Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Miss Brown to You
2. What a Little Moonlight Can Do
3. I Cried For You
4. Mean to Me
5. Strange Fruit
6. Fine and Mellow
7. God Bless the Child
8. Trav'lin' Light
9. My Old Flame
10. I'll Get by as Long as I Have You
11. Billie's Blues
12. He's Funny That Way
13. Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
14. Don't Explain
15. Good Morning Heartache
16. No Good Man
17. Blues Are a Brewin', The
18. Solitude
19. Easy Living
20. I Loves You Porgy
21. My Man (Mon Homme)
22. 'Taint Nobody's Business If I Do
DISC 2:
1. Them There Eyes
2. You Can't Lose a Broken Heart
3. You're My Thrill
4. Crazy He Calls Me
5. Detour Ahead
6. These Foolish Things
7. You Go to My Head
8. Love Me or Leave Me
9. Willow Weep For Me
10. I Thought About You
11. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
12. Come Rain or Come Shine
13. It Had to Be You
14. What's New?
15. Lady Sings the Blues
16. I Cover the Waterfront
17. Body and Soul
18. But Not For Me
19. One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)
20. I'm a Fool to Want You
| Details | | Producer: | Andy McKaie (Compilation), Irving Townsend, John Hammond, Milt Gabler, Norman Granz | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Mixed | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
DVD includes rare film and television appearances as well as an audio rehearsal plus audio interviews with Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine, Jimmy Rowles, Sylvia Syms, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones, John Hammond and others.
Personnel: Billie Holiday (vocals); Louis Armstrong (vocals); Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel, Mundell Lowe (guitar); Tony Scott , Benny Goodman, Buster Bailey (clarinet); Johnny Hodges, Willie Smith, Benny Carter (alto saxophone); Al Cohn, Lester Young, Paul Quinichette, Ben Webster (tenor saxophone); Frankie Newton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Roy Eldridge, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Buck Clayton, Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Jimmy Rowles (piano, celesta); Eddie Heywood, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson, Wynton Kelly, Bobby Tucker (piano); John Kirby, Ray Brown (double bass); Chico Hamilton, Cozy Cole, Alvin Stoller, Big Sid Catlett (drums); Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra.
Liner Note Author: Ashley Kahn.
Arrangers: Ray Ellis; Gordon Jenkins; Jimmy Mundy; Sy Oliver.
Meticulously selected, lovingly assembled, and beautifully packaged, this two-CD/one-DVD collection is a true retrospective, featuring representative cuts from the length of Billie Holiday's career across a range of labels. While most compilations focus on one period of the legendary singer's career, THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION includes recordings Holiday cut for Decca, Verve, Columbia, Commodore, and others. The backing bands range from small combos to large ensembles, and include such luminaries as Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Johnny Hodges, Louis Armstrong, and Lester Young.
The set begins with Holiday's 1935 Brunswick dates. The chronological arrangement allows the listener to observe the transformation of Holiday's vocal style, from the light, buoyant early work through her definitive '40s middle period and on to her final sessions from the late '50s, when her voice was broken and life-torn. No matter the phase, Holiday's performances are masterful, gripping, and immediately seductive (not to mention--in cases like the 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit"--historically important). The DVD, which features 10 television and film performances, a timeline, and bonus audio features, is almost too good to be believed. Opinions will continue to differ about the "greatest female jazz vocalist," but be warned: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION might make any case but Lady Day's hard to argue.
Although Columbia's LADY DAY: THE BEST OF BILLIE HOLIDAY is one of the finest collections of the revered jazz vocalist's work, Verve's 2005 set, GOLD, is on par with its predecessor. While LADY DAY puts Holiday's peak years (1933-44) into sharp focus, the two-disc GOLD draws from various stages of her career, starting with a handful of mid-to-late-'30s tracks (most notably the giddy "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and the haunting "Strange Fruit," songs that showcase the polar extremes of Holiday's distinctive and nuanced vocals) and concluding with late-'50s sessions recorded just before her death (including the wonderfully mellow "Body and Soul" and the sad, string-laden "I'm a Fool to Want You"). For a thoughtful, wide-ranging Holiday retrospective, it's tough to beat this excellent compilation.
| See an error? Submit a change request |
![Gold [Box] [CD & DVD] by Billie Holiday (CD, Apr-2005, 2 Discs, Hip-O Records)](http://i22.ebayimg.com/02/c/03/a7/96/23_7.JPG "Gold [Box] [CD & DVD] by Billie Holiday (CD, Apr-2005, 2 Discs, Hip-O Records)")
![Gold [Box] [CD & DVD] by Billie Holiday (CD, Apr-2005, 2 Discs, Hip-O Records)](http://i22.ebayimg.com/02/c/03/a7/96/23_32.JPG "Gold [Box] [CD & DVD] by Billie Holiday (CD, Apr-2005, 2 Discs, Hip-O Records)")
All rights reserved.
