Track Listing
1. Your Mother's Son-in-Law - (with Benny Goodman & His Orchestra)
2. Riffin' the Scotch - (with Benny Goodman & His Orchestra)
3. I Wished on the Moon - (with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra)
4. What a Little Moonlight Can Do - (with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra)
5. Miss Brown to You - (with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra)
6. Sunbonnet Blue, A - (with Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra)
7. What a Night, What a Moon, What a Girl
8. I'm Painting the Town Red
9. It's Too Hot For Words
10. Twenty-Four Hours a Day
11. Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town
12. Eeny Meeny Miney Mo
13. If You Were Mine
14. These 'N' That 'N' Those
15. You Let Me Down
16. Spreadin' Rhythm Around
| Details | | Playing Time: | 47 min. | | Contributing Artists: | Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Chu Berry, Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden, Johnny Hodges, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson | | Distributor: | Sony Music Distribution ( | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Mono | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Also available in a 3-pack with QUINTESSENTIAL VOL. 2 and QUINTESSENTIAL VOL. 3.
Personnel: Billie Holiday (vocals); Johnny Hodges, Hilton Jefferson (alto saxophone); Ben Webster, Chu Berry, Art Karle (tenor saxophone); Charlie Teagarden, Shirley Clay, Roy Eldridge, Dick Clark (trumpet); Jack Teagarden, Benny Morton (trombone); Benny Goodman, Cecil Scott, Tom Macey (clarinet); Teddy Wilson, Buck Washington, Joe Sullivan (piano); Dick McDonough, John Truehart, Lawrence Lucie, Dave Barbour (guitar); Artie Bernstein, John Kirby, Grachan Moncur (bass); Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole (drums).
Producer: John Hammond.
Compilation producer: Michael Brooks.
Recorded in New York, New York in 1933 & 1935. Includes liner notes by Michael Brooks.
Digitally remastered by Larry Keyes (CBS Records Studio, New York, New York).
In one sense, this collection of early recordings keenly illustrates Holiday's tremendous talents. The reason: she was forced to deal with some truly awful material--the better songs of the day were reserved for white artists, not a blossoming black singer from Baltimore. And the magic necessary to take a dog of a song such as "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and make it a delight is its own accomplishment. Holiday repeatedly performs just such alchemy here.
Watching Holiday's growth is intriguing. Her performance on "Your Mother's Son- in-Law," the first cut on the album, seems tentative, but consider the character of her voice on the very next cut, "Riffin' the Scotch." The sass, strength and sexiness are already there. By the elegant "If You Were Mine," all the yearning and sadness that Holiday is famous for is in full effect. Holiday was backed by stellar musicians even on these early recordings. Pianist Teddy Wilson is the most important contributor, but tasty parts are also added by Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Roy Eldridge and Johnny Hodges. Holiday's command of her voice grows perceptibly as the sessions progress from November 1933 to December 1935. Both casual fans and hardcore Holiday lovers should give a listen.
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