... Read more
Published on January 16, 2011 by Elizabeth
5.0 out of 5 stars Lady Day and Prez
I purchased this product for an assignment in my college Jazz class.
EXCELLENT quality displayed throughout both CD's.If you enjoy Billie Holiday, you'll enjoy this set. Read more
Published on December 15, 2009 by Julia E. Hamm
5.0 out of 5 stars Do Some Shopping
I just bought this for an incredible bargain price
which I will not mention because apparently Amazon
pays someone to scan these and delete dollar amounts. Read more
Published on October 23, 2009 by Michael in Sac
1.0 out of 5 stars Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday
Disappointed in CD--not what I expected. Have heard better of hers. Just doesn't do her voice justice--no power, and these are suppossed to be the best of Billie Holiday. Read more
Published on August 23, 2009 by Foxy Lady
4.0 out of 5 stars Good compilation
All I miss is the energy on the live recordings.

The studio classics are a little lame.
Published on May 30, 2009 by J. Grundell
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Best
I was first mesmerized by Lady Day's voice and style when I heard "The Very Thought of You" in a movie, and have been under her spell ever since. Read more
Published on May 5, 2009 by L. Twente
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