1001 Albums

Producer: Irving Townsend
Recorded: February 19-21, 1958
Length: 44:36
Label: Columbia

I really gave this one time to sink in. I have been listening to it for three days now, and could have easily have written the review yesterday afternoon, but after some research into the story behind it, I really wanted to go back for a few more listens. The extra effort was well worth it.

Billie Holiday was a troubled woman; most of it not her fault. She was raped at 11, lived and worked in a brothel as a teenager and was constantly in trouble with the law because of her rampant heroin and alcohol addictions. By the time this album was recorded, her professional and private life was in tatters. Her voice had lost much of its original range and force, but she still retained the style that made her a success.

Listening to this album is much like voyeurism. Knowing that she was a year from death (at the age of 44) and also having heard her voice at a younger age really colors how this recording sits with you. Her vices had ripped her voice of its youthful vivacity. Holiday's voice may not be as powerful yet there is a quiet edge.

It helps that the songs are mostly about love's darker side. A simple perusing of the song titles ("I'm a Fool To Want You", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Glad to be Unhappy:) is enough to know this LP is not an upbeat affair. Indeed, if anyone is looking for a breakup album this one is a perfect prescription.

The only thing holding back this album is lackluster arrangement of the orchestra. It's a bit amateurish at points; some critics say it borders on Muzak and I'd have to agree. If the orchestration would have been more complex, more yearning, it would have mirrored the vocals of Holiday and this album could easily have been a must-listen.

That said, this album is a very good, and nearly great album. One worth a slow burn listen and multiple revolutions. Billie deserves that much.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Faves

• I'm a Fool to Want You
• You've Changed
  The titular phrase is delivered with such truth...just a cutting performance.