![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/%28Portrait_of_Billie_Holiday_and_Mister%2C_Downbeat%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_ca._Feb._1947%29_%28LOC%29_%285020400274%29.jpg)
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills. After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by producer John Hammond, who liked her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson produced the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Because of personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959, at age 44. Holiday won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, though not in that genre; the website states that "Billie Holiday changed jazz forever". Several films about her life have been released, most recently The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). |
Birth and Death Data: Born April 7, 1915 (Philadelphia), Died July 17, 1959 (Metropolitan Hospital Center)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1933 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, songwriter, lyricist, composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 198 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-024083 | 10-in. | 7/24/1938 | Any old time | Artie Shaw Orchestra ; Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Victor | BS-067505 | 10-in. | 7/29/1941 | God bless' the child | Deep River Boys ; Bea Wain | Female vocal solo and male vocal quartet, with jazz/dance band | songwriter | |
Columbia | W152568 | 10-in. | 11/27/1933 | Your mother's son-in-law | Benny Goodman Orchestra ; Billie Holiday ; Buck Washington | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W152650 | 10-in. | 12/18/1933 | Riffin' the scotch | Benny Goodman Orchestra ; Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | 23992 | 10-in. | 1/20/1939 | That's all I ask of you | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | 23993 | 10-in. | 1/20/1939 | Dream of life | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24245 | 10-in. | 3/21/1939 | You're too lovely to last | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24246 | 10-in. | 3/21/1939 | Under a blue jungle moon | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24247 | 10-in. | 3/21/1939 | Everything happens for the best | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist, songwriter | |
Columbia | W24248 | 10-in. | 3/21/1939 | Why did I always depend on you? | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24249 | 10-in. | 3/21/1939 | Long gone blues | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist, lyricist, composer | |
Columbia | W24877 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Some other spring | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24878 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Our love is different | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist, songwriter | |
Columbia | W24879 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Them there eyes | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W24880 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Swing, brother swing | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26341 | 10-in. | 12/13/1939 | Night and day | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26342 | 10-in. | 12/13/1939 | The man I love | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26343 | 10-in. | 12/13/1939 | You're just a no account | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26344 | 10-in. | 12/13/1939 | You're a lucky guy | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26572 | 10-in. | 2/29/1940 | Ghost of yesterday | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26573 | 10-in. | 2/29/1940 | Body and soul | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26574 | 10-in. | 2/29/1940 | What is this going to get us? | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26575 | 10-in. | 2/29/1940 | Falling in love again | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26900 | 10-in. | 6/07/1940 | I'm pulling through | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
Columbia | W26901 | 10-in. | 6/07/1940 | Tell me more and more (and then some) | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist, lyricist, composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Holiday, Billie," accessed September 3, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102008.
Holiday, Billie. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102008.
"Holiday, Billie." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Billie Holiday
Discogs: Billie Holiday
Allmusic: Billie Holiday
Apple Music: Billie Holiday
Grove: Billie Holiday
RILM: Billie Holiday
IMDb: Billie Holiday
Britannica: Billie Holiday
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Holiday, Billie, 1915-1959 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50033023
Wikidata: Billie Holiday - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q104358
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/14857262
MusicBrainz: Billie Holiday - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/d59c4cda-11d9-48db-8bfe-b557ee602aed
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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