(A) STUDIO SESSIONS

Session #46 New York, 10/February/1942, Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra (CD: Complete in Columbia vol.7, tk.11-14)

Emmett Berry (tp) Jimmy Hamilton (cl) Hymie Schertzer (as) Babe Russin (ts) Teddy Wilson (p) Gene Fields (g) John Williams (b) JC Heard (d) Billie Holiday (v)

Tracks MT156 and MT158 were issued under Harmony label in the 78rpm #1075 in October 2nd 1942. This was a popular label used by Columbia. Mandy is Two was released only on LP in 1951.

(MT 156) Wherever You Are

(MT 156a) Wherever You Are (alternate take)

(MT 157) Mandy Is Two

(MT 157a) Mandy Is Two (alternate take)

(MT 158) It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie *** Notice in the bridge the tenor sax show, followed by Wilson. A nice song by the less known Billy Mayhew. Do you know when a song gets in your head? Be sure/ it’s true/ when you say/ “I love you” / It’s a sin to tell a lie… The more I listen, the more I like.

(MT 158a) It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie (alternate take, matrix 32407-2)

(MT 158b) It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie (alternate take, matrix 32407-3)

The image below is from the original 78rpm disk. Click here to listen.

(MT 159) Until The Real Thing Comes Along ** the stars commemorate the end of the Columbia years. An standard by Alberta Nichols.

(MT 159b) Until The Real Thing Comes Along (alternate take)

The image below is from the original 78rpm disk. Click here to listen.

• This was the last session Billie recorded for ARC – Columbia, at the end of her contract. In total, 153 tracks in 44 sessions (not counting the four tracks in the Commodore session in 1939, one in the CD The Singers and one for RCA).

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Session #47 Los Angeles 12/June/1942 Paul Whiteman & his Orchestra (CD: Billie’s Blues, tk.15)

Monty Kelly, Larry Neill, Don Waddilove (tp), Skip Layton, Murray McEachern, Trummy Young (tb), Alvy West, Dan D’Andrea, Lennie Hartman, Lester Young (Reeds) Buddy Weed (p) Mike Pingitore(g) Artie Shapiro (b) Willie Rodriguez (d), Unknown string section, Billie Holiday (v) Jimmy Mundy (arr) Paul Whiteman (conductor)

An unique session and quite peculiar: the city is Los Angeles; the orchestra, Paul Whiteman’s in his sole recording with Billie; the label is the recently founded Capitol Records. Billie recorded this track under the name of Lady Day, as she was formally under Columbia contract.

(MT 160) Trav’lin’ Light ** a long instrumental intro – this time with a full orchestra – is followed by Billie’s introducing the theme. Not taken in consideration the arrangement and the violins, the track is a gem. The song is by Trummy Young and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Trummy recorded with Billie in 1938 (session #31) being her old friend. They both needed money, so they decided to play this song. Curiously, they ended up spending everything commemorating in the same night.

The image below is from the original 78rpm disk. Click here to listen.

• She would record it again in 1956 with Tony Scott band (MT #273).

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This session has an important historic aspect, because it was the last before the famous “Recording Ban”, that would left Billie and other famous jazz musicians out of the studios until 1944. A pianist called James C. Petrillo led the strike as he became president of AFM – American Federation of Musicians in August, 1942.

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(B) LIVE SESSIONS

 Live Session #8 [radio broadcast] Los Angeles, 1st/June/1942,  Lee and Lester Young Band (CD: Rare Tracks From The BHD, vol.1 (1937-1944)

‘Red’ Mack Morris (t), Lester Young, ‘Bump’ Myers (ts), Jimmy Rowles (p), Louis Gonzales (g), ‘Red’ Callender (b), Lee Young (d), The Spirits of the Rhythm, Billie Holiday (v)

Broadcast on station KHJ at the Billy Berg’s Trouville Club.

(LR 11) I Hear Music – a very bad sound quality, probably resulting from an amateur recording.

(LR 12) Solitude – the track was not entirely recorded.

Both tracks were unissued in vinyl.

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Norman Granz (1918-2001), an Ukranian-Jewish descent, was a jazz aficionado and began a long involvement with the music by persuading Billy Berg, a well-known Los Angeles club owner, to allow him to promote a jam session at his club, the Trouville, on Sunday nights. Granz would be closer involved with Billie at a later date, when she started recording for Verve.

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Founded in 1922 and owned by The Los Angeles Times, KHJ station was merged in 1949  into RKO.

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© www.billieholidaysongs.com February 2017