lady Day on Arthur Godfrey

[medjuck]

Anyone else here old enough to remember Godfrey? (sp?) Anyway the new Storyville release The Sensitive Billie Holiday contains a version of The Man I Love on which, according to the notes by Scott Yanow, she was accompanied only by the "obscure pianist Archie Blyer".

After about 30 seconds research I discovered that the paino player was Archie Bleyer who's hardly obscure. To Jazz fans he may be best known as the man who owned the Candid records.

(It was a subsiduary of a larger company, the name of which I forget, but which made its money off of The Everly Brothers and Andy Williams.)

However what made Bleyer famous was his work as band leader on The Arthur Godfrey Breakfast Club radio show and this performance was on that show. (Or at least some Godfrey show-- I think he may have had more than one.) He was very popular and I'm surprised that Billie was on such a mainstream program.

BTW Yannow also misidentifies Fine and Mellow as Billie's Blues.

[marcello]

BTW Yannow also misidentifies Fine and Mellow as Billie's Blues.

Hey, Allen! Your fav!

[Christiern]

Didn't someone just name Yanow as being among the "most influential" jazz critics.