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.
When day is done
Mildred Bailey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I dream of you
When day is done, I think of all the joys we knew
That yearning, returning to hold you in my arms
Won't go love, I know love
Without you night has lost it's charms
With twilight's dew
My lonely heart is sinking with the sun
Although I miss your tender kiss
The whole day through
I miss you most of all when day is done
Although I miss your tender kiss
The whole day through
I miss you most of all when day is done
The lyrics to Mildred Bailey's song "When Day is Done" convey a sense of longing and nostalgia for a lost love. The imagery of shadows falling and grass wet with twilight's dew creates a melancholic atmosphere that reflects the singer's sorrow. The repetition of the phrase "when day is done" emphasizes the passage of time and the singer's ongoing longing. The singer dreams of their lost love, recalling the joys they shared and yearning to hold them once again. The line "Without you night has lost its charms" highlights the depth of the singer's emotional attachment, suggesting that their very experience of the world has been transformed by the absence of their beloved.
The second half of the song continues to explore the singer's emotional landscape, describing their sinking heart and the ache of missing their lost love. The repetition of the line "I miss you most of all when day is done" creates a sense of finality and resignation, as if the singer understands that their love is truly gone and can only be remembered in the shadows of twilight. The final line, "Although I miss your tender kiss/The whole day through," punctuates the song with a bittersweet reminder of what has been lost.
Line by Line Meaning
When day is done and shadows fall
At the end of the day, when the darkness sets in and shadows become visible, I become engulfed with a feeling that reminds me of you.
I dream of you
I indulge in several imaginative thoughts of you that provide me with moments of happiness.
When day is done, I think of all the joys we knew
Recollection of the various happy moments we shared together during our time together is what strikes my memory when the day is over.
That yearning, returning to hold you in my arms
The constant longing I feel to have you back into my arms is something that never fades away.
Won't go love, I know love
I am completely aware of the fact that the feeling of love never fades away and stays forever.
Without you night has lost it's charms
The nights feel less interesting and less enjoyable without you beside me to share some laughter and happiness with.
When day is done and grass is wet
As a day comes to an end, the humidity levels rise, and so the dampness starts seeping into the grass blades.
With twilight's dew
The moisture content in the atmosphere increases, forming a thin layer of dew drops making everything glisten in the low light of twilight.
My lonely heart is sinking with the sun
My heart feels the need to sink at its lowest every time the sun sets, and evening begins as I am left feeling lonely without you.
Although I miss your tender kiss
I crave to feel your warmth and closeness, which I receive from your tender kiss.
The whole day through
This longing continues to stay with me throughout the day.
I miss you most of all when day is done
Of all times during the day, the night, and its silence remind me most of you, and that is when I miss you the most.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KATSCHER ROBERT, B.G. DESYLVA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mr Garda
overlooked superstar indeed!! What a beautiful voice, the kind you'd listen to all day with zero listener-fatigue! <3
Ron E
How can you not like Mildred just the sweet natural voice she has. If you know your jazz musicians you already knew from the jump that is Teddy Wilson on the piano and Chu Berry on the sax. Really liking the trumpet player too.
Admario Rocha de Azevedo Rosa Machado Chiapinotto
Mildred Rinker se transformou artisticamente em Mildred Bailey foi muito importante no inicio de carreira do grande Bing Crosby. Ela emociana as platéias norte-americanas, foi imtada mas nunca igualada. Deixou saudades...mas hoje ocupa lugar no céu pois era uma estrela!
John Depalma
An incomparable recording by a great Mildred
Finkanslig
Several wonderful aspects about this: first, it’s outstanding music! I luv the way Mrs. Swing sings 'charm'… twice: @ 0:51 + 2:33). The trumpet intro and then Griffin’s later solo are oh so nice. The great Chu Berry does his smooth-flo solo so wonderfully. (Chu died from a late-OCT '41 car wreck - fog; 33 years old.) Recorded in New York; thank you, papabodker, for the detailed info. :I: Finkänslig, 01 MAR 2012
Geraldo Euclides
Mildred Bailey uma voz bem agradável, uma voz doce que infelizmente morreu tão cedo, os seus discos aqui no Brasil são difícies, casualmente só tenho um e nada mais!
Cheryl Singleton
What a beautiful treasure and I get to hear her talent !
John Rothfield
Great version!!!!!!!!!!
Christopher Ray
A forgotten classic singer! If her music is available, I will buy all of it
Music is.
I'm here because I was searching for new music that I thought I'd like, and fell in love with Mildred Bailey....