Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer

0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.

0:00:05 > 0:00:12# Yesterdays, days I knew As happy, sweet sequestered days... #

0:00:12 > 0:00:16- That's my key.- Like that better? - I got to work on it.

0:00:16 > 0:00:20# Olden days, golden days

0:00:20 > 0:00:24# Days of happiness and love... #

0:00:40 > 0:00:43Your personal experiences include rape,

0:00:43 > 0:00:46abortion, jail, heroin addiction...

0:00:46 > 0:00:48'That's just the way it went down, Bryant.'

0:00:51 > 0:00:56# Don't the moon look lonesome Shinin' through the trees

0:00:56 > 0:01:02# Don't the moon look lonesome Shinin' through the trees

0:01:02 > 0:01:07# Don't your arms look lonesome When your baby packs up to leave

0:01:07 > 0:01:13# Well, I'm goin' up on the mountain To call that baby of mine

0:01:13 > 0:01:19# Well, I'm goin' up on the mountain To call that baby of mine

0:01:19 > 0:01:24# But something tells me He's not coming back this time

0:01:24 > 0:01:29# Well, I could go up to the country Baby, can't take you

0:01:29 > 0:01:34# I'm goin' up to the country Can't take you

0:01:36 > 0:01:41# Nothin' up there A man like you could do-o-o

0:01:41 > 0:01:43# He's got a face like a fish

0:01:43 > 0:01:45# Shape like a frog

0:01:45 > 0:01:48# When he loves me I holler ooh, hot dog

0:01:48 > 0:01:53# Love that man better than I do myself

0:01:53 > 0:01:58# But he left me all alone All alone on the shelf... #

0:02:11 > 0:02:13SHE SCATS

0:02:31 > 0:02:34This is the story about a woman who wanted to be a jazz singer

0:02:34 > 0:02:36and refused to let anything stop her.

0:02:36 > 0:02:38She started singing at the age of 12

0:02:38 > 0:02:40for coins thrown on a dance floor.

0:02:40 > 0:02:43She just barely made enough money to pay the rent as a band singer,

0:02:43 > 0:02:45a canary, in the '40s.

0:02:45 > 0:02:50She had two bad marriages and was a heroin addict for 15 years.

0:02:50 > 0:02:53She survived all that to become one of the world's great jazz singers.

0:02:53 > 0:02:56We can hear most of you saying Anita who?

0:02:56 > 0:02:57But among jazz musicians,

0:02:57 > 0:03:00she is considered one of a handful of great singers.

0:03:00 > 0:03:01Critic Leonard Feather agrees.

0:03:01 > 0:03:04There are four basic elements

0:03:04 > 0:03:07that go into a great jazz vocal performance.

0:03:07 > 0:03:09One is the singer's tone quality,

0:03:09 > 0:03:12or timbre, the individual tone and sound of the voice,

0:03:12 > 0:03:14another is the phrasing,

0:03:14 > 0:03:17the extent to which he or she has the jazz feeling.

0:03:17 > 0:03:20A third element is the choice of accompanying musicians,

0:03:20 > 0:03:23another one is the choice of material.

0:03:23 > 0:03:26# It's not the pale moon

0:03:26 > 0:03:29# That excites me

0:03:29 > 0:03:35# That thrills and delights me

0:03:35 > 0:03:40# Oh, no, oh-oh-oh-oh

0:03:40 > 0:03:46# It's just the nearness of you. #

0:03:46 > 0:03:49- Pretty, Anita.- Nice tune.

0:03:49 > 0:03:53Billie Holiday, who to me was the greatest female jazz singer

0:03:53 > 0:03:56of all time, had all those elements, Ella Fitzgerald has them,

0:03:56 > 0:03:58Sarah Vaughn has them,

0:03:58 > 0:04:01Carmen McCray has them and Anita O'Day has them.

0:04:01 > 0:04:03# Sweet Georgia Brown

0:04:16 > 0:04:20- And that's to you, folks.- You have a good day. Great to see you.

0:04:20 > 0:04:21Thank you.

0:04:21 > 0:04:23- (COUNTER CLERK)- Hey, Anita.

0:04:23 > 0:04:26Give me my bet. I'll take your bet.

0:04:34 > 0:04:37Just before he left, he went to the races one day

0:04:37 > 0:04:39and played a horse called Anita.

0:04:39 > 0:04:41And he come back

0:04:41 > 0:04:44and he had some money

0:04:44 > 0:04:46and a friend of his had bet him that it wasn't going to win

0:04:46 > 0:04:50and it did, and he'd bet him an apartment on the west side.

0:04:50 > 0:04:54So we moved in with all the furniture there, a piano was there

0:04:54 > 0:04:57and a big round table and he would make beer in the pantry

0:04:57 > 0:05:00and have his friends over for poker.

0:05:00 > 0:05:04My mother was very strict, she never drank or smoked

0:05:04 > 0:05:08and everything was wrong and... just the other side.

0:05:08 > 0:05:10I, I don't get into that part.

0:05:10 > 0:05:15She was pregnant, you see, and they went to Chicago to get married.

0:05:15 > 0:05:19And by the time we came back, I was like, what,

0:05:19 > 0:05:21three months old or something like that and everybody was saying,

0:05:21 > 0:05:23what a big baby for just being born.

0:05:23 > 0:05:27Well, that went around, they used to tell me about that and, eh,

0:05:27 > 0:05:29but they were married.

0:05:29 > 0:05:31And then they didn't get along, then they got married again,

0:05:31 > 0:05:33remember I said 12 times?

0:05:33 > 0:05:37Well, he married my mother twice. Oh, he was out there.

0:05:37 > 0:05:40But he was a gentleman, he married them.

0:05:40 > 0:05:42My mother played piano, my father drank beer

0:05:42 > 0:05:44and we'd get a harmony going.

0:05:44 > 0:05:47That's how we got into singing. I'd hold my ears to sing the melody,

0:05:47 > 0:05:50# Moonlight and roses. #

0:05:50 > 0:05:51INTERVIEWER LAUGHS

0:05:51 > 0:05:54And my father was like a tenor, my mother a baritone

0:05:54 > 0:05:56and she'd ting, ting, ting, ting.

0:05:56 > 0:05:58And that's the start,

0:05:58 > 0:06:00never knowing I was ever going to, you know, get into it.

0:06:00 > 0:06:03I got O'Day from pig Latin.

0:06:03 > 0:06:09Like I, you say, a, can you n-kay oo-yay alk-tay ig-pay atin-lay?

0:06:09 > 0:06:12You know, and on and on and on and

0:06:12 > 0:06:15when it finally comes down to the name, you talk and you talk, and say

0:06:15 > 0:06:17O'Day and you might make some.

0:06:17 > 0:06:23O'Day, Anita O'Day, like Anita makes music, makes music and O'Day.

0:06:23 > 0:06:27Those marathon walkathons, tell me about that.

0:06:27 > 0:06:29Oh, I was in those when I was about 14.

0:06:29 > 0:06:33- What did you do? - I walked. That's right.

0:06:33 > 0:06:38And that's where I met Red Skelton, who was an MC at the show

0:06:38 > 0:06:40and Frankie Laine was a contestant,

0:06:40 > 0:06:43not my partner, but a contestant in one of the shows.

0:06:43 > 0:06:47And we would just walk around and whoever walks the longest wins.

0:06:47 > 0:06:49I was very young, though.

0:06:49 > 0:06:52Well, I hitchhiked down there,

0:06:52 > 0:06:55I was in one 3,228 hours, came in second!

0:06:57 > 0:06:59Oh, well, ta-da-da.

0:06:59 > 0:07:02One of the times I'm walking around,

0:07:02 > 0:07:06the Lord was standing beside me in the long white jacket

0:07:06 > 0:07:09and the white hair and he says, "How're you feeling, Anita?"

0:07:09 > 0:07:12And I said, "Oh, all right,"

0:07:12 > 0:07:16and I'm thinking, "What's going on here," you know?

0:07:16 > 0:07:20And he says, "What are you going to do with your life?"

0:07:20 > 0:07:24"Well, I'd like to sing and entertain the world."

0:07:24 > 0:07:28And he said to me, not you got it, but words to that effect,

0:07:28 > 0:07:32"All right, Anita, you got it," and he disappeared.

0:07:32 > 0:07:36So, every time I go to sing I say, thank you and I make it.

0:07:37 > 0:07:40# Thanks for the boogie ride I'm more than gratified

0:07:40 > 0:07:43# I'm really satisfied Which only goes to prove

0:07:43 > 0:07:46# You don't know until you glide Into the boogie ride

0:07:46 > 0:07:49# How quickly you will glide Out of this world. #

0:07:54 > 0:07:56Gene came to town and he says, "Hey, Anita, how are you doing?"

0:07:56 > 0:07:59He's at the Chicago Theater, he says, "My girl singer's getting married,

0:07:59 > 0:08:00"what am I going to do?" He called me,

0:08:00 > 0:08:03I went down and there were four people auditioning that day.

0:08:03 > 0:08:05I'm drinking to the winner.

0:08:05 > 0:08:09# Thank you for the boogie ride It really was great. #

0:08:09 > 0:08:11The real Swing Era breakthrough was to

0:08:11 > 0:08:15sort of sound relaxed and determined at the same time.

0:08:15 > 0:08:18Earlier jazz was really fervent.

0:08:20 > 0:08:23Those were the hits for the band.

0:08:23 > 0:08:27I was just vocalist. Uptown, Gene bought a house in Yonkers.

0:08:27 > 0:08:28INTERVIEWER LAUGHS

0:08:28 > 0:08:31Yeah, and I got 7 and 50 cents.

0:08:31 > 0:08:36How many people could sing with Gene Krupa

0:08:36 > 0:08:40and not walk away with that great feeling of melody

0:08:40 > 0:08:43and rhythm.

0:08:45 > 0:08:47God knows she sure did.

0:09:01 > 0:09:05Gene says, "You can swing, you better come with us."

0:09:05 > 0:09:07And I've been doing it ever since.

0:09:10 > 0:09:13- Hey, Joe.- What do you mean Joe? My name's Roy.

0:09:13 > 0:09:17Well, come here, Roy, and get groovy. You been uptown?

0:09:17 > 0:09:19No, I ain't been uptown, but I been around.

0:09:19 > 0:09:21You mean to say you ain't been uptown?

0:09:21 > 0:09:23No, I haven't been uptown, what's uptown?

0:09:23 > 0:09:25# Pleasure you're about

0:09:25 > 0:09:28# And you feel like stepping out

0:09:28 > 0:09:33# All you've got to shout is let me off uptown! #

0:09:33 > 0:09:35Let Me Off Uptown was a classic.

0:09:35 > 0:09:37I mean, that will last for ever.

0:09:37 > 0:09:39Anita, when she sang with Roy Eldridge,

0:09:39 > 0:09:41that in itself was a ground-breaking thing,

0:09:41 > 0:09:44to have a white girl sing with a great black artist

0:09:44 > 0:09:45like Roy Eldridge.

0:09:45 > 0:09:49That had never been heard of, like, you know?

0:09:49 > 0:09:53A black guy up there with a white girl, you know in that time,

0:09:53 > 0:09:56in those times, you know.

0:09:56 > 0:09:59# If you want to pitch a ball

0:09:59 > 0:10:01# And you can't afford a hall... #

0:10:01 > 0:10:03That raised a lot of heads.

0:10:03 > 0:10:05People looked and said, what's going on up there?

0:10:05 > 0:10:06This was a time

0:10:06 > 0:10:11when the racial problems were pretty high level in the country,

0:10:11 > 0:10:14and it was, it was considered, like, that's pretty nice of her

0:10:14 > 0:10:17to sing with, she and Roy, to get together and sing a duet.

0:10:17 > 0:10:20And I was impressed with that and of course,

0:10:20 > 0:10:24the main thing was the way she sang and the way she looked, very pretty.

0:10:24 > 0:10:29# All you've got to call is Let me off uptown. #

0:10:29 > 0:10:33But that song and when they spoke to each other...

0:10:33 > 0:10:37# Anita, oh, Anita... #

0:10:37 > 0:10:39Say, I feel something.

0:10:39 > 0:10:42What do you feel, Roy, the heat?

0:10:42 > 0:10:45No, it ain't the heat, it must be that uptown rhythm...

0:10:47 > 0:10:49..because I feel like blowin'.

0:10:49 > 0:10:52Well, blo-o-o-w Roy, blow.

0:10:54 > 0:10:57He'd go to Gene and complain, she's upstaging me!

0:10:57 > 0:11:00She's dancing and everything and I'm out there blowing my brains out

0:11:00 > 0:11:02and I'm saying to Gene, man, what am I,

0:11:02 > 0:11:04I was just dancing to your rhythm, Gene.

0:11:04 > 0:11:05Gene says, it's OK.

0:11:07 > 0:11:10Roy was mad as hell at Anita O'Day and,

0:11:10 > 0:11:13undoubtedly, you know, they had a...

0:11:13 > 0:11:15I guess, at best, a sibling relationship

0:11:15 > 0:11:18where there are ups and downs.

0:11:18 > 0:11:21But the thing he said, he said, she's pretty slick, he said.

0:11:27 > 0:11:29You know, I mean, that's a great song.

0:11:34 > 0:11:38I don't know where Gene Krupa really sorted this out

0:11:38 > 0:11:42but they went for the jugular of redneck America.

0:11:42 > 0:11:47They're most uptight about black men and white women,

0:11:47 > 0:11:49or seem to have been.

0:11:49 > 0:11:52You know, that they did those stage routines, you know,

0:11:52 > 0:11:54they were in physical jeopardy, certainly much more...

0:11:54 > 0:11:58Roy Eldridge would be the person to be rode out of town and lynched.

0:11:58 > 0:12:01But, you know, you can get caught in crossfire

0:12:01 > 0:12:04and in a sense, you could be surprised that it happened at all.

0:12:06 > 0:12:09I met Anita late '42, early '43

0:12:09 > 0:12:12backstage at the Adams Theater in Newark.

0:12:12 > 0:12:14And I had taken pictures of her.

0:12:14 > 0:12:17And I wrote her a little letter and she kept answering me.

0:12:17 > 0:12:21She was real excited about it, she had never gotten

0:12:21 > 0:12:23a letter from anybody.

0:12:23 > 0:12:27And she called me her number one fan.

0:12:27 > 0:12:31I would write to her about what was happening in the army

0:12:31 > 0:12:35and she would write me back where she was playing

0:12:35 > 0:12:38and that went on for about 63 years.

0:12:38 > 0:12:41When I was in Panama, she wanted stockings

0:12:41 > 0:12:44because there was a shortage of stockings here in the States,

0:12:44 > 0:12:46I'd send her a couple pair.

0:12:46 > 0:12:50She said she was, she was low on money or something,

0:12:50 > 0:12:54I might have sent a couple dollars, it wasn't really that much.

0:12:54 > 0:12:59I'll tell you, she could have been a wealthy girl by now

0:12:59 > 0:13:02if she didn't get into the mess that she was in.

0:13:02 > 0:13:07I was proud to see her in the movie. With the big hat.

0:13:07 > 0:13:11She always was different. She was the greatest.

0:13:11 > 0:13:13I love Anita.

0:13:13 > 0:13:15Yes, I'm still her number one fan!

0:13:21 > 0:13:23# Cat, who's that?

0:13:25 > 0:13:28# Struttin' by and he looks so wise... #

0:13:28 > 0:13:31Stan's band, nobody drank or smoked

0:13:31 > 0:13:34and, during breaks, they'd all run out and get some water or...

0:13:34 > 0:13:37and they'd read books in-between sets and everything, you know.

0:13:37 > 0:13:42Really, the other side, the other side of life, you know.

0:13:42 > 0:13:45And then they weren't swinging, really, they were,

0:13:45 > 0:13:46dat, dat, dat, dat.

0:13:46 > 0:13:49Stan would go, da-ta-da-ta, whatever... The band is holding

0:13:49 > 0:13:53this note and he'd look over at me like, when do I cut it off, you know?

0:13:53 > 0:13:56If he did it on his own, he'd cut it off at six and seven eighths,

0:13:56 > 0:13:58I never heard of it.

0:13:58 > 0:14:02But I'd get him to cut it off on four, so I did that for a year,

0:14:02 > 0:14:04you know, just trying to be helpful.

0:14:07 > 0:14:10# He would spend it on the ponies

0:14:10 > 0:14:12# Spend it on the girls... #

0:14:12 > 0:14:14And then the band would come in and sing,

0:14:14 > 0:14:16# And her tears flowed like wine. #

0:14:16 > 0:14:18You know, it was a piece of material.

0:14:18 > 0:14:22Corny, novelty, but that's what I did with that band.

0:14:30 > 0:14:32After about 11 months, I says to Stan,

0:14:32 > 0:14:35"Man, I'm going to have, you know, get out of here for a while.

0:14:35 > 0:14:38"Don't forget I was out there with Gene for many years, Stanley,

0:14:38 > 0:14:40"and this is enough, already."

0:14:40 > 0:14:43He's, "OK, don't leave me without a real singer."

0:14:43 > 0:14:46The next engagement was at Chicago Theater,

0:14:46 > 0:14:49this is where I come in with Gene, this is where I got out.

0:14:49 > 0:14:51Yeah, there's... Boyd Raeburn Band

0:14:51 > 0:14:54was working across the street from the theatre and between sets,

0:14:54 > 0:14:57for lunch one day, somebody in the band and me,

0:14:57 > 0:15:00I forget which one now, we went over and here's this girl singer

0:15:00 > 0:15:02and here's this band, everybody eating Chinese food

0:15:02 > 0:15:04and the light bulb went on, man.

0:15:04 > 0:15:08It was like it was a painted picture just come to life, meant to be.

0:15:08 > 0:15:10I went backstage there and I said, "What is your name?"

0:15:10 > 0:15:12And she says, "Shirley Luster," and I said,

0:15:12 > 0:15:15"Well, how would you like to be rich and famous?"

0:15:15 > 0:15:18And over she comes, they meet and she changes her name to June Christy

0:15:18 > 0:15:21and the rest is history, yeah.

0:15:21 > 0:15:24A famous story about Anita is that,

0:15:24 > 0:15:26even back in the '40s when she was still a band singer,

0:15:26 > 0:15:29that band singers were always really glamorous creatures

0:15:29 > 0:15:32that wore flowing evening gowns and it was very difficult, you know,

0:15:32 > 0:15:35for these poor girls to manage this while they were on the road.

0:15:35 > 0:15:38You got to be pretty and you got to wear a dress but they don't move.

0:15:38 > 0:15:41# Love is a many-splendoured thing... #

0:15:41 > 0:15:43She looks gorgeous, she don't move.

0:15:43 > 0:15:46And Anita was the first one to insist on just

0:15:46 > 0:15:49wearing a regulation band uniform and a skirt, you know,

0:15:49 > 0:15:51not to do the full glamour route.

0:15:51 > 0:15:53When Gene was doing very well at the Paramount Theater,

0:15:53 > 0:15:57he hired a tailor to give them an outfit, two outfits -

0:15:57 > 0:16:00one for on the road with green slacks and a chequered jacket and everything

0:16:00 > 0:16:03and I just asked him if I could have a skirt and jacket made.

0:16:03 > 0:16:07And I set that trend, played it like one of the guys.

0:16:07 > 0:16:09She was like one of the guys in the band,

0:16:09 > 0:16:11because that was her training.

0:16:11 > 0:16:14And she knew how to handle all those kind of situations

0:16:14 > 0:16:19where she was the only woman or whatever. But she was fun.

0:16:19 > 0:16:22I got to be one of the guys so much I use to have girls waiting for me...

0:16:22 > 0:16:25Well, no, too late now...!

0:16:25 > 0:16:27Paris, you had to be chic.

0:16:30 > 0:16:34So, that became my way of dressing,

0:16:34 > 0:16:37as Anita adopted suits.

0:16:37 > 0:16:40People don't think of her as being feminine,

0:16:40 > 0:16:43because she's always been so tough. But she is so feminine.

0:16:46 > 0:16:50She was always beautifully put together, you know, I have to say.

0:16:50 > 0:16:55I had an argument with a woman at Iridium,

0:16:55 > 0:16:57a fan,

0:16:57 > 0:17:01and the woman was commenting on how pretty Anita was.

0:17:01 > 0:17:04And she said, ""ell, of course, she's had lots of surgery."

0:17:04 > 0:17:06I said, "No, Anita's never had any plastic surgery."

0:17:06 > 0:17:07And the woman said,

0:17:07 > 0:17:10"Ha-ha, well, if that's the way you want to remember it," you know,

0:17:10 > 0:17:13she figured I was being a loyal friend and I said,

0:17:13 > 0:17:15"No, it's absolutely true."

0:17:15 > 0:17:18How does she do that? I mean, she's 112 years old now,

0:17:18 > 0:17:22I think, isn't she? And she's so pretty, she's prettier than ever.

0:17:37 > 0:17:39Well, after Gene Krupa Orchestra for five years

0:17:39 > 0:17:43and Stan Kenton for one year, I decided that I would like

0:17:43 > 0:17:46to try for a small group, which is different kind of work.

0:17:46 > 0:17:49You make the fills yourself, it's called improvising

0:17:49 > 0:17:51and that's good jazz.

0:17:52 > 0:17:54I'm so glad you could come to the party, young lady.

0:17:54 > 0:17:58- Thank you for asking me, sir. - My delight, my delight.

0:17:58 > 0:18:01Just in case you don't know who is with us, this is Anita, of course.

0:18:01 > 0:18:04You know, in jazz, there are three queens

0:18:04 > 0:18:06they say reign over different parts of the world.

0:18:07 > 0:18:10Ella, Billie and Anita.

0:18:10 > 0:18:12Well, I guess that's about it, you know.

0:18:12 > 0:18:15Between the three of them, they cover all the territory.

0:18:15 > 0:18:17Currently, Anita O'Day,

0:18:17 > 0:18:20who is sampling our parliament here at the Village Vanguard in New York.

0:18:20 > 0:18:23And she has opened, we can't smoke that now

0:18:23 > 0:18:25because I have a feeling we'll get you to work...

0:18:25 > 0:18:27She's opened to the most sensational reviews of her

0:18:27 > 0:18:29always sensational career.

0:18:29 > 0:18:31She dropped in to be with the boys,

0:18:31 > 0:18:33we got a pretty sturdy combination here, wouldn't you say?

0:18:33 > 0:18:36- I tell you what I'd like to do. - What would you?

0:18:36 > 0:18:38For the first couple of numbers,

0:18:38 > 0:18:40I'd like to ask the boys, the instruments,

0:18:40 > 0:18:43to take five and I'll do a couple of tunes with the trio.

0:18:43 > 0:18:45- All right, you want to do that? - All righty?

0:18:45 > 0:18:47- You want us to do that?- I'd love to.

0:18:47 > 0:18:48Make a trio, out of the boys that are here.

0:18:48 > 0:18:50Pick out some of the guys. Put your rhythm together.

0:18:50 > 0:18:52- Me and Mr Ford.- Any time, girl.

0:18:52 > 0:18:56Anita O'Day, she's going over there now to pick out some musicians

0:18:56 > 0:18:58and make a little trio.

0:18:58 > 0:19:02I see them quieting down, the lady has her way.

0:19:02 > 0:19:05Selecting her musicians for a little trio accompaniment.

0:19:05 > 0:19:06Let's catch up with her.

0:19:12 > 0:19:15# My heart is sad

0:19:15 > 0:19:19# My heart is sad and lonely for you-ou

0:19:19 > 0:19:22# For you dear only

0:19:22 > 0:19:27# Why haven't you seen it

0:19:27 > 0:19:30# I'm all for you, body and... #

0:19:30 > 0:19:33And there was sense of, um,

0:19:33 > 0:19:37fuck you about it and it was just like, yeah, I don't know.

0:19:37 > 0:19:40I'm just going to do it this way

0:19:40 > 0:19:43and maybe they haven't done it before,

0:19:43 > 0:19:45but let's give it a shot, you know? Play around with the band,

0:19:45 > 0:19:48just stick the mic in your tuba or whatever

0:19:48 > 0:19:51and show me something, surprise me.

0:19:51 > 0:19:55If you're half-assed about it, I'll let you know.

0:19:55 > 0:19:58# It's hard to conceive it

0:19:58 > 0:20:02# That you turn away romance...

0:20:02 > 0:20:06# It looks like the ending our hearts...

0:20:06 > 0:20:08Ah, for God's sake!

0:20:08 > 0:20:11This is a party.

0:20:11 > 0:20:14# One more chance to prove, dear

0:20:14 > 0:20:17# That my life's a wreck

0:20:17 > 0:20:20# My life's a wreck you're making

0:20:20 > 0:20:24# You know I'm yours for just the taking... #

0:20:24 > 0:20:26All of this is for the piano player!

0:20:26 > 0:20:28# And I would gladly surrender... #

0:20:28 > 0:20:30Move closer so I can hear you, baby.

0:20:32 > 0:20:36# Body and soul

0:20:36 > 0:20:40# My heart's a wreck I'm sad and lonely... #

0:20:40 > 0:20:45SHE SINGS SCAT STYLE

0:21:24 > 0:21:26# You know that I'm yours

0:21:26 > 0:21:30# For just the taking

0:21:30 > 0:21:34# And I would gladly surrender... #

0:21:34 > 0:21:37SHE SCATS

0:21:44 > 0:21:52# Body and sou-ou-ou-l. #

0:21:57 > 0:22:00Bebop comes along, and she's not so much making an adjustment,

0:22:00 > 0:22:05it's learning rhythmic lines over again

0:22:05 > 0:22:09and creating an equally sublime interpretation of the rhythmic line

0:22:09 > 0:22:12of the bebop era as she'd done previously.

0:22:12 > 0:22:15And that's what sets her apart from some of her contemporaries,

0:22:15 > 0:22:19who also sounded as though they were primary associates

0:22:19 > 0:22:21of the new jazz of the '40s and '50s.

0:22:21 > 0:22:26Well, Anita was working with Max Miller at the High Note,

0:22:26 > 0:22:28which is on the near north side of Chicago

0:22:28 > 0:22:31and evidently they were going to add a trumpet player.

0:22:31 > 0:22:35And so they came to see me when I was playing with Stuff Smith

0:22:35 > 0:22:39at the Blue Note and evidently they liked what they heard,

0:22:39 > 0:22:43so they hired me and that was the longest job in history,

0:22:43 > 0:22:46six months at one nightclub.

0:22:46 > 0:22:49Anita was not a singer in my estimation.

0:22:49 > 0:22:55She was a musician who used her voice as an instrument.

0:22:55 > 0:22:56She really puts it in there.

0:22:56 > 0:23:00You have to have had a little bit of life under your belt

0:23:00 > 0:23:03in order to make those songs your own.

0:23:03 > 0:23:04When I was a disc jockey,

0:23:04 > 0:23:06I used to play her music and her records a lot,

0:23:06 > 0:23:09simply because she was saying something with the music

0:23:09 > 0:23:12that other people were not.

0:23:12 > 0:23:14She was certainly an innovator.

0:23:14 > 0:23:20I mean, so many ladies tried to sound like Anita.

0:23:20 > 0:23:24Once you can turn the radio on or the TV or whatever and say,

0:23:24 > 0:23:26hey, that's Anita...

0:23:28 > 0:23:30..that's very valuable.

0:23:30 > 0:23:32Anyone would ask me, I'd have to say

0:23:32 > 0:23:34it's that little thing that hangs down that goes ahhhh.

0:23:34 > 0:23:36And I don't have that.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39My mother says you're going to have your tonsils taken out.

0:23:39 > 0:23:44Well, OK, I figured they, they put you back under or something

0:23:44 > 0:23:46and it's not going to hurt.

0:23:46 > 0:23:49But the slip of the wrist, it came as a letter to my mother saying,

0:23:49 > 0:23:54"Dear Mrs Colton, we are so sorry but the slip of the knife,

0:23:54 > 0:23:56"your daughter has no uvula."

0:23:56 > 0:23:59They cut the uvula out.

0:23:59 > 0:24:03When you go to sing it's very important, you know, you need that.

0:24:03 > 0:24:07And that's why I sing eighth notes, so I didn't have to use it.

0:24:07 > 0:24:08Like... # Sing. #

0:24:08 > 0:24:10I have to shake my head for vibrato.

0:24:10 > 0:24:14# Singing in the rain... #

0:24:14 > 0:24:16It's an open vowel, you know.

0:24:16 > 0:24:19But if I had that I would, like I say, whatever.

0:24:19 > 0:24:23But that's why I do a lot of eighth notes tunes, like, let's see.

0:24:23 > 0:24:27# So you met someone Who set you back on your heels

0:24:27 > 0:24:29# Goody, goody. #

0:24:29 > 0:24:30See, I don't have to use it.

0:24:30 > 0:24:34Well, I got away, I'm still getting away with it, don't tell everybody.

0:24:35 > 0:24:38Oh, what... Here's, this is the one I can't,

0:24:38 > 0:24:41what is jazz?

0:24:41 > 0:24:43MAN LAUGHS

0:24:43 > 0:24:45- What is jazz?- You tell us.

0:24:45 > 0:24:49Well, like, they think I know. I don't know!

0:24:49 > 0:24:53I just do what I'm doing and if they think it's jazz, cos it says so,

0:24:53 > 0:24:58that's, that's how I got them, so, I don't have to know why.

0:24:58 > 0:25:02Let's do a tune called Let's Fall In Love in F in two four,

0:25:02 > 0:25:04just like this.

0:25:07 > 0:25:10This is the introduction, folks, in two four.

0:25:10 > 0:25:13# Let's fall in love

0:25:13 > 0:25:16# Why shouldn't we fall in love

0:25:16 > 0:25:18# Our hearts are made of it

0:25:18 > 0:25:21# Take a chance

0:25:21 > 0:25:22# Why be afraid of it. #

0:25:22 > 0:25:24Now, stop.

0:25:24 > 0:25:27That was in two four time, now the second eighth, same song,

0:25:27 > 0:25:32we're going to it into four four time and this is what you get.

0:25:32 > 0:25:34# Let's fall in love

0:25:34 > 0:25:36# Why shouldn't we fall in love

0:25:36 > 0:25:39# Our hearts are made of it

0:25:39 > 0:25:41# Take a chance

0:25:41 > 0:25:43# Why be afraid of it

0:25:43 > 0:25:47# Let's close our eyes and make our own paradise

0:25:47 > 0:25:49# Little we know of it

0:25:49 > 0:25:51# Still we can try to make a go of it... #

0:25:51 > 0:25:54Now, you're going into the bridge,

0:25:54 > 0:25:56the melody is just a counterpoint.

0:25:56 > 0:26:00I've got de-da-da-da-da-de-de, you want to go up or down?

0:26:00 > 0:26:02D minor, the chord's D minor.

0:26:02 > 0:26:05# De-la-de-do-do-do... #

0:26:05 > 0:26:08That's the melody.

0:26:08 > 0:26:12# Dee-ala-da-da-dee...

0:26:12 > 0:26:15# Let's fall in love

0:26:15 > 0:26:18# Why shouldn't we fall in love

0:26:18 > 0:26:22# Now is the time for it while we are young

0:26:22 > 0:26:26# Let's fall in love... #

0:26:26 > 0:26:30SHE SCATS

0:26:32 > 0:26:36Everything that happened in the room and every sound she heard,

0:26:36 > 0:26:40she would somehow work into her performance and I remember vividly

0:26:40 > 0:26:42that she talked about the ceiling fan

0:26:42 > 0:26:45whirling above her with a chit, chit-chit-chit.

0:26:45 > 0:26:48So, she threw that into the music

0:26:48 > 0:26:51and made that part of her rhythm. That's a jazz singer.

0:26:51 > 0:26:56# Let's fall in love why shouldn't we fall in love

0:26:56 > 0:26:57# Our hearts are made for it... #

0:26:57 > 0:27:00I felt about her as I felt like films by John Cassavetes.

0:27:00 > 0:27:03It's like, how can it seem so spontaneous

0:27:03 > 0:27:06and so fit in with the music and that's why jazz

0:27:06 > 0:27:09is still a mystery to me, it's like, do they rehearse all of that stuff?

0:27:09 > 0:27:12# Still we can try to make a go of it

0:27:12 > 0:27:15# We might have been meant for each other... #

0:27:15 > 0:27:18That's jazz singing, to improvise.

0:27:18 > 0:27:20# To be or not to be

0:27:20 > 0:27:24# Let our hearts discover

0:27:24 > 0:27:26# Let's fall...

0:27:26 > 0:27:30# La, la, la, la, love

0:27:30 > 0:27:33# While we are young

0:27:33 > 0:27:35# While we are young

0:27:35 > 0:27:41# Let's fall in love In love, in la-la-love

0:27:41 > 0:27:50# Let's fall in lo-o-ve

0:27:51 > 0:27:56# Let's fall in la-la-la-love... #

0:27:56 > 0:28:00Not just four, but five notes, la, just that time,

0:28:00 > 0:28:03- it's different each time, you see? - Yeah, right.

0:28:03 > 0:28:06And that's what jazz is all about, it's sort of a freelance sketch.

0:28:06 > 0:28:08That's beautiful.

0:28:13 > 0:28:17# I told you I love you

0:28:17 > 0:28:19# Now get out... #

0:28:20 > 0:28:23I got married a couple of times, too.

0:28:25 > 0:28:26Sorry about that.

0:28:26 > 0:28:28Why do you laugh like that?

0:28:28 > 0:28:31Because, like, just curious about things, you do things, you know?

0:28:31 > 0:28:34No, but you say, I been married a couple of times too, ha-ha-ha! Why?

0:28:34 > 0:28:38- Well, I was curious about marriage, too.- Was your curiosity satiated?

0:28:38 > 0:28:41- I'm not married now.- How come? - I got enough of that.

0:28:41 > 0:28:44One was the drummer, Don Carter.

0:28:44 > 0:28:47And that lasted about a year

0:28:47 > 0:28:51and his mother was very unhappy about the scene and I didn't want to live

0:28:51 > 0:28:55with Mother, so he says, well, I'll see you later, Anita, thanks a lot.

0:28:55 > 0:28:58So, he and Mom went off to New York

0:28:58 > 0:29:02and right after that I was singing at the Three Deuces, the off beat room

0:29:02 > 0:29:05downstairs, and Art Tatum was the piano player upstairs, not too bad.

0:29:05 > 0:29:08And this guy comes in and years later he told me,

0:29:08 > 0:29:11he just stepped in out of the rain in the alcove.

0:29:11 > 0:29:14And he saw my picture on the wall, didn't even know it was a nightclub.

0:29:14 > 0:29:16He had his car parked next door

0:29:16 > 0:29:19and he just stopped in there and then he was going to go get his car.

0:29:19 > 0:29:20He was a golf pro.

0:29:20 > 0:29:24And so he came in and as he walked in and sat down,

0:29:24 > 0:29:25I was singing the tune...

0:29:25 > 0:29:27# While tearing off a game of golf

0:29:27 > 0:29:30# I may make a play for the caddy

0:29:30 > 0:29:34# When I do I don't follow through Cos my heart belongs to Daddy... #

0:29:34 > 0:29:36And he, he told me this, you know.

0:29:36 > 0:29:39And he said, he told his friend when he got home,

0:29:39 > 0:29:41I'm going to marry that girl. And it's true, we were married 14 years.

0:29:41 > 0:29:45- Wonderful.- Yeah, how about that.

0:29:46 > 0:29:48Well, I was in the business, you know?

0:29:48 > 0:29:51And he was a golf pro which keeps him over there and when, and home,

0:29:51 > 0:29:55and I'm out on the road all the time and you just drift apart.

0:29:55 > 0:29:59So, it wasn't, eh, planned, just kind of...mutual agreement.

0:30:02 > 0:30:05There are jazz singers and jazz musicians

0:30:05 > 0:30:10but then there's the jazz life, and that is what Anita O'Day epitomises.

0:30:10 > 0:30:12The jazz life to me is improvising

0:30:12 > 0:30:14your life every step of the way.

0:30:14 > 0:30:19That's very much hand in hand with drug addiction.

0:30:19 > 0:30:22Which is like a unique thing, I think, about jazz, frankly,

0:30:22 > 0:30:25because you have to live it. You have to live it

0:30:25 > 0:30:28and perform it, speaking for what

0:30:28 > 0:30:30I've seen with my father.

0:30:30 > 0:30:31I mean, there's no...

0:30:31 > 0:30:34It's ingrained in every fibre,

0:30:34 > 0:30:36every breathing moment.

0:30:36 > 0:30:40Singers and performers, you know, we're really insane,

0:30:40 > 0:30:44that we're working tough hours, many places,

0:30:44 > 0:30:48and they needed something that would relax them,

0:30:48 > 0:30:53either scotch, gin, whatever you drank,

0:30:53 > 0:30:56or, worse than that, the drugs.

0:30:56 > 0:30:59- How could you ever get involved with all that junk?- How could you?

0:30:59 > 0:31:01- Yeah.- Curiosity killed the cat, right?

0:31:01 > 0:31:03- Was it just curiosity?- Of course.

0:31:03 > 0:31:08- Was there a lot of it around, Anita? - Right. It was a thing in California.

0:31:08 > 0:31:11I guess it was a thing in New York too. You know, as you travel, it's always there.

0:31:11 > 0:31:15It's like certain people, they just kind of hang out, and whatever town

0:31:15 > 0:31:18you are in, they come around so it is very hard to quit.

0:31:18 > 0:31:20You say, "I am going to quit,"

0:31:20 > 0:31:24and there's a group of people, that is what they do in life.

0:31:24 > 0:31:27We all needed drugs so we took them,

0:31:27 > 0:31:31and the more we took them, the more we needed.

0:31:31 > 0:31:38I mean, it's the most seductive, insidious kind of thing

0:31:38 > 0:31:40because it's your lover,

0:31:40 > 0:31:46it's your buffer between the world and problems you have.

0:31:46 > 0:31:48If you get high, you feel great.

0:31:49 > 0:31:53Is there anything, honestly, to the fact that cannabis,

0:31:53 > 0:31:56marijuana, pot, Mary Jane, taking a thumb break,

0:31:56 > 0:32:00whatever you call it, muggles - have I left anything out? -

0:32:00 > 0:32:07actually helps a musician have more choices and variety in his playing?

0:32:07 > 0:32:09Oh, gosh. I don't really think so.

0:32:09 > 0:32:11Because that was the rumour, of course.

0:32:11 > 0:32:15Probably. That's why a lot of people tried it for some unknown reason.

0:32:15 > 0:32:18But it really has nothing to do with what you really do

0:32:18 > 0:32:20if you can do it at all.

0:32:20 > 0:32:22That is where all the jazz is.

0:32:22 > 0:32:25You know, "They got the name, play the game."

0:32:25 > 0:32:27I told you about when they put me in jail on pot.

0:32:27 > 0:32:32I said, "I got the name. Haven't done it. I'll play the game.

0:32:32 > 0:32:34"They are going to think that anyhow."

0:32:34 > 0:32:37Then you get curious and you go find out for yourself.

0:32:45 > 0:32:50The first one was the marijuana and the paper in Long Beach says,

0:32:50 > 0:32:56"Bars for O'Day but not music." Headlines like war was declared.

0:32:56 > 0:32:57Funny. Funny.

0:32:57 > 0:33:02They really had the cops out for everybody.

0:33:02 > 0:33:06"You mustn't drink, you mustn't take drugs."

0:33:07 > 0:33:14I was asked several times if I took something. "Yeah, a Coca-Cola."

0:33:14 > 0:33:17And these guys would follow, especially the big bands or anybody

0:33:17 > 0:33:19that was pretty popular, they'd follow them because they knew

0:33:19 > 0:33:22at some point, somebody, without thinking about it,

0:33:22 > 0:33:25was going to light up or do whatever the guys were doing at that time,

0:33:25 > 0:33:29and then they'd make a quick arrest and the headline or something

0:33:29 > 0:33:33would say, so-and-so in so-and-so's orchestra got busted, or whatever.

0:33:35 > 0:33:37It was pretty sad, actually.

0:33:37 > 0:33:38They sure make a nice story out of it.

0:33:38 > 0:33:43She is singing a song which is her livelihood and she is making

0:33:43 > 0:33:46her living, and then they walk up there and arrest her.

0:33:46 > 0:33:49They did, they arrested me, they took me to jail.

0:33:49 > 0:33:51I was in over the weekend or whatever,

0:33:51 > 0:33:55and then I had to go to court, then they gave me six months.

0:33:56 > 0:34:00I got a chance to see how the other people live.

0:34:00 > 0:34:03You're never too close to anybody else.

0:34:03 > 0:34:05They always keep you away, you're the celebrity,

0:34:05 > 0:34:07"You can't see her, you can't talk to her,"

0:34:07 > 0:34:11and I'm talking to all these people and they all got the same story.

0:34:11 > 0:34:14"I didn't do it, Anita. I'm innocent."

0:34:14 > 0:34:17They were all innocent, you know!

0:34:17 > 0:34:21They gave me one month for good time, I had three to go,

0:34:21 > 0:34:26so they pulled it, and a job to go to,

0:34:26 > 0:34:29so that is two good things, so they let me out.

0:34:29 > 0:34:33And I didn't do six months, what did I do? I did four months, right?

0:34:33 > 0:34:37You'll get a different approach after a few days in jail.

0:34:37 > 0:34:38It is something else, you know?

0:34:46 > 0:34:50You were convicted several times on drug charges.

0:34:50 > 0:34:53How difficult did that make it for you to get bookings in certain

0:34:53 > 0:34:56- cities that had...?- That helped, that's showbiz!

0:34:56 > 0:34:58And that was part of it. Man, I'd work a club

0:34:58 > 0:35:01and they'd be standing out down the street around the corner,

0:35:01 > 0:35:04getting in to see the girl just got out of jail.

0:35:04 > 0:35:06Yeah!

0:35:06 > 0:35:09It's a strip joint is what it is. Drink and the strips come out,

0:35:09 > 0:35:12not as far as today's but at that time.

0:35:12 > 0:35:17And this elderly lady is the MC, who turned out to be Lenny Bruce's mother,

0:35:17 > 0:35:20and then he got all these jokes going from that place

0:35:20 > 0:35:24and I thought, I said to this person, "Where is the band?"

0:35:24 > 0:35:28"Behind the curtain," and that is a real band going on.

0:35:28 > 0:35:30But he could see through it, I mean the drummer.

0:35:30 > 0:35:32I said, "I'd like to meet him.

0:35:32 > 0:35:35"The girls don't dance but he catches every bop."

0:35:35 > 0:35:38Like, if they go like that, he'd go bop.

0:35:38 > 0:35:39They don't know what they are doing

0:35:39 > 0:35:42but he knows enough to follow all that.

0:35:42 > 0:35:45I said, "I want that drummer. He is going to be my drummer."

0:35:45 > 0:35:47And he was for 30 years.

0:35:48 > 0:35:55But John, this drummer, John Poole, I'd say, "Well, what do you do?

0:35:55 > 0:35:59"You know, you don't drink, you don't smoke, what do you do?"

0:35:59 > 0:36:03"Here's some heroin." "Oh, heroin. Hmmm."

0:36:03 > 0:36:05He says, "You put it in the spoon and you put a little water

0:36:05 > 0:36:10"and you put it into your vein." I says, "And you're doing that?"

0:36:10 > 0:36:13He says, "Yeah, I been doing it a long time,

0:36:13 > 0:36:15"I'm really hung up on it."

0:36:15 > 0:36:17And I said, "Well, I want to try it."

0:36:17 > 0:36:20He says, "No, I'm not going to be the one to turn you on, Anita.

0:36:20 > 0:36:22"I don't want to be the one to start you

0:36:22 > 0:36:24"into that bad, going down the hill routine."

0:36:24 > 0:36:27I said, "Oh, well, I'll stop drinking,

0:36:27 > 0:36:31"and I wouldn't have the mixture." And he's, "No."

0:36:31 > 0:36:33And then one day he got kind of high and everything and he says,

0:36:33 > 0:36:38"OK, I'll give you two drops."

0:36:38 > 0:36:42Now the spoon handles about ten if you take them slow

0:36:42 > 0:36:44and he does it that way, he takes it up to about that much.

0:36:44 > 0:36:48So does Charlie Parker. When we met him one day he says,

0:36:48 > 0:36:50"You want to turn on, John?"

0:36:50 > 0:36:53Because everybody knew John was a turn on, you know.

0:36:53 > 0:36:57They didn't know about me, I was just around.

0:36:57 > 0:37:03And so he takes all this but two drops, puts it in the spoon,

0:37:03 > 0:37:05and I'm looking at him

0:37:05 > 0:37:10and I'm saying, "Hey, that's better than a martini.

0:37:10 > 0:37:15"Hey, that's better than sex. Hey, I kind of like that, yeah.

0:37:15 > 0:37:17"When are you going again?

0:37:17 > 0:37:20He says, "Give me 20 and I'll go now."

0:37:20 > 0:37:24So every day, I gave him 20 and we both got into it, you know?

0:37:24 > 0:37:28Now we're both smiling and swinging and playing.

0:37:28 > 0:37:31One, two, three, four, five.

0:37:39 > 0:37:42# Picture me upon your knee A tea for two, two for tea

0:37:42 > 0:37:44# Can't you see how happy we could be... #

0:37:44 > 0:37:46ANITA SCATS

0:37:50 > 0:37:53My God, what a perfect marriage, you know.

0:37:53 > 0:37:58I'm not romanticising it, but heroin and jazz that way, because jazz

0:37:58 > 0:38:02is all about trying to completely... At least if you're, you know,

0:38:02 > 0:38:06if you're improvising or bebop, completely trying to free yourself.

0:38:06 > 0:38:10ANITA SCATS

0:38:14 > 0:38:17# ..Me to make a sugar cake for you to take for all the boys to see

0:38:17 > 0:38:19# Raise a family A boy for you, a girl for me

0:38:19 > 0:38:23# Now can't you see how happy we could be?

0:38:23 > 0:38:25# Picture me upon your knee with tea for two and two for tea

0:38:25 > 0:38:28# Now can't you see how happy we could be?

0:38:28 > 0:38:29# Nobody near us To see us or hear us

0:38:29 > 0:38:31# No friends relations on vacations

0:38:31 > 0:38:34# We won't have it known We own a telephone dear

0:38:34 > 0:38:37# Day will break and you'll awake For me to bake a sugar cake

0:38:37 > 0:38:38# For you to take for all the boys to see

0:38:38 > 0:38:41# Raise a family A boy for you a girl for me

0:38:41 > 0:38:44# Can't you see how happy we could be? #

0:38:44 > 0:38:49When she said she got on drugs, that she was singing faster

0:38:49 > 0:38:53and was free and...

0:38:53 > 0:38:57like, she opened her hands and opened her heart

0:38:57 > 0:39:02and out came better things than she had ever done.

0:39:02 > 0:39:05She was happy. She was free.

0:39:09 > 0:39:12ANITA SCATS

0:39:33 > 0:39:36Everything that Anita does is so great.

0:39:36 > 0:39:39Tea For Two, Honeysuckle Rose, Georgia Brown -

0:39:39 > 0:39:44those kind of vehicles for her rhythmic exhibitionism,

0:39:44 > 0:39:47you might say, because, I mean, she's got a very pretty voice

0:39:47 > 0:39:50but the whole crux, you know, the whole, sort of, nexus

0:39:50 > 0:39:52of what she does is what she does with time.

0:39:52 > 0:39:55And she's just got amazingly swinging time.

0:39:55 > 0:39:57ANITA SCATS

0:40:01 > 0:40:05# Me to bake a sugar cake for you to take for all the boys to see

0:40:05 > 0:40:08# We'll raise a family A boy for you, a girl for me

0:40:08 > 0:40:12# Now can't you see how happy we could be?

0:40:12 > 0:40:14# Can't you see

0:40:14 > 0:40:17# How happy we

0:40:17 > 0:40:20# Could be

0:40:20 > 0:40:25# We three? #

0:40:28 > 0:40:31I was living in a small apartment on the beach

0:40:31 > 0:40:34and she and John moved in next door.

0:40:34 > 0:40:36On Sunday mornings,

0:40:36 > 0:40:40I'd be wakened at dawn by the sound of a motor scooter.

0:40:40 > 0:40:44And their connection was arriving on a motor scooter.

0:40:44 > 0:40:47He would get off, walk in this little dividing area

0:40:47 > 0:40:50between the buildings, there was a ladder, put a ladder up and walk up

0:40:50 > 0:40:55the ladder and make his delivery through their bedroom window.

0:40:55 > 0:40:58John and Anita both, at different times, would go into South Central

0:40:58 > 0:41:04and really run very risky trips, and they pulled it off.

0:41:04 > 0:41:07But that was, to me, like the ideal of living at the beach,

0:41:07 > 0:41:10to have your connection come on a motor scooter

0:41:10 > 0:41:12and delivered to your bedroom window.

0:41:17 > 0:41:23We can fantasise about living that kind of on-the-road existence,

0:41:23 > 0:41:24but very few of us

0:41:24 > 0:41:28will ever do what Anita O'Day has done every day of her life.

0:41:37 > 0:41:40The question was would she have done better if she had had better

0:41:40 > 0:41:43management along the way? I don't think that that would have

0:41:43 > 0:41:48helped because I don't think that Anita was manageable, as such.

0:41:48 > 0:41:51Anita had her own opinions about everything

0:41:51 > 0:41:53and I probably got along with her better than anyone

0:41:53 > 0:41:56because she liked me and I was a jazz drummer.

0:41:56 > 0:41:58I think that's why John Poole allowed her to sign with me,

0:41:58 > 0:42:00because I was a drummer.

0:42:05 > 0:42:09She was making 2,500 a week playing clubs at that time.

0:42:09 > 0:42:12# I'm travelling light... #

0:42:12 > 0:42:15She says, "You're going to live on the 2,500 a week

0:42:15 > 0:42:16"you're making in the clubs."

0:42:16 > 0:42:20# ..Because my man has gone... #

0:42:20 > 0:42:23"At the end of two years, if it goes three years, you'll have some

0:42:23 > 0:42:26"money when it's over, for the first time in your life."

0:42:27 > 0:42:30# ..I'm travelling light... #

0:42:30 > 0:42:34At the end of three years, she came by my house to borrow two bucks

0:42:34 > 0:42:36for gas money so she could keep going.

0:42:39 > 0:42:46# ..And took my heart away

0:42:46 > 0:42:51# So from today

0:42:51 > 0:42:55# I'm travelling light... #

0:42:55 > 0:42:57Care to speculate what happened to all that dough?

0:42:57 > 0:43:00I don't think it requires speculation.

0:43:00 > 0:43:03I think there was probably a great deal of it that went into her

0:43:03 > 0:43:06left arm and some into her right arm.

0:43:06 > 0:43:10And...some into the care and maintenance of John Poole.

0:43:10 > 0:43:16# ..No-one but me

0:43:16 > 0:43:20# And my memories

0:43:21 > 0:43:25# Some lucky night

0:43:28 > 0:43:34# He may come back again

0:43:34 > 0:43:39# But until then

0:43:39 > 0:43:45# I'm travelling light... #

0:43:47 > 0:43:50There's an awful lot going on underneath the surface that

0:43:50 > 0:43:54catches your attention because it's mysterious, it's restrained

0:43:54 > 0:43:57and because it's kind of secret.

0:43:57 > 0:44:00And she has that quality to this, to this day.

0:44:00 > 0:44:05# ..I'm travelling light

0:44:05 > 0:44:10# I'm travelling light

0:44:12 > 0:44:18# I'm travelling light

0:44:18 > 0:44:26# I'm travelling light. #

0:44:29 > 0:44:32You know, when you think of the ultimate, really, really great,

0:44:32 > 0:44:34especially female jazz singers, you know,

0:44:34 > 0:44:37I would think that Anita is the only white woman that belongs in

0:44:37 > 0:44:42the same breath as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn.

0:44:42 > 0:44:48We had a lot of black female singers like Sarah Vaughn and, of course,

0:44:48 > 0:44:56Ella Fitzgerald but Anita O'Day was right there with them in that class.

0:44:56 > 0:44:59It doesn't matter what colour you are, if you don't have the

0:44:59 > 0:45:03feeling to play the jazz, because it's the feeling...

0:45:03 > 0:45:06that's one of the biggest things you've got to get in there.

0:45:06 > 0:45:09Another thing, singing in the Apollo Theater -

0:45:09 > 0:45:13very few whites sing there, very few whites play there.

0:45:13 > 0:45:18She could go in there and sing, you know...

0:45:18 > 0:45:20she's got it.

0:45:20 > 0:45:23She's got it, I mean, she's got that feeling.

0:45:23 > 0:45:26I think it's interesting that not that many people do know that

0:45:26 > 0:45:29Anita O'Day was the first vocalist recorded for Verve Records,

0:45:29 > 0:45:32before Billie Holiday, definitely before Ella Fitzgerald.

0:45:32 > 0:45:35I told you that he was playing tennis with the guy

0:45:35 > 0:45:37and the guy said, "What do you do?"

0:45:37 > 0:45:43And he says, "I own a record company," and he said, back to him,

0:45:43 > 0:45:47he says, "Well, I am an arranger from Chicago." And he says,

0:45:47 > 0:45:52"Come up to the office, I have a couple of people - you can have your choice."

0:45:52 > 0:45:54He picked me from Chicago

0:45:54 > 0:45:57and that is how I got to go with Buddy Bregman.

0:45:57 > 0:46:00And I said, "Well, there's no-one I can work with here."

0:46:00 > 0:46:03You can't record Dizzy Gillespie in a pop song.

0:46:03 > 0:46:08So there's one name there that I recognise because this person,

0:46:08 > 0:46:11when I was 11 years old, my brother and I saw Stan Kenton's band,

0:46:11 > 0:46:13they came to our club in Chicago.

0:46:13 > 0:46:16The lady who was singing with them was named Anita O'Day

0:46:16 > 0:46:17and I said, "You have her name there."

0:46:17 > 0:46:20And I said, "She also went to my high school."

0:46:20 > 0:46:24The only thing I can think that's even near something pop, pop-ish,

0:46:24 > 0:46:26jazz-oriented pop would be her.

0:46:26 > 0:46:29He said, "OK, but don't spend too much money

0:46:29 > 0:46:30"because she doesn't sell any records."

0:46:32 > 0:46:37So we sold 365,000 albums.

0:46:37 > 0:46:43Every tune was a hit. It wasn't, "Hey, turn it over on side two.

0:46:43 > 0:46:46"Boy, you'll love take four." It wasn't one of those,

0:46:46 > 0:46:51it was like all six on each side was impeccable.

0:46:51 > 0:46:54Well, now she sprinkles the old Honeysuckle Rose with

0:46:54 > 0:46:55a dash of atomic energy.

0:46:55 > 0:46:58# Every honey bee fills with jealousy

0:46:58 > 0:47:01# When they see you out with me

0:47:01 > 0:47:03# I don't blame them Goodness knows

0:47:03 > 0:47:07# Honeysuckle Rose

0:47:07 > 0:47:11# Flowers droop and sigh When you're passing by

0:47:11 > 0:47:14# And I know the reason why

0:47:14 > 0:47:17# You're much sweeter Goodness knows

0:47:17 > 0:47:20# And you are my Honeysuckle Rose... #

0:47:20 > 0:47:23She asked me if I knew how to play Honeysuckle Rose,

0:47:23 > 0:47:25and I said, "Yeah, sure. I can play it."

0:47:25 > 0:47:27And I was playing in the key of C and she said, "Nope,

0:47:27 > 0:47:30"that's too high, play it in B."

0:47:30 > 0:47:32I said, "I can't play in B, I can't think in B.

0:47:32 > 0:47:35"But I'll try B flat."

0:47:35 > 0:47:37And, "No, no, no, no, it's too low.

0:47:37 > 0:47:39"Can't you play it in B?"

0:47:39 > 0:47:43"I said, "Well, let me try it this way." I said, "Let me try it."

0:47:43 > 0:47:46And I just turned my body this way and played sideways

0:47:46 > 0:47:49and stayed in the same key and she said, "That's it."

0:47:49 > 0:47:52# ..Fills with jealousy

0:47:52 > 0:47:54# When they see you out with me

0:47:54 > 0:47:57# I don't blame them Goodness knows

0:47:57 > 0:48:01# Honey

0:48:01 > 0:48:04# Flowers droop and sigh When you're passing by

0:48:04 > 0:48:07# And I know the reason why

0:48:07 > 0:48:10# You're my sweet and goodness knows

0:48:10 > 0:48:14# Honey, honey

0:48:14 > 0:48:17# I don't buy sugar

0:48:17 > 0:48:20# You just have to touch my cup

0:48:20 > 0:48:23# You're my sugar

0:48:23 > 0:48:27# So sweet when you stir it up

0:48:27 > 0:48:31# On the avenue People look at you

0:48:31 > 0:48:33# And I know just why they do

0:48:33 > 0:48:36# Goodness knows

0:48:36 > 0:48:38# Honey

0:48:38 > 0:48:43# Every honey bee fills with jealousy

0:48:43 > 0:48:46# When they see you out with me

0:48:46 > 0:48:50# Well I don't blame them Goodness knows

0:48:50 > 0:48:53# A Honeysuckle Rose

0:48:53 > 0:48:56# Flowers droop and sigh When you're passing by

0:48:56 > 0:48:59# I know the reason why

0:48:59 > 0:49:03# You're much sweeter Goodness knows

0:49:03 > 0:49:05# Honeysuckle Rose

0:49:05 > 0:49:09# I don't buy sugar

0:49:09 > 0:49:12# You just have to touch my cup

0:49:12 > 0:49:16# My sugar

0:49:16 > 0:49:19# So sweet when you stir it up

0:49:19 > 0:49:22# On the avenue People look at you

0:49:22 > 0:49:26# And I know just why they do it

0:49:26 > 0:49:28# Goodness knows

0:49:28 > 0:49:32# You're my honey Honeysuckle Rose

0:49:32 > 0:49:35# You're my honey

0:49:35 > 0:49:39# Honey, honey

0:49:39 > 0:49:42# You're my Honeysuckle Rose. #

0:50:01 > 0:50:06I had to have 12 tunes to do with Oscar Peterson.

0:50:06 > 0:50:09And I lost 12 races,

0:50:09 > 0:50:12because usually I like to come in just under the line

0:50:12 > 0:50:16in front of people... and the band plays...

0:50:16 > 0:50:19# Dah-dah-dah-dah-dah. #

0:50:19 > 0:50:22But with him I come in the last on every tune

0:50:22 > 0:50:25because he is a fast player,

0:50:25 > 0:50:28and while he is singing the song and I'm singing the song,

0:50:28 > 0:50:33all of a sudden he goes... And he was like winning all 12 tunes.

0:50:33 > 0:50:36She can sing like Oscar Peterson plays, you know, just at that fast

0:50:36 > 0:50:38and you can still follow the melody and

0:50:38 > 0:50:41still everything is absolutely clear to you, you know, every word,

0:50:41 > 0:50:43which is an amazing thing to be able to do, you know,

0:50:43 > 0:50:46you couldn't talk that fast. Nobody could.

0:50:46 > 0:50:51Without words... Oh, no, that's very confusing because after all

0:50:51 > 0:50:56Anita O'Day is going to vocalise with Les Brown and his boys on

0:50:56 > 0:51:00a number originally written for four saxophones entitled Four Brothers.

0:51:02 > 0:51:03Two, three, four.

0:51:03 > 0:51:06ANITA SCATS

0:51:11 > 0:51:13I said, "What kind of piece of music is this?"

0:51:13 > 0:51:17And I look at it and it is in my key and it has no lyrics

0:51:17 > 0:51:24and there's a little note attached and he says, "This is the lead

0:51:24 > 0:51:27"and you have harmony of four guys behind you,"

0:51:27 > 0:51:31whichever they decided to use. They decided to use saxophones.

0:51:31 > 0:51:34I took the part of one saxophone player

0:51:34 > 0:51:38and the other three played harmony and I had the melody.

0:51:38 > 0:51:41SHE SCATS

0:52:09 > 0:52:11CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:52:15 > 0:52:18Billy May was the trumpet player in the band.

0:52:18 > 0:52:23Next thing I know he is this great arranger. Beautiful.

0:52:24 > 0:52:28When that was passed on and I was to sing that, I couldn't quite

0:52:28 > 0:52:31believe me singing Johnny One Note,

0:52:31 > 0:52:34to say, "Ahhhh! Johnny One Note," and hold the note.

0:52:34 > 0:52:36I was so inspired by the background,

0:52:36 > 0:52:39I said, "It is my job to hold the note, and I did.

0:52:47 > 0:52:50She was a great artist. Real talent.

0:52:50 > 0:52:52One of the real jazz singers.

0:52:52 > 0:52:58She could improvise and she sang such wonderful creative phrases.

0:53:00 > 0:53:05To me, the important thing about a singer is not their sound,

0:53:05 > 0:53:09but first of all, they've got to sing the meaning of the lyric.

0:53:09 > 0:53:12They have to be an actress and sing with feeling.

0:53:12 > 0:53:15ANITA'S RECORD PLAYS

0:53:15 > 0:53:17Oh, that's a great tune.

0:53:22 > 0:53:27# ..Yet it's uncomfortably near... #

0:53:34 > 0:53:39Anita and Billie Holiday knew how to sing with feeling, didn't they?

0:53:42 > 0:53:44She'd been a big favourite of mine

0:53:44 > 0:53:49since I was a kid from her days with Krupa.

0:53:49 > 0:53:52In our meeting she said, "I'm not a singer,

0:53:52 > 0:53:55"I'm a song stylist."

0:53:55 > 0:53:57She wanted that understood.

0:53:57 > 0:54:01She might have been sometimes too hardboiled for some people,

0:54:01 > 0:54:05you know, but I always dug it.

0:54:05 > 0:54:08She's got quite an ear for intricate arrangements.

0:54:08 > 0:54:11So it took quite a while to get her, to get her ideas down

0:54:11 > 0:54:17because she doesn't write anything down, she just would sing her ideas.

0:54:17 > 0:54:20We were totally at her mercy.

0:54:20 > 0:54:26Gary McFarland. Wasn't that a beautiful set? And a tragic ending.

0:54:26 > 0:54:30This man was so young and if you listen to the way he arranges and

0:54:30 > 0:54:32everything is in the right place. You say,

0:54:32 > 0:54:35"That should have been heard there," and he did it.

0:54:35 > 0:54:41And he was very young and I was working in San Francisco,

0:54:41 > 0:54:45everybody worked it, it is called the Jazz Street, Chinatown,

0:54:45 > 0:54:48and every door was a jazz room.

0:54:48 > 0:54:52At the end of the street was the San Francisco Jazz Room,

0:54:52 > 0:54:58a big band could come through - Ellington, you know, anybody.

0:54:58 > 0:55:02He comes to town and I am working across the street.

0:55:02 > 0:55:05He comes over and says, "Hi, Anita.

0:55:05 > 0:55:10"I got the music you wanted, come over and sing our arrangements."

0:55:10 > 0:55:13So I took a break, I went over there,

0:55:13 > 0:55:18I did a couple of the tunes that we had done and I don't know,

0:55:18 > 0:55:21no big deal because all across the street, whatever...

0:55:21 > 0:55:25It was beautiful. Nice fun. I was happy for him and shook his hand.

0:55:27 > 0:55:30The next thing you know, this is like, say,

0:55:30 > 0:55:35a Monday, and like, Thursday,

0:55:35 > 0:55:39he took an OD and died.

0:55:39 > 0:55:41It was the first hit he had ever had,

0:55:41 > 0:55:47his first big opportunity and he was great.

0:55:47 > 0:55:50The OD got him. That was a very short...

0:55:53 > 0:55:57He could have done much, much more. A lot of arrangements like this.

0:55:57 > 0:56:02I prefer his to many others but he is not around any more.

0:56:02 > 0:56:06Got to watch that stuff, you know. That is the stuff you have to watch.

0:56:09 > 0:56:12I, right away, marked her in my mind as a free soul.

0:56:12 > 0:56:15She is a free soul, she's always been.

0:56:15 > 0:56:18She just sang her butt off. She sounded wonderful on it.

0:56:23 > 0:56:25"Something begins to run upstream

0:56:25 > 0:56:28"and this is just some kind of a dream,

0:56:28 > 0:56:31"I wouldn't be surprised because didn't you fall in love with me?"

0:56:31 > 0:56:33Nice story.

0:56:35 > 0:56:39It's not about notes or... It's not about effects or any of that.

0:56:39 > 0:56:43It's about, you get into the song and make it live.

0:56:46 > 0:56:502002 we put together a collection of ten of our top female vocalists

0:56:50 > 0:56:51into something called the Diva Series,

0:56:51 > 0:56:54and artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn,

0:56:54 > 0:56:56and we included Anita O'Day in that series

0:56:56 > 0:56:59because she is obviously one of our most important vocalists.

0:57:15 > 0:57:16It was like daydreaming.

0:57:16 > 0:57:19And I said, "I'd like to make a movie before I'm 30."

0:57:21 > 0:57:25Jazz On A Summer's Day. Yes, I didn't even know they were filming.

0:57:25 > 0:57:30They catch me coming up to the step to enter the stage

0:57:30 > 0:57:33and I step in a puddle, so my glass slipper goes into the puddle.

0:57:33 > 0:57:39It shows me shaking my leg like this and I am dressed to the hilt

0:57:39 > 0:57:41with a hat on to boot, and that was my entrance.

0:57:50 > 0:57:56I presented Anita in the afternoon and she wore this wonderful hat.

0:57:56 > 0:57:57And a black and white dress,

0:57:57 > 0:58:01she was dressed perfectly for Newport summer day,

0:58:01 > 0:58:03it was as if she had been born there.

0:58:09 > 0:58:12I went in the day before the show and I said to Norman,

0:58:12 > 0:58:17"What night am I on?" He says, "You are on Sunday afternoon."

0:58:17 > 0:58:19I say, "Gee, thanks a lot(!)"

0:58:19 > 0:58:22You know, so I go home and I lie down, and I am lying there

0:58:22 > 0:58:24and all of a sudden I got this picture.

0:58:29 > 0:58:32I went across the street to a dumb dress shop,

0:58:32 > 0:58:35right across the street from this place where we were staying.

0:58:35 > 0:58:38I picked out a frock, she says,

0:58:38 > 0:58:42"I'll just take it in little bit for you." I says, "Nice."

0:58:42 > 0:58:43I had glass slippers, OK?

0:58:48 > 0:58:50I had little white gloves.

0:58:50 > 0:58:54I said, "Gee, I'll just put my hair up. You got a hat?"

0:58:54 > 0:58:58She comes out with a big straw hat with real ostrich feathers.

0:58:58 > 0:59:01I was on at 4:50pm. I am dressed like the girl going to the

0:59:01 > 0:59:025 o'clock tea party.

0:59:02 > 0:59:06I would swing my camera around in different moments

0:59:06 > 0:59:09when something was going on, we couldn't shoot, say.

0:59:09 > 0:59:14And I would look for people in the audience who were interesting -

0:59:14 > 0:59:16the ice cream girl,

0:59:16 > 0:59:18and my girlfriend, Dorothy.

0:59:30 > 0:59:34# ..No gal made

0:59:34 > 0:59:36# Got a shade on

0:59:36 > 0:59:40# Georgia Brown

0:59:42 > 0:59:47# Two left feet Oh so neat

0:59:47 > 0:59:52# Georgia Brown... #

0:59:52 > 0:59:54I happened to be on camera at the time,

0:59:54 > 0:59:56so I shot all the footage of her.

0:59:56 > 0:59:59And there was something about her that was just magical.

0:59:59 > 1:00:04# ..Georgia Brown I'll tell you just why... #

1:00:04 > 1:00:09I mean, I liked what she did, it was very exciting, so my feelings

1:00:09 > 1:00:13for it were probably expressed in the way I shot it,

1:00:13 > 1:00:15because I was very connected to her visually.

1:00:15 > 1:00:19# ..She knocks them dead

1:00:19 > 1:00:24# When she lands in town

1:00:24 > 1:00:29# Since she came It's a shame

1:00:29 > 1:00:34# How she cools them down... #

1:00:39 > 1:00:42Would you have used drugs that day or would you wait until afterwards?

1:00:42 > 1:00:44How does that work?

1:00:44 > 1:00:47It doesn't go by day, it goes by hours.

1:00:47 > 1:00:50It is a matter of how many hours.

1:00:50 > 1:00:56You would have used some that day then?

1:00:56 > 1:00:58I would say yes.

1:00:59 > 1:01:02# ..Sweet Georgia Brown

1:01:02 > 1:01:07# Doo-bee-bup Sweet Georgia Brown

1:01:07 > 1:01:12# They all sigh, want to die for sweet Georgia Brown

1:01:12 > 1:01:17# Tell you just why No, I don't lie

1:01:18 > 1:01:21# Since she came It's a shame

1:01:21 > 1:01:25# How she cools them down

1:01:25 > 1:01:27# It's been said she knocks them dead

1:01:27 > 1:01:29# When she lands in town

1:01:29 > 1:01:35# The fellas she can't get

1:01:35 > 1:01:41# Are fellas this girl has never met

1:01:41 > 1:01:44# Georgia...

1:01:47 > 1:01:50# Sweet...

1:01:50 > 1:01:56# Georgia Brown. #

1:02:02 > 1:02:03She sang Sweet Georgia Brown,

1:02:03 > 1:02:07was one of the greatest vocal performances you ever heard.

1:02:07 > 1:02:11That was the day she really did it, and knocked me out.

1:02:11 > 1:02:14My estimation, her rendition, which has nothing to do with

1:02:14 > 1:02:18the arrangement of Sweet Georgia Brown,

1:02:18 > 1:02:23is absolutely as good as any jazz vocal ever, ever recorded.

1:02:23 > 1:02:26That was the biggest thing to happen to me in my life.

1:02:26 > 1:02:27That was the big event.

1:02:27 > 1:02:30There were 150 musicians at this event

1:02:30 > 1:02:35and out of all those people, male and female, there was

1:02:35 > 1:02:39my picture in the Time magazine and nobody else was mentioned

1:02:39 > 1:02:42and everybody you could name was in that show.

1:02:42 > 1:02:47Japan picked me out and gave me a job where I made some money

1:02:47 > 1:02:49because they pay big money.

1:02:49 > 1:02:51Thank you very kindly.

1:02:51 > 1:02:54It is wonderful being here in Japan and doing a television show

1:02:54 > 1:02:55for everyone here.

1:02:58 > 1:03:01# Love for sale

1:03:01 > 1:03:06# Appetising young love for sale

1:03:06 > 1:03:08# Love that's fresh and still unspoiled

1:03:08 > 1:03:11# Love that is only slightly soiled

1:03:11 > 1:03:15# Love for sale... #

1:03:15 > 1:03:19One night after a set at the Half Note, Anita O'Day says,

1:03:19 > 1:03:23"You know, I'm going to catch some air and walk around instead of

1:03:23 > 1:03:28"staying in here and hanging out with the customers during the set break."

1:03:28 > 1:03:31And Mike Camarino said, "OK."

1:03:31 > 1:03:34Five years later,

1:03:34 > 1:03:38she called him collect from the Philippines to borrow a grand

1:03:38 > 1:03:42to get back to the States, and bless his heart he gave it to her.

1:03:43 > 1:03:47# ..I came through the mill of love Old love, new love

1:03:47 > 1:03:49# Every kind of love but true love

1:03:49 > 1:03:54# Love for sale

1:03:54 > 1:03:58# Appetising young love for sale

1:03:58 > 1:04:03# If you want to buy my wares Follow me and climb the stairs

1:04:03 > 1:04:07# Love for sale... #

1:04:17 > 1:04:19# ..Love that is fresh and still unspoiled

1:04:19 > 1:04:21# Love that's only slightly soiled

1:04:21 > 1:04:24# Love for sale

1:04:26 > 1:04:31# Who will buy?

1:04:31 > 1:04:36# Who would like to sample my supply?

1:04:36 > 1:04:38# Who's prepared to pay the price

1:04:38 > 1:04:40# For a trip to paradise?

1:04:40 > 1:04:44# Love for sale

1:04:45 > 1:04:49# Let the poets pipe of love in their childish way

1:04:49 > 1:04:54# I know every type of love far better than they

1:04:54 > 1:04:56# If you want the thrill of love

1:04:56 > 1:04:59# I have been through the mill of love

1:04:59 > 1:05:03# Oh, love

1:05:03 > 1:05:05# Oh, love

1:05:05 > 1:05:08# Every kind of love but true love

1:05:08 > 1:05:12# Love

1:05:12 > 1:05:13# For sale

1:05:13 > 1:05:18# Appetising young love for sale

1:05:18 > 1:05:21# If you want to buy my wares Follow me and climb the stairs

1:05:21 > 1:05:27# Love...

1:05:27 > 1:05:38# For sale. #

1:05:45 > 1:05:50You were once pronounced mental... No, what am I trying to say?

1:05:50 > 1:05:52Legally dead?

1:05:52 > 1:05:55- What's that all about? - SHE LAUGHS

1:05:55 > 1:05:58When you arrive DOA

1:05:58 > 1:06:02and they put the sheet over you, that is legally dead.

1:06:02 > 1:06:05- What had happened? - I had a heart attack.

1:06:05 > 1:06:08And then some doctor comes running in and says, "Wait a minute,

1:06:08 > 1:06:11"let's try this new contraption or something,"

1:06:11 > 1:06:14and they throw the sheet off you and you come to, and this thing

1:06:14 > 1:06:18is down here, bringing back your breathing and you are on your feet.

1:06:18 > 1:06:20Now they think you've had a heart attack, see?

1:06:20 > 1:06:23So when everybody leaves the room, you kind of get up like this,

1:06:23 > 1:06:26grab your clothes and start to leave and the nurse comes screaming in,

1:06:26 > 1:06:29"Wait a minute! You've had a heart attack, lay down in bed!"

1:06:29 > 1:06:32In reality, it was just an OD at that time.

1:06:32 > 1:06:33- It was an- OD? Yeah.

1:06:33 > 1:06:36Could you work well on the hard stuff?

1:06:36 > 1:06:37You really are not aware...

1:06:37 > 1:06:41It's an anaesthetic, you are really not aware if you are working or not.

1:06:41 > 1:06:45Billie, at the end, they used to just lead her to the band, push her up on the stand.

1:06:45 > 1:06:48- And instinct took over? - Yeah, more or less.

1:06:48 > 1:06:51I got down to about 101lb,

1:06:51 > 1:06:54so I just literally ran out of energy.

1:06:54 > 1:06:58I knew Bird very well and I knew Lady very well.

1:07:00 > 1:07:04They had constitutions. They were strong.

1:07:04 > 1:07:07I was lucky I got out. Miles couldn't get out.

1:07:07 > 1:07:10Charlie Parker couldn't get out. Billie Holliday could get out.

1:07:10 > 1:07:12Even though they might have been a great,

1:07:12 > 1:07:17they did not have the judgement to know when to stop.

1:07:17 > 1:07:22That is what it is all about. Not knowing when to stop.

1:07:22 > 1:07:25You are spending 12 hours a day waiting for the guy on the corner.

1:07:25 > 1:07:27That is a lot of time.

1:07:27 > 1:07:32I was in it for 16 years, I didn't even realise it. Time passed me by.

1:07:32 > 1:07:36"I'm into this so long, I have to get out of this thing.

1:07:36 > 1:07:40"I can't get out." And you would say, "I have to get out today."

1:07:40 > 1:07:44I was drawn to what I really perceived as being someone with a lot of courage.

1:07:44 > 1:07:46I mean, I would go over there sometimes

1:07:46 > 1:07:48and I mean she'd look really not great.

1:07:48 > 1:07:51There were times that she would weep.

1:07:51 > 1:07:57And...it's like there was nothing to say.

1:07:57 > 1:07:59You could just...

1:07:59 > 1:08:03only just hold her in that kind of pain that she was experiencing.

1:08:03 > 1:08:05How did you finally quit?

1:08:05 > 1:08:10I had a huge OD

1:08:10 > 1:08:13and I said, "I think my body is trying to tell me something."

1:08:13 > 1:08:16You've heard that one, haven't you?

1:08:16 > 1:08:20So I survived that one, which was a heavy one.

1:08:20 > 1:08:28I just took myself to Hawaii and the story like I told it was...

1:08:28 > 1:08:32And then you get the chills and the shakes, you know?

1:08:32 > 1:08:34No, I don't know, but I've seen the movies.

1:08:34 > 1:08:38I've heard about it and seen the movie representations.

1:08:38 > 1:08:40When you get the cold shakes laying in that hot sun in Hawaii

1:08:40 > 1:08:42on the sand, which is so warm.

1:08:42 > 1:08:47Then you perspire, the sweats, you just jump in the water.

1:08:47 > 1:08:50I was there early, I am up there eight, nine o'clock,

1:08:50 > 1:08:53the sun is just coming up and I am doing that routine.

1:08:53 > 1:08:55I did five months, never missed a day.

1:08:55 > 1:08:58You have to have something to do because when the thought

1:08:58 > 1:09:01comes around again, you have to have something to cover the thought.

1:09:01 > 1:09:04What is better than jumping into the water that is up to here

1:09:04 > 1:09:11and the sun is shining and you just dabble, nobody's bugging you?

1:09:11 > 1:09:14Now you get out there and you lay in the sun for 12 hours, which

1:09:14 > 1:09:17I shouldn't have done. I have a whole bunch of brown spots.

1:09:17 > 1:09:19They didn't turn into cancer.

1:09:19 > 1:09:23I am light skinned, I freckle galore like that and I was

1:09:23 > 1:09:28so determined to quit the thing that I just stayed there in the sun.

1:09:28 > 1:09:31It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.

1:09:31 > 1:09:35I quit drinking, which was really hard too,

1:09:35 > 1:09:38and whatever other little habits you might get, like cutting

1:09:38 > 1:09:42your hair too much or whatever, just habits, habits, habits.

1:09:42 > 1:09:45I can quit that. I can quit that.

1:09:45 > 1:09:49It was hard to quit that, but what I went through to do it

1:09:49 > 1:09:53deserved that much, so then I was free.

1:09:53 > 1:09:54That's right.

1:09:57 > 1:10:02Your personal experiences since then include rape, abortion, jail,

1:10:02 > 1:10:04heroin addiction.

1:10:04 > 1:10:06You have been reading my book High Times, Hard Times.

1:10:06 > 1:10:09Yeah, I did, in fact, you made one comment in there, you said,

1:10:09 > 1:10:12"All you can do in this world is learn how to be a good loser."

1:10:12 > 1:10:14That sounds like a very embittered performer.

1:10:14 > 1:10:16No, that is just the result of how it goes down

1:10:16 > 1:10:18and what is wrong with that?

1:10:18 > 1:10:21All you can learn to be a good loser. That keeps you smiling.

1:10:21 > 1:10:23Can you smile about those times?

1:10:23 > 1:10:25Well, it is in the past, I can smile about that.

1:10:25 > 1:10:28And yet you beat them. Why did you beat them, why were you able to?

1:10:28 > 1:10:30So many of your contemporaries got caught up in so many

1:10:30 > 1:10:33of the same kind of problems and didn't make it.

1:10:33 > 1:10:36That's a good question. Maybe I believe.

1:10:36 > 1:10:37In those days you didn't.

1:10:37 > 1:10:39I believed in something, I'm still here.

1:10:39 > 1:10:42Well, it doesn't sound like a believer who comes out after

1:10:42 > 1:10:45a marijuana bust when everybody says she was a junky,

1:10:45 > 1:10:46and then comes out and says,

1:10:46 > 1:10:49"Well, since they're calling me one, I'll be one."

1:10:49 > 1:10:52Yeah, well, that is just the way it went down, Bryant.

1:10:56 > 1:10:59A lot of times her personality was such that she kind of covered it.

1:10:59 > 1:11:02She had a facade that everything's fine

1:11:02 > 1:11:07and talkin' a little jive talk, and then she might be very down.

1:11:07 > 1:11:12She referred to her spiritual leader as a god, the maker,

1:11:12 > 1:11:14the man upstairs,

1:11:14 > 1:11:19"He's given me a break," that sort of thing

1:11:19 > 1:11:21and with a very solemn voice.

1:11:27 > 1:11:29I'd like to take a second out to formally

1:11:29 > 1:11:32introduce my percussionist who is not feeling too well this evening.

1:11:32 > 1:11:36Hither or thither. We've been together 32 years this week.

1:11:36 > 1:11:42That's a long time for a partner, yeah! Through four marriages.

1:11:42 > 1:11:44I think John Poole was looking after her.

1:11:44 > 1:11:47One of the big disappointments, he was on drugs,

1:11:47 > 1:11:51got back on it. I think he hit her inadvertently out of frustration.

1:11:51 > 1:11:52But that broke her heart.

1:11:52 > 1:11:55She thought, "He's like my brother, how can he dare hit me?"

1:11:55 > 1:11:59And that ended it just like that, it hurt her so much.

1:12:01 > 1:12:06He recently died and I sure miss him, but I just lost my partner.

1:12:29 > 1:12:33Well, what happened was I was living in a trailer

1:12:33 > 1:12:36and I went out the back door, my puppy dog went out the back door,

1:12:36 > 1:12:40and I tripped on five steps and fell on the concrete and broke my arm.

1:12:40 > 1:12:45Now I am put into the hospital and they are fixing my arm

1:12:45 > 1:12:48and they did it wrong, so they put me in another hospital

1:12:48 > 1:12:52and they did that wrong and I got blood poisoning.

1:12:52 > 1:12:55Then they put me in another hospital and I got pneumonia

1:12:55 > 1:13:00and they put this thing over my face and nose and I said, "No."

1:13:00 > 1:13:03He said, "Only eight minutes."

1:13:03 > 1:13:06At my bed, the clock was right there,

1:13:06 > 1:13:12came back in 30 minutes, burned my throat. I can hardly swallow,

1:13:12 > 1:13:15I couldn't eat for a month, they had to put a hole in

1:13:15 > 1:13:19my stomach and fed me up from this thing hanging down from up above.

1:13:19 > 1:13:23Gook! It wasn't even real food. I got to 86lb

1:13:23 > 1:13:25and all I had was a broken arm.

1:13:25 > 1:13:28The hospital said, "She's got 72 hours to live."

1:13:28 > 1:13:31And I'd go in and sit by her bedside and say, "Anita, can you hear me?"

1:13:31 > 1:13:35And I'd take her hand and say, "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

1:13:35 > 1:13:37And she'd squeeze it. I said, "I know you can hear me."

1:13:37 > 1:13:41I said, "Anita, you don't dare die on me now, or on yourself."

1:13:41 > 1:13:46I was in there from like '96, '97, '98.

1:13:46 > 1:13:51I got into a home where you wheel yourself in, or they wheel you in,

1:13:51 > 1:13:57for another year and now I am in a place where you can have walk outs,

1:13:57 > 1:13:59you can hire a cab, go out and come back

1:13:59 > 1:14:02and they serve three meals a day. It is very nice.

1:14:02 > 1:14:06I have my own bed, records, I have company,

1:14:06 > 1:14:10and I am singing one time a week, but the voice,

1:14:10 > 1:14:13that was hard when they took my voice away to boot,

1:14:13 > 1:14:15and all I had was a broken arm.

1:14:28 > 1:14:32Folks, you might as well come on down and lose.

1:14:32 > 1:14:34It is even better just to lose.

1:14:41 > 1:14:45She has often said, "It's just my daily work, it's what I do,

1:14:45 > 1:14:49"I go to work at night."

1:14:49 > 1:14:52She would like you to think that it's...

1:14:52 > 1:14:57it doesn't mean very much to her finally, punching the clock.

1:14:57 > 1:15:01But if she's now in her 80s and still longing to sing

1:15:01 > 1:15:05and longing to record and longing to rehearse,

1:15:05 > 1:15:08then we know it means a little bit more to her than that.

1:16:13 > 1:16:15The last time I saw Anita perform

1:16:15 > 1:16:18was 2004, here in Manhattan at Iridium.

1:16:18 > 1:16:21It's a performance I will not soon forget.

1:16:21 > 1:16:27It was so off the wall in that particular Anita O'Day way.

1:16:27 > 1:16:31And you just never knew what was going to happen next.

1:16:31 > 1:16:35- Can I hear the melody? - LAUGHTER

1:16:35 > 1:16:39No? OK.

1:16:41 > 1:16:45Oh, you're the one that plays the melody.

1:16:45 > 1:16:47LAUGHTER

1:16:47 > 1:16:50The audience was... First of all, the room was packed

1:16:50 > 1:16:53and there were lots and lots of young people there.

1:16:53 > 1:16:55Why they were there, where they came from, I don't know,

1:16:55 > 1:16:58but I can tell you that they were really riveted.

1:16:58 > 1:17:00Ms Anita O'Day! Yes!

1:17:00 > 1:17:06She was singing her songs off of music, off of lyric sheets

1:17:06 > 1:17:08because she can't remember words, but with

1:17:08 > 1:17:13the words in front of her, she can really remember everything else.

1:17:13 > 1:17:16# The way you're acting lately it makes me doubt... #

1:17:16 > 1:17:18- I was in three keys. - LAUGHTER

1:17:18 > 1:17:21I think it's very brave.

1:17:22 > 1:17:28I think it's... A lot of people wouldn't do that.

1:17:28 > 1:17:33# ..Is you is or is you ain't my baby? #

1:17:33 > 1:17:39I thought maybe, maybe she should throw in the shoes.

1:17:39 > 1:17:46You know, and now that I've heard her new record,

1:17:46 > 1:17:50I'm glad she didn't.

1:17:53 > 1:17:55It'd make a nice follow up to Incomparable,

1:17:55 > 1:17:58however many years later, about 40 years later?

1:17:58 > 1:18:01Over 40 years later, to have another one called Indestructible?

1:18:02 > 1:18:06# Blue skies smiling at me... #

1:18:06 > 1:18:09What she's doing on this record she created,

1:18:09 > 1:18:12that's something you can say of very, very few singers

1:18:12 > 1:18:15in popular music history,

1:18:15 > 1:18:18that nobody was doing that before she came along.

1:18:18 > 1:18:21And continues to be able to bring those songs to life

1:18:21 > 1:18:24and you can hear her story in those songs.

1:18:26 > 1:18:31Anita's just recorded a brand-new CD aged 86.

1:18:33 > 1:18:38She would love nothing more than to see you guys dance to a song from the new album.

1:18:40 > 1:18:44# Don't talk too much

1:18:44 > 1:18:47# Don't love too much

1:18:47 > 1:18:49# Don't be too hip

1:18:49 > 1:18:52# Because a slip of the lip might sink a ship... #

1:18:54 > 1:19:00Thank you so much for all the music over the years. Thank you so much.

1:19:00 > 1:19:03You know even on this date, remember when we was down there,

1:19:03 > 1:19:06she told the piano player, "No, we're playing jazz,

1:19:06 > 1:19:08"I want you to play, I want you to play."

1:19:08 > 1:19:10I knew what she meant.

1:19:10 > 1:19:12"This can't be love."

1:19:12 > 1:19:14I've never heard anybody quite say it like hat.

1:19:14 > 1:19:17And then all of a sudden, as is so often the case with Anita's music,

1:19:17 > 1:19:20you'll think, "Oh, that's what that means.

1:19:28 > 1:19:31She's a person that's really adventurous

1:19:31 > 1:19:32where music is concerned.

1:19:32 > 1:19:34She wants to move on,

1:19:34 > 1:19:37like she's staying here all this time.

1:19:37 > 1:19:42Me staying here in this business as an old man?

1:19:42 > 1:19:45You know, I'm 87 years old.

1:19:45 > 1:19:47You know, 87! I shouldn't kick about a thing.

1:19:47 > 1:19:50"What a life I've had, huh?

1:19:50 > 1:19:52"And I'm still trying to get more."

1:19:52 > 1:19:56And it's the same thing, and I think that's beautiful.

1:19:56 > 1:19:59There's a whole life in that voice.

1:19:59 > 1:20:01I mean, what is more beautiful?

1:20:01 > 1:20:06So yes, you're older, you're more mature,

1:20:06 > 1:20:10you don't have the range that you had,

1:20:10 > 1:20:11but it's a life.

1:20:13 > 1:20:15# When you're in my arms

1:20:19 > 1:20:23# And I feel you so close to me... #

1:20:27 > 1:20:31When she sings The Nearness of You, she's so vulnerable

1:20:31 > 1:20:33and she seems so sincere,

1:20:33 > 1:20:37there's always that sincerity that Anita's work always had.

1:20:37 > 1:20:41This is a quality that Anita has always prized in other artists.

1:20:41 > 1:20:46# ..I need no soft lights

1:20:46 > 1:20:49# To enchant me

1:20:51 > 1:20:56# If you would only grant me

1:20:59 > 1:21:02# The right

1:21:04 > 1:21:08# To hold you ever so tight

1:21:13 > 1:21:16# And to feel in the night

1:21:20 > 1:21:24# The nearness

1:21:24 > 1:21:26# Of you. #

1:21:28 > 1:21:31This is a woman who was almost born singing

1:21:31 > 1:21:34and who will die singing because there ain't nothing else.

1:21:35 > 1:21:41As long as she wants to sing...

1:21:41 > 1:21:42I'll be around to hear it.

1:21:44 > 1:21:47So you played today, you don't worry about what has gone

1:21:47 > 1:21:52because that has already gone and you can't bring what has gone back.

1:21:52 > 1:21:57It doesn't happen that way, so every day is a new day and just

1:21:57 > 1:22:03play it as it comes and I turned out to be a singer that was not on dope.

1:22:10 > 1:22:13And this time we do a ballad. Ballad.

1:22:15 > 1:22:20# How strange it was How sweet and strange

1:22:20 > 1:22:25# There was never a dream to compare

1:22:25 > 1:22:30# With that hazy, crazy night we met

1:22:30 > 1:22:38# And the nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

1:22:42 > 1:22:47# This heart of mine beat loud and fast

1:22:47 > 1:22:52# Like a merry-go-round in a fair

1:22:52 > 1:22:56# For we were dancing cheek to cheek

1:22:56 > 1:23:08# And the nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

1:23:12 > 1:23:19# When dawn came stealing up all gold and blue

1:23:19 > 1:23:23# To interrupt

1:23:23 > 1:23:26# Our rendezvous

1:23:26 > 1:23:30# I still remember

1:23:30 > 1:23:34# How you smiled and said

1:23:34 > 1:23:40# Was that a dream or was it true?

1:23:41 > 1:23:47# Our homeward step was just as light

1:23:47 > 1:23:51# As the tap dancing feet of Astaire

1:23:51 > 1:23:57# And like an echo far away

1:23:57 > 1:24:04# When a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

1:24:05 > 1:24:09# I know cos I was there

1:24:09 > 1:24:11# That night

1:24:11 > 1:24:24# In Berkeley Square... #

1:24:27 > 1:24:31APPLAUSE

1:25:19 > 1:25:22By all rights, she should have been gone with a lot of the other

1:25:22 > 1:25:26people that passed away from her era, and she outlived them all.

1:25:26 > 1:25:28I love Anita.

1:25:28 > 1:25:32And I think she should be in every hall of fame.

1:25:32 > 1:25:34When you look at the overall career it's just, you know,

1:25:34 > 1:25:37a staggering achievement and the fact that she's been

1:25:37 > 1:25:42so indestructible, she's by far the last surviving member,

1:25:42 > 1:25:46she's sort of the last great jazz singer from the golden age.

1:25:46 > 1:25:48Nothing surprises me about Anita O'Day,

1:25:48 > 1:25:52and yet why I'm always surprised that she comes back with vengeance?

1:25:52 > 1:25:54I don't know why I'm surprised any more.

1:25:54 > 1:25:57Nobody sounded like Anita O'Day, ever.

1:25:57 > 1:26:00She doesn't... She didn't borrow from anyone.

1:26:00 > 1:26:02Others borrowed from her later.

1:26:02 > 1:26:06I would say that Anita O'Day was one of the top.

1:26:06 > 1:26:11Anita wasn't appreciated nearly as much as she should have been.

1:26:11 > 1:26:13What a real talent.

1:26:13 > 1:26:14She'd crack me up.

1:26:14 > 1:26:19She was a funny lady. She knew some dirty jokes.

1:26:19 > 1:26:20She has angels watching over her.

1:26:22 > 1:26:26And there's someone like Anita O'Day who did nothing ever that was

1:26:26 > 1:26:27laid out for her.

1:26:27 > 1:26:30Everything was improvised from moment to moment.

1:26:30 > 1:26:31And she just took huge chances

1:26:31 > 1:26:34because she knew no other way to live.

1:26:34 > 1:26:39I think she is one of the country's rare treasures.

1:26:39 > 1:26:42To go through all that she's gone through in life -

1:26:42 > 1:26:49drug addiction, all the other problems that musicians have...

1:26:49 > 1:26:52See, I still call her a musician, not a singer, right?

1:26:52 > 1:26:55All the new jazz singers really did copy her style.

1:26:55 > 1:26:59It's never show off, it's always delight.

1:26:59 > 1:27:01One time she said, "May you live as long as you want

1:27:01 > 1:27:03"and may you never want as long as you live."

1:27:03 > 1:27:07She had a way with words besides being a fantastic entertainer.

1:27:07 > 1:27:08She's a force of nature.

1:27:08 > 1:27:12She said, "I'm like a flower, blooming for the last time."

1:27:12 > 1:27:15And I said, "Anita, why do you say it's the last time?"

1:27:15 > 1:27:18And she said, "Every time I've ever bloomed again,

1:27:18 > 1:27:21"I always thought it was going to be the last time."