Fine and Mellow
"Fine and Mellow" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Billie Holiday | ||||
A-side | "Strange Fruit" | |||
Released | 1939 | |||
Recorded | April 20, 1939 | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Label | Commodore | |||
Songwriter(s) | Billie Holiday | |||
Billie Holiday singles chronology | ||||
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"Fine and Mellow" is a jazz standard written by Billie Holiday,[1] who first recorded it on April 20, 1939 on the Commodore label.[2] It is a blues lamenting the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man".
Notable performances and recordings
The song was famously performed by Billie Holiday in 1957 in a television special, The Sound of Jazz.[3] The line-up included several jazz legends (the first six are listed in the order of their solos):
- Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
- Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone
- Vic Dickenson – trombone
- Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone
- Lester Young – tenor saxophone
- Roy Eldridge – trumpet
- Doc Cheatham – trumpet
- Danny Barker – guitar
- Milt Hinton – double bass
- Mal Waldron – piano
- Osie Johnson – drums
It has been covered several times, sometimes with a change in lyrics or emphasis. For example, Lou Rawls switched the gender to a girlfriend[4] and Eva Cassidy sang it in a defiant tone. Notable cover versions were sung by Nina Simone (on the 1959 At Town Hall), Dee Dee Bridgewater on her Billie Holiday tribute album, and Ella Fitzgerald on her eponymous album.
References
- ^ Jacobs, Dick & Harriet. Who Wrote That Song?, Writers Digest Books (1994), page 70 - ISBN 0-89879-639-3
- ^ "Fine and Mellow : Billie Holiday : Lyrics". Ladyday.net. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ^ "JAZZ A film by Ken Burns". PBS. 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
- ^ "Lou Rawls - The Best of Lou Rawls: The Capitol Jazz & Blues Sessions". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-07-26.
External links
- Fine and Mellow recording session
- Billie Holiday discography
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- Billie Holiday Sings/Solitude
- An Evening with Billie Holiday
- Billie Holiday
- Billie Holiday at Jazz at the Philharmonic
- Stay with Me
- Music for Torching
- Velvet Mood
- Lady Sings the Blues
- Body and Soul
- Songs for Distingué Lovers
- Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport
- All or Nothing at All
- Lady in Satin
- Last Recording
- The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live
- Lady in Autumn: The Best of the Verve Years
- Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944
- Lady Day Swings
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- "Ain't Nobody's Business"
- "As Time Goes By"
- "Billie's Blues"
- "Blue Moon"
- "Body and Soul"
- "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?"
- "Don't Explain"
- "Easy Living"
- "Embraceable You"
- "Everything Happens for the Best"
- "Everything Happens to Me"
- "Fine and Mellow"
- "Gloomy Sunday"
- "God Bless the Child"
- "Good Morning Heartache"
- "I Cover the Waterfront"
- "I Loves You, Porgy"
- "If You Were Mine"
- "I Thought About You"
- "I'll Be Seeing You"
- "I'll Get By"
- "I'll Never Be the Same"
- "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"
- "Just One of Those Things"
- "Lady Sings the Blues"
- "Left Alone"
- "Love for Sale"
- "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)"
- "Me, Myself, and I"
- "Miss Brown to You"
- "My Man"
- "Moonlight in Vermont"
- "Night and Day"
- "No More"
- "Now or Never"
- "Our Love Is Different"
- "P.S. I Love You"
- "Pennies from Heaven"
- "Please Don't Do It Here"
- "Preacher Boy"
- "Sophisticated Lady"
- "Stormy Blues"
- "Stormy Weather"
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- "Sugar"
- "Summertime"
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- "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)"
- "Too Marvelous for Words"
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- "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
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- "Your Mother's Son-In-Law"
- "Angel of Harlem"
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