Billie Holiday - There Is No Greater Love

[4050322]

So sad talents like Amy Jade Winehouse and Billie Holiday and Even Whitney Elizabeth Houston have gone too soon....feels like "there is no greater talent anymore" on earth.

[suburbanjazzquartet]

Hey everyone! Please check out our page to see our rendition of this beautiful standard! We're a group of young high school students trying to keep jazz alive! Come support the music!!!

[BubbleGumDexter23]

This and Amy's are both amazing. <3

[tomyarontuba]

amy version is beter

[tomyarontuba]

amy version is beter

[rogerwckd]

I concur and I believe its h minor

[therealightkim]

Can anyone tell me what key this version is in?

[queenoftheuniverse]

@therealightkim F major, the bridge is in a minor.

[jonldn]

as someone said.....she sang and singing would never be the same.....sublime

[garou119]

This woman was a godess of singing!

[ParadoxCards]

Playing this on the piano. Such a hip tune. love billy to death

[eleanor635]

amy winehouse does justice to billies version

[nexlevproductions]

My great inspiration. The reason I became a singer. Luv Billie. Check out Vonne' new upcoming songtress. Peace and luv,

Vonne

[zhiwy]

One of most beautiful jazz standards

[moiseszerep]

i dont understand why are there always a couple of dislikes on this kind of vids

[niciford92]

niiiiicee damn i had to complain but no one has real voices like this anymore all u hear is gibberish

[MsViolad]

It's the first time I'm listening this song......WAWWW.....

[lindpa19]

Billie is great . She is singing not mumbling.

[Ledaatje]

Why are some of you trying to compare Billie and Amy? Criticizing is such a waste of time! If I were you, I would stop quarreling and start enjoying some timeless beauty: Because, oh, how beautiful both versions are!

[Shoney38]

Amy did a great job but Billie did this song better anybody can remake a song and put a different vibe into but when the real creator sing does it there nothing better just listen to Billie voice

[seansocheap]

People there's nothing wrong with someone liking another person's cover of this song, you act like their dissing Billie's talent just cuz they like Amy's better

[cloaka]

fallout comes to my head....

[mallaker]

Get ready to cry - this will tear your heart out baby!

[jvisentin]

any know who the piano player on this would be?

[quafer]

@jvisentin i'm not 100% sure but her regular pianist during this time was bobby tucker.

[IceKisses123]

Such a wonderful woman with a tortured soul... I wish I could've met her.

[atchadaddyskrib]

Smooth drink wine to this ballad oh yeah

[TheFragileThunder]

Sophistication through simplicity. Absolutely unique.

[KTOProductions]

Blu&Exile!!!

[TheDaikashido]

Amy winehouse sucks

[glasgowboi989]

@TheDaikashido There is no need for that, I mean this ain't an amy winehouse version. I mean come on she covered this song in 2003 so this an eight year grudge you have here?

[YansenDortman]

@TheDaikashido you suck

[JoyDivisiongirl]

@TheDaikashido have you REALLY tried to just listen to her voice..and not think of all the other bullshit that comes with it? if so...i don't..i really really don't know how you can say what you did.

[bluejazz44]

The soul that sings. Wonderful Billie

[kishosoundandvision]

Perfection = Love Bird = Amazing

[KianiKings]

I love Ms.Holidays haunting voice, it always manages to make me cry, the sadness that evokes from her epic sound.

[honeybee7700]

wow we miss you lady day.

[DohaRoha]

What a rare moment in jazz when she was around.

[NitsuaNaed]

@DohaRoha what a rare moment in music when jazz was around!

[stellaga]

such a classy woman such a classy song.

[brunhoberbass]

someone give me a glass of scotch on the rocks!

[redvelvetjacket]

she is just gorgeous. vocally, obviously. but her face is also stunning.

[dorcm1973]

Wow... very poignant! There is no greater (and better) music than Billie Holiday's...

[millytommy]

this chick was dope!

[hmngbrd]

Nice.

[lesterwyoung]

There is no greater version of this tune than this rendition by the exquisitely expressive Billie!

[bewander]

@lesterwyoung I actually like Amy Winehouses' AOL Live Session better...Billie is good, though.

[nicknameSGB]

@bewander Amy got it from Billie - Billie didn't get it from Amy! Which came first the chicken or the egg?

[XforeverlongingX]

@nicknameSGB Actually Amy hated Billie Holiday, so she could not have possibly gotten "it" from Billie.

[TheSRalston]

@lesterwyoung I love this version, but think the best is Dinah Washington´s version...haven´t located it around here, but listen to it, this one sounds very romantic and soft, but Washington´s version sounds like a desperate plight to someone. Great music!!

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheSRalston I agree. I don't like Billie Holiday really. I don't find her voice to be very versatile I find it to be, honestly, annoying. I like Sarah Vaughan, Washington, Winehouse, Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, et al

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

I don't agree. All those ladies are great but Billie is the one I've listened to nearly every day for almost 40 years. Not versatile? Ridiculous. Who could handle a dirge like Strange Fruit and then swing into a number like Them There Eyes and make them both completely believable? Simone maybe but Billie set the standard and completely surpassed her as far as I'm concerned. As someone once wrote, "There is Billie Holiday and there is everyone else."

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan Yes I believe that quotation was believed. I don't think it's true though, and that's my word against the word of your "source". She is not versatile vocally she uses the same inflections in almost every song she sings. She's unique, yes, but I can't handle listening to too much of her, it becomes monotonous.

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

Well, of course the quotation is believed whether you think it's true or not. The "source" is Tom Moon in "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die" and I'm in complete accordance with him. What you hear as the the so-called "same inflections" vocally but I hear style and nuance. To me, most everyone else sounds monotonous compared to her.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan Don't get me wrong, she's immensely talented, and I didn't mean to offend her or her fans, but her voice is sort of like a rare potent spice. I can't take too much of it at a given time, but I think it's extremely unique and talent-driven.

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

I agree, her voice is a rare potent spice--and I can't get enough of it. I understand that she's not for everyone, but once she's hooked you, all bets are off.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan I still do think she has the best version of strange fruit precisely because of that tone she has. It's almost eery, the dynamic inflections she uses, and that's exactly what the song requires.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan And I've never ever heard anyone sound like Billie. Ella fitzgerald and Etta James for example I have heard similar voices to, but not Billie Holiday.

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

That's true--the irony is that so many people have attempted to emulate her.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan I didn't mean to come off as an asshole lol. let me alter what I said to be more fair-minded. I think she's an acquired taste. A taste that I have never experienced from any artist besides her. That's what I love about all the greats though, most of them have their unique own little niche

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

And I would agree that she is an acquired taste for many people though she resonated with me almost immediately. When I heard the album "Billie Holiday-The Original Recordings" as a teenager, it was revelation to me--as if I was hearing music in a completely different and original way. Thanks for a lively and interesting discourse.

[sheriwhispers]

@XforeverlongingX acquired taste? Billie ? Nah I think you mean Jazz,blues...now to me thats an acquired taste not mainstream

Ciao

[XforeverlongingX]

@sheriwhispers No, I meant she is an acquired taste.That's what I wrote, after all.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan Simone is much more raw than Billie. You can see it in her face. She hardly smiles, and the genius of Simone's expression or lack of expression is that the believability of her lyrics are raised by her misery, or at least what seems like genuine misery.

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

And that's the problem I have with Simone. To me, she always sounds sullen and angry. I don't see that as genius.

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan You have a point about Simone, I think you're right about that despite my previous comments about Nina

[XforeverlongingX]

@TheBilliefan Just because she sang different styles doesn't mean she didn't sound the same or use the same runs, fast melisma, and dynamic inflections that are so "trademark Billie Holiday". I do think she does great with the depressing songs though, I simply feel that she lacks the versatility that Vaughan has for example.

[TheBilliefan]

@XforeverlongingX

You can say that about any artist. They have all have trademark tics that you either love or hate, including the wonderful Sarah. While Billie did not have the vocal chops of Ella or Sarah, she more than made up for it with inimitable style, nuance, and phrasing. She knew her strengths and weaknesses and yet could equally handle a range of material that spanned the emotional and musical spectrum. I feel she's the most versatile of all.

[TheBilliefan]

@TheSRalston

For me, the best is Billie's 1947 version for Decca. That's the one Dinah was emulating.

[TheSRalston]

@TheBilliefan Thank you for that comment, I will look for it, hope I can find it around here...nice to see informative comments that make you find out more about things, not the usual childlike bickering these comments transform into...cheers mate!

[teelite72]

Beautiful!

[TonyGigzz]

I just wished she was still around, don't think I wanted to live in her time, I'd just miss youtube to much ;)

[fuckiloveboobsthough]

I'm 4 :o)

[elphie1415]

make me three!:D

[dreotingle]

Oh my god I love this woman. Wish I had been around when she was alive!

[pbnj2345]

you and me both.