Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics

Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics
Studio album by Carmen McRae
Released	1962
Recorded	June 29 and July 26, 1961
Studio	Columbia Studio A, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:37
Label	Columbia CL 1730 (mono), CS 8530 (stereo)
Producer	Teo Macero, Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae chronology
Tonight Only! (1961) Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics (1962) Take Five Live (1962)

Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics is a 1962 studio album by Carmen McRae, recorded in tribute to McRae's idol, Billie Holiday, who had died two years previously. ^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

Scott Yanow of AllMusic said that the album was one of McRae's "best recordings of the 1960s. McRae always considered Billie Holiday to be her primary influence, so a tribute album was a natural project for her...Recommended". ^[1]

Track listing

1. "Them There Eyes" (Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, William Tracey) - 2:45
2. "Yesterdays" (Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach) - 4:52
3. "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key)" (Jimmy Eaton, Terry Shand) - 2:32
4. "Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allen) - 2:47
5. "Miss Brown to You" (Richard A. Whiting, Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) - 2:28
6. "My Man" (Maurice Yvain, Jacques Charles, Albert Willemetz, Channing Pollack) - 4:05
7. "I Cried for You (Now It's Your Turn to Cry Over Me)" (Gus Arnheim, Abe Lyman, Arthur Freed) - 2:52
8. "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (Jimmy Davis, Roger "Ram" Ramirez, James Sherman) - 4:18
9. "Trav'lin' Light" (Trummy Young, Jimmy Mundy, Johnny Mercer) - 2:20
10. "Some Other Spring" (Arthur Herzog, Jr., Irene Kitchings) - 3:02
11. "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" (Harry Woods) - 3:31
12. "God Bless the Child" (Herzog, Billie Holiday) - 3:24

Bonus tracks on the 1997 CD reissue

13. "If the Moon Turns Green" (Bernie Hanighen, Paul Coates) - 3:28
14. "The Christmas Song" (Bob Wells, Mel Tormé) - 3:55

Personnel

• Carmen McRae - vocals

Norman Simmons' Sextet

• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - tenor saxophone
• Nat Adderley - cornet
• Norman Simmons - piano, arranger
• Mundell Lowe - guitar
• Bob Cranshaw - double bass
• Walter Perkins - drums

Technical

• Fred Plaut - recording engineer
• Henry "Hank" Parker - cover photography

References

1. "Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and other Billie Holiday Classics". AllMusic . Retrieved May 28, 2011.
2. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 138. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 986. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.