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Billie Holiday

Lady in Satin

Lady in Satin Tracks
1. I'm a Fool to Want You [Edited Master] [Edit]
2. For Heaven's Sake
3. You Don't Know What Love Is
4. I Get Along Without You Very Well
5. For All We Know
6. Violets for Your Furs
7. You've Changed
8. It's Easy to Remember
9. But Beautiful
10. Glad to Be Unhappy
11. I'll Be Around
12. End of a Love Affair [Mono Version]
13. I'm a Fool to Want You [Take 3][#][*]
14. I'm a Fool to Want You [Take 2 - Alternate Take] [Alternate Take][#][*]
15. End of a Love Affair: The Audio Story [#][*]
16. End of a Love Affair [Stereo][#][*]
17. [Pause Track]
Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
Lady in Satin Review
A harrowing classic, Billie Holiday's personal favorite among her '50s albums captures the singer 17 months before her death, her once honeyed voice, scarred and weakened from punishing life, its ravages highlighted by the 1958 session's crisp sonics and the contrasting "satin" of Ray Ellis' sleek string arrangements. Yet it is that very contrast that explains the power of these performances: In revisiting its torchy standards, Holiday reduces them to their core of pain and longing, transforming "I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," and "You've Changed" into naked declarations as mesmerizing and unsettling as a horrific accident. Any postrocker that presumes pop standards and string sections automatically translate to "easy listening" hasn't listened to this. This 1997 version adds unreleased takes and a beautiful 20-bit digital transfer to extract every shivering pang of Holiday's music. --Sam Sutherland
Lady in Satin Review
Limited 'Millennium Edition' reissue of classic 1958 album in a deluxe heavyweight miniaturized LP sleeve complete with inner sleeve and a Japanese-style obi strip on the spine. 12 tracks. Individually numbered. 1999 release.


Users's Reviews
Feel free to add your comments about Lady in Satin
Satin Doll's Swan Song... It Was Never Her Voice But Her Swing
5
Heartfelt throughout..Sad,georgeous arrangements and tunes for Billie's last. The feeling of despair and the bad weather before the storm is felt on this her last offering.
This CD now gets the treatment it deserves with it's lavish packaging and even though her voice is near shot it stands
out as an emotional vehicle for her intonations and phrasing and use of time..her gift and claim to fame.
A fitting purchase and a very eerie one.
Posted by Anonymous, on 2005-12-06
listened without any prejudice
5
Many people complains that the fanatics of this album just could not hear her as she is because there are so many emotional baggaeges attached to this album. However, I am sure I was impartial when I heard this album for the first time. I was born and raised in Korea and I have never heard of her or her name when I bought the LP in late Eighties in Korea. I just started to listen to fusion jazz(I mean that was the only available jazz around) and I am afraid I did not know who Duke Ellington was. I usually listened to Pop and Classical music. And boy! this album really blew me away and she instantly became my favorites along with Billy Joel and Wham. Later on, I listened to her earlier records, but I still think this is her best record. Please listen to this album not thinking of her glorious earlier Columbia and Verve period. I think people complaining about her vocal quality are the ones who are prejudiced about this album. They are so enarmored with her earlier beautiful voice that they just refuse to hear it as it is.
Posted by Anonymous, on 2005-11-28
A Heartbreaker...
5
This is literally the sound of Billie Holiday's heart breaking. She more than any other singer has always had the ability to reduce me to tears with her voice, but when listening to this set its pretty much a guarantee that my eyes will tear a little. Her voice shows the wear and tear from years of drug and alcohol abuse, but she still manages to get to the essence of each song and uses the limitations of her voice to her advantage. In fact, the weariness in her voice helps to express the sentiments of lost love more effectively than if her voice had been in top form. I remember reading in the liner notes written by the producer that he had thought the recording was terrible after his first listen and he wasn't happy with Billie's performance. However, in time he was able to appreciate it. This may not be an easy listen, but this was Billie Holiday's favorite recording of herself for a reason.
Posted by Anonymous, on 2005-10-27