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Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin (1958)

Track listing:
  1. I'm a fool to want you 3:25
  2. For Heaven's sake 3:27
  3. You don't know what love is 3:49
  4. I get along without you very w 2:59
  5. For all we know 2:53
  6. Violets for your furs 3:24
  7. You've changed 3:17
  8. It's easy to remember 4:02
  9. But beautiful 4:30
  10. Glad to be unhappy 4:08
  11. I'll be around 3:22
  12. The end of a love afair 4:48
  13. I'm a fool to want you 3:25
  14. I'm a fool to want you 3:29
  15. The end of a love affair 10:01
  16. The end of a love affair 4:29

Notes

This is the most controversial of all Billie Holiday records. Lady Day herself said that this session (which finds her accompanied by Ray Ellis' string orchestra) was her personal favorite, and many listeners have found her emotional versions of such songs as "I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," "Glad to Be Unhappy," and particularly "You've Changed" to be quite touching. But Holiday's voice was essentially gone by 1958, and although not yet 43, she could have passed for 73. Ellis' arrangements do not help, veering close to Muzak; most of this record is very difficult to listen to. Late in life, Holiday expressed the pain of life so effectively that her croaking voice had become almost unbearable to hear. There is certainly a wide range of opinion as to the value of this set. [The 1997 CD reissue adds two alternate takes of "I'm a Fool to Want You," part of which were used for the original released rendition, plus the stereo version of "The End of a Love Affair" (only previously released in mono) and examples of Lady Day rehearsing the latter song, including a long unaccompanied stretch.]