18 used & new from £2.44
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Very Best of Billie Holiday
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Very Best of Billie Holiday

~ Billie Holiday
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


7 new from £6.31 11 used from £2.44

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Lady in Satin

Lady in Satin

~ Billie Holiday
4.3 out of 5 stars (10)  £4.78
The Very Best of Nina Simone

The Very Best of Nina Simone

~ Nina Simone
4.8 out of 5 stars (21)  £4.98
My One And Only Thrill

My One And Only Thrill

~ Melody Gardot
4.7 out of 5 stars (69)  £8.98
Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone

Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone

~ Nina Simone
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £4.98
The Essential Collection

The Essential Collection

~ Al Bowlly
5.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £3.98
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Audio CD (27 Sep 1999)
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Label: Verve
  • ASIN: B000025AA5
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 70,885 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Disc: 1
1. Good Morning Heartache
2. Summertime
3. My Man
4. Strange Fruit
5. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
6. God Bless The Child
7. Lady Sings The Blues
8. I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
9. Billie's Blues
10. I Cried For You
See all 33 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Man I Love
2. Love For Sale
3. Body And Soul
4. Stormy Weather
5. Love Me Or Leave Me
6. I Don't Want To Cry Anymore
7. Fine Romance
8. Don't Worry 'bout Me
9. It Had To Be You
10. I Got A Right To Sing The Blues
See all 14 tracks on this disc

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

After her classic sessions of the 1930s, the three years during which Billie Holiday recorded for Norman Granz in the late 50s produced her best recordings. Granz worked her hard and there are 33 of her best latter-day tracks here. The top jazz musicians involved are legion, with the historic group that included Ben Webster, Harry Edison and Jimmy Rowles at the heart of the album. But there are great performances from Willie Smith on "Stormy Blues" and a variety of subtle adornments from Buck Clayton, Coleman Hawkins, Tony Scott, Benny Carter and so on. Many of her classic interpretations from the earlier period like "Good Morning Heartache", "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit" and "Lady Sings The Blues" are here. Her best versions of "Stormy Weather", "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You" and other standards only recorded for Granz are also included. The set makes a wonderful introduction to Holiday, but collectors will want it because it has so many tracks from rare sessions like the one with Charlie Shavers, Wynton Kelly and Kenny Burrell. And all the way through the natural jazz of Harry Edison and Ben Webster keeps bursting through. --Steve Voce

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice music, shame about the packaging, 18 April 2002
Undoubtedly this is a nice collection of the later recordings of Billie Holiday which, to most listeners, will be more accessible than earlier recordings, mainly due to the inevitably better sound quality.
To my mind, though, the collection is spoilt by the packaging, particularly the lack of information contained therein. Information against each track is limited to an unhelpful 'published' date and a (sometimes erroneous) track run-time. A list of (most of) the backing musicians is provided, but no indication of which tracks they appear on - its nice to know that greats such as Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson etc. are amongst the cast, but it would be even nicer to know on which tracks they play!
The information provided makes it difficult at best to work out when and where each track was recorded, and which musicians were featured.
Perhaps the inclusion of 'Summertime', a track from another era, leased from another company, and featured on a front-of-case sticker because it was used in a TV commercial for a well-known chocolate bar, tells the story of the origins of this particular release.
In summary, a good collection for those who just want to 'stick it on and listen to some good music', but not for the serious collector nor, probably, for those who have more than just a passing interest in what they are listening to.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Billie has a hypnotic voice and every good song is here, 16 Nov 1999
By A Customer
What a magical voice. Billie Holiday is absolutely amazing and this cd is about as inclusive as they come. Any jazz lover is bound to absolutely adore this cd - as is anyone with a number of different Billie Holiday cd's that don't quite include all the songs you want to hear. Billie is a true legend, and this cd is proof why. Her voice is completely intriguing and emotional and sultry- all the things that make you want to listen to a cd over and over again. The cd really couldn't get much better than this. If you do enjoy this kind of music, there are also great cd's with Louis Armstrong. Highly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums
  • jazz  (36 discussions)
  • music  (1023 discussions)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Very Best of Billie Holiday
56% buy the item featured on this page:
Very Best of Billie Holiday 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
The Essential Billie Holiday
25% buy
The Essential Billie Holiday 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
£3.98
Columbia Original Masters The Best Of Billie Holiday
8% buy
Columbia Original Masters The Best Of Billie Holiday 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£15.69
The Essential Billie Holiday
6% buy
The Essential Billie Holiday
£4.98
Explore similar items

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject




i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.