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!.
have you met mis jones
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I felt it happened
I was awake
I wasn't blind
I didn't think
I felt it happened
Now I believe in matter over mind
The nearest moment that we marry is too late
Have you met Miss Jones
Someone said as we shook hands
She was just Miss Jones to me
Then I said Miss Jones
You're a girl who understand
I'm a boy who must be free
And all at once I lost my breath
And all at once was scared to death
And all at once I hold the earth and sky
Now I met Miss Jones
And well keep on meeting till we die
Miss Jones and I
The lyrics to Anita O'Day's song Have You Met Miss Jones, convey the feelings of an individual who has just fallen in love. The first stanza describes a realization that they have about falling for someone; they felt it happen, they were aware of it, and they did not think it but knew it. The second line of the stanza, "Now I believe in matter over mind," implies that the person is acknowledging that love is not something that can be reasoned with or controlled by the mind, but rather a force of nature.
In the second stanza, the person feels a sense of urgency, "we mustn't wait," suggesting that they do not want to waste any more time before confessing their love. The person then introduces Miss Jones, who they first saw as just another acquaintance, but upon speaking with her, realizes that she is a girl who understands their need for freedom. This realization takes the person's breath away, making them feel scared and vulnerable.
The final stanza confirms that the person has indeed met Miss Jones and that they will continue to meet her until they die. The song's imagery, such as holding "the earth and sky," conveys the magnitude of the person's emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
It happened
Something important took place
I felt it happened
I was fully aware of what happened
I was awake
I wasn't sleeping or inattentive
I wasn't blind
I wasn't ignorant of the situation
I didn't think
I didn't overanalyze or overthink the situation
I felt it happened
I was fully aware of what happened
Now I believe in matter over mind
I now value physical reality over abstract thoughts or ideas
And now you see we mustn't wait
We can't delay any longer
The nearest moment that we marry is too late
We need to get married as soon as possible
Have you met Miss Jones
Do you know Miss Jones?
Someone said as we shook hands
Someone mentioned her when we shook hands
She was just Miss Jones to me
I didn't know her previously
Then I said Miss Jones
I addressed her as Miss Jones
You're a girl who understand
You're someone who gets me
I'm a boy who must be free
I need to be independent and free
And all at once I lost my breath
I was out of breath suddenly
And all at once was scared to death
I was suddenly terrified
And all at once I hold the earth and sky
I'm overwhelmed with emotions
Now I met Miss Jones
I've now met Miss Jones
And well keep on meeting till we die
We'll continue to meet each other until we pass away
Miss Jones and I
Miss Jones and I are now together
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
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)