Gabler got to record Holiday on Commodore in 1939 because Columbia refused to record her 'Strange Fruit,' which, ironically, became her first real hit record. All the recordings here were produced and/or supervised by Milt Gabler, who owned the Commodore label and Manhattan record store, later becoming a top A&R man at Decca. Working within the prevailing strictures of the pop of the time-voice out front, ensembles in the background lush arrangements frequently employing strings song lyrics stressing female frailty and vulnerability-Holiday, as much as Frank Sinatra in that same decade, created a template for legato ballad singing while refining her insouciant, lilting sense of swing.
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She was at once of and above the prevailing ethos of romance and sentiment that marked the decade's popular music. Today, she's most often remembered for those last and first decades, although this collection reminds us that she was not only at the pinnacle of her popular, but also her artistic, success in the middle decade. Holiday's career divides neatly into three decades: the '30s, when she was the ebullient voice in mostly small swing combos the '40s, when she was a popular torch singer and the '50s, when her increasingly ravaged voice became almost a cliché of heartache and broken dreams. That Decca recording, as well as 51 other recordings Holiday made between 19, many of them seminal classics, are collected in this 'limited edition,' clothbound 6' X 7 1/2' book set of three CDs, complete with illuminating essay by Ashley Kahn and a generous selection of photos, all presented on heavy glossy stock.
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Piano'> Nina Simone made a black-pride point about her hit single, 'I Loves You Porgy,' very publicly proclaiming that she refused to use the (to her) demeaning dialect pronunciation 'loves,' substituting 'love.' It was the same year that Billie Holiday died, but few remembered that Holiday had, without fanfare, simply sang 'love' instead of 'loves' in her exquisite 1948 recording of the Gershwin song.