Customer Reviews

The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.1: 1933-1935

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This, for me, is the best of the nine-volume Columbia "Essential" set of Billie Holiday albums, because she has so much enrgy and exuberence. On later sets the effects of her, shall we say 'exhausting', lifestyle seem to take some of the wind out of her sails.

Holiday can sound dirty without being dirty, if you get my drift. "I Wished On The Moon" gets across a pretty clear message, a very precise feel, without actually stating the message. Listen to the tune, you'll know exactly what I mean.

I love Billie Holiday, all of her stuff, but this record is a different Billie. She's younger and more vibrant, more romantic, more hopeful. She's always brilliant, but here she's in a kissing mood, rather than a crying mood.

I was so excited on my way home, knowing that this CD have very first songs Billie Holiday ever recorded! It was such a archeological experience - listening this (then) young girl full of life and optimism, singing her heart out to a silly songs of the day.Being young colored singer, she couldnt started with some best songs from the era and had to work on some third-rate material, but it was her enthusiasm (and her musicians, of course) that turned this silly songs into gold.This is not very best of Billie Holiday, but it is neccesary to understand her artistic growth and also a beautiful reminder that she was once happy and glowing human being, not always that sad,destroyed lady with sado-masochistic tendencies.The liner nottes are simply stunning, they are written very poeticaly and Im looking forward to collect all 9 volumes of this essential "Columbia" treasure!