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!.
Tea for Two
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just tea for two and two for tea,
Just me for you
And you for me alone.
Nobody near us
To see us or hear us,
No friends or relations
We won't have it known, dear,
That we own a telephone, dear;
Day will break and you'll awake
And start to bake a sugar cake,
For me to take
For all the boys to see.
We will raise a family,
A boy for you, a girl for me.
Oh, can't you see
How happy we would be?
Anita O'Day's Tea for Two is a romantic, upbeat song about a couple dreaming of living a peaceful and happy life just by enjoying each other's company over a cup of tea. The song lyrics describe a perfect, private world in which there are "just" the two of them, isolated from everything else. It starts with the vivid picture of the couple sitting together, enjoying their tea, followed by a romantic phrase "Just me for you, and you for me alone," which emphasizes the purity and sincerity of their love.
The couple, according to the lyrics, wants to avoid the prying eye of others, including friends, family, and maybe even the world, as they want to cherish this delicate moment alone. No one can imagine the peace that comes from a life free of interruption from busybodies. The line "We won't have it known, dear, that we own a telephone, dear" represents the couple's desire for a silent and uninterrupted life, making sure they are not aware of anyone disturbing them.
The last phase of the song suggests that the couple's relationship will move on to the next stage: marriage and children. They dream of having a family, a boy for the man, and a girl for the woman, emphasizing their commitment to building a good life together. In essence, "Tea for Two" is an expression of a deep, authentic, and sincere commitment to each other.
Line by Line Meaning
Picture you upon my knee
Imagine you sitting on my lap
Just tea for two and two for tea
Just the two of us having tea together
Just me for you
I am yours and only yours
And you for me alone.
You belong to me and only me
Nobody near us
There's no one else around us
To see us or hear us,
To witness or listen to us
No friends or relations
No family members or acquaintances
On weekend vacations.
During their weekends away from us
We won't have it known, dear,
We won't let anyone know, my love,
That we own a telephone, dear;
That we have a phone, my love
Day will break and you'll awake
The morning will come, and you'll wake up
And start to bake a sugar cake,
And begin baking a cake with sugar
For me to take
So I can take it
For all the boys to see.
For all the boys to witness
We will raise a family,
We will build a family together
A boy for you, a girl for me.
You'll have a son; I'll have a daughter
Oh, can't you see
Don't you see
How happy we would be?
How much bliss we would have?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Som Luong
I love Anita O'Day. Just look/listen at the way she controls her voice, the way she moves in and out from the mic. Such precision. She knows exactly what she is doing and is having fun with it.
1122redbird
Yea, she is a badass performer. And high as fuck on smack too.
Terry Costello
You are witnessing probably the best live jazz singing ever from 65years + virtuosic ,timing , interpretation,modern swing,space humour it has it all.Pure pure genius❤
J Mc
I really don’t know what is happening here, but it’s hypnotic. Or rather she is. Accomplished musicianship from the band. Wonderful camera work and editing of the very cool crowd. And the elegance, class and effortless improvisation from Anita O’Day. A beautiful snapshot of a bygone era. Thankyou.
Andrew Horsfield
Maybe too cool a crowd??
Rien Jans
This was taken from a film called Jazz on a Summer's Day, a documentary more like, about the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958. Must see, mesmerizing stuff indeed!
Rain for me
Very beautiful comment
J Mc
@Rain for me Thankyou
skycam66
She admitted she was high on heroin and doesn't remember any of this
Michael G Moore
That woman was one of the greatest Jazz performers ever. No one was like her at all. Her rythimatic style was uñbelievable. She had the looks to go with. I bought her Cocktail Hour 2 CD set made in 2000 around that time. I will miss her.