Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919[1] – November 23, 2006),[2] known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances that shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough", slang for money.[3]
For the documentary film, see Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.
Anita O'Day
Anita Belle Colton
"The Jezebel of Jazz"
October 18, 1919
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
November 23, 2006 (aged 87)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Singer
1934–2006
- Verve
- Emily Productions
- Kayo Stereophonic
Early career[edit]
Anita Belle Colton (who later took the surname "O'Day") was born to Irish parents, James and Gladys M. (née Gill) Colton in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, during the Great Depression.[4] Colton took the first chance to leave her unhappy home when, at age 14, she became a contestant in the popular Walk-a-thons as a dancer.[1] She toured with the Walk-a-thons circuits for two years, occasionally being called upon to sing.[1] In 1934, she began touring the Midwest as a marathon dance contestant.[5]
In 1936, she left the endurance contests, determined to become a professional singer.[1] She started out as a chorus girl in such Uptown venues as the Celebrity Club and the Vanity Fair, and then found work as a singer and waitress at the Ball of Fire, the Vialago, and the Planet Mars. At the Vialago, O'Day met the drummer Don Carter, who introduced her to music theory; they wed in 1937. Her first big break came in 1938 when Down Beat editor Carl Cons hired her to work at his new club at 222 North State Street, the Off-Beat, which became a popular hangout for musicians. Also performing at the Off-Beat was the Max Miller Quartet, which backed O'Day for the first ten days of her stay there. While performing at the Off Beat, she met Gene Krupa, who promised to call her if Irene Daye, then his vocalist, ever left his band.[1] In 1939, O'Day was hired as vocalist for Miller's Quartet, which had a stay at the Three Deuces club in Chicago.[6]
Work with Krupa, Herman, and Kenton[edit]
The call from Krupa came in early 1941.[1] Of the 34 sides she recorded with Krupa, it was "Let Me Off Uptown", a novelty duet with Roy Eldridge, that became her first big hit.[1] The same year, DownBeat named O'Day "New Star of the Year". In 1942, she appeared with the Krupa band in two "soundies" (short musical films originally made for jukeboxes), singing "Thanks for the Boogie Ride" and "Let Me Off Uptown". The same year, DownBeat magazine readers voted her into the top five big band singers. O'Day came in fourth, with Helen O'Connell first, Helen Forrest second, Billie Holiday third, and Dinah Shore fifth. O'Day married golf professional and jazz fan, Carl Hoff, in 1942.
When Krupa's band broke up,[1] after he was arrested in 1943 for marijuana possession, O'Day joined Woody Herman for a month-long gig at the Hollywood Palladium, followed by two weeks at the Orpheum. Unwilling to tour with another big band, she left Herman after the Orpheum engagement, and finished out the year as a solo artist. Despite her initial misgivings about the compatibility of their musical styles, she joined Stan Kenton's band in April 1944.[1] During her 11 months with Kenton, O'Day recorded 21 sides, both transcription and commercial, and appeared in a Universal Pictures short Artistry in Rhythm (1944). "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" (1944) became a huge seller, and put Kenton's band on the map.[1] She also appeared in one soundie with Kenton, performing "I'm Going Mad for a Pad" and "Tabby the Cat". O'Day later said "My time with Stanley helped nurture and cultivate my innate sense of chord structure." In 1945, she rejoined Krupa's band and stayed almost a year.[1] The reunion yielded 10 sides. After leaving Krupa late in 1946, O'Day again became a solo artist.[2]
Memoir and later life[edit]
In November 1980, she was a headliner along with Clark Terry, Lionel Hampton and Ramsey Lewis, during the opening two-week ceremony performances celebrating the short-lived resurgence of the Blue Note Lounge at the Marriott O'Hare Hotel near Chicago. O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir High Times, Hard Times, which led to a string of TV appearances on 60 Minutes, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Today Show with Bryant Gumbel, The Dick Cavett Show, Over Easy with Hugh Downs, The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder, and several others. She toured Europe and performed a 50th Anniversary Concert (1985) at Carnegie Hall, which resulted in the (2010) release of Anita O'Day – Big Band at Carnegie Hall (Emily Productions).[1]
Following a life-threatening fall down a staircase at the end of 1996, she made a comeback in 1999, resuming her career with the help of long-time manager Alan Eichler.[12] In 2005, her version of the standard "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3. The following year, she released Indestructible!, her first album in 13 years and her last studio album. During this period pianist John Colianni was her accompanist for numerous club appearances and special gigs (Colianni also plays on Indestructible!).
One of her better known late-career audio performances is "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby", which opens the film Shortbus (2006) by John Cameron Mitchell.
In November 2006, Robbie Cavolina (her last manager) entered her into a West Hollywood convalescent hospital while she recovered from pneumonia. Two days before her death, she had demanded to be released from the hospital. On Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, at age 87, O'Day died in her sleep. The official cause of death was cardiac arrest.
The feature-length documentary Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, directed by Robbie Cavolina and Ian McCrudden, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 30, 2007.[11][13]