58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Kept Secrets in Recorded Jazz, December 10, 2001
This review is from: Lady Sings (Mini Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)
If you haven't purchased one of Proper Record Company's extraordinary jazz boxes, you don't know what you're missing; and this release, THE LADY SINGS, is the best of the bunch. For the past few years, Proper has researched and assembled the most critical recordings by leading jazz performers from the first half of the last century, and packaged them in four-disk sets with extensive booklets that actually have something new to say -- all for a super, super budget price. Their remastering is so skillful, recordings such as Billie Holiday's here --stand up to the best remastering efforts of Decca and Sony. The richness and value of this collection -- as with other Proper Boxes from the UK -- are simply extraordinary. From her affecting Brunswick recordings of the early 1950's with Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra to her sides with Decca, Commodore, Columbia and Vocalion, Holliday's accompanists read like a Who's Who of classic jazz. Lester Young. Ben Webster. Roy Eldridge. Kenny Clarke. Benny Goodman. Milt Hinton. And some of her most celebrated material is here. God Bless the Child. My Old Flame. Gimme a Pigfoot. Lover Man. As Time Goes By. I Hear Music. I Can't Get Started. Almost 100 songs, flawlessly restored and a far better value than expensive sets such as the new Sony compilation, Proper's BILLIE HOLIDAY: THE LADY SINGS is simply a pleasure. It's great music to listen to by a roaring fire. Wonderful to play after a long, hard day.
Good anytime you need a lift. Strongly recommended.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better appreciated now than in her lifetime, March 29, 2004
This review is from: Lady Sings (Mini Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)
Nobody sings the blues quite like Billie Holiday. This boxed set represents the best value for money, not only for the quantity of music and the extensive liner notes, but also for the sound quality and the fact that this contains music recorded for several different record labels (Brunswick, Vocalion, Commodore, Okeh, Columbia, Capitol, Decca) between 1935 and 1949. Billie continued to record great music in the fifties (for Verve, Clef and Norgran) but that music is not represented here.
Billie had plenty of hits on the American pop charts between 1935 and 1938 (when she was with Teddy Wilson), after which she had just four more hits, none of them reaching the top ten. However, the passage of time has added substantially to her credibility as many blues, jazz and R+B singers cite Billie as one of their influences. Her first hit was What a little moonlight can do, a song I first came across via a Crystal Gayle cover. I didn't realize the song's origin at the time but I've heard several versions since. I love them all but Billie's is the definitive version.
Billie's other classic hits included here are These foolish things, A fine romance, The way you look tonight, I can't give you anything but love, I've got my love to keep you warm, This year's kisses, Carelessly (her only number one hit), How could you, Moaning low. Mean to me, Easy living, Me myself and I, Sailboat in the moonlight, Nice work if you can get it, My man, You go to my head, I'm gonna lock my heart, Strange fruit, God bless the child and Trav'lin' light. Some big hits are omitted including Twenty-four hours a day, Who loves you and Pennies from heaven, but I'm not complaining. Some of the songs that Billie is best remembered for didn't chart at all.
Although the hits became rare after 1938, this was not due to the quality of the music. Listen to Billie's versions of such classic standards as I gotta right to sing the blues, Night and day, Body and soul, Let's do it, All of me, Love me or leave me, It's a sin to tell a lie, As time goes by and You're my thrill (to name a few). And, of course, there's the classic That old devil called love, revived by Alison Moyet in the eighties, when it became a UK number two hit for Alison.
If you only buy one collection of Billie's music, make it this one. You might begin by asking yourself if you really want five hours worth of Billie's music - but eventually, you are likely to ask yourself if it's enough.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PROPER does it again..., September 6, 2003
This review is from: Lady Sings (Mini Lp Sleeve) (Audio CD)
For the price, this is as good a collection of Billie Holiday's early material (for some, the ONLY Billie) as there is out there. Almost all of the essential recordings are included - Brunswick, Vocalition, Decca, Columbia, and Commodore - and the presentation includes a great booklet with photos and information. Proper is in the process of putting together and releasing some of the best American music - both jazz and other-wise - in stunning compilations with great presentations. Look for more of them.
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