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!.
Don'tBe That Way
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But darling, don't be blue
Don't cry,
Oh honey please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain
Will bring the violets of may
Tears are in vain so honey please don't be that way
As long as we
See it through
You'll have me
I'll have you
Sweetheart
Tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart
Oh honey, please don't be that way
Don't cry,
Oh honey please
Don't be that way
Clouds in the sky
Should never make you feel that way
The rain
Will bring the violets of may
Tears in vain
So honey please don't be that way
As long as we
Will see it through
You'll have me
And Ill have you
Sweetheart
Tomorrow is another day
Don't break my heart
Oh honey, please don't be that way
Don't cry
Don't cry, don't cry
Oh honey, please don't be that way
The lyrics of Anita O'Day's song Don't Be That Way seem to be a plea from a lover who is urging the other to lift their mood from a state of sadness caused by the gloomy weather. The singer tries to console their partner by reminding them that the rain will eventually bring the violets of May, signifying that better days are ahead. The repetition of the phrase "don't be that way" throughout the song is a reminder to the lover not to let their mood be dictated by the weather and its fluctuations. The singer seems to indicate that their relationship is strong enough to withstand the challenges posed by external factors, and urges their partner not to doubt their love for each other.
The song may also reflect the societal views of the time when it was composed in 1938. The Great Depression and the subsequent economic hardship had plunged the country into a state of uncertainty and despair, and the song may be seen as a call to remain hopeful in the face of adversity. The lyrics, therefore, urged people not to be disheartened by the harsh realities of the times and reminded them that better days were ahead.
Line by Line Meaning
April skies are in your eyes
You look sad, as if there are stormy April skies in your eyes.
But darling, don't be blue
My love, please don't be sad.
Don't cry,
I don't want to see you cry,
Oh honey please
My dear, please take my words to heart,
Don't be that way
Don't be upset or discouraged.
Clouds in the sky
Overcast skies,
Should never make you feel that way
should never make you feel so low
The rain
Rainfall,
Will bring the violets of may
will bring a sunny May filled with flowers.
Tears are in vain so honey please don't be that way
Crying won't help, my love. Please don't be so despondent.
As long as we
As long as we stay together,
See it through
make it through this tough time,
You'll have me
you'll always have me.
I'll have you
And I'll always be by your side.
Sweetheart
My love
Tomorrow is another day
Don't worry, we have another day to fix things.
Don't break my heart
Don't add to my pain,
Oh honey, please don't be that way
Please don't keep feeling so blue,
Don't cry
Please don't cry,
Don't cry, don't cry
I don't want to see tears in your eyes,
Oh honey, please don't be that way
My dear, please don't feel so down.
Lyrics © REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, Mitchell Parish
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bennyjazzful
WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From a mad keen 73yo Aussie fan.
@jackthorne214
Musical magic!