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!.
When Sunny Gets Blue
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Skies get grey and cloudy
And the rain begins to fall
Pitter patter, pitter patter
Love is gone
So what can I do
No sweet lover man comes to call
Oh when sunny gets blue
She breathes a sigh of sadness
Like the winds that sway the trees.
Winds that set the leaves a-sway
Like the violins that play
Strange and haunting melodies
Oh when sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
When sunny gets blue
People used to love to see her laugh
And see her smile
That's how she got her name
Since that sad affair
She's lost her smile
Changed her style
Somehow she's not the same
The memories come back
And pretty dreams rise up
Where the other dreams fell through
Hurry new love, hurry here
Kiss away each lonely tear
Hold me near when
Sunny gets blue
Oh yes, when sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
When sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
"When Sunny Gets Blue" is a lament about the singer's mood when the sun is obscured by clouds and rain. The lyrics are a metaphor for the loss of love and affection, the absence of a lover's comforting presence, and the inability to be happy. The song begins with the singer describing the external world around her as the weather changes from sunny to cloudy, and then moves to the internal world of her emotions. She describes the sadness and sighs that accompany this change and compares it to the swaying of the trees.
Anita O'Day's voice is hauntingly beautiful as she sings about how she was once known for her laughter and smile, but now since a sad affair, has lost her smile and changed her style. She longs for someone to come and replace the bad memories with new love and affection. The song ends on a hopeful note as she asks for a new lover to kiss away her tears, hold her near, and make her happy when "Sunny Gets Blue."
Line by Line Meaning
When sunny gets blue
When her mood changes
Skies get grey and cloudy
The weather reflects her mood
And the rain begins to fall
The weather matches her tears
Pitter patter, pitter patter
The sound of the rain
Love is gone
She lost her love
So what can I do
She's helpless to change it
No sweet lover man comes to call
There's no one to comfort her
Oh when sunny gets blue
Reiteration of her mood change
She breathes a sigh of sadness
Her sadness is palpable
Like the winds that sway the trees.
Her sadness is like the effect of the wind on the trees
Winds that set the leaves a-sway
The wind affects the leaves on the trees
Like the violins that play
Her sadness is reflected in the music
Strange and haunting melodies
The music is eerie and poignant
People used to love to see her laugh
She used to be happy and vibrant
And see her smile
Her smile was contagious
That's how she got her name
Her personality was infectious
Since that sad affair
The end of her relationship had a profound effect on her
She's lost her smile
She's no longer happy
Changed her style
Her mood affected her behavior
Somehow she's not the same
Her sadness has changed her
The memories come back
Her past reminds her of what she's lost
And pretty dreams rise up
She still dreams of a happy future
Where the other dreams fell through
Her past dreams didn't come true
Hurry new love, hurry here
She's longing for love again
Kiss away each lonely tear
She yearns for comfort and love
Hold me near when
She craves affection
Sunny gets blue
Reiteration of her mood change
Oh yes, when sunny gets blue
Reiteration of her mood change
Sunny gets blue
Reiteration of her mood change
When sunny gets blue
Reiteration of her mood change
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARVIN FISHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tom Martin
The Lady had the somewhat unnerving habit of making everything she performed her own definitive version. That,to me, is the mark of a trancendent talent.
Stephen M. Bauer
Gosh, this is an outstanding performance
Ray Szymarek
Its been said over and over Gene Krupa heard the talent in Anitas voice and Stan Kenton knew her potential and then the three sounds the list goes on and on. Anita has left us but her voice her style and her phrasings will sustain. A god given talent like the best of them remains in the legends of vocalists. always always Anita.
Ben10r
Man, that part from 2:09 to 2:23 gets me every time!! Great improv!
Grace Black
I have just discovered this fine singer recently and I love her voice. As a singer myself can only aspire to be half as good
DottieMinerva
This music is helping me survive High School. Everytime I'm overwhelmed, all I have to do is put this on and everything is right in the world.
swinginkatz
Every thing Anita does is great.
Dubcee
Thank you Anita for making this song my father n law wrote a beautiful rendition!
pharma steve
Her vibrato... always sends shivers down my spine! For me, its devastating that nearly all my Jazz favourites have passed from this world. However this is one of the recordings keeps her memory alive.
mortygwhiz
I don't know how old this song is but I remember hearing back in the early 1960's. I loved it then when I was young and it still holds up today.