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!.
In the Middle of May
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met a gal named June;
Took her out in July,
And 'neath an August moon,
And all through Sept'
I kept admiring her charms,
And all through Oct'
From November to Jan'
The runaround began!
February and March,
I was a worried man!
It wasn't till April
That she said okay,
And we were married
In the middle of May.
In the middle of May
He met a gal named June;
Took her out in July,
And 'neath an August moon,
And all through Sept'
He kept admiring her charms,
And all through Oct'
They were locked in each other's arms!
From November to Jan'
The runaround began!
February and March,
He was such a worried man!
It wasn't till April,
That's the day she said okay,
And they were married
In the middle of May.
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's song "In the Middle of May" paint a picture of a romantic journey that spans throughout the year. It starts with the singer meeting a woman named June in the month of May, and then begins dating her in July under the light of an August moon. The next few months were spent admiring each other's charms, with October being the month where they spent the most intimate moments in each other's arms. However, November to January brought some turbulence as the woman was giving the man a runaround causing him to worry until finally in April she said okay and they were married in the middle of May. The lyrics showcase the progression of a relationship that goes through highs and lows but ultimately ends up with the singers being happily married.
The lyrics are reflective of a more traditional era where relationships and marriages were more long-term and valued above everything else. The courtship and dating period that lasted for months before getting married are no longer as common in modern society. The change in the social norms and the advancement of the digital era has changed the way people meet, date, and get married. The song "In the Middle of May" can be seen as a nostalgic look at a time long gone and a reminder of the romance and courtship that existed in the past.
Line by Line Meaning
In the middle of May
It all started in May.
I met a gal named June;
He met a woman named June.
Took her out in July,
He went on a date with her in July.
And 'neath an August moon,
They were together under the moon of August.
And all through Sept'
He was admiring her the whole month of September.
I kept admiring her charms,
He was enchanted by her.
And all through Oct'
They were intimate the whole month of October.
We were locked in each other's arms!
They were holding each other tightly.
From November to Jan'
Their relationship was rocky from November to January.
The runaround began!
She started playing hard to get.
February and March,
He was worried during the months of February and March.
I was a worried man!
He was anxious and concerned about the status of their relationship.
It wasn't till April
It wasn't until April
That she said okay,
That she agreed to be with him.
And we were married
And they got married
In the middle of May.
In the same month their story began.
Lyrics © Bluewater Music Corp.
Written by: AL STILLMAN, FRED AHLERT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Goddess Oyaa
My grandfather who has dementia was just singing this song to me in his room it made me tear up and I just couldn't stop smiling :)))
Philip Nestor
It’s a well known fact that people who have dementia or even Alzheimer’s when hearing music from when the were younger all of a sudden will sing along with the music or even get up and start dancing. Keep playing music for him especially from when he was younger.This is a great gift from you to him and shows the power of music.
Gloria Chinea
GREAT song
Gloria Chinea
Beautiiful Music
ccbsnyc
Is it Buddy Stewart singing with Anita?
James Sn
Yes 🙂