Maps of Music

All or Nothing at All (1959)

Where the lyrics of All or Nothing at All take you, and where it was really made.

The LP was assembled from five recording sessions held in 1956 and 1957, and a 1959 New York Times article described the singer's voice as a very limited instrument.

Key places

Radio Recorders Studios, Los Angeles (1959)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Radio Recorders Studios in Los Angeles is listed as a recording site for this album. The LP's songs come from five sessions held in 1956 and 1957. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Capitol Studios, Los Angeles (1959)

Recording site Capitol Studios — Capitol Studios in Los Angeles is listed as a recording site for this album. The LP's songs come from five sessions held in 1956 and 1957. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• All or Nothing at All is the tenth studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday
• Released in 1958 on Verve Records, catalog number MGV8329
• The LP contains 12 songs, six on each side
• The songs were taken from five separate recording sessions held in 1956 and 1957
• Side 1 opens with Do Nothing till You Hear from Me and includes Cheek to Cheek and Ill Wind
• Side 2 opens with Sophisticated Lady and includes April in Paris and I Wished on the Moon
• Album cover art is by David Stone Martin

Background

• Holiday was backed by a relaxed and understanding small combo
• The combo included trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison and saxophonist Ben Webster
• Other players listed: Jimmy Rowles on piano, Red Mitchell and Joe Mondragon on bass, Alvin Stoller on drums, Barney Kessell on guitar

Recording

• The sessions took place in 1956 and 1957
• Recording sites linked to the album are Radio Recorders Studios and Capitol Studios, both in Los Angeles

Cover

• Cover art by David Stone Martin

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia; grew up in Baltimore.
• Began singing in Harlem nightclubs as a young teenager, taking her stage name from actress Billie Dove and her father Clarence Halliday.
• Discovered by producer John Hammond, who arranged her recording debut in November 1933 with Benny Goodman.

Members

• Solo artist; frequent collaborators included pianist Teddy Wilson and tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who nicknamed her "Lady Day".

Career

• Signed to Brunswick in 1935; recorded many sessions with Teddy Wilson, including "What a Little Moonlight Can Do".
• Toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw in 1937–1938, among the first Black women to work with a white orchestra.
• Recorded "Strange Fruit" for Commodore in 1939, which became her best-selling record.
• Had hits on Decca in the 1940s, including "Lover Man" and "God Bless the Child".
• Arrested for narcotics in 1947 and sentenced to prison; returned to perform a sold-out Carnegie Hall concert in 1948.
• Recorded for Verve and Columbia in the 1950s, including the album Lady in Satin (1958).
• Died on July 17, 1959, at age 44 from cirrhosis and heart failure.
• Won four posthumous Grammy Awards; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• A 1959 New York Times article commented on Holiday's voice on this record
• The article said her voice had become a very limited instrument
• It said she used that instrument with the craft and guile of an aging pitcher
• The comparison was to an aging pitcher who can no longer pour his fast one across the plate

Records

• Released in 1958 on Verve Records, catalog MGV8329
• The LP holds 12 songs taken from five recording sessions in 1956 and 1957
• The backing combo included trumpeter Harry 'Sweets' Edison and saxophonist Ben Webster
• The LP is the tenth studio album by Billie Holiday
• Side 1 has six songs, starting with Do Nothing till You Hear from Me
• Side 2 has six songs, starting with Sophisticated Lady
• The title song All or Nothing at All was written by Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence
• Album cover art is by David Stone Martin

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Cover art is by David Stone Martin
• Harry 'Sweets' Edison and Ben Webster were the trumpet and tenor saxophone players in the backing combo
• Recording sites linked to the album are Radio Recorders Studios and Capitol Studios in Los Angeles
• The title song was written by Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence
• Side 1 opens with a song by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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