jonylawson said:

Actually it's a very overrated singer with a range of about one octave.

Mong said:

What you do not get is the emotion that she conveys through her voice. Technically she is about average(unlike Sarah Vaughn) but emotionnally she outweighs all singers that came after her.

Mong said:

!!! i always have a begrudging rspect for those who slag off the untouchables!!

me? i think shakespeare is shit!

Meh, different strokes

Ya'll already know how I feel about Lady Day



When I sing it, it effects me so much I get sick. It takes all the strength out of me.

This song was the cost of her career,,,,,esp during the McArthur era where she was accused of being openly communist(not that it would've hurt her career more than it has already been hurt)

But eversince she recorded it, she has been on FBI's watchlist till her death,,,,J. Edgar Hoover despised her and all of the famous black people who openly opposed racism, he gave her PURE hell and personally followed her FBI file.

kanamit said:

I disagree. The emotional resonance of Donny Hathaway's voice is pretty much unparalleled as far as I'm concerned. I've never felt Billie's voice to be particularly emotive; but then, the sound of her voice is simply unpleasant to my ears.

Shakespeare is shit too!

Mong said:

Ya know what though?

I used to feel the same way about her,,,,,I didn't know what was the big deal then.

But I remember hearing I'm A Fool To Love You at a VERY dark time in my life(it was playing in some PBS documentary film's ending credit - can't remember for the life of me what the film was about),,,,long story short, it hit me like a brick.

I don't know whether if its because adults tend to go back to what their parents used to listen to when they were kids,,,,or because I simply identified with her in that particular moment.