The Billie Holiday Collection [Columbia/Legacy] (2005)

About this title: For anyone who missed any of the three original Billie Holiday Collections on Legacy, this box, which contains 54 cuts on three discs covering the years 1935 through 1939, compiles those three volumes handily. Many hits from the singer's prime are here -- even though the cover photo isn't necessarily representative. The only problem is that, soon after this was issued, Sony released a fourth volume in the series covering the end of 1939 up to the beginning of 1944, and on it were some of her greatest sides, including "Gloomy Sunday," "God Bless the Child," and "Body and Soul." Still, her ... read more

Tracks:

1. I Wished on the Moon [Parker/Ranger]
2. What a Little Moonlight Can Do [Woods]
3. Miss Brown to You [Robin/Whiting/Raing]
4. If You Were Mine [Mercer/Malneck]
5. These 'n' That 'n' Those [Pascal/Fairchild]
6. You Let Me Down [Dubin/Warren]
7. Life Begins When You're in Love [Brown/Schertzinger]
8. It's Like Reaching for the Moon [Sherman/Lewis/Marqu]
9. These Foolish Things [Marvell/Strachey]
10. I Cried for You [Freed/Arnheim/Lyman]
11. Did I Remember? [Adamson/Donaldson]
12. Summertime [Gershwin/Gershwin]
13. Billie's Blues [Holiday]
14. A Fine Romance [Fields/Kern]
15. One, Two, Button Your Shoe [Johnston/Burke]
16. Easy to Love [Porter]
17. The Way You Look Tonight [Fields/Kern]
18. Pennies from Heaven [Burke/Johnston]
19. That's Life I Guess [DeRose/Lewis]
20. I Can't Give You Anything But Love [Fields/McHugh]
21. He Ain't Got Rhythm [Berlin]
22. This Year's Kisses [Berlin]
23. Why Was I Born? [Hammerstein/Kern]
24. I Must Have That Man [Fields/McHugh]
25. My Last Affair [Johnson]
26. Moanin' Low [Deitz/Rainger]
27. Let's Call the Whole Thing Off [Gershwin/Gershwin]
28. They Can't Take That Away from Me [Gershwin/Gershwin]
29. I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You) [Turk/Ahlert]
30. Mean to Me [Turk/Ahlert]
31. Foolin' Myself [Tinturin/Lawrence]
32. Easy Living [Robin/Rainger]
33. I'll Never Be the Same [Kahn/Signorelli/Mal]
34. Without Your Love [Lange/Stryker]
35. Who Wants Love? [Kahn/Waxman]
36. Trav'lin' All Alone [Johnson]
37. He's Funny That Way [Moret/Whiting]
38. Nice Work If You Can Get It [Gershwin/Gershwin]
39. Things Are Looking Up [Gershwin/Gershwin]
40. My Man [Pollack/Yvain/Wille]
41. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man [Hammerstein/Kern]
42. When You're Smiling [Fisher/Goodwin/Shay]
43. I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me [Gaskill/McHugh]
44. When a Woman Loves a Man [Mercer/Hanighen/Jen]
45. You Go to My Head [Gillespie/Coots]
46. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart (And Throw Away the Key) [Eaton/Shand]
47. The Very Thought of You [Noble]
48. I Can't Get Started [Gershwin/Duke]
49. I've Got a Date with a Dream [Gordon/Revel]
50. Long Gone Blues [Holiday]
51. Some Other Spring [Kitchings/Herzog]
52. Them There Eyes [Pinkard/Tracey/Taub]
53. Swing! Brother, Swing! [Raymond/Bishop/Will]
54. Night and Day [Porter]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.