Description
Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin 1958
By 1958, due to years of alcohol and drug abuse, Billie Holiday’s voice had turned from something idiosyncratic and charming to something sinister and evil. In a way, her hardened voice has become more sensuous.
This was her penultimate album, recorded when her body was telling her enough was enough. During the sessions with arranger Ray Ellis she was drinking vodka neat, as if it were tap water. Yet, for all her ravaged voice (the sweetness had long gone), she was still an incredible singer. The feeling and tension she manages to put into almost every track set this album as one of her finest achievements. “You’ve Changed” and “I Get Along Without You Very Well” are high art performances from the singer who saw life from the bottom upwards. The CD reissue masterminded by Phil Schaap is absolutely indispensable. [Some reissues add two alternate takes of “I’m a Fool to Want You,” part of which were used for the original released rendition, plus the stereo version of “The End of a Love Affair” (only previously released in mono) and examples of Lady Day rehearsing the latter song, including a long unaccompanied stretch.]
On Lady in Satin, Holiday performs over the lushest arrangements of her entire career. In fact, it’s a very uncharacteristic move. She was one of the rare vocalists of the era to truly emphasize the “jazz” in vocal jazz. Here, the 40-piece orchestra is delicate and graceful, not unlike Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours. Overall, Lady in Satin has a very surreal quality, especially when the high-pitched choir drifts eerily from the background.
Track Listing:
| 1 | I’m A Fool To Want You (Edited Master CS 8048) | 3:23 | |
| 2 | For Heaven’s Sake | 3:26 | |
| 3 | You Don’t Know What Love Is | 3:48 | |
| 4 | I Get Along Without You Very Well | 2:59 | |
| 5 | For All We Know | 2:53 | |
| 6 | Violets For Your Furs | 3:24 | |
| 7 | You’ve Changed | 3:17 | |
| 8 | It’s Easy To Remember | 4:01 | |
| 9 | But Beautiful | 4:29 | |
| 10 | Glad To Be Unhappy | 4:07 | |
| 11 | I’ll Be Around | 3:23 | |
| 12 | The End Of A Love Affair (Mono – CL 1157) | 4:46 | |
| 13 | I’m A Fool To Want You (Take 3 – CL 1157) | 3:24 | |
| 14 | I’m A Fool To Want You (Take 2 – Alternate Take) | 3:23 | |
| 15 | The End Of A Love Affair: The Audio Story | 9:49 | |
| 16 | The End Of A Love Affair (Stereo) | 4:46 | |
| 17 | Pause Track |
Composers: Frank Sinatra, Elise Bretton, Gene DePaul, Hoagy Carmichael, John Frederick Coots, Bill Carey, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Johnny Burke, Alec Wilder, Edward Redding.
Credits:
- Arranged By, Conductor, Liner Notes [May 1997] – Ray Ellis
- Art Direction [Reissue] – Howard Fritzson
- Bass – Milt Hinton
- Cello – David Sawyer*
- Concertmaster, Violin – George Ockner
- Coordinator [A&r Coordination] – Patti Matheny
- Design [Reissue] – Randall Martin
- Drums – Osie Johnson
- Engineer – Fred Plaut
- Guitar – Barry Galbraith
- Harp – Janet Putnam
- Mastered By [Digitally] – Debra Parkinson, Mark Wilder, Phil Schaap
- Percussion – Phil Kraus
- Photography By [Liner, Back Cover] – Don Hunstein
- Piano – Mal Waldron
- Producer [Original Recordings], Liner Notes [1958] – Irving Townsend
- Product Manager [Project Director] – Seth Rothstein
- Reissue Producer, Remastered By [Remastering], Technician [Restoration], Research, Liner Notes [July 1997] – Phil Schaap
- Soprano Vocals – Elise Bretton, Lois_*, Miriam Workman
- Trombone – J.J. Johnson, Tom Mitchell*, Urbie Green
- Trumpet – Mel Davis
- Vocals – Billie Holiday
- Woodwind – Danny Bank, Phil Bodner, Romeo Penque
