Anita O'Day - Take The "A" Train

[ance2006]

my name is Anita too. It is a beautiful name, but i wish i had voice like hers. it is real power!

[teltuker1104]

Damn it! Just listen and enjoy a fantastic voice and artist from the past. The crap on the airwaves today doesn't compare in any way to the singers and the bands of the 40's and 50's.

[MrJulioberne]

GREAT AUDIO! <3 THANK U

[Chobowan]

7 ppl missed their quickest way to harlem

[boomerang905]

One more Jazzy Lady. I rank her with the very best! I loved her voice so much and she does this just great! Thanks for the upload.

[Mayjayy]

ahh shes so good :)

[DeedleDeedleDumplin]

A classic, just as O'Day was...

[honeybee7700]

fantastic

[paulostroff99]

Outstanding! TY for posting.

[georgiared1]

i'm glad to be 70 when i can remember riding the third avenue el as a little girl and find the seat where i can sing .... the lyrics to a little girl in an attic in new jersey or on 61st street.... someone asked me how did you learn diction and i said just listening to music..... i love it all but what memories and thank you savannah mama..

ok the village with the monk and mingus ... peggy lee whatelse do you want

[georgiared1]

i'm glad to be 70 when i can remember riding the third avenue el as a little girl and find the seat where i can sing .... the lyrics to a little girl in an attic in new jersey or on 61st street.... someone asked me how did you learn diction and i said just listening to music..... i love it all but what memories and thank you savannah mama..

[Arpine84]

Lyrics of the song written by William Saroyan, Armenian-American writer.

[local802blues]

Bill Catalano,Jules Chaiken,Phil Gilbert,Lee Katzman,Sam Noto,tp;

Bob Enevoldsen,Jim Amlotte,Kent Larsen,Ken Shroyer,Archie LeCoque,tb;

Lennie Niehaus,Bud Shank,as; Richie Kamuca,Bill Perkins,ts;

Jack Dulong,bar; Marty Paich,p; Red Kelly,bs; Mel Lewis,d;

Anita O`Day,vocal; Russ Garcia,arr/dir.

Los Angeles,April 3,1958.

this track credited ...Marty Paich Orchestra

[tigreadroit]

@local802blues

Thank you very much.

[DaniPower0]

does anybody know who arranged this?

[DevotedHelenFan]

Haha this song was recorded four years before my parents were born.

Anita's amazing tunes will live on forever!

[mightybeeb]

she was lead vocalist on gene Krupa's big band stuff...she absolutely is fantastic

as far as big band stuff goes...her, hellen forest,,,,ella...doris day...are the best!!!

[Drasuten]

Fantastic version.

[andrewcostly2]

All I can say is WOW!!!

[paul51]

@NewYork10009 I just "discovered" Anita O'Day two days ago on the Bio Channel!! SHAME ON ME!!! This is one of the best jazz vocalists ever . . . her phrasing . . . timing. DAMMIT, just can't get any better!!

[aarfeld]

Recorded in the year of my birth--I'm gettin' on board!

[tallpaul521]

@aarfeld A 1958 baby myself!  Great music!!!

[ogulkoker]

Do ya know who is the arranger???

[tnmone1]

The real thing ----- brilliant

[tnmone1]

Lay it on me !! the Coolest  ______

[scatmando]

Are you watching Mr Cowell ? A real singer.

[Getzwho]

Lisening today I'm absolutely certain Betty roche copied this when she did it with Ellington But Roche version is slightly more swinging and for me? Slightly , just a fraction better !

[Getzwho]

She was brilliant. And boy did she look classy in the Jazz on a Summer's day vid. She was a real looker, a real jazz singer from 40's to 60's. Stan Kenton's regular singer and only replaced eventually by June Christie

By the way much as I like this version of 'A' train, you should her the Duke's version with Betty Roche singing !!

[Fili2009able]

The big band era ! amazing !

[barbj7121]

awesome voice!!!

[pvelectric]

1963, howard rumsey, at his light house jazz club, hermosa beach, ca., a sunday afternoon with the jazz crusaders on break, says, "and next sunday Anita O'Day, Miss. Anita O'Day, folks" Almost one person clapped once. he looked out, surprised. looking down now, "that will be the great anita o'day here next week.." dumb turds, all of us.

[paulostroff99]

One of the all time great jazz singers.

[lafebbraforever]

Bravissima!

[7855waldo]

Oh my lord this is good.

[nameeric]

very fine music

eric/autriche

[MikeyTipunama]

nice song! it was the first song I had to play at the jazzschool

[waki27221]

i,ve got a crush on her song!

[bahbuhbih]

0:48 !

[Antarblue]

Anita is the most! Saw her in Honolulu in '83. Unfortunatly, her voice was fried already. Love that "Sweet Georgia Brown" in "Jazz on a Summer's Day!" Thanks!

[justjohnney]

she later admitted she was high during that "jazz on a summer's day"' performance--she had no idea it was to be filmed

[Antarblue]

Ho ho! Well it's dynamite! 4 speeds of "Sweet Georgia Brown"

[vinylvend]

I had always heard of Anita O'Day, but had never heard her sing before, now I'm going to go find more of her music. Thanks for sharing this! Great stereo sound and video too!

[tubamogoomamai]

It's my dream!!!!

[FranGX]

Oh so Jazz

[01jazzman01]

probably the best jazz singer ever, 01jazzman01

[allyokay]

Apart from 'The First Lady of Song', The most influencial Jazz singer of the 20th century, Ella Fitzgerald.

[DAGUY]

My absolute favorite singer.

Doesn't she just wash you with fun and happiness when she sings?

Where has all the music gone?

[Jamaicanchocolate34]

Hey DaGuy. I have never listened to her before now, but you are sooo gone. lol

[mypuppyjonas]

I'm singing this for my school in our singing group B Naturals. pretty cool :]

[davo336]

the greatest:  davo

[nonnelyentraccm]

LADY O'DAY.....SHE IS SWINGIN'

[MyFaveDoctor]

This girl is the swingingest.

[roanoke3]

I just read part of High Times Hard Times (1981)her autobiography last night. I've always heard OF her, never heard her. I'll have to hear a bit more of her. What a story she had! She doesn't cut herself any slack either. She seemd very down to earth. I really liked this, but, I must adnmit I'm hooked on Sarah Vaughn's version of this song.

[jamesrobert2]

Love her voice. It's a real instrument!

[7z6kt]

do you know why some musicians like anita o'day get strung out drugs and booze? too much damn talent for them to deal with. being a jazz musician is about expressing some of your deepest and most complex feelings. that's a powerful and chaotic force to be continually exploring and i think sometimes it just sort of spills out of control. i think i can sort of hear that when i hear anita o'day sing. she's painfully beautiful.

[Msredhoney720]

@7z6kt I think you are absolutely right! I think it rings true for artists in general in all types of genres of music and art forms. I think another reason they turn to drugs etc.. is because of the constant pressure to "perform" and perform well under critical scrutiny.

[PoetryMan11]

@7z6kt A lot of it has to do with the grueling demands of being on the road and having to get up and then subsequently come back down from the demands to perform. After a while the endorphin/adrenalin rush just can't happen with the intensity it once did--enter chemicals to try and solve what only rest and an occasional change of pace can restore.

[boomerang905]

@7z6kt I know this response is 3 years late but you're right about your perception of why some musicians such as this turned to drugs. Back then it was an expensive, elite drug (though absolutely no drug ever was or will be) but the privileged and talented musician indulged. And I believe that this music form does bring out a person's innermost turmoil, happiness or sadness and leads to experimentation as expressions. You said it better than me......Thanks for sharing.

[bteniswood]

@boomerang905 No, it wasn't. Heroin back then was an inexpensive, underground drug. It's never been an 'elite' drug at all. It has always held that label of scourge and it's only widely used among the downtrodden, traumatised, repressed and depressed because it beautifully numbs your soul and stops the pain. It became, for a brief time at least, a hip 'jazz drug' but that was as much because people thought it made Parker better rather than worse and people thought it might help them too sadly.

[boomerang905]

@bteniswood Oh, my bad. Forgive me for speaking on a subject I have no clue about, actually. When it comes to illegal drugs, I only go by what I have heard through people. There were people with $200-300 dollar a day habits. But you're right, no drug is 'elite', I simply meant the people that used it were considered the artistically 'elite' for lack of a better expression..my bad.

[LaFemmeChocolat3]

Ella Fitzgerald...go go go listen! Her version is also awesome. I prefer it actually :) x

[Elgarman]

Stop using that pathetic word "awesome" please. She's astonishing, amazing, and totally unique. It does her no favours to call her "awesome". Thank you.

[LaFemmeChocolat3]

Oooook! I see your point but seriously, I could have used much worse vocab. How about targeting those people who are swearing every other word because that's the only way they know how to express themselves?

Seriously, is saying 'awesome' THAT bad?!

[stevenrmc]

No, it isn't . . . especially when

describing these very talented jazz artists.

With all the bad language that's used these

days --- EVEN ON YOUTUBE . . . perhaps Elgarman ought to find someone else's comments to CLEAN UP!!

[kerednotsdib]

I'm English and we really don't use this word. Awe inspiring, perhaps but it is a bastardisation of our language. When I was in NYC some of my US friends said it's a rather "hickey" word and not to be used in sophisticated company.

[nonnelyentraccm]

Well your friends are hardly sophisticated and probably very trendy and pretentious because awesome is a good description of this performer.I'm American and we don't use alot of "English" terms,but I would not say they are hickey or bastardizations of words because they aren't used in our culture.Maybe you can say she is really "Gear".Whatever word a person uses that describes greatness is O.K. with me.She is top of the pops!

[allyokay]

Hey - lets not let a common language divide us - she's great - and she sounds just like Ella, but you must listen to Ella first.

[01jazzman01]

not like ella at all 01jazzman01

[oprahnoodlemantra]

Awesome is a legitimate word. It's also in the dictionary. Your friends are incorrect.

[wormwood67]

You did not need to explain yourself. "Awesome" is a perfectly acceptable word to use in this day and age when describing a singer as amazing and endearing as Anita O'Day. Whomever chastised you for using the word "awesome" is out of touch with the lineage of linguistics.

[Myantra]

I liek her version better too:)

O.o I am a very odd adolescence..

[jkmlight]

Anita, You so beautiful and sexy. "Take the "A" Train"

"Are we running "local" or "express"?

The "A" Train, 8th Avenue Independent Subway System.(The "A" Train, 8th Avenue Express).

[BANJO1941]

Is that Tommy Flanagan on piano?

[gmlch]

gosh, this is just so good ! so good ! wow.

[OlymPigs2010]

Anita! Wow! What a stylist! Plus her back up band was out of this world!

[bebopdaddyo]

Dude, she was 87. She was amazing, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

[SoCal63]

Great that you put out those album covers. I heard that at the hollywood bowl there is going to be a premier of a documentary on her. I've been trying to find out more about this did anyone else hear about this?

[cha5]

No this is the first I've heard about it,

I really hope it comes out,

I always wanted to see her when she was performing

up in New York but never got the chance,

Keep us informed on any documentary news.

[HyaPowa]

Wow! Darling Anita. Thanks, and nice to see those covers too.

[ARTEenlacuidad]

this is a great song.

[shotbydriver]

I love it!!

[usfins]

FIRST I'VE HEARD HER,I LIKE...

[bishopmofo]

one of the best swingers of the era...and another tragic loss to alcohol and ego

her verison of "youd be so nice to come home to" is the best around i think

[eguirald]

Anita: a giant of jazz, an unforgettable artist, a milestone of musical talent. We´ll never forget you.