Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.
After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.
During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.
Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.
As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.
After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.
O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.
Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.
2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.
Avalon
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Across the sea where flying fishes play
And as the night is falling
I find that I'm recalling
That blissful all enthralling day
Just before I sailed away
She said the word I longed to hear her say,
Close to my heart I pressed her
Upon that golden yesterday
I found my love in Avalon
Beside the bay
I left my love in Avalon and sailed away
I dream of her and Avalon
From dusk 'til dawn
And so I think I'll travel on
To Avalon
In Anita O'Day's song "Avalon," the lyrics paint a vivid picture of a love found, loved and left behind in Avalon. The first two lines illustrate the power of memories to take us to a different place altogether. The mention of "flying fishes" and the sea set a tranquil and dreamlike mood for the song. The words that follow show the profound impact of the memory of the singer's love in Avalon. The singer reminisces about a significant moment where their love uttered a word they longed to hear, and they tenderly caressed her. The singer then goes on to describe their love in Avalon as "blissful" and "enthralling."
The last verse of the song speaks of the singer's longing for Avalon and their love who they left behind beside the bay. The use of the phrase "dream of her and Avalon from dusk 'til dawn" shows that the singer is consumed with thoughts of their love and the place they met. The last line "I think I'll travel on to Avalon" leaves the possibility open that the singer may one day return. The song is nostalgic and evokes a yearning for a time and place where the singer's heart was full of joy and love.
Line by Line Meaning
Every morning memories stray
Every morning I wake up with memories of the past
Across the sea where flying fishes play
My memories take me across the sea where the fishes play
And as the night is falling
As night falls
I find that I'm recalling
I remember
That blissful all enthralling day
That unforgettable day filled with happiness
Just before I sailed away
A little while before I left
She said the word I longed to hear her say,
She said what I wanted to hear for so long
I tenderly caressed her
I touched her gently and with care
Close to my heart I pressed her
I held her close to my heart
Upon that golden yesterday
On that beautiful day in the past
I found my love in Avalon
I met my love in Avalon
Beside the bay
Near the water's edge
I left my love in Avalon and sailed away
I had to leave my love in Avalon when I sailed away
I dream of her and Avalon
I always dream about her and Avalon
From dusk 'til dawn
From morning to night
And so I think I'll travel on to Avalon
I want to go back to Avalon
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Juliet Stephanie Richardson, Stuart David Price
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Susan Westby
Thank you! I love seeing Anita's live performances.
Johnnyc drums
Me and my little sister met her at the dressing room staircase of the "Blue Note" back in 1987 when she was appearing with the Buddy Rich Ghost Ban.
She said nice things and appreciated our love of jazz, and probably liked us more because we weren't there for autographs, but that wasn't spoken of, as such.
MrShobar
Wonderful orchestra and great vocal interpretation.
cj myers
This Artist spins silk with her vocal chords.