Anita O'Day - Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May

Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. Album Description

Anita's voice could swim around words and music as she effortlessly sold every song she ever sang !!!

Anita O'Day remains one of the greatest singers of the entire twentieth century. Anita could take a tune and inject it with a type of electricity that was all her own. Never afraid to scat, change tempos or just play with intonation and syllables, Anita displayed a boldness and flair that set her apart from many vocalists. This CD proves it.

The CD starts with the twelve tracks that were on the 1959 record album entitled Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter With Billy May; and then we get a few bonus tracks Anita did with other arrangers.

"Just One Of Those Things" starts the CD as if it were a piñata that's just been struck wide open; Billy May's typical use of the horns works well as Anita weaves her magic from the start. Anita sings this as a true jazz song and a classic both at once. "Love For Sale" gets a flashy treatment by both Anita O'Day and Billy May; the tempo changes enhance the beauty and drama of the number.

Other gems in the track set copied from the 1959 record album include "I Get A Kick Out Of You;" this song explores the joys of being with your one true love. Anita and Billy May start this slow with an opening verse; and when the tempo increases you can feel the jet engines whizzing faster than you've ever felt them! Anita doesn't always stick to the melody as she sings the lyrics; this proves her excellent ability to do any and all vocal gymnastics.

"I've Got You Under My Skin" gets the royal Latin treatment from Billy May's arrangement; and naturally Anita more than keeps up with May's work. Anita's voice oozes femininity as she uses her voice to jump up, down and all about on this number. Anita truly performs "I've Got You Under My Skin" to perfection!

"It's Delovely" boasts an energetic yet romantic flavor to it; the tempo may be fast but make no mistake: Anita O'Day sings this with passion and Billy May's arrangement shines like pure gold! The arrangement makes great use of the horns. "What Is This Thing Called Love" features Anita singing with confidence as she scats, plays with the tempo of her vocals while Billy May's tempo stays much more constant, and pours her heart and soul into performing this number as only she could.

We also get bonus tracks that reflect Anita's genius with other arrangers. I love the passion and forcefulness of Buddy Bregman's arrangement for the trombones on "You're The Top;" Anita's voice is in excellent form once again for this number. The romantic number "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" shows how Anita could get away with singing this number by occasionally leaving out the "My" in "My Heart Belongs To Daddy." And you know what? Anita does it with such a natural talent that it works very well. Jimmy Giuffre's arrangement works well, too, for "My Heart Belongs To Daddy."

"From This Moment On" begins with a beautiful piano flourish and Anita whizzes through this ballad without stumbling--and she doesn't sing a superfluous note, either! This number shines and stands as a highlight of this CD. The final track, another interpretation of ""Just One Of Those Things" has different tempo changes than the first version on this CD; the arrangement by Ralph Burns also features guitarist Tal Farlowe.

The liner notes include the recording dates for each song and Will Friedwald contributes a fine essay about Anita O'Day and her work with the different arrangers on this album.

Anita O'Day is something to be personally experienced; I can't quite find the words to completely convey the high octane, forceful energy and electricity with which she performed countless songs throughout her very long career. This CD would be a "must-have" for Anita's fans; and people who enjoy classic jazz will enjoy this CD, too. If you want to become better acquainted with the artistry of Anita O'Day, this CD is also a great place to start.

Enjoy!
June 13, 2007

Nice up-tempo versions of excellent songs...

Since Anita died in late 2006, and was still performing sporadically up to her final year of life, meaning well into her mid-80's, this 1959 release can't even be called "Mid-career O'Day." She started making records with the Gene Krupa Orchestra before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so at the time of this project, she was about 20 years into a 60-year gig as a paid jazz vocalist. And I do mean "jazz" because Anita never did achieve "pop" stardom or true mass appeal. This offering is quite cheerful, but while it reveals Anita's originality and devotion to jazz arrangements, it also demonstrates her weakness. O'Day did not quite have the ability to "act" a lyric and inhabit a song situation, the way Doris Day, for instance, had in the same era. That is not a harsh criticism---Ella Fitzgerald did not always make the lyric she was vocalizing warm and intimate and believable, either, for all her greatness. Anita was for fun, not for bringing the listener's own tangled love story to life via bittersweet empathy. An even better CD than this one for understanding O'Day is "Let Me Off Uptown" which features her 1940-42 tracks with Krupa. That one makes you want to get up and dance...fast. This one's 18 tracks show that Cole Porter had great enough skills so that songs he meant to be done slowly can survive and thrive when speeded up by a singer the quality of Anita O'Day. If you are an O'Day fan, you'll need this one in the collection, for sure, and Billy May and his men contribute a great deal to the success of this release. If not already a fan, it might make you one, but I'm betting that her early work with Krupa will please you even more. January 8, 2007

Two reviews in one

The title to this review refers to the fact that I consider this album the perfect companion of Anita O'day Sings Rodgers and Hart so I'm speaking here about the two albums and I suggest to everyone the purchase of both. Anita was accompanied here like in the R&H album by Billy May who has been a spectular choice for Anita. Some people seem unable to catch impressive Anita's vocal genius. She's one of the best Jazz singers in the whole history of Jazz music. She's so personal, so charismatic, so graced with talent that hearing her singing Little Girl Blue or Bewitched (R&H album) is incredibly rewarding. She flies over May's powerful or tender arrangements like only a master Jazz musician can do. She hadn't Vaughan unreachable instrument and her black attitude (Vaughan has been the greatest of them all, no doubt about it), she wasn't divine. She was human, but with an impressive talent of her own. She hadn't Holiday black tragedies to tell. She was white, she wasn't discriminated (even if she surely saw some bad things travelling with black people in those days) so she sang like a white girl, with a white blues feeling, with perfect intonation, perfect time and an originality that hook me every time I hear her sing. She can really enlight a song or a lyric. She's incredible. I really love Anita and probably the two albums (Cole Porter and R&H) are some of the best music she's ever recorded. Billy May prepared for her thunderous arrangements with her voice in mind and the results of course became legendary. November 2, 2004

ANITA TAKES CHANCES

You probably heard PORTER tunes done by ELLA or SINATRA,and that's interesting.With ANITA ,the approach is more risqué but so rewarding in the end.ANITA is a singer who likes to takes chances,and on this 1959 session,she is matched with BILLY MAY,who was born to work with the often difficult O'DAY.What fun it is to hear them do relectures of the famous PORTER tunes,even if you know them by heart!So, you may like that album a lot if you are game ,or hate it if you are not,it's just as simple as that.The lyrics to YOU'RE THE TOP are not the originals,but work just the same with YOU'RE THE BOP,SARAH and YARDBIRD among the word changes made to the song.One wonders though what PORTER thought of the liberties taken with his songs.This is ANITA O'DAY in full command and in her prime.A message to VERVE:will you please release the 1960 ANITA O'DAY swings RODGERS AND HART with BILLY MAY in north AMERICA? October 14, 2003

Easier to Love

I've always felt Anita O'Day deserved better from me. Her inerrant ear, impressive vocal technique and sexy, intimate sound all should have added up to recordings that would get no fewer playings than Ella's. But Ella's simplicity and transparency always did better by the song to my ears.

Anita is nothing if she's not an original, and her spins on tunes are suddenly sounding more palatable. Perhaps after fifity ears of hearing Cole relatively slow, it's finally becoming possible to relate to the songs by a singer who takes them at burning tempos. She blazes through "I Get a Kick" and keeps the heat on for "All of You." She certainly honors the composer more than the rock singers who of late have been adapting Cole to a boogie beat. Still, for all her fire Anita rarely creates much heat and soul. September 1, 2002

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