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!.
Let Me Off Downtown
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What d'ya mean Joe, My name's Roy
Well come here Roy and get groovy
You bin uptown?
No I ain't bin uptown but I've bin around
You mean to say you ain't bin uptown?
No I ain't bin uptown, what's uptown?
And you feel like steppin' out
All you've got to shout is
Let me off uptown
If it's rhythm that you feel
Then it's nothing to conceal
Oh, you've got to spiel it
Let me off uptown
Rib joints, juke joints, hep joints
Where could a fella go to top it
If you want to pitch a ball
And you can't afford a hall
All you've got to call is
Let me off uptown
Anita, oh Anita, say I feel somethin'
Whatcha feel Roy? The heat?
No it must be that uptown rhythm
I feel like blowin'
Well blow Roy, blow.
The lyrics to "Let Me off Uptown" by Anita O'Day are a playful conversation between two people, Joe and Roy. Roy mistakes Joe's identity and is corrected, but the real point of the exchange is to ask if Roy has been uptown. Joe seems incredulous that Roy hasn't been uptown, where all the fun and excitement is. He encourages Roy to let loose and get groovy by going uptown. The song then moves to describe the different kinds of joints uptown where one can find pleasure, rhythm, and good times. If someone wants to pitch a ball and can't afford a hall, they only need to call to be let off uptown. Anita O'Day chimes in towards the end, saying she feels something, likely referring to the music and rhythm of uptown, and Roy responds that he feels like blowing his horn.
Overall, the lyrics are a lighthearted expression of the joy and excitement found in uptown, with encouragement for everyone to let themselves go and enjoy the music, food, and fun.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Joe
Anita is calling out to her friend Joe to start a conversation.
What d'ya mean Joe, My name's Roy
Anita is correcting Joe's mistake by telling him her name is Roy.
Well come here Roy and get groovy
Joe invites Roy and tells him to have fun.
You bin uptown?
Joe inquires if Roy has traveled to the city center of the town.
No I ain't bin uptown but I've bin around
Roy answered Joe's question, indicating that he has traveled to several other places.
You mean to say you ain't bin uptown?
Joe seems surprised that Roy has not visited the city center and confirms that he has never been there before.
No I ain't bin uptown, what's uptown?
Roy asks Joe the meaning of uptown since he isn't familiar with the term.
If it's pleasure you're about And you feel like steppin' out All you've got to shout is Let me off uptown
Anita suggests that if Joe is looking for excitement and wants to go out, he should go to uptown for a good time.
If it's rhythm that you feel Then it's nothing to conceal Oh, you've got to spiel it Let me off uptown
Anita continues to say that if Joe wants to listen to good music and dance all night, then he shouldn't hold back and head uptown.
Rib joints, juke joints, hep joints Where could a fella go to top it
Anita lists some places in uptown where people go to have a great time, and she wonders if there are any other places that could beat those ones.
If you want to pitch a ball And you can't afford a hall All you've got to call is Let me off uptown
Anita suggests that if Joe wants to play sports and doesn't have a place, he can call her and go to uptown to continue playing.
Anita, oh Anita, say I feel somethin' Whatcha feel Roy? The heat? No it must be that uptown rhythm I feel like blowin' Well blow Roy, blow.
Roy seems to be feeling the music and suggests playing some music. Anita asks Roy if he's feeling the heat, and Roy replies that he's feeling the uptown vibe, which makes him feel like playing the music. Anita tells him to start playing the music.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: EARL BOSTIC, REDD EVANS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Aceiseverywhere
on Who Cares?
Let it rain and thunder
Let a million firms go under
I am not concerned with, stocks and bombs that I've been burned with
I love you and you love me
And that's how it will always be
And nothing else can ever mean a thing
Who cares what the public chatters?
Love's the only thing that matters
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares how history rates me?
As long as your kiss intoxicates me
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
As long as I care for you
And you care for me!
Who cares if the sky, cares to fall
in the sea
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers?
As long as you've got a kiss that conquers!
Oh why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee
So long as I care for you
and you care for me!
(These lyrics might be wrong, sorry)