Billie Holiday Commodore Master Takes Rarlab

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But for the more casual listener, it's best to pass on that two-CD set and stick with The Commodore Master Takes. While The Complete Commodore Recordings contains all of the alternate takes that Holiday recorded for Commodore in 1939 and 1944, this collection only concerns itself with the master takes (which total 16).

  1. Billie Holiday Commodore Master Takes Rarlab Free
  2. Billie Holiday Commodore Master Takes Rarlab Lyrics

Although many of Billie Holiday's recordings for Commodore and Decca are often overlooked -- at least in comparison to the songs that bookend her career (for Columbia and Verve) -- they include some of her best work, beginning at the end of the '30s with 'Strange Fruit' and stretching to the end of the '40s with 'God Bless the Child.' In 1939, Billie Holiday was a jazz sensation without a hit record. She gained that hit record, and began her journey to musical immortality, when her label Columbia refused to record 'Strange Fruit,' and jazz fan Milt Gabler welcomed her to his aficionado label, Commodore. Gabler recorded Holiday often over the next ten years, both at Commodore and through his work at Decca in the mid-to late '40s. While on Commodore, Holiday focused on downcast ballads, including 'I Cover the Waterfront' and 'I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues' (dubbed 'loser' songs by Gabler), but she also excelled with warm and affectionate material too, 'Embraceable You' and 'On the Sunny Side of the Street.' Regardless of the material, her backing consisted of small groups usually led by a pair of saloon-sound maestros: Doc Cheatham on trumpet and Eddie Heywood on piano. That sound was in for a switch when Holiday moved to Decca, however, beginning with another big hit, 'Lover Man,' a pop ballad with the full crossover treatment -- strings and all. (Gabler had no compunction about false notions of purity, and he happily recorded Holiday with strings and backing choruses whenever the song demanded it.) Even more than her work for Commodore, Holiday's work for Decca was melancholy and resigned in the extreme, with sterling treatments of yet more loser songs: 'Don't Explain,' 'Good Morning Heartache,' 'You Better Go Now,' and 'What Is This Thing Called Love.' Individually, the songs are excellent, and as a package, The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters can hardly be beat. It's a splendid accompaniment to similar sets devoted to Billie Holiday's Columbia and Verve output, and while completists will bemoan the lack of the many alternate takes -- most of the Commodore sides have two alternate takes for each master recording, available elsewhere -- this is all the war-years Billie Holiday one could hope for.

SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 03:14
2 03:27
3 03:19
4
Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler
02:51
5 02:46
6
Sam Coslow / Arthur Johnston
03:03
7 03:00
8 03:32
9 03:33
10 03:18
11 03:18
12 03:12
13 03:17
14
Oscar Hammerstein II / Sigmund Romberg
03:22
15 03:09
16
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
03:01

Billie Holiday Commodore Master Takes Rarlab Free

SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 03:17
2 02:48
3 02:55
4 03:24
5 02:32
6 03:12
7 03:08
8
Dan Fisher / Sammy Gallop / Irene Higginbotham
03:07
9 02:32
10 03:13
11 03:15
12
Louis Alter / Eddie DeLange
03:04
13 03:13
14
George Cory / Douglass Cross
03:12
15 02:59
16 03:13
17 03:10
18 03:21
19 03:11
SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 02:56
2
Jacques Charles / Albert Williametz / Maurice Yvain
02:57
3 03:21
4 03:15
5 03:16
6
Doris Tauber / William Tracey
02:51
7 03:16
8 02:45
9 03:15
10 03:20
11 03:18
12
Sidney Clare / Jay Gorney
03:24
13 03:05
14
Arnold Clawson / Toussaint Pope
03:15
15 02:58
16 03:10
17 02:51
TakesBillie holiday commodore master takes rarlab 2blue highlight denotes track pick

Billie Holiday Commodore Master Takes Rarlab Lyrics

Billie holiday commodore master takes rarlab lyrics

Although many of Billie Holiday's recordings for Commodore and Decca are often overlooked -- at least in comparison to the songs that bookend her career (for Columbia and Verve) -- they include some of her best work, beginning at the end of the '30s with 'Strange Fruit' and stretching to the end of the '40s with 'God Bless the Child.' In 1939, Billie Holiday was a jazz sensation without a hit record. She gained that hit record, and began her journey to musical immortality, when her label Columbia refused to record 'Strange Fruit,' and jazz fan Milt Gabler welcomed her to his aficionado label, Commodore. Gabler recorded Holiday often over the next ten years, both at Commodore and through his work at Decca in the mid-to late '40s. While on Commodore, Holiday focused on downcast ballads, including 'I Cover the Waterfront' and 'I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues' (dubbed 'loser' songs by Gabler), but she also excelled with warm and affectionate material too, 'Embraceable You' and 'On the Sunny Side of the Street.' Regardless of the material, her backing consisted of small groups usually led by a pair of saloon-sound maestros: Doc Cheatham on trumpet and Eddie Heywood on piano. That sound was in for a switch when Holiday moved to Decca, however, beginning with another big hit, 'Lover Man,' a pop ballad with the full crossover treatment -- strings and all. (Gabler had no compunction about false notions of purity, and he happily recorded Holiday with strings and backing choruses whenever the song demanded it.) Even more than her work for Commodore, Holiday's work for Decca was melancholy and resigned in the extreme, with sterling treatments of yet more loser songs: 'Don't Explain,' 'Good Morning Heartache,' 'You Better Go Now,' and 'What Is This Thing Called Love.' Individually, the songs are excellent, and as a package, The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters can hardly be beat. It's a splendid accompaniment to similar sets devoted to Billie Holiday's Columbia and Verve output, and while completists will bemoan the lack of the many alternate takes -- most of the Commodore sides have two alternate takes for each master recording, available elsewhere -- this is all the war-years Billie Holiday one could hope for.

SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 03:14
2 03:27
3 03:19
4
Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler
02:51
5 02:46
6
Sam Coslow / Arthur Johnston
03:03
7 03:00
8 03:32
9 03:33
10 03:18
11 03:18
12 03:12
13 03:17
14
Oscar Hammerstein II / Sigmund Romberg
03:22
15 03:09
16
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
03:01
SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 03:17
2 02:48
3 02:55
4 03:24
5 02:32
6 03:12
7 03:08
8
Dan Fisher / Sammy Gallop / Irene Higginbotham
03:07
9 02:32
10 03:13
11 03:15
12
Louis Alter / Eddie DeLange
03:04
13 03:13
14
George Cory / Douglass Cross
03:12
15 02:59
16 03:13
17 03:10
18 03:21
19 03:11
SampleTitle/ComposerPerformerTimeStream
1 02:56
2
Jacques Charles / Albert Williametz / Maurice Yvain
02:57
3 03:21
4 03:15
5 03:16
6
Doris Tauber / William Tracey
02:51
7 03:16
8 02:45
9 03:15
10 03:20
11 03:18
12
Sidney Clare / Jay Gorney
03:24
13 03:05
14
Arnold Clawson / Toussaint Pope
03:15
15 02:58
16 03:10
17 02:51
blue highlight denotes track pick