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!.
Stars Fell On Alabama
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the world a dream come true
Did it really happen, was I really there, was I really there with you?
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night
A fairy land where no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
And stars fell on Alabama last night
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I never planned in my imagination a situation so heavenly
A fairy land where no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
The lyrics of Anita O'Day's Stars Fell On Alabama typically describe an idyllic romantic encounter. The opening lines reference two iconic Southern symbols - the magnolia and the moonlight - and set the romantic tone of the song. The lyrics later mention a dream come true and a fairyland where no one else could enter, adding further to the romantic imagery. The singer goes on to describe their encounter with their lover, which takes place in a field of white where they kissed, and she felt stars falling on Alabama. The sensitivity and the romance within the lyrics reveal the singer's wealth of feeling stirred by the experience, as they both completely lose themselves, enjoying the moment together.
It’s worth noting that the song was written by Frank Perkins, who composed it for the movie "The Big Broadcast of 1932", and which really did take place in Alabama. Interestingly, the song wasn't immediately popular, and did not really become so until performers like Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, and Anita O'Day covered it years after the movie's premiere.
Line by Line Meaning
Moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair
The atmosphere was romantic with the moon and stars enhancing the beauty of your hair
All the world a dream come true
The surroundings and the moment felt surreal like they were from a dream
Did it really happen, was I really there, was I really there with you?
Though it felt magical, the singer is still amazed if it was a real event that happened with the person in front of her
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
The moment was unique and intimate, experienced in a white field
And stars fell on Alabama last night
The moment was so special that even the stars shed their magic over Alabama
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
The singer can't overlook the elegance, grace and the sweet light in the person's eyes
I never planned in my imagination a situation so heavenly
Even in her wildest dreams, the singer never thought that reality could be this magical
A fairy land where no one else could enter
The moment belonged to only two people and no one else could share the same experience
And in the center just you and me, dear
The focus of the moment was only on them - nothing else mattered
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
The singer was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't contain herself, wrapping her arms around the person tightly
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Frank Perkins, Mitchell Parish
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)