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.
Where Are You?
Mildred Bailey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where have you gone without me
I thought you cared about me
Where are you
Where's my heart
Where is the dream we started
I can't believe we're parted
Where are you
What had we to gain
When I gave you my love
Was it all in vain
All life through
Must I go on pretending
Where is my happy ending
Where are you
When we said good-bye love
What had we to gain
When I gave you my love
Was it all in vain
All life through
Must I go on pretending
Where is that happy ending
Where are you
Where are you
In Mildred Bailey's song "Where are you?" the lyrics tell the story of a person who is deeply in love and is searching for their significant other who has gone missing. The song is a heartbreaking lament about a love that has been lost and the loneliness and emptiness that it leaves behind. The singer is searching for answers and trying to understand why their love has disappeared and where they have gone. The lyrics are highly emotional and express a sense of vulnerability and helplessness.
The words "Where are you" are repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the singers' desperation to find their loved one. The lines "Where's my heart/Where is the dream we started" are also highly symbolic, as they represent the loss of the singer's emotional and psychological center. They are searching for the place where their love once resided, but the emptiness and pain have replaced it. The lines "When we said goodbye love/What had we to gain" also suggest that perhaps the two lovers parted ways for a reason, but the singer is still struggling to come to terms with the loss.
Line by Line Meaning
Where are you
This is a rhetorical question expressing the singer's longing for a loved one who is not present.
Where have you gone without me
The singer wonders where the person she cares for has gone without her, implying a feeling of abandonment and a longing to be with them.
I thought you cared about me
The singer is expressing her feeling of hurt and confusion because she believed the other person cared for her, but is now feeling neglected and alone.
Where's my heart
The singer is searching for her emotions and feelings, wondering where all the love and affection she had for the other person has gone.
Where is the dream we started
The singer is referencing to a shared dream she and the other person had, and is wondering where that shared dream has gone.
I can't believe we're parted
The singer is expressing her disbelief and sadness about the fact that she and the other person are no longer together.
When we said goodbye love, What had we to gain, When I gave you my love, Was it all in vain
The singer is questioning the reasons for the breakup, and is wondering if the love she shared with the other person was meaningless and purposeless.
All life through, Must I go on pretending, Where is my happy ending
The singer expresses her feeling of uncertainty about what the future holds, and questions whether she will ever find true happiness or spend the rest of her life pretending to be happy.
Where are you
Again, the singer expresses her longing for the other person, wanting to know where they are and why they are not with her.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RONAN HARDIMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
george c.
Mildred Bailey and Her Orchestra
-Roy Eldridge (trumpet)
-Scoops Carry (alt)
-Herbie Haymer (ten)
-Teddy Cole (piano)
-John Collins (guitar)
-Truck Parham (bass)
-Zutty Singleton (drums)
Recording: Jan 1937
My Last Affair
Trust in Me
Where Are You
You’re Laughing at Me
(Incidentally, some of same musicians who would record Roy Eldridge’s ‘Heckler’s Hop’ — also Jan 1937 ...same musicians as above along with Dave Young and Joe Eldridge).
“Golden moment in this era of jazz!”
Londonfogey
A perfect track, it bridges the gap between the older 1930s dance-band sound and the newer post 1938 swing sound. Great tune, good words, well sung.
daniel stanwyck
I wish there were footage of Bailey - there is of just about every other singer. Would have loved to see her in action. Lovely,lovely voice and rhythm and wit.
VALUS
"It seems to me, that if we love, we grieve. That’s the deal. That’s the pact. Grief and love are forever intertwined. Grief is the terrible reminder of the depths of our love and, like love, grief is non-negotiable."
- Nick Cave
Dan Celli
ONE OF THE BEST.
george c.
Mildred Bailey and Her Orchestra
-Roy Eldridge (trumpet)
-Scoops Carry (alt)
-Herbie Haymer (ten)
-Teddy Cole (piano)
-John Collins (guitar)
-Truck Parham (bass)
-Zutty Singleton (drums)
Recording: Jan 1937
My Last Affair
Trust in Me
Where Are You
You’re Laughing at Me
(Incidentally, some of same musicians who would record Roy Eldridge’s ‘Heckler’s Hop’ — also Jan 1937 ...same musicians as above along with Dave Young and Joe Eldridge).
“Golden moment in this era of jazz!”
1928jazz
Wonderful!
Tim Dufelmeier
#5 on hit parade by MB.
Aubri The Unicorn
Heard this at DiBella's Subs one day and looked it up. Great song!
Candye Kane
she's my favorite.
james sullivan
mine too!