Customer Reviews

Rare Live Recordings, 1934-1959

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

 

 

This comment is about the packaging, not the music. (Some of the music is pretty scratchy but it's always great to hear Billie). I was expecting more given the price. The 5 CDs come in a standard double sized CD case. The booklet is divided in two at the midpoint so each half fits in one side of the case. The liner notes are a jumble of short session notes and asides such as "Billie's Husband Is Arrested 1942", with little organization or perspective. There are a total of six pictures. Overall the liner notes look like a homework assignment typed on the last surviving typewriter. The price led me to expect a meticulous effort. This is more like something advertised on TV at 2 a.m.

This multiple-disc collection (I deliberately did not say box set, more about that below) is a true treasure trove for committed Billie Holiday fans. You get five discs' worth of live performances, recorded both onsite and from radio broadcasts. The sound quality varies greatly from track to track, but there isn't anything that falls below reasonable bootleg levels. Plus, not many live recordings from the era covered by this set, especially pre-1950, sound that great to begin with. An especially cool feature for collectors is the inclusion of introductions and banter with Billie from live radio.

Unfortunately, the extremely poor packaging forces me to deduct two stars from what would otherwise be a five-star album. The discs come in the sort of jewel case that is usually used for double-disc albums. The booklet is laid out and written in a very amateurish way. In short, the packaging is unacceptable for a premium priced product targeted to collectors. If this set was value priced, the packaging would be a minor annoyance...but there's a good chance you'll feel foolish if you splash out full retail for it.

Newcomers to Billie Holiday should concentrate on building up their core Billie collections before picking up this compilation. There is a fair amount of repetition of songs here; the real appeal is for listeners who enjoy comparing studio to live recordings and various performances to each other. Two good choices for beginning a Billie collection are Lady in Autumn: The Best of the Verve Years and The Complete Decca Recordings.

Bottom line: outstanding music, insulting packaging. Think carefully about ponying up if it isn't discounted. 3 stars for what easily could have been a 5-star set.

Some recordings were excellent, others were of very poor quality and should have been re-done before selling to the public or not be included if this was not possible. In retrospect it was worth the "price of admission" to again listen to her and to some numbers we hadn't heard her sing before.

It was stated in a previous review that the music should have been re-mastered but I couldn't disagree more.

Part of the beauty of this set is that the music is presented in it's original quailty. While sometimes lacking, it gives you a better "feel" for the time the music was recorded. For me, it's about the experience of the time, not trying to retrofit it to my liking.

There are many duplicate songs but Ms. Holiday does a little something different each time she belts out a song. If you are a Billie Holiday fan, this is a collection that you should have.