Search - Anita O'Day :: Pick Yourself Up

Eureka!

Dion Wright | Flagstaff, AZ | 12/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a solid gas (if you can imagine such a state) to bump into this album again! I owned it on vinyl when it came out around 1960, and lost it to a jazz drummer on Mountain Drive in Santa Barbara. He also copped my girl friend, but that's another story. I almost played the grooves off that platter while I had it, and can pretty much remember the whole thing still. Very glad to find it again, and to recommend it to you."

Cat Woman

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 09/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have a cat who runs out to greet me every night, then insists on walking me around the block (more than one neighbor has done a double take at discovering Emmy is not a dog). At bedtime she waits til the light's out, then shoos my other two cats out of the bed before depositing herself opposite my face, exactly an arm's length away. If I try to lessen the space, her paw is immediately on my nose, maintaining the crucial distance that marks her difference from her human counterparts.For anyone who's allergic to cats, Anita O'Day has to be the closest surrogate--more companionable than Andrew Lloyd Weber's version, yet more detached than Peggy Lee's (thinking of her dubbed voice on "Lady and the Tramp"). In fact, like Peggy Lee--not to mention Dinah Shore, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Ella, Sarah--Anita is very much a product of the swing era and the big bands, perhaps epitomizing its hot sounds more effectively than any other female singer, most notably on her recorded duet with Roy Eldridge, "Let Me Off Up town."But the difference between this survivor and her peers is the unmistakable ethos of "cool" that insures you and Anita will always remain strangers to each other. She purrs "Stars Fall on Alabama" and embraces you with buttery vibrations on "Young Man a Horn," yet she remains as autonomous and inscrutable as the "Sweet Georgia Brown" who appears no less dangerous than Circe or Medusa in Anita's singular portrayal of her (she does so visually in the remarkable film documentary, "Jazz on a Summer's Day"). And when Anita sings "I Won't Dance," you'd better believe it--don't ask her!If vulnerability, innocense, and charisma are not high on your list of criteria for jazz singers, this recording belongs in the pantheon of great recorded examples of the Great American Songbook. One caveat: Anita's singing may "too much" in the most positive sense, but the "muchness" of this remastered collection seems counterproductive, as at least 5 of the 9 bonus tracks merely serve to detract from the focused excellence of Anita's singing on the main program. The producers should have known what cat lovers have long since discovered: the strongest relationships are not based on the expectation of reciprocated generosity."

One of her best, but...

F. van den Bouwhuijsen | The Netherlands | 10/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of Anita's greatests. That's to say: the first 12 songs on the original LP with (of course) "Sweet Georgia Brown", The Man With The Horn, etc. are great! This CD shows Anita at her best, with excellent backing musicians. A must have for Jazz fans!

Between the 9(!) added songs on this CD are two "alternate" versions: one of "Let's Face The Music And Dance" and "Stars Fell On Alabama", and although I listened to the tracks many times: I cannot hear any difference with the original versions on this same CD. Redundant, these tracks, as far as I'm concerned.

Also: I cannot see the added value of the weak, and at the time unsuccesful popsong "The Rock And Roll Walz". The rest of the extra's is not bad, but by far not as good as the tracks of the original LP.

Altogether: a great CD but, because of the weaker 9 extra songs, just not 5 stars."