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Billie Holiday|Solitude

Solitude

Billie Holiday

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Billie Holiday's first recordings for Norman Granz' Clef Records present a vocalist truly at the top of her craft, although she would begin a rapid decline soon thereafter. This 1952 recording (originally issued as a 10" LP, Billie Holiday Sings) places Holiday in front of small piano and tenor saxophone-led groups including jazz luminaries such as Oscar Peterson and Charlie Shavers, where her gentle phrasing sets the tone for the sessions, evoking lazy evenings and dreamy afternoons. The alcoholism and heroin use that would be her downfall by the end of this decade seems to be almost unfathomable during these recordings since Holiday is in as fine a voice as her work in the '30s, and the musical environment seems ideal for these slow torch songs. Solitude runs as the common theme throughout these 16 tracks; the idle breathiness of "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" finds the vocalist casually reminiscing, and Barney Kessel's warm guitar lines frame the title track beautifully. Several of Holiday's best-known recordings came from this session, including outstanding versions of "I Only Have Eyes for You" and a darkly emotional "Love for Sale," making this album far and away the best work of her later years, and certainly a noteworthy moment of her entire career.

© Zac Johnson /TiVo

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Solitude

Billie Holiday

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1
East of the Sun (West of the Moon)
00:02:53

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - BROOKS BOWMAN, Composer, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

2
Blue Moon
00:03:28

Richard Rodgers, Composer, Lyricist - Lorenz Hart, Composer, Lyricist - Billie Holiday, MainArtist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

3
You Go to My Head
00:02:54

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Haven Gillespie, Composer - Fred Coots, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

4
You Turned the Tablles on Me
00:03:25

Sidney Mitchell, Composer - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Louis Alter, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

5
Easy to Love
00:02:59

Cole Porter, Composer, Lyricist - Billie Holiday, MainArtist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

6
These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
00:03:32

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Harry Link, Lyricist - Holt Marvell, Lyricist - Jack Stracky, Composer

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

7
I Only Have Eyes for You
00:02:51

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - AL DUBIN, Lyricist - Harry Warren, Composer

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

8
Solitude
00:03:27

Duke Ellington, Lyricist - Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Irving Mills, Composer - Eddie Delange, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

9
Everything I Have Is Yours
00:03:43

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Harold Adamson, Lyricist - Burton Lane, Composer

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

10
Love for Sale
00:02:54

Cole Porter, Composer, Lyricist - Billie Holiday, MainArtist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

11
Moonglow
00:02:58

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Irving Mills, Composer - Will Hudson, Lyricist - Eddie Delange, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

12
Tenderly
00:03:21

Billie Holiday, MainArtist - Jack Lawrence, Composer - WALTER GROSS, Lyricist

2010 World Music Records 2010 World Music Records

Album review

Billie Holiday's first recordings for Norman Granz' Clef Records present a vocalist truly at the top of her craft, although she would begin a rapid decline soon thereafter. This 1952 recording (originally issued as a 10" LP, Billie Holiday Sings) places Holiday in front of small piano and tenor saxophone-led groups including jazz luminaries such as Oscar Peterson and Charlie Shavers, where her gentle phrasing sets the tone for the sessions, evoking lazy evenings and dreamy afternoons. The alcoholism and heroin use that would be her downfall by the end of this decade seems to be almost unfathomable during these recordings since Holiday is in as fine a voice as her work in the '30s, and the musical environment seems ideal for these slow torch songs. Solitude runs as the common theme throughout these 16 tracks; the idle breathiness of "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" finds the vocalist casually reminiscing, and Barney Kessel's warm guitar lines frame the title track beautifully. Several of Holiday's best-known recordings came from this session, including outstanding versions of "I Only Have Eyes for You" and a darkly emotional "Love for Sale," making this album far and away the best work of her later years, and certainly a noteworthy moment of her entire career.

© Zac Johnson /TiVo

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