Lady in Satin  

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Lady in Satin is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday released in 1958 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1157 in mono and CS 8048 in stereo. It is the penultimate album completed by the singer and last released in her lifetime (her final album, Last Recording, being recorded in March 1959 and released just after her death). The original album was produced by Irving Townsend, and engineered by Fred Plaut.

Background

For the majority of the 1950s, Billie Holiday was signed to jazz producer Norman Granz's Clef Records, which was later absorbed into the newly founded Verve Records by 1956. All of her work for Norman Granz consisted of small jazz combos, reuniting her with musicians she recorded with back in the 1930s when she made her first recordings with Teddy Wilson. There were talks in the early 1950s of Holiday making albums, or songbooks, dedicated to composers such as George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern, but they fell through and ended up going to Ella Fitzgerald when she signed to Verve. By 1957, Holiday had recorded twelve albums for Granz and was unhappy. Therefore, she decided not to renew her contract.

By October 1957, Holiday contacted Columbia producer Irving Townsend and expressed interest in recording with bandleader Ray Ellis after listening to his album Ellis in Wonderland. Originally, she wanted to do an album with bandleader Nelson Riddle after hearing his arrangements for Frank Sinatra's albums, particularly In the Wee Small Hours, but after hearing Ellis's version of "For All We Know", she wanted to record with him. When Holiday came to Townsend about the album, he was surprised:

It would be like Ella Fitzgerald saying that she wanted to record with Ray Conniff. But she said she wanted a pretty album, something delicate. She said this over and over. She thought it would be beautiful. She wasn't interested in some wild swinging jam session...She wanted that cushion under her voice. She wanted to be flattered by that kind of sound.

Townsend got in touch with Ellis about the album. Ellis, having heard of Holiday's work throughout the 1930s and 1940s, was excited for the project, saying "I couldn't believe it...I didn't know she was aware of me." Townsend arranged a meeting for both Holiday and Ellis to sign a contract with Columbia. Columbia provided an unlimited budget for the album. The musicians in the orchestra were paid $60 for the three sessions and Holiday was paid $150 per side in advance. Townsend went on to set up the recording dates for late February 1958.

Track listing

The album was released in stereo (CS 8048) and mono (CL 1157) versions; the mono release contained an extra track, "The End of a Love Affair".

LP Side One

1. "I'm a Fool to Want You" (Frank Sinatra, Joel Herron, Jack Wolf) – 3:23
2. "For Heaven's Sake" (Elise Bretton, Sherman Edwards, Donald Meyer) – 3:26
3. "You Don't Know What Love Is" (Gene DePaul, Don Raye) – 3:48
4. "I Get Along Without You Very Well" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 2:59
5. "For All We Know" (J. Fred Coots, Sam M. Lewis) – 2:53
6. "Violets for Your Furs" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 3:24

LP Side Two

1. "You've Changed" (Bill Carey, Carl T. Fischer) – 3:17
2. "It's Easy to Remember" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 4:01
3. "But Beautiful" (w. Johnny Burke, m. Jimmy Van Heusen) – 4:29
4. "Glad to Be Unhappy" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers)– 4:07
5. "I'll Be Around" (Alec Wilder) – 3:23
6. "The End of a Love Affair" (Edward Redding) – 4:46 [mono only]