This article is missing information about other covers of the composition.(August 2023) |
"God Bless the Child" | ||||
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Single by Billie Holiday | ||||
B-side | "Solitude" | |||
Released | 1942 | |||
Recorded | May 9, 1941 [1] | |||
Studio | Columbia 7th Ave, New York City [1] | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 2:57 | |||
Label | Okeh | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Billie Holiday singles chronology | ||||
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"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. in 1939. It was first recorded on May 9, 1941, by Billie Holiday and released by the Okeh Records in 1942.
Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976. [2] It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century , by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Billie Holiday recorded the song three times.
First recording (Session #44, Columbia/Okeh): Columbia Studio A, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, May 9, 1941, Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jimmy Powell and Lester Boone (alto saxophone), Ernie Powell (trumpet), Eddie Heywood (piano), Johan Robins (guitar), Paul Chapman (guitar), Grachan Moncur II (bass), Herbert Cowans (drums), Billie Holiday (vocal). [1]
In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues [3] Holiday indicated that an argument with her mother over money led to the song. She stated that during the argument she said "God bless the child that's got his own." The anger over the incident led her to use that line as the starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog. [4]
In his 1990 book Jazz Singing, Will Friedwald [5] describes the song as "sacred and profane," as it references the Bible while indicating that religion seems to have no effect in making people treat each other better. [6]
Cover versions of God Bless the Child include:
Billie Holiday was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made a significant contribution to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz.
David Clayton-Thomas is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the U. S. band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and in 2007 his jazz/rock composition "Spinning Wheel" was enshrined in the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame. In 2010, Clayton-Thomas received his star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
The Other Side is an album by the American go-go funk musician Chuck Brown and American singer Eva Cassidy. It was first released in 1992 by Brown's label Liaison records. The album comprises jazz, blues and soul standards and contains a mixture of solos and duets. It is the only studio album by Cassidy to have been released in her lifetime.
Tony Bennett on Holiday is a 1997 studio album by Tony Bennett, recorded in tribute to Billie Holiday.
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.
Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues is a 1993 live album by Diana Ross released on the Motown label.
Lady Day is a studio album by Amii Stewart released in 2004 arranged by Emanuele Friello with original songs by Emanuele Friello and Stewart. The album is the Italian cast recording of a musical based on the life of American jazz and blues singer Billie Holiday co-written by and starring Stewart.
At Jazz Jamboree Warszawa '91: A Tribute to Miles is a live album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded in October 1991 and released on the Starburst label in 2000. It features performances by Hubbard, Ronnie Mathews, Don Braden, Jeff Chambers and Ralph Penland.
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.
Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love From Dee Dee Bridgewater is a 2009 studio album by Dee Dee Bridgewater, recorded in tribute to Billie Holiday. It won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Bridgewater's third Grammy win in her career. Bridgewater had previously starred in Lady Day in the late 1980s, a biographical play about Holiday.
The Lady Sings is a compilation album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released by Decca Records in 1956. The featured songs on the album are from when Holiday was signed with Decca in the mid to late 1940s. By the time this album was released, she was on Norman Granz's jazz label Verve Records.
Live is a live album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, that was recorded in 1980 and released on compact disc in 1995 by Avenue Records through Rhino Records. This album was recorded at the Street Scene in Downtown Los Angeles on October 12, 1980. This set was recorded five years after the In Concert/Live And Improvised album. The band's hit songs included in this collection were compressed into a 15-minute medley instead of the full-length versions that were included on their previous live album. The rest of the songs here are from the Nuclear Blues album they were touring to support at the time of this recording. One exception was an 11+1⁄2-minute version of "Gimme That Wine" that was originally released on the Brand New Day album in 1977.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz critic, scholar, and historian Martin Williams, the album included tracks from over a dozen record labels spanning several decades and genres of American jazz, from ragtime and big band to post-bop and free jazz.
Tribute to the Lady is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, released in April 1959. It was recorded in tribute to jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, who died later that year. The backing band is the René Hall Orchestra.
For Lady is an album by the American jazz cornetist Webster Young. It contains tracks recorded in 1957 for the Prestige label.
Found Treasures is a budget compilation album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears released by CBS/Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1990. The songs here were recorded from 1967 to 1976 while the band was signed to Columbia Records. This collection includes album tracks along with several single edits as they were heard on the radio. The single edits included here were not readily available on other albums and compilations at the time of this release.
Lady Day Swings is a compilation album by jazz singer Billie Holiday. It was released in 2002 by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings and presents a collection of 16 songs drawn from the Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 box set released by Legacy Recordings in 2001.
Blueprint of a Lady: Sketches of Billie Holiday is a 2005 album by Nnenna Freelon recorded in tribute to Billie Holiday.