| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1376.1 | | EXIT26::STRATTON | I (heart) my wife | Mon Nov 07 1988 19:15 | 6 |
| I'd be interested in the same thing. I'd particularly
like to know if anyone has seen a version of "When Sonny
Gets Blue".
Jim Stratton
|
| 1376.2 | get the "Quintessentials" | REGRES::KURLAND | A mere rental | Tue Nov 08 1988 07:57 | 19 |
| I have the Columbia Quintessential disks I, II, III, and IV and they
are great. The technical quality on some tracks is poor (some appeared
to be "mastered" from scratchy 78's), but the performances are
wonderfull, featuring Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, etc.
Billie's voice was at it's peak in these early ('30's) Brunswick
recordings.
I also have some later Verve recordings, which, are technically
superior recording (made in the early '50's), but I find them
absolutely painfull to listen to because her voice was terrible
in her last years (in my oppinion).
I made the mistake of buying an off-brand CD featuring B.H. radio
performances from about 1940 (the name of the CD escapes me)
which was so scratchy & distorted I really coudn't tell whether
Billie's performance was good or bad.
Has anybody heard the B.H. Decca CD's that I've seen around? How
do they compare with the others?
|
| 1376.3 | Some Thoughts about Decca | AQUA::ROST | You've got to stop your pleading | Tue Nov 08 1988 08:59 | 9 |
|
I only have the Deccas on LP but they are more recent recordings
than the Columbia sides but earlier than the Verves so you get slightly
better audio without a ravaged voice. The material on Decca included
a lot of remakes of her earlier sides. In general, the MCA CD reissues
have been well done, so from what I've heard on vinyl I would think
they'd be great!
|
| 1376.4 | Amended version of previous answer | HELIX::CLARK | | Wed Nov 09 1988 07:43 | 12 |
| Among the "Quintessentials", I would (& will) begin with those that
include her 1937 recordings with Lester Young. Based on store
perusals, it looks like Vol. III (near the end) had the first 3 or 4
cuts of these, and Vol. IV (all-'37) had most of the rest, along with a
lot of lesser (Lester-less) '37 stuff.
The cuts I'm thinking of include (probably on III) Why Was I Born, I
Must Have That Man; (IV) Sun Showers, I'll Get By, Mean to Me, Fooling
Myself, Easy Living, Me Myself & I, Sailboat in the Moonlight; and
(projecting into V) Trav'lin' All Alone, He's Funny That Way, and the
Basie band's I Can't Get Started. Most of these also feature Buck
Clayton, Teddy Wilson, et al...
|
| 1376.5 | I only have Columbias so far | MOUNTN::BURROWS | Jim Burrows | Sun Nov 20 1988 17:44 | 17 |
| I have Quintessentials I and II and am moderately pleased with
them--she wasn't getting the best songs then, but there are some
really good performances on them. The liner notes, by the way,
are quite good. They tend towards real criticism rather than
pure hype. I'm looking forward to picking up the rets of this
series, they appear to be improving.
I also have "Lady in Satin", also on Columbia, and I think it's
really great. The disc has a much better sound, being a later
recording, and also a better selection of songs.
I'm pleased enough with these that my Billie Holliday collection
will probably tend to be pretty solid Columbia, although if
there are any disks that are real gems on other labels I'd be
more than happy to listen to ecommendations.
JimB.
|
| 1376.6 | Billie on Compact Jazz series | PALMER::PALMER | half a bubble off plumb | Tue Nov 29 1988 13:33 | 8 |
| I picked up a Billie Holiday disk as part of the Verve "Compact
Jazz" series. The quality is good, the disk has 56 minutes of music
and the price was right ($11). I'm no Billie Holiday expert so
I can't compare it against other recordings.
The Compact Jazz series also has disks by Ella Fitzgerold and
Sarah Vahn (sorry for butchering the spelling). As a non expert
who is developing a taste for female vocals, I'd recommend the Compact
Jazz series as a low priced introduction.
|