This excellent European compilation combines 21 recordings Anita O'Day made as the vocalist in Gene Krupa's Orchestra in 1941-1942 and 1945, originally released on OKeh and Columbia Records, with four she made with Stan Kenton's band in 1944-1945, originally released on Capitol. All the chart hits she scored with the groups are included: "Georgia on My Mind," "Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina," "Let Me Off Uptown," "Chickery Chick," and "Boogie Blues" with Krupa and "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" with Kenton. O ...
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This excellent European compilation combines 21 recordings Anita O'Day made as the vocalist in Gene Krupa's Orchestra in 1941-1942 and 1945, originally released on OKeh and Columbia Records, with four she made with Stan Kenton's band in 1944-1945, originally released on Capitol. All the chart hits she scored with the groups are included: "Georgia on My Mind," "Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina," "Let Me Off Uptown," "Chickery Chick," and "Boogie Blues" with Krupa and "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" with Kenton. O'Day was something new when she appeared with Krupa in 1941 at the age of 21, a big-band singer who fit in well with the band rather than standing apart from it. On these, her earliest recordings, she is equally comfortable with standards like "Skylark" and "Tea for Two," novelties like "Murder, He Says," and barn burners like "Opus 1," and the swinging duet with Roy Eldridge on "Let Me Off Uptown." Her career in this period was crippled by a variety of factors, but the recordings remain to prove her talent. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi
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