Maps of Music

Billie Holiday (1954)

Where the lyrics of Billie Holiday take you, and where it was really made.

This album shares its title with the singer's name, and her final album was once set to carry the same title before it was changed to Last Recording.

Place unknown

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Billie Holiday: third studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday
Released in 1954 on Clef Records
Eight tracks: four on the A side, four on the B side
Songs include Love for Sale, Moonglow, Autumn in New York and How Deep Is the Ocean?
Shares its title with the singer's name

Her final album was also set to carry this title, before being changed to Last Recording
Norman Granz signed Holiday to his label after her return from Europe on April 21, 1952; the session presumably took place after that date
Two songs, What a Little Moonlight Can Do and I Cried for You, were recorded in the 1930s with Teddy Wilson's band, at the start of her career
In 1956, when the 10-inch format was phased out, Clef reissued the contents on two 12-inch compilations: A Recital By Billie Holiday (five songs) and Solitude (three songs)

Tracks A1 to B1 recorded in April 1952; the exact session date is not known
Tracks B2 to B4 recorded on April 14, 1954
1952 band: Billie Holiday vocals, Flip Phillips tenor sax, Charlie Shavers trumpet, Oscar Peterson piano, Barney Kessel guitar, Alvin Stoller drums, Ray Brown bass
1954 band: Billie Holiday vocals, Charlie Shavers trumpet, Oscar Peterson piano, Herb Ellis guitar, Ed Shaughnessy drums, Ray Brown bass
Oscar Peterson, Charlie Shavers and Ray Brown take part in both sessions

1	Love for Sale	2:56
2	Moon Glow	2:58
3	Everything I Have Is Yours	3:43
4	If the Moon Turns Green	2:46
5	Autumn in New York	3:43
6	How Deep Is the Ocean	3:00
7	What a Little Moonlight Can Do	3:14
8	I Cried for You	2:27

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.

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

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.

Down Beat magazine praised the album in a 1954 review, the year of its release
The review calls the set an experience in mounting pleasure
It says the pleasure keeps growing no matter how often the LP is replayed
On comparing it with earlier Teddy Wilson-Billie sessions, the review asks what the point is and urges readers to count their blessings in having both
The review says Billie's beat and its variations remain among the seven wonders of jazz
Charlie Shavers, Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown take part in both recording sessions, so the two halves share key players

The singer's final album was also set to carry this title, before being changed to Last Recording
In 1956 Clef split the contents across two 12-inch compilations as the 10-inch format was phased out
Two songs were recorded in the 1930s with Teddy Wilson's band, at the start of her career
Norman Granz signed Holiday to his label after her return from Europe on April 21, 1952