Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart [Original recording remastered]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Anita O'Day became famous as a big-band singer in the 1940s. But much of her lasting fame also stems from the albums she made for Verve between 1956 and 1962, which collectively stand as a Bible of cool. Recorded in 1960, Anita O'Day And Billy May Swing Rodgers And Hart followed on the heels of O'Day's and arranger Billy May's tribute to Cole Porter, proving once again that she and May were meant for each other. May's masterful arrangements ingnite that imitable O'Day insouciance; her exacting phrasing, calculated dissonances, and tart wit, transform each song into a swinging salute to Rodgers and Hart, line for line. Timbre alone cannot guarantee a listener's interest in familiar material, however. And when Anita O'Day joins with Billy May to get off a dozen Rogers and Hart standards, both singer and arranger-conductor rely on their ingenuity to show what can be done with show music. They set themselves a similar assignment sometime back when they cut a Cole Porter album and immediately revived interest in several seemingly too-well-known ballads. Now they have used the same proficiency on twelve songs which have become part of our national cultural legacy.

Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart, Music, Anita O'Day, Billy May, Jazz, Pop, Swing, Traditional Pop, United States of America, Vocal Jazz
Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • beautiful cd reissue
  • 28 MINUTES
 Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
Anita O'Day , and Billy May
Manufacturer: Verve
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Jazz GeneralTraditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music
Vocal Jazz GeneralVocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
Traditional PopTraditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
VerveVerve | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music
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  3. Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day
  4. Anita O'Day Sings the Winners
  5. Complete 1952 Verve Sessions

ASIN: B0002XNLY2
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Tracks:

  1. Johnny One Note
  2. Little Girl Blue
  3. Falling In Love With Love
  4. Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered
  5. I Could Write A Book
  6. Have You Met Miss Jones?
  7. Lover
  8. It Never Entered My Mind
  9. Ten Cents A Dance
  10. I've Got Five Dollars
  11. To Keep My Love Alive
  12. Spring Is Here

Album Description

Anita O'Day became famous as a big-band singer in the 1940s. But much of her lasting fame also stems from the albums she made for Verve between 1956 and 1962, which collectively stand as a Bible of cool. Recorded in 1960, Anita O'Day And Billy May Swing Rodgers And Hart followed on the heels of O'Day's and arranger Billy May's tribute to Cole Porter, proving once again that she and May were meant for each other. May's masterful arrangements ingnite that imitable O'Day insouciance; her exacting phrasing, calculated dissonances, and tart wit, transform each song into a swinging salute to Rodgers and Hart, line for line. Timbre alone cannot guarantee a listener's interest in familiar material, however. And when Anita O'Day joins with Billy May to get off a dozen Rogers and Hart standards, both singer and arranger-conductor rely on their ingenuity to show what can be done with show music. They set themselves a similar assignment sometime back when they cut a Cole Porter album and immediately revived interest in several seemingly too-well-known ballads. Now they have used the same proficiency on twelve songs which have become part of our national cultural legacy.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars beautiful cd reissue.......2006-05-05

I love this cd. The coarse beauty of Anita O'Day's voice and the beautiful formality of the strings on "It Never Entered My Mind", "Spring Is Here" and "Little Girl Blue" is very evocative and moving. It's different in tone from Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter, obviously, since these are two different composers. I never knew Billy May could arrange so well for strings.

4 out of 5 stars 28 MINUTES.......2004-11-16

I thought the bonus tracks were hidden before i found out that they did not included any.The COLE PORTER disc had 6.It is hard to imagine a cd lasting less than 30 minutes.They could have included at least THE LADY IS A TRAMP and I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS.As it is,it is still worthwhile for the RODGERS and HART fan.One can imagine the reaction of DICK RODGERS when he heard HAVE YOU MET MISS JONES done in the uptempo style.It seems that TEN CENTS A DANCE could have been written for ANITA because she sings it so well.I think that FRANK SINATRA was right when he said that working with BILLY MAY,the arranger-conductor was like someone trowing a buckett full of water in your face.However,the RODGERS and HART set of BUDDY BREGMAN and ELLA FITZGERALD remains the best tribute of that time.
Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
    Anita O'Day , and Billy May
    Manufacturer: Universal
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Traditional Jazz GeneralTraditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Vocal Jazz GeneralVocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
    Traditional PopTraditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
    JazzJazz | Imports | Stores | Music
    ASIN: B000MQ4ZPI
    Release Date: 2007-03-19

    Tracks:

    1. Johnny One Note
    2. Little Girl Blue
    3. Falling in Love With Love
    4. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
    5. I Could Write a Book
    6. Have You Met Miss Jones?
    7. Lover
    8. It Never Entered My Mind
    9. Ten Cents a Dance
    10. I've Got Five Dollars
    11. To Keep My Love Alive
    12. Spring Is Here

    Album Details

    Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

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