Some of her best known hits are "It's So Peaceful in the Country", "Trust In Me", "Where Are You", "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart", "Small Fry", "Please Be Kind", "Darn That Dream", "Rockin' Chair", "Blame It On My Last Affair", and "Says My Heart".
Born Mildred Rinker in Tekoa, Washington, her mother, Josephine, was an enrolled member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and a devout Roman Catholic. Her father, Charles, played fiddle and called square dances. Her mother played piano every evening after supper and taught Mildred to play and sing. Her brothers were the vocalist and composer Al Rinker, and the lyricist Charles Rinker.
[edit]Career
At the age of seventeen, Bailey moved to Seattle and worked as a sheet music demonstrator at Woolworth's. She married and divorced Ted Bailey, keeping his last name because she thought it sounded more American than Rinker.[3] With the help of her second husband, Benny Stafford, she became an established blues and jazz singer on the West Coast. According to Gary Giddins' book Bing Crosby – A Pocketful of Dreams – The Early Years 1903-1940, in 1925 she secured work for her brother, Al Rinker, and his partner Bing Crosby. Giddins further states that Crosby first heard of Louis Armstrong and other Chicago black jazz records from Bailey's own record collection. Crosby helped Bailey in turn by introducing her to Paul Whiteman. She sang with Paul Whiteman's band from 1929 to 1933 (Whiteman had a popular radio program and when Bailey debuted with her version of "Moaning Low" in 1929, public reaction was immediate, although she did not start recording with Whiteman until late 1931).
Her first two records were as uncredited vocalist for an Eddie Lang Orchestra session in 1929 ("What Kind O' Man Is You?", an obscure Hoagy Carmichael song that was only issued in the UK) and a 1930 recording of "I Like To Do Things For You" for Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whiteman's popular female vocalist through 1932 (recording in a smooth crooning style), when she left the band due to salary disagreements. She then recorded a series of records for Brunswick in 1933 (accompanied by The Dorsey Brothers), as well an all-star session with Benny Goodman's studio band in 1934 that featured Coleman Hawkins.
In the mid-1930s, she recorded with her third husband Red Norvo. A dynamic couple, they earned the nicknames "Mr. and Mrs. Swing". During this period (1936–1939) Norvo recorded for Brunswick (with Bailey as primary vocalist) and Bailey recorded her own set of recordings for Vocalion, often with Norvo's band. Some of her recordings instead featured members of Count Basie's band. Despite her divorce from Norvo, she and Red would continue to record together until 1945. Suffering from diabetes and depression (during her adult life Bailey was overweight), she only made a few recordings following World War II.
Mildred Bailey died December 12, 1951, in Poughkeepsie, New York, of heart failure, aged 44, chiefly due to her diabetes. Her ashes were scattered. Red Norvo outlived Bailey by nearly half a century, dying in April 1999, a week after his 91st birthday.
It Had To Be You
Mildred Bailey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why must I just, give you your way
Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget
It must have been something lovers call fate
Kept me saying: "I have to wait"
I saw them all, just couldn't fall 'til we met
I wandered around, and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue
And even be glad, just to be sad thinking of you
Some others I've seen, might never be mean
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else, gave me a thrill with all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you
Some others I've seen, might never be mean
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else, gave me a thrill with all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you
It had to be you
It had to be you, woah wonderful you
It had to be you
The lyrics to Mildred Bailey's "It Had to Be You" chronicle the emotions and thoughts of someone deeply in love. The singer expresses their willingness to follow their lover's lead, always giving into their wants and needs. This acquiescence is juxtaposed against a sense of resignation, of knowing that fate has brought them and their love together. The singer describes how they had been looking for love, searching for someone who could make them feel true, who they could be sad and happy with, and who would give them a thrill despite their flaws. Ultimately, they found that person in their lover, stating that "It had to be you, wonderful you / It had to be you."
Line by Line Meaning
Why do I do, just as you say
I follow your lead, why is that?
Why must I just, give you your way
I always concede to you, why is that?
Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget
Why do I long for you instead of letting go?
It must have been something lovers call fate
Perhaps fate brought us together
Kept me saying: "I have to wait"
I kept telling myself to wait for you
I saw them all, just couldn't fall 'til we met
I met others but my heart didn't fully belong until I met you
It had to be you, it had to be you
It was always meant to be you
I wandered around, and finally found the somebody who
I looked for someone else and found the one person who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue
You bring out my true self, even if it causes sadness
And even be glad, just to be sad thinking of you
I am content with feeling sad as long as it's about you
Some others I've seen, might never be mean
I've encountered others who were never cruel
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
They never showed aggression or tried to control me
But they wouldn't do
But they were not enough
For nobody else, gave me a thrill with all your faults, I love you still
No one else can excite me the way you do, flaws and all
It had to be you, wonderful you
You are the perfect fit for me
It had to be you
There was no one else but you
It had to be you, woah wonderful you
You are truly wonderful and the only one for me
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Isham Jones, Gus Kahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@danielstanwyck2812
A little bit of heaven. Heavenly voice.
@bugleboy4527
great great singer, sister of Al Rinker American jazz musician and great friend of Bing Crosby.
@tripdownmemorylane
Bing paid all of Mildred's hospital bills in the late 40s too.