Billie Holiday discography | |
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![]() Photo from Down Beat magazine, c. February 1947 | |
Studio albums | 12 |
Live albums | 3 |
Compilation albums | 24 |
Singles | 38 |
Box sets | 6 |
The discography of Billie Holiday, an American jazz singer, consists of 12 studio albums, three live albums, 24 compilations, six box sets, and 38 singles.
Holiday recorded extensively for six labels: Columbia Records (on its subsidiary labels Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records, and Okeh Records), from 1933 through 1942; Commodore Records in 1939 and 1944; Decca Records from 1944 through 1950; briefly for Aladdin Records in 1951; Verve Records and its earlier imprint Clef Records, from 1952 through 1957; again for Columbia Records from 1957 to 1958 and MGM Records in 1959. Many of Holiday's recordings were released on 78-rpm records, before the advent of long-playing vinyl records, and only Clef, Verve, and Columbia issued Holiday albums during her lifetime that were not compilations of previously released material. Many compilations have been issued since her death, including comprehensive box sets and live recordings. [1] [2]
Year | Album details |
---|---|
1952 | Billie Holiday Sings
|
1953 | An Evening with Billie Holiday
|
1954 | Billie Holiday
|
1955 | Music for Torching
|
1956 | Recital [3] [4]
|
Solitude [5] [6]
| |
Velvet Mood
| |
Lady Sings the Blues
| |
1957 | Body and Soul
|
Songs for Distingué Lovers
| |
1958 | Stay with Me
|
All or Nothing at All
|
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
UK Jazz & Blues [8] | ||
Lady in Satin | 11 | |
Last Recording |
| — |
Year | Album details |
---|---|
1954 | Billie Holiday at Jazz at the Philharmonic
|
1958 | Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport
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1961 | The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live
|
1962 | Ladylove [10] [11] [12]
|
1964 | A Rare Live Recording of Billie Holiday
|
1971 | Count Basie, At the Savoy Ballroom 1937 [13]
|
Most of Holiday's albums prior to 1952 were made up of material previously released as singles.
Title | Album details |
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Billie Holiday |
|
Fancy Free |
|
Teddy Wilson–Billie Holiday, Hot Jazz Classics |
|
A Hot Jazz Classic Set, Vol. 1 |
|
Distinctive Song Stylings |
|
Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra Featuring Billie Holiday |
|
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [15] | ||||||
An Evening with Eddie Heywood and Billie Holiday |
| — | ||||
Ella, Lena and Billie |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Sings |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Volume One |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Volume Two |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson |
| — | ||||
Favorites |
| — | ||||
Lover Man (10") |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson Orchestras |
| — | ||||
Lady Day |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Volume One |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Volume Two |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday Volume Three |
| — | ||||
A Collection of Classic Jazz Interpretations by Billie Holiday |
| — | ||||
A Recital by Billie Holiday |
| — | ||||
Solitude |
| — | ||||
Hall of Fame Series (7") |
| — | ||||
Jazz Recital (partial reissue of Billie Holiday at JATP ) |
| — | ||||
The Lady Sings |
| — | ||||
The Sound of Jazz (various artists) |
| — | ||||
The Unforgettable Lady Day |
| — | ||||
The Blues Are Brewin' |
| — | ||||
Lover Man |
| — | ||||
Billie Holiday |
| — | ||||
Seven Ages of Jazz |
| — | ||||
The Billie Holiday Story |
| 85 |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Billie Holiday's Greatest Hits |
|
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
US [15] | ||
Strange Fruit |
| 108 |
The Original Recordings |
| 135 |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK [8] | UK Jazz & Blues [8] | |||
The Legend Of Billie Holiday | 60 | 7 | ||
At Monterey |
| — | — |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Jazz [17] | UK [8] | UK Jazz & Blues [8] | |||
Billie's Best |
| 29 | — | — | |
16 Most Requested Songs |
| — | — | — | |
The Essential Recordings |
| — | — | 22 |
|
Billie's Blues |
| — | — | 6 | |
Love Me or Leave Me |
| — | — | 9 | |
The Gold Collection: 40 Classic Performances |
| — | — | 19 | |
40 Great Songs |
| — | — | 7 | |
Love Songs |
| 23 | — | 23 | |
Lady Day – The Very Best Of |
| — | 63 | 1 | |
A Portrait of Billie Holiday |
| — | — | 7 | |
Greatest Hits |
| — | — | 28 | |
Fine and Mellow – The Best of Billie Holiday |
| — | — | 9 | |
A Midsummer Night's Jazz at Stratford '57 |
| — | — | — | |
The Very Best of Billie Holiday |
| — | — | 1 |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US [15] | US Jazz [17] | UK Jazz & Blues [8] | ||
Ken Burns Jazz: The Definitive Billie Holiday |
| 174 | 5 | — |
Billie Holiday |
| — | 47 | — |
Stormy Weather |
| — | — | 9 |
Holiday Blues |
| — | — | 13 |
Lady Day Swings |
| — | — | — |
Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday |
| — | 25 | — |
The Best of Billie Holiday |
| — | 19 | — |
Holiday for Lovers |
| — | 37 | — |
The Jazz Biography |
| — | 41 | — |
Summertime – The Very Best of Billie Holiday |
| — | — | 3 |
Sings Her Favorite Blues Songs |
| — | — | 12 |
The Essential Hits |
| — | — | 14 |
The Silver Collection |
| — | — | 21 |
The Great American Songbook |
| — | — | 11 |
Super Hits |
| — | 43 | — |
The Worth It Collection |
| — | — | 9 |
The Complete Billie Holiday |
| 122 | 1 | — |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Jazz [17] | UK Jazz & Blues [8] | ||
Icon: Love Songs |
| 25 | — |
The Real... Billie Holiday (The Ultimate Collection) |
| — | 16 |
101: Billie Holiday The Best Of |
| 45 | — |
The Centennial Collection |
| 8 | 30 |
88 Hits |
| — | 5 |
60 Essential Recordings |
| — | 2 |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Jazz [17] | UK Jazz & Blues [8] | ||
Billie Holiday on Verve 1946–1959 |
| — | — |
Rare/Unissued Recordings From Her Transitional Years [21] |
| — | — |
The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve 1945–1959 |
| — | — |
Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 |
| — | — |
The Ultimate Collection |
| 33 | — |
The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes |
| — | — |
The Essential Collection |
| — | 10 |
That Old Devil Called Love |
| — | 12 |
Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles |
| 22 | — |
The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters |
| — | — |
Her Finest Studio Recordings |
| — | 26 |
100 Hits Legends: Billie Holiday |
| — | 2 |
The Complete Decca Recordings |
| 17 | — |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Dance/ Electr. [23] | US Jazz [17] | ||
Remixed & Reimagined |
| 3 | 5 |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Pop | US R&B | |||||
"Riffin' the Scotch" | 1934 | 6 | — | |||
"What a Little Moonlight Can Do" | 1935 | 12 | — | |||
"Twenty-Four Hours a Day" | 6 | — | ||||
"If You Were Mine" | 12 | — | ||||
"You Let Me Down" | 1936 | 18 | — | |||
"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" | 5 | — | ||||
"It's Like Reaching for the Moon" | 17 | — | ||||
"No Regrets" | 9 | — | ||||
"Summertime" | 12 | — | ||||
"A Fine Romance" | 9 | — | ||||
"Let's Call a Heart a Heart" | 18 | — | ||||
"The Way You Look Tonight" | 3 | — | ||||
"Who Loves You?" | 4 | — | ||||
"That's Life, I Guess" | 20 | — | ||||
"I Can't Give You Anything but Love (Dear)" | 5 | — | ||||
"Pennies from Heaven" | 1937 | 3 | — | |||
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" | 4 | — | ||||
"Please Keep Me in Your Dreams" | 13 | — | ||||
"This Year's Kisses" | 8 | — | ||||
"Carelessly" | 1 | — | ||||
"How Could You" | 12 | — | ||||
"Moanin' Low" | 11 | — | ||||
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" | 12 | — | ||||
"Mean to Me" | 7 | — | ||||
"Easy Living" | 15 | — | ||||
"Yours & Mine" | 16 | — | ||||
"Me, Myself, and I" | 11 | — | ||||
"A Sailboat in the Moonlight" | 10 | — | ||||
"Getting Some Fun Out of Life" | 10 | — | ||||
"Trav'lin' All Alone" | 18 | — | ||||
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" | 14 | — | ||||
"My Man" | 1938 | 12 | — | |||
"You Go to My Head" | 20 | — | ||||
"I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" | 2 | — | ||||
"Strange Fruit" | 1939 | 16 | — | |||
"God Bless the Child" | 1941 | 25 | — | |||
"Trav'lin' Light" | 1942 | 23 | 1 | |||
"Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" | 1945 | 16 | 5 | |||
"Don't Explain" | 1946 | — | — |
Never recorded
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"Mean to Me" is a popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Roy Turk, published in 1929. Hit versions that year were by Ruth Etting and by Helen Morgan. Ben Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra also recorded what might be the first male version in February 1929 with vocals by Scrappy Albert.
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King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa is an album by French jazz fusion artist Jean-Luc Ponty first released in May 1970 on Liberty Records' World Pacific Records subsidiary label and later released on Blue Note.
New Life (Dedicated to Max Gordon) is a 1976 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the A&M/Horizon Records label. The album was nominated for a 1976 Grammy award in the Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band category.
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Billie Holiday Sings (MGC-118) is a 10-inch LP album made by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in the United States by Clef Records in 1952. It was her first album for the label, and her first album of original material, following several compilations of previously released 78rpm sides for Columbia, Commodore, and Decca.
Lady Sings the Blues is an album by American jazz vocalist Billie Holiday released in December 1956. It was Holiday's last album released on Clef Records; the following year, the label would be absorbed by Verve Records. Lady Sings the Blues was taken from sessions taped during 1954 and 1956. It was released simultaneously with her ghostwritten autobiography of the same name.
An Evening with Billie Holiday is the second 10-inch LP studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released by Clef Records in 1953.
Billie Holiday is the third 10 inch LP album of original material by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released on Clef Records in 1954. The recordings took place in 1952 and 1954. Her final album would also be given the same title, prior to being changed to Last Recording instead.
Weary Blues is an album by the American poet Langston Hughes, who recites several of his poems over jazz accompaniment composed and arranged by Leonard Feather and Charles Mingus. The album was recorded on March 17 & 18, 1958 in New York and was released on the MGM label in 1959. It was later reissued on Verve Records.
The Sound of Feeling is a jazz album featuring two separate groups featuring Oliver Nelson recorded in late 1966 and released on the Verve label. The split album begins with five tracks by the Los Angeles based group The Sound of Feeling, featuring identical twin vocalists Alyce and Rhae Andrece and pianist Gary David with the addition of soloist Nelson. Four tracks are by the Encyclopedia of Jazz All Stars, a big band drawn from the ranks of top New York studio musicians, arranged and conducted by Nelson which were recorded to accompany Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Sixties.
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A Rare Live Recording Of Billie Holiday is a live album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, compiling material recorded over two nights at Boston's Storyville Club in 1951, and released by the small Recording Industries Corporation label in 1964. The material was originally broadcast on the radio station WMEX. The album documents one of the few recordings of Holiday performing her live set at a nightclub.
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