''Lady Sings the Blues'' is the soundtrack to the Billie Holiday biopic of the same name, which starred Diana Ross in her 1972 screen debut. It became Ross' fourth #1 album (eventually selling over 2 million US copies), though the only one as a solo artist. It was certified gold in the UK for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was the fourth best-selling R&B album and fifth best-selling Pop album of 1973 in the US. Music writers said Ross emulated

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

's voice while retaining her own individual sound. This soundtrack album was the only Motown album to have a special designed label to match the album cover on the vinyl release, rather than Motown's usual "Map of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

" design. This label design would also turn up on the single releases from the soundtrack.

Track listing

Side one

#"The Arrest" – 0:15 #" Lady Sings the Blues" – 1:03 #"Baltimore Brothel" – 0:25 #"Billie Sneaks into Dean and Dean's/Swinging Uptown" – 0:49 #" 'Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" – 1:06 #"Big Ben/

C.C. Rider "See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Ma Rainey, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 192 ...

" – 1:06 #" All of Me" – 2:19 #" The Man I Love" – 2:27 #"

Them There Eyes "Them There Eyes" is a jazz song written by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, and William Tracey that was published in 1930. One of the early recorded versions was performed by Louis Armstrong in 1931. It was made famous by Billie Holiday, who recorde ...

" – 1:03 #"Gardenias from Louis" – 2:03 #"Cafe Manhattan/Had You Been Around/Love Theme" – 2:03

Side two

#"Any Happy Home" – 0:37 #"

I Cried for You "I Cried for You" is a pop and jazz standard with music written by Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman, with lyrics by Arthur Freed. It was introduced by Abe Lyman and His Orchestra in 1923. The recording by Benny Krueger and His Orchestra the same year p ...

" – 0:37 #"Billie and Harry/ Don't Explain" – 0:37 #" Mean to Me" – 1:18 #"

Fine and Mellow "Fine and Mellow" is a jazz standard written by Billie Holiday, who first recorded it on April 20, 1939 on the Commodore label. It is a blues lamenting the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man". Notable performances and recordings ...

" – 0:45 #"

What a Little Moonlight Can Do "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" is a popular song written by Harry M. Woods in 1934. In 1934, Woods moved to London for three years where he worked for the British film studio Gaumont British, contributing material to several films, one of which ...

" – 2:09 #"Louis Visits Billie on Tour/Love Theme" – 0:45 #"Cafe Manhattan Party" – 1:37 #"Persuasion/'Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do" – 3:48 #"Agent's Office" – 1:09 #"

Our Love Is Here to Stay "Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin for the movie ''The Goldwyn Follies'' (1938). History "Love Is Here to Stay" was first performed by Kenny Baker in ''The Goldwy ...

" – 2:01

Side three

#"Fine and Mellow" – 2:54 #"

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

" – 3:22 #"

You've Changed "You've Changed" is a popular song published in 1942 with music by Carl Fischer and words by Bill Carey. The melody features descending chromaticism. The song was first recorded on October 24, 1941 by Harry James & His Orchestra (vocal by Dick H ...

" – 2:34 #"

Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer) "Gimme a Pigfoot" is a 1933 song written by Wesley Wilson, probably with Coot Grant, his wife, though she is not usually credited on record labels. It was first recorded by Bessie Smith, and versions have been released by many other artists. It ...

" – 2:06 #"

Good Morning Heartache "Good Morning Heartache" is a song written by Irene Higginbotham, Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher. It was recorded by jazz singer Billie Holiday on January 22, 1946. Bill Stegmeyer and his Orchestra (Decca Session No. 54) New York City, January 22, ...

" – 2:21 #"All of Me" – 2:04

Side four

#"Love Theme" – 2:53 #" My Man" – 3:26 #" Don't Explain" – 2:10 #"I Cried for You" – 2:13 #" Strange Fruit" – 3:35 #" God Bless the Child" – 2:42 #"Closing Theme" – 1:08

Charts

Certifications

Personnel

* Diana Ross -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Gil Askey Gilbert Askey (March 9, 1925 – April 9, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, producer and musical director who was born in Austin, Texas, and emigrated to Australia in 1988. Personal life Askey was born in Austin, Texas, on March 9 ...

- conductor *

, Benny Golson,

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album ''The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

- arrangements * Albert Aarons, William "Cat" Anderson,

Bobby Bryant Bobby Bryant (born January 24, 1944) is a former cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings. Early life At Willingham High School, he was a star in football along with basketball, track and field, and baseball. Bryant was recruited to play for the Un ...

Harry "Sweets" Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard bac ...

Teddy Buckner Teddy Buckner (July 16, 1909 in Sherman, Texas – September 22, 1994 in Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz trumpeter associated with Dixieland music. Early in his career Buckner played with Sonny Clay. He worked with Buck Clayton ...

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

Georgie Auld Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. Early years Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. Before the family left Canada, Au ...

, William "Buddy" Collette,

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...

Jack Nimitz Jack Nimitz (January 11, 1930 – June 10, 2009) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. He was nicknamed "The Admiral". Career A native of Washington, D.C., Nimitz started on clarinet in his early teens before playing alto saxophone. Dur ...

, Marshall Royal, Ernie Watts -

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

George Bohanon George Roland Bohanon, Jr. (born August 7, 1937) is a jazz trombonist and session musician from Detroit, Michigan. In the early 1960s, he participated in Detroit's Workshop Jazz ensemble, with Johnny Griffith, Paula Greer, David Hamilton, Lefty ...

Jimmy Cleveland James Milton Cleveland (May 3, 1926 – August 23, 2008) was an American jazz trombonist born in Wartrace, Tennessee.

Henry Coker Henry Coker (December 24, 1919 – November 23, 1979) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Coker was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. He made his professional debut with John White in 1935. From 1937 to 1939 he played with Nat Towles' ...

Grover Mitchell Grover Mitchell, born Grover Curry Mitchell (March 17, 1930 – August 6, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist who led the Count Basie Orchestra. Biography Mitchell was born in Whately, Alabama, but he moved with his parents to Pittsburgh, Pen ...

, Maurice Spears, John Ewing -

trombones The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

* Max Bennett, George "Red" Callender, Arthur Edwards - bass *John Collins -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, banjo *

Earl Palmer Earl Cyril Palmer (October 25, 1924 – September 19, 2008) was an American drummer. Considered one of the inventors of rock and roll, he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Palmer was one of the most prolific studio musicians of a ...

Jesse Sailes Jesse John Sailes (1919–2007) was a jazz drummer and session musician who performed on many hit records in the 1940s and 1950s such as Eddie Cochran's "Skinny Jim" and The Coasters' Riot in Cell Block Number 9, Framed, and Searchin'.''The Coaste ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Don Abney John Donald Abney (March 10, 1923 – January 20, 2000) was an American jazz pianist. Early life Abney was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He studied piano and french horn at the Manhattan School of Music. He joined the United States Army where he ...

Gerald Wiggins Gerald Foster Wiggins (May 12, 1922 – July 13, 2008) was an American jazz pianist and organist. Early life Wiggins was born in New York City on May 12, 1922.Vacher, Pete"Wiggins, Gerry" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' (2nd edition). G ...

, Chester Lane -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* "Caughey" Roberts -

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

Production

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

- composed, arranged, conductor * Guy Costa - engineering and technical direction * Larry Miles, Cal Harris, Bill Macmeekin, Dave Ramsey,

Art Stewart Arthur Stewart (February 6, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was an American baseball front-office executive and scout. He began his Major League Baseball (MLB) scouting career with the New York Yankees in 1953. He later joined the Kansas City Roya ...

, Russ Terrana -

Mowest Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

engineers * Gordon Day, Dave Docendort, John Norman - Glen Glen engineers * Katarina Pettersson - art direction * John Le Prevost, Frank Frezzo - design * Orlando Suero - photography * Sandra Forney - graphic production *

Suzanne de Passe Suzanna Celeste de Passe (born July 19, 1946, 1947 or 1948) (sources differ) is an American businesswoman, television, music and film producer. De Passe serves as the co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment, de Passe Jones Entertainment Gr ...

Iris Gordy Iris Gordy is an American songwriter, producer, and music executive. She is a former vice president at Motown, where she helped launch the careers of DeBarge, Teena Marie, and Rick James, Mandre, Bobby Nunn and Tata Vega. Her credits include ...

- edited, coordinated * Tony Jones - creative assistance *

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

References

{{Authority control Biographical film soundtracks 1972 soundtrack albums Motown soundtracks Diana Ross soundtracks Albums arranged by Benny Golson Albums arranged by Oliver Nelson Albums arranged by Michel Legrand Albums produced by Gil Askey Vocal jazz soundtracks