Billie Holiday sings under the leadership of Teddy Wilson: "A Sunbonnet Blue." <br /><br />Clarinet is played by Benny Goodman.<br /><br />Brunswick 7498.<br /><br />The song is by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain.<br /><br />A sunbonnet blue and a yellow straw hat<br />Shy little he and she<br />Were declaring love's old story<br />In the shade of the old apple tree<br /><br />A sunbonnet blue and a yellow straw hat<br />Decided to say, "I do"<br />So they rode to June and glory<br />On a bicycle built for two<br /><br />Hear the past. The song is old.<br />The summer days are through<br />With silver threads among the gold<br />They still say, "I love you"<br /><br />A sunbonnet blue and a yellow straw hat<br />Are true to this very day<br />For he loves her in December<br />As he did in May<br /><br />A young Billie Holiday sings the vocal refrain. <br /><br />Her first recording was on November 27, 1933, which produced "Your Mother's Son-In-Law," Billie providing vocals as white musicians played (or mostly white--perhaps Buck Washington was at the piano?). <br /><br />Her second session was on December 18, 1933, which produced "Riffin' the Scotch" (she returned to the studio on this date since an earlier take of "Riffin' the Scotch" from the November session did not pass muster).<br /><br />This third session is historic since it produced four tracks, all outstanding. Teddy Wilson is the leader, Billie providing brief vocals, so technically these are Teddy Wilson recordings though it is understandable if jazz fans think of them as Billie Holiday records. <br /><br />I view the four recordings from this session not as Billie Holiday numbers as discs featuring Teddy Wilson with an All-Star Cast of Jazz Superheroes. Billie is one superstar among others--Benny Goodman, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson!<br /><br />Musicians on this recording are Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Teddy Wilson (piano), John Trueheart (guitar), John Kirby (bass), Cozy Cole (drums), and Billie Holiday (vocals).<br /><br />My rule of thumb for Billie Holiday records is the earlier, the better. This is very early, and I love this recording--it never bores me unlike many of Billie's later discs. <br /><br />I likewise cherish what came from Billie's first session ("Your Mother's Son-In-Law") and second ("Riffin' the Scotch"--or call that her third since she returned to the studio to make a better recording of a song she covered during her second session) and the other Teddy Wilson sessions of the mid-1930s, but by the late 1930s, sessions produced less interesting material to my ears. <br /><br />The 1940s were uneven for Billie, and almost nothing by Billie from the 1950s holds my attention.<br /><br />Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan (or Eleanor Holiday? Eleanora Fagan Gough? Elinore DeViese?) on April 7, 1915, in Baltimore (if we trust her autobiography--perhaps that is not wise) or Philadelphia (more likely--see her birth registration).<br /><br />
