Maps of Music

Lady Sings the Blues (1956)

Where the lyrics of Lady Sings the Blues take you, and where it was really made.

Four of the songs on this 1956 album were actually taped in Los Angeles in 1954, two years before the New York sessions.

Key places

Fine Sound Studios, New York City (1956)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Tracks 1 to 8 were recorded here on 6 and 7 June 1956. The map pin sits at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Capitol Studios, Los Angeles (1954)

Recording site Capitol Studios — The last four songs on side two were recorded here on 3 September 1954. The 1954 session featured Willie Smith, Harry Edison, Bobby Tucker, Barney Kessel, Chico Hamilton and Red Callender. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Lady Sings the Blues: sixth studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday
• Released December 1956, at the same time as her autobiography of the same name
• Her last album on Clef Records; the label was absorbed by Verve Records the following year
• Twelve songs in the main tracklist, six per side

Background

• Taken from sessions taped in 1954 and 1956
• Holiday's voice had arguably deteriorated by the 1950s, yet the album is well regarded
• Her last Clef album, recorded at two sessions in 1956 and 1954

Recording

• Tracks 1 to 8 recorded at Fine Sound Studios, New York City, on 6 and 7 June 1956
• The last four songs on side two recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, on 3 September 1954
• 1956 band: Paul Quinichette on tenor saxophone, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Tony Scott on clarinet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Lenny McBrowne on drums, Aaron Bell on bass
• 1954 band: Willie Smith on alto saxophone, Harry Edison on trumpet, Bobby Tucker on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Chico Hamilton on drums, Red Callender on bass

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · www.discogs.com

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

• DownBeat gave the album 5 out of 5 stars in a 1956 review
• The same review covered the autobiography released alongside the album
• The review noted the book was written with William Dufty, assistant to the editor of the New York Post
• The review said Holiday seldom talks about her singing in the book
• The review said the book tries to bring the reader to Holiday's side rather than offer a three-dimensional view of her

Reappraisal

• Holiday's voice had arguably deteriorated by the 1950s, but the album is still well regarded
• An Italian encyclopedia entry calls it one of the fundamental and most famous records in her large discography

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Holiday performed at Carnegie Hall on 10 November 1956 in front of a sold-out crowd, a concert planned to commemorate the autobiography
• Some paragraphs of the autobiography were read and interspersed during the musical performance
• The CD release added three bonus tracks from the 3 September recording: P.S. I Love You, Softly and Stormy Blues
• Stormy Blues is credited to Holiday alone
• The label absorbed by Verve the following year had been the home of her final album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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