I want to get into Billie's music but I am having trouble narrowing down which greatest hits collection to buy. She has like 200 collections! I've seen several 2-disk collections and boxed sets. I have no idea where to start! Is her early material better than her later material? I know the drug used damaged her voice but I might like that sound.

Harlepolis, I'm looking to you!

This is gonna dig a hole @ your pocket, but its worth it, considering the transformation she went through(even though she's not a versatile artist at all), did that make sense? lol,,,

If you want an overview before you dig deeper, this is a good start(with radio interviews/video performances as bonus DVD),,,

[img:$uid]http://www.1000recordings.com/images/artist-h/holliday-billie-404-l.jpg[/img:$uid]

Or if you want the comprehensive thing, this boxet documents her entire career. I haven't checked it because I already have all of the Columbia, Commodore/Decca and Verve box sets, this one compresses them ALL(including her rare LA Alladin records side - which I'm assuming are in remastered condition). Pricey, but it looks like its worth the money, I'm certainly getting the Ella Fitzgerald one from the same label,,,

[img:$uid]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41g%2BJiBWm9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img:$uid]

EDIT: Can't read from the pic, its titled Billie Holiday - The Complete Masters 1933-1959.

Hope that helps

[Edited 1/27/12 9:18am]

Like Harlepolis, I think I bought all the different label box set over the years, but my personal favorite is the Colombia box set:

Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)

All Music Review

I found that I preferred her later stuff. This is my favorite collection on her:

The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve 1945 - 1959

Other then Harlepolis, which is a given, it's nice to see Billie fans here on the Org.

The Complete Columbia box is available fairly cheap. It is ten discs and you can buy it brand new on amazon for less than thirty dollars. This "cheap" version is a resissue of the original. The packaging is a bit cheaper but for that price it is a steal.

Of course The Complete Masters 1933-1959 is an even better value. Fifteen discs for around forty dollars.

runphilrun said:

Like Harlepolis, I think I bought all the different label box set over the years, but my personal favorite is the Colombia box set:

Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)

All Music Review

Love the liner notes in the booklet. Some great trivia there.

Thank you all for the suggestions! Now that I've dug into her catalog some more, I think I am not a fan of her uptempos. I LOVE the ballads though. I'm thinking about getting this:

http://www.amazon.com/Ballads-Lovers-Billie-Holiday/dp/B003CTCG1M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3I05S4JGPT6SP&colid=T0WSIHDXE16C

The quality sounds really crisp too!

Just my two cents.

I strongly feel if you're getting into an artist for the very first time, its really an education, a pleasure and a revelation to hear them from the start of their careers to the end. You get a better appreciation for what they've added to the conversation of music. To pick up a great artist such as Holiday some where in the middle is like picking up a book and reading a couple of pages that natural open up to the middle. In my opinion, you can't have clue about narrative of the story or anything about it's characters.

This is especially true of Ms. Holdiay who had three phases of her singing career;

1. 1930's: Swing Era/Small Bands/Trio (1934-1935) Singing with the swing bands of the ear and trio groups. She meets Prez (Lester Young) and a friends base on respect for each other and music begins.

2. 1940's: The recording of Strange Fruit that propells her to fame and being taken as a "serious singer". 'Swing" drops by the waste side and Ms. Holiday records such classics as: Gloomy Sunday, God Bless the Child, Am I Blue, I Cover the Waterfront and I got a Right to Sing the Blues.

3. 1950's - The he latter part of Ms. Holdiay's career: The abusive childhood, conflicting emotions, about her father, the many dissipated relationships with men, viral racism in the US, and finally an alcohol and herion addiction that plagued her much of her life takes its toll. A mere shell of the women at the height of career in the 1940's, her voice goes deeper, her intonation all but gone. Yet, Holiday could still "fight against the melody" and reduce a song to its barest notes.

The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol 5 (1937-38), this is of course the 5th CD of a 9 CD boxset. If you can't purchase the whole thing, I'd recomment this, Vol. 5. HIGHLY.

The next the would be, Billie Holiday: The Complete Decca Recordings ( 2CD set)

At the height of her career she and at her best. She mainly is supported by strings/large studio orchestras but what make this a treat, you'll hear Holiday first original recordings of standards to come such as... "Lover Man", "Don't Explain", "Good Morning Heartache", Now Or Never, "Crazy He Calls Me", "Them There Eyes, and "God Bless the Child."

The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve 1945 - 1959 (Box Set)

I think they're several variations of Verve box-set still being sold, but even so this is Holiday towards the end of the her career.

If you listen to just these albums (and there's so much more) you'll realize you've listened to 3 completely different singers. Genius.

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[Edited 1/31/12 22:01pm]