The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.4: 1937

Billie Holiday | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: August 30, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026JX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,987 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Carelessly

2. How Could You?

3. Moanin' Low

4. Where Is The Sun?

5. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

6. They Can't Take That Away From Me

7. I Don't Know If I'm Coming Or Going

8. Sun Showers

9. Yours And Mine

10. I'll Get By

11. Mean To Me

12. Foolin' Myself

13. Easy Living

14. I'll Never Be The Same

15. Me, Myself And I

16. A Sailboat In The Moonlight

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Swinging Holiday Classic, February 5, 2001

By 

Peter (East of Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.4: 1937 (Audio CD)

This set contains perhaps Billie's best performance in the entire Quintessential series. The songs are by now all classics in the American jazz and pop catalog. How could you go wrong with Gershwin titles such as "They Can't Take That Away From Me" or "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"? Billie puts her own individual stamp on these songs by the way she swings to the beat, a rare quality not seen in jazz circles when she recorded these sides. While Billie may go on to have bigger hits in the future, her performance here can rarely be topped. Her timing, sense of swing and delivery are simply remarkable, always in proportion with and against the beat of the band, and yet sounding like one of the band at the same time. And what a band it was with the likes of Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, Buck Clayton and Ben Webster, all icons in jazz history. Listening to this CD and you may be shocked by its spontaneous and jam-session feel. Billie and the band simply fit like a hand in glove. You'll be amazed by the incredible artistry Billie shows at this young stage of her career (only 22), what instinct and feel she had for the words and melody. You will be washed over with pure joy listening to this CD because this is just inspired music making. My only wish to Sony (Columbia) is to start remastering these Quintessential CD's because the time has come for a new generation of jazz lovers to enjoy these performances with better sound quality, which is the only distraction left in the way of these classic tracks. Belissima!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harlem Heyday 1937, December 24, 2000

By 

Jahlaune K. Hunt "Jahlaune" (Brooklyn, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.4: 1937 (Audio CD)

To say Billie was in her prime in 1937 is putting it mildly. (If you fail to believe listen to Billies "Sugar" and then listen to Ethel Water's protege Lee Wiley. Billie's "Sugar" is ever so sweeter!Even though she had just returned from a diastrous road tour. Billie was happy to be in the only city that counted, New York and it shows in these tracks. Her voice is fresh and has that imitable style that has garnered countless imitators. The road obviosly hadn't hurt holiday either because she is singing some great tunes on this album that would be obscure today had it not been for these cheap "E" juke box ARC dates.( "Underneath a blue jungle moon?" A standard gin mill song of the period you can almost see Billie going from table to table singing.) This is an album for those who have come to know Billie as only "Lady In Satin" put down your vodka buy this album and pitch a ball! This is the music that made west 133rd Street The real Swing Street!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Billie at her best, June 12, 2000

By 

EAK (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol.4: 1937 (Audio CD)

The inspirational performances which appear on the quintessential series of Billie Holiday entered her to the history of jazz singing and jazz. The pre-war recordings are probably the freshest and best of her whole career. Although there are other CDs in this series which contain more songs with her greatest collaborator lester young, you will not find in the other best volumes (probably 3 and 5) better music. This can be a very good place to start if you are not encountered yet with these recordings. If you know these recordings you probably don't need this recommendation.