High Times Hard Times (Limelight) Paperback – August 1, 2004

This autobiography is very entertaining. She comes off the pages like a real life character out of a Damon Runyon story. This is how she talked, there is nothing contrived or artificial about her manner. Her comments about other performers say a lot about her integrity. She said that Ella Fitzgerald was "number one" at the time of creating the book (~1980). Her opinion was that Billie Holiday was the best of all time, but Anita regretfully admitted that Billie had no use for her so she never got a chance to tell Billie how much she owed to her and admired her. She talked a lot about timing, and frankly, Anita really knew about timing, not merely a strength she was unequaled then or since among jazz singers. Carmen McRae did everything well in Anita's opinion, she has all the tools. She really liked the quality of Sarah Vaughn's voice. I found her observations about Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong very enlightening. Anita learned how to play the drums and improve her own rhythmic sense from her first husband, drumming great Don Carter. But she latched onto an even better drummer (in my opinion anyway), John Poole. No wonder she was always right on the beat. She and John Poole collaborated for 32 years and her description of their relationship is very interesting. She spends more time on her 15 year heroin addiction than it merited, but she admitted that most of the time she was "as high as a kite" and didn't remember too much about that period. What comes out loud and clear is her overwhelming joy at being able to sing. Boy could she sing. This book is a celebration of Anita O'Day, a national treasure and worth while for not only her fans.

Although this book has acquired a reputation for frankness and sordid details, it is much more. For one thing, it's an oral history of swing and jazz as seen from Anita's perspective as a big band 'canary' who embraced bebop and smaller jazz ensembles that emerged from that.What I most love about the book is despite it being a collaboration with George Eells, Anita's voice shines through in every sentence. Most autobiographies that include a collaborator turn out to be ghost written fluff pieces. Not so this one. If you have ever heard Anita speak then will you have no doubt that the words on the pages are her own. While she pulls no punches when it comes to herself - taking responsibility without apology for her own actions - she is kind to the point of being generous when it comes to others who played a significant enough role in her life to merit mention in the book.Another thing I love is how her story adds another dimension to the listening experience. For example, while I thoroughly enjoy listening to Anita O'Day At Mister Kelly's, it is enchanced by the back story of how she brought in Joe Masters, the pianist, from Boston because she was impressed with his backing a few months prior at a New York date. After the Mr. Kelly's performance she and Masters had a fling that lasted until he got out of control and - believe it or not - John Poole, the drummer, got a less than savory acquaintance to drive Masters to the airport, put a gun to his head and convince him to board the red eye for Boston! Or her comments regarding the clashes she had with Billy May when recording Swings Cole Porter and Swing Rodgers & Hart (Dig). While those details do not change the music itself, they do add a delicious spice to the listening experience - for me at least.I'll admit that one of my primary reasons for buying the book was to get even more details about John Poole who was her drummer for over three decades. While I am one of Anita's most avid fans, Poole is one of my main influences as a drummer. The details were scant. I did learn a lot about her first husband, Don Carter, who I knew was a drummer but had no idea just how revered he was by other musicians including Gene Krupa. I also knew that Don taught her a bit about drumming, which shows in her impeccable sense of timing and rhythmic approach to singing, but did not know that he also taught her how to read music and a lot about theory.Anita weaves in personal aspects of her life with anecdotes and impressions of major musicians with whom she worked or performed. The latter is almost in the form of an oral history. Moreover, she was an astute observer whose insights reflect a highly intelligent mind. For example, her personal assessment of the music industry in the early 1950s is spot on. Swing was dead, bebop was not winning audiences and everyone was seeking the next big thing. Of course, her observations throughout the book are of the same caliber of both relevance and astuteness.One thing that you should know is this book essentially ends over twenty years before Anita's life and career ended, so there is a gap concerning her later life. I highly recommend augmenting this book with a video biography titled Anita O'Day - The Life Of A Jazz Singer. Regarding her music, there are two collections what make this book come alive: Young Anita, which is a comprehensive collection of her word from the swing era, and 8 Classic Albums, which contains some of her best work from the Verve years.As both a fan and amateur jazz historian I found this book invaluable for the oral history and the comprehensive discography in the appendix. It is also a pleasure to read the words of someone who is open and honest, and who lived a life on her own terms. There are lessons in that as well.

There are many good jazz biographies out there but this one is the best because of the author's candid view and that it is from one of the premier female jazz vocalists of all time. A lot of the bios on the men are not that revealing on personal issues and many questions are left unanswered; not this one. Anita 'O Day nails all the notes on this and her recollections are fascinating to read. A true survivor in the sense that many of her contemporaries died during the years she performed. She also covers some of the business aspects of jazz that is quite revealing in itself. But the most intriguing aspect of the book is the small, but very important mystical event that happened very early in her career that later on helped her to survive her very tough times. This event saved her life many times and she comes to this conclusion much later in her life as she reveals later in the book. Very hip account of the jazz scene during the glory years of jazz. In my opinion, the best yet.

First off, I am a huge Anita Day fan so I am a little prejudice as to the quality and style of writing that some might find is lacking in one way or another. I find it totally honest and refreshing and the only way her story could have been told is in the first person format that is used throughout. My only caveat, and it's not the book's fault, is that Anita is no longer with us and I can't meet and talk to her in person about her Gene Krupa days. She is totally honest and never once feels sorry for herself or anything she did. IMO-the greatest jazz singer of all time.

Anita O’ Day stands comparison with any jazz singer, in fact any jazz musician of any era. She may not have achieved the recognition of say an Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan but her musical output and general artistry are unquestionable. Anita put everything into her music. Her love, her despair, her good times and bad times. What seems at first to be effortless was the rest of countless gigs, grand and squalid, bands big and small and a dedication and openness to experiment that sets her apart from many of her peers. Listen to records like ‘Waiter Make Mine Blues’ or individual tracks such as ‘Bewitched’ and witness for yourself a truly wonderful performer. She combines wit with melancholy, sophistication with an undertow of the blues in a wholly individual way.So why should you read this book? Well firstly Anita has an interesting story to tell. She has seen success, played with the biggest bands of her era and won many prestigious awards and sung to thousands. Equally, she has fallen in with many a dubious character, done time, consumed industrial quantities of Heroin and made a mess of many a relationship. Secondly, Anita is an engaging character. She tells it like was and is. There is humour and heartbreak, love and betrayal, but above all that is honesty. Ultimately, this is a tale about survival. A girl singer in a man’s world, trying to be more than a pretty face, trying and succeeding to be taken seriously makes this book a worthwhile read even for a jazz agnostic.Through it all is the feeling that Anita’s only real concern is her art. She was used and abused, but she is no victim. She stuck it out because her aim was to produce art. And in this she surely succeeded. Anita comes across as a strange mixture of the hard –boiled and the strangely vulnerable. Is she likeable? Well, she doesn’t apologise for having high standards. But as the book goes on, the reader can’t help but warm to her. Not out of sympathy, but because we recognise that she was seeking love though often in the wrong places. How could it be otherwise? Anita gives a very accurate description of the jazz life style. Late nights, travelling endlessly and a disconnectedness from the rest of the ‘real’ world’ that leads to either a descent into promiscuity or drug abuse.I really enjoyed this book. Anita emerges as a very creditable person despite her foibles – which she does not shrink from detailing; worthy of our respect and time. The book reads well, in fact it’s a bit of a page turnover- largely because just as Anita seems to succeed in one way or another, she is manages to find herself back in trouble sooner rather than later. But she’s a trouper. So, just as things get bleak, she finds a way to survive. Anita is tough but she’s also got heart and a fully functioning brain. I was sorry to finish the book- what greater tribute can a reader give?Highly recommended.

This is a no holds barred autobiography. O'Day's early life makes modern experience look like a cakewalk. She also lived through the best days of jazz and was one of the best herself, certainly the best musician of all the jazz singers something that fellow musicians understood. Also includes a very useful discography for those who love this musician.

とてもいい本だと思います。もっと早く手に入れられたら、よかったです。なかなか日本の本屋さん、洋書店では見つからないと思います。

Anita has always been my favourite jazz singer but I had no idea of the life she had.For a self portrait this book is unusually honest.She doesn't treat herself with care and neitherSpares her readers the unfavourable moments of her life nor the mistakes and errors she committed. She is hard on herself. Still this is a book very much worth reading, never dull.Rather a piece of literature than just another boring self flattering biography .

es ist zwar bei mir angekommen aber es war nicht für mich. Der Bekannte hat sich aber sehr darüber gefreut.Vielen Dank