Billie Holiday Discography The Original LP Discography

In this section you find all the original Long Plays 33 1/3rpm 

released in her lifetime (between 1950 and 1960). 

The tracks highlighted in Blue weren't issued previously in 78rpm nor 45rpm formats, being released directly in LP for the first time.

Favorites gets the honor to be her first Long Play, still in the 10" size recently released. Its eight tracks represent a short sample of the so called "Columbia Years", being the sole album published by Columbia in that period. A curiosity here is the track Mandy Is Two, a track recorded in 1942 and never released in 78rpm. Down Beat magazine reviews it on April 1951:

" (...) You've already read thousands of tributes to Billie, this won't be another. Suffice it to say that this item is a must."

Tk Song				MT#	Rec.Date	Matrix 
a1 Time In My Hands		136		
a2 Laughing At Life		135		
a3 It's A Sin To Tell A Lie	158		
a4 Swing, Brother, Swing	124		
b1 Loveless Love		142		
b2 Without Your Love		066		
b3 Tell Me More, And More	134		
b4 Mandy Is Two 		157	10.02.1942	32406-1

In the spring of 1952, Billie began recording for Norman Granz, first on Mercury Records (that was found in 1945 in Chicago, being specialized in jazz and blues) and, in the following year, on his own Clef label. This album was first released by Mercury and short after reissued by Clef. Its eight tracks were recorded in a single session in Los Angeles on April, 1952. This historic session, with Oscar Peterson on piano, was her first LA session (not considering the single track with Paul Whiteman years before).

Tk Song				MT#
a1 I Only Have Eyes For You	225
a2 You turned The Tables On Me	222
a3 Blue Moon			220
a4 Solitude			226
b1 These Foolish Things		224
b2 Easy To Love			223
b3 You Go To my Head		221
b4 East Of The Sun		219

Down Beat magazine rated this album 5 stars in February, 1954: 

"All have been issued before on 78. Like Mr. Granz says: ...the time spent here with Billie is what you make it, because there is every possible mood in this album... (the band) complement her with an affinity and admiration which is saved only for the great. And for this Holiday-struck listener, there is no one greater."

Tk Song				MT#
a1 Stormy Weather		236
a2 Lover Come Back To Me	235
a3 My Man			234
a4 He's Funny That Way		238
b1 Yesterdays			237
b2 Tenderly			230
b3 I Can't  Face The Music	239
b4 Remember			232

Down Beat magazine reviewed this album in October, 1954 and rated it 5 stars: 

"The set is an experience in mounting pleasure that can do anything but increase still further no matter how often the LP is replayed. (...) As for comparing it with earlier Teddy Wilson-Billie sessions, what's the point? Count your blessings in having both. (...) Speaking of time, Billie's beat and variations thereon never cease to be among the seven wonders of jazz."

The magazine refers to Oscar Peterson on piano in all these tracks and compares it to the old Brunswick years. These are now the Verve years, Norman Granz being the producer. 

One more note: the track Autumn in New York is a different take from the release on 78 (s. vinyl discography). 

Tk Song				MT#	Rec Date	Matrix
a1 Love for Sale 		228	24.04.1952	YBC785-1
a2 Moonglow 			229	24.04.1952	YBC786-4
a3 Everything I Have Is Yours 	227	24.04.1952	YBC784-1
a4 If The Moon Turns Green	231		
b1 Autumn in New York		233	24.04.1952	YBC790-1		
b2 How Deep Is The Ocean	240		
b3 What a Little Moonlight Can	241		
b4 I Cried for You 		242	14.04.1954	YBC1569-1 

This album has some special characteristics that worth to be mentioned:  it is the first 12" Billie Long-Play and it contains only tracks never previously released. 

You don't have to be in psychology or nurse practitioner programs to know the emotional heartache Billie feels.

Down Beat magazine reviewed it in November, 1955 and gave it the maximum 5 stars:

"Music For Torching was recorded on the west coast in August of this year with the tasteful, relaxed backing of (the Band). As for the singing, I suppose that the nostalgic will repeat automatically that this isn't the Billie of 20 years ago. Of course it isn't. (...) This is a Billie who has experienced a lot of pain and some joy in the years between. (...) She sings more reflectively and less hopefully but with no less depth and warmth. When she's right - and she's absorbingly right on these sides - no one yet is able to touch Billie as the most emotionally striking singer in jazz, 20 years ago or today. Totally recommended."

Tk Song				MT#	Rec Date	Matrix
a1 It Had to Be You 		263	23.08.1955	YBC2444-1
a2 Come Rain or Come Shine 	265	25.08.1955	YBC2446-3
a3 I Get a Kick out of You 	270	25.08.1955	YBC2451-3
a4 I Don't Want to Cry Anymore 	257	23.08.1955	YBC2438-2
b1 Ghost Of A Chance	 	259	23.08.1955	YBC2440-1
b2 A Fine Romance 		268	25.08.1955	YBC2449-8
b3 Gone with the Wind 		261	23.08.1955	YBC2442-4
b4 Isn't This a Lovely Day?	272	25.08.1955	YBC2453-3

This LP made history, being the first to carry a Billie's live register, the JATP concerts. Clef Records' press release quotes Down Beat magazine: 

"These were recorded at a JATP concert in LA in 1946, and never again will Billie sound this wonderful. The years that have passed since then have taken their toll on the great stylist, but this all happened on a night when she had everything, and you don't find this LP to be one of the most emotional half-hours you've ever spent, there's something wrong. (...) Certainly one of the outstanding records in years (J.T.)"

The magazine made a mistake, though, because this is not a 1946 concert, but rather a compilation of several JATP concerts, as mentioned in the text below.

Tk Song 		(date & local)
a1 Body And Soul 	(Feb.12 1945 - Phil. Auditorium LA)
a2 Strange Fruit 	(id.a1)
a3 Trav'lin' Light 	(Oct.7 1946 - Shrine Auditorium, LA) 
a4 He's Funny That Way 	(id.a3)
b1 The Man I Love 	(June 3 1946 - Carnegie Hall, NYC)
b2 Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You (id.b1)
b3 All Of Me 		(id.b1)
b4 Billie's Blues 	(id.b1)

Two minor releases, both compilations of tracks already  issued on previous LPs.

Tk Song (Recital)			
a1 If The Moon Turns Green
a2 Autumn in New York
a3 My Man
b1 He's Funny That Way
b2 Remember
b3 I Can't  Face The Music

Tk Song (Solitude)
a1 East Of The Sun
a2 Blue Moon
a3 You Go To my Head
a4 You turned The Tables On Me
a5 Easy To Love
a6 These Foolish Things
b1 I Only Have Eyes For You
b2 Solitude
b3 Everything I Have Is Yours 
b4 Love for Sale 
b5 Moonglow 
b6 Tenderly

This fourth Clef album brings eight more original tracks from the same 1955 session already released on Music For Torching and deserves the same comments.

Tk Song				MY#	Date		Matrix
a1 Prelude to a Kiss 		258	23.08.1955	YBC2439-2
a2 When Your Lover Has Gone 	260	23.08.1955	YBC2441-3
a3 Please Don't Talk About Me 	262	23.08.1955	YBC2443-2
a4 Nice Work If You Can Get It	264	23.08.1955	YBC2445-5
b1 I Gotta Right To Sing... 	266	25.08.1955	YBC2447-1
b2 What's New?			267	25.08.1955	YBC2448-3
b3 I Hadn't Anyone Till You 	269	25.08.1955	YBC2450-1
b4 Everything I Have Is Yours 	271	25.08.1955	YBC2452-2

In July, 1956 came out the book "Lady Sings The Blues". Down Beat magazine reviewed on the August 8th edition. Here are some excerpts:

"Lady Sings The Blues is Billie Holiday's autobiography. And she tries to get the reader on her side of the mirror so don't expect a three-dimensional view of the subject. The book was written with William Dufty, assistant to the editor of the New York Post (...) Seldom in the book does she talk about her singing (...)"

On a Saturday, November 10 1956 Billie appears in concert at Carnegie Hall. Maybe the best live recording session of Lady’s career, accompanied by several of her loyal companions. Billie is perfect, although her voice is failing. The show was planned to commemorate the edition of her autobiographic book, some paragraphs being read during the performance.

That's how this next album got its title. But, unfortunately, it gets nothing do to with the concert described above, whose tracks can be found in the CD  Billie Holiday at Carnegie Hall (see discography). Rather, it resulted from a recording session on June 1956 and a compilation of previously issued tracks. 

It was the last LP to be released under Clef label.

Tk Song				MY#	Date		Matrix
a1 Lady Sings the Blues 	276	06.06.1956	YBC2854-4
a2 Trav'lin' Light 		273	06.06.1956	YBC2850-5
a3 I Must Have That Man 	274	06.06.1956	YBC2851-3
a4 Some Other Spring		275	06.06.1956	YBC2852-1
a5 Strange Fruit		277	07.06.1956	YBC2855-2
a6 No Good Man 			280	07.06.1956	YBC2858-1
b1 God Bless the Child 		278	07.06.1956	YBC2856-1
b2 Good Morning Heartache 	279	07.06.1956	YBC2857-8
b3 Love Me Or Leave Me			
b4 Too Marvelous For Words 	245	03.09.1954	YBC1932-6
b5 Willow Weep For Me			
b6 I Thought About You			

These are the first albums coming out under the Verve label. They include songs recorded on January, 1957, a memorable week of 5 recording sessions in the famous Capitol Studios in LA. Norman Granz is the producer (there is a balance of 4 more songs that will be included later in All Or Nothing At All, released in 1959).

Tk Song (Body and Soul)		MT#	Date		Matrix
a1 Body and Soul 		298	07.01.1957	20507-1
a2 They Can't Take That Away...	303	09.01.1957	20568-6
a3 Darn That Dream 		296	07.01.1957	20505-3
a4 Let's Call the Whole Thing Off 305	09.01.1957	20567-4
b1 Comes Love 			294	04.01.1957	20503-4 
b2 Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You 306	09.01.1957	20565-3
b3 Embraceable You 		304	09.01.1957	20566-1
b4 Moonlight in Vermont 	290	03.01.1957	20499-1

Tk Song				MT#	Date		Matrix
a1 Day in,  Day Out 		295	07.01.1957	20504-1
a2 A Foggy Day 			291	03.01.1957	20500-6
a3 Stars Fell on Alabama 	299	08.01.1957	20561-2
b1 One for My Baby	 	302	08.01.1957	20564-3
b2 Just One of Those Things 	293	04.01.1957	20502-2
b3 I Didn't Know What Time It Was 292	04.01.1957	20501-2

This is the second live LP to be included in this section. It was recorded live on July 6, 1957 at Newport Jazz Festival at Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island. Together in the Saturday programme were, among others, Dave Brubeck, Teddy Wilson and Gerry Mulligan. His voice was in bad shape, see Down Beat review:

"Her thin, crackling voice quivered through the set in semi-recitative style."

The release included also 6 more tunes from Ella Fitzgerald in a previous date at Newport. This was her last album for Verve (two more releases from Verve will follow, but both with previously recorded sessions)

Tk Song
a1 Nice Work If You Can Get It  
a2 Willow Weep for Me  
a3 Lover Come Back to Me  
a4 Lady Sings the Blues  
a5 What a Little Moonlight Can Do  
a6 My Man  

These are the two albums released by Decca years after Billie left this label. The tracks were recorded from 1944 to1949, including Guilty, a song never before released. Down Beat magazine reviews Lover Man on 8 January 1959:

"Some quite good Billie, singing material ranging from fine to mawkish, backed by generally drab groups. The voice and the inimitable Holiday feeling manage to shine through. With only trio backing, she breathes life into My Man and Porgy. Vocal group backing on Weep No More and Girls is dreadful. (Dom Cerulli)"

Tk Song	(The Blues ...)		MY#	Date		Matrix

a1 Keeps On A Raining			
a2 Gimme A Pigfoot And A Bottle			
a3 Baby I Don't Cry Over You			
a4 My Sweet Hunk O Trash

a5 Somebody's On My Mind

a6 Guilty 			191	27.12.1946	W73768A
b1 The Blues Are Brewin' 			
b2 Do Your Duty			
b3 Baby Get Lost			
b4 You Can't Lose a Broken Heart			
b5 Now Or Never			
b6 Big Stuff			

Tk Song	(Lover Man)

a1 Lover Man

a2 That Old Devil Called Love

a3 My Man

a4 You're My Thrill

a5 Crazy He Calls Me

a6 Weep No More

b1 There Is No Greater Love

b2 This Is Heaven To Me

b3 Solitude

b4 Porgy

b5 Girls Were made To Take Care

b6 Please Tell Me Now

These are "posthumous" Verve albums, with original  tracks previously recorded between 1955 and 1957.

Tk Song	(Stay With Me)		MT#	Date		Matrix
a1 I Wished on the Moon 	252	14.02.1955	YBC2279
a2 Ain't Misbehavin' 		256	14.02.1955	YBC2280-2
a3 Everything Happens to Me 	254	14.02.1955	YBC2278-2
b1 Say It Isn't So 		250	14.02.1955	YBC2281
b2 I've Got My Love to Keep Me	251	14.02.1955	YBC2275-5
b3 Always 			253	14.02.1955	YBC2277-3
b4 Do Nothin'Till You Hear From	255	14.02.1955	YBC2276

Tk Song	(All or Nothing)	MT#	Date		Matrix
a1 Do Nothin'Till You Hear From 281	14.08.1956	YBC2914-3
a2 Cheek to Cheek 		282	14.08.1956	YBC2915-5
a3 Ill Wind 			283	14.08.1956	YBC2916-4
a4 Speak Low 			284	14.08.1956	YBC2917-8
a5 We'll Be Together Again 	285	18.08.1956	YBC2929-4
a6 All or Nothing at All 	286	18.08.1956	YBC2930-3
b1 Sophisticated Lady 		287	18.08.1956	YBC2931-6
b2 April in Paris 		288	18.08.1956	YBC2932-6
b3 I Wished on the Moon 	289	03.01.1957	20498-4
b4 But Not for Me 		297	07.01.1957	20506-7
b5 Say It Isn't So 		300	08.01.1957	20562-2 
b6 Our Love Is Here to Stay 	301	08.01.1957	20563-2 

Billie is now back to Columbia for this sole album recorded in 3 sessions on subsequent days in February 1958. She is backed by the strings of Ray Ellis, in a most controversial arrangement. She was in really bad shape, and the sessions had to be recorded after 10pm.

Tk Song				MT#	Date		Matrix

a1 I'm A Fool To Want You 	313	19.02.1958	CO 60466-1

a2 For Heaven's Sake      	309	18.02.1958	CO 60462-1

a3 You Don't Know What Love Is  307	18.02.1958	CO 60460-1

a4 I Get Along Without You Very 317	20.02.1958	CO 60467-1

a5 For All We Know        	311	19.02.1958	CO 60464-1

a6 Violets For Your Furs  	318	20.02.1958	CO 60471-1

b1 You've Changed         	316	20.02.1958	CO 60469-1

b2 It's Easy To Remember       	312	19.02.1958	CO 60465-1

b3 But Beautiful          	310	18.02.1958	CO 60463-1

b4 Glad To Be Unhappy     	315	20.02.1958	CO 60468-1

b5 I'll Be Around         	308	18.02.1958	CO 60461-1

b6 The End Of A Love Affair  	314	20.02.1958	CO 60470-1

This is Billie's last album, as the title suggests. Again, she's backed by Ellis. Follows some Leonard Feather's notes from the original LP:

" (...) Watching Lady Day at work while these records were being made was a gratifying experience. Many singers come to record dates in sweatshirts and slippers, running for cover every time a photograph appears. Not Lady. She walked into the studio statuesque and sharp as ever, as attractively made up and gowned and is she were headed for a Carnegie Hall concert. It was a fine psychological note, helpful to the morale of everyone present. As Billie knows so well, a record session is something to be presented for posterity, and while the performances may sound as casual as you please, the approach to them must always involve an awareness of the real importance of the occasion (...)"

Feather is the author of The Encyclopedia of Jazz.

Tk Song				MT#	Date		Matrix

a1 All of You 			329	11.03.1959	59XY457-1

a2 Sometimes I'm Happy 		325	04.03.1959	59XY441-1

a3 You Took Advantage of Me 	326	04.03.1959	59XY442-1

a4 When It's Sleepy Time Down 	323	04.03.1959	59XY439-1

a5 There'll Be Some Changes... 	327	11.03.1959	59XY455-1

a6 Deed I Do 			328	11.03.1959	59XY456-1

b1 Don't Worry 'bout Me 	324	04.03.1959	59XY440-1

b2 All the Way 			319	03.03.1959	59XY435-1

b3 Just One More Chance 	322	03.03.1959	59XY438-1

b4 It's Not for Me to Say 	320	03.03.1959	59XY436-1

b5 I'll Never Smile Again 	321	03.03.1959	59XY437-1

b6 Baby, Won't You Please Come.	330	11.03.1959	59XY458-1

      Billie recording with Ray Ellis

Dozens of albums in the Long Play format were still released until the eighties, when they start to be replaced by the digital Compact Disc format. Those titles will not be covered in this work, as they are compilations or repacks of previous material. The above commented 19 albums were the ones edited between 1950 - when they started coming out - and Billie death in 1959. Enjoy.

For those collectors, almost all these titles have been reissued in CD, although almost always with a different set of tracks. Most of them can still be found at Amazon.com Follows the list:

Collection "Billie Holiday Story", with 6 volumes:

1  2  3 

4  5  6

Volume 1 - JATP © 1995 Polygram Records

Volume 2 - Solitude © 1993 Polygram Records

Volume 3 - Recital by BH © 1994 Polygram Records

Volume 4 - Lady Sings the Blues © 1995 Polygram Records

Volume 5 - Music for Torching © 1995 Polygram Records

Volume 6 - Carnegie Hall © 1995 Polygram Records

Other CD from Polygram catalogue:

7  8  9 

101112

CD7 - Stay With Me © 1991 Polygram Records

CD8 - All or Nothing at All © 1995 Polygram Records

CD9 - Distingué Lovers © 1997 Polygram Records

CD10 - Ella & Bilie © 2000 Polygram Records

CD11 - Lady In Satin © 1997 Sony Records

CD12 - Last recording © 1990 Polygram Records

Limited editions

131415

161718

CD13 - BH Sings © 2003 Umvd

CD14 - An Evening with BH © 2004 Universal Japan

CD15 - Billie Holiday © 2002 Universal Japan

CD16 - Body and Soul © 1996 Mobile Fidelity

CD17 - The Blues © 1998 Decca Japan

CD18 - Lover Man © 1999 Decca Japan

Note: I couldn't find an original CD release from "Favorites" and "Velvet Moods".

© 2011 Billie Holiday Songs

version 16.6 December 2011

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