Editing Anita O'Day

{{Short description|American jazz singer (1919–2006)}}{{For|the documentary film|Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Anita O'Day
| image           = Anita O'Day (cropped).jpg
| caption         = O'Day in 2005
| landscape       = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| birth_name      = Anita Belle Colton
| alias           = "The Jezebel of Jazz"
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|1919|10|18}}
| birth_place     = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{Death date and age|2006|11|23|1919|10|18}}
| death_place     = [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| genre           = {{flatlist|
*[[Vocal jazz]]
*[[bebop]]}}
| occupation      = Singer
| years_active    = 1934–2006
| label           = {{flatlist|
*[[Verve Records|Verve]]
*Emily Productions
*Kayo Stereophonic}}
| associated_acts = 
}}

'''Anita Belle Colton''' (October 18, 1919<ref name="LarkinJazz">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|page=306/7}}</ref> – November 23, 2006),<ref name="Obit"/> 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.<ref name="High times">{{cite book |title=High Times Hard Times |first1=Anita |last1=O'Day |first2=George |last2=Eells |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]] |year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LUNsQC-iKw0C&q=%22call+myself+O%27Day%22&pg=PA34 |page=34 |isbn=978-0879101183}}</ref>

==Early career==
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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.philly.com/1989-10-26/entertainment/26120559_1_high-times-hard-times-jazz-singer-anita-o-day-gene-krupa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910111303/http://articles.philly.com/1989-10-26/entertainment/26120559_1_high-times-hard-times-jazz-singer-anita-o-day-gene-krupa |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 10, 2015 |title=A Mellow Time For Jazz Singer Anita O'day |first=Francis |last=Davis |author-link=Francis Davis |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=26 October 1989}}</ref> Colton took the first chance to leave her unhappy home when, at age 14, she became a contestant in the popular [[Dance marathon|Walk-a-thons]] as a dancer.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> She toured with the Walk-a-thons circuits for two years, occasionally being called upon to sing.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In 1934, she began touring the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] as a marathon dance contestant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/anita-oday-425721.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/anita-oday-425721.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Anita O'Day|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en-GB}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1936, she left the endurance contests, determined to become a professional singer.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> She started out as a chorus girl in such [[Uptown, Chicago|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 ''[[DownBeat]]'' editor [[Carl Cons]] hired her to work at his new club at [[State Street (Chicago)|222 North State Street]], the Off-Beat, which became a popular hangout for musicians. Also performing at the Off-Beat was the [[Max Miller (jazz musician)|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.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In 1939, O'Day was hired as vocalist for Miller's Quartet, which had a stay at the Three Deuces club in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|title=Here's That Rainy Day - Anita O'Day - Jul 3, 1969|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/08/anita-oday-heres-that-rainy-day.html|website=Pastemagazine.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref>

==Work with Krupa, Herman, and Kenton==
The call from Krupa came in early 1941.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> 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,<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> 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.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> The reunion yielded 10 sides. After leaving Krupa late in 1946, O'Day again became a solo artist.<ref name="Obit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/27/guardianobituaries.obituaries1|title=Obituary: Anita O'Day|last=Fordham|first=John|date=2006-11-27|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|language=en|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref>

==Post-war work and drug arrests==
[[File:Anita O'Day 1957.jpg|thumb|Anita O'Day performing at the Storyville Jazz Club in Boston in July, 1957. Photo: Mel Levine]]During the late 1940s, O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. During this period she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. Among the more notable recordings from this time are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "[[How High the Moon]]", "[[I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out]]", and "[[Malagueña (song)|Malaguena]]". While living with husband Carl Hoff in Los Angeles in March 1947, two undercover policemen came to their home, during a party at which [[Dizzy Gillespie]] was playing from the branches of a tree in their front yard. They found a small bag of marijuana, for which Anita and Carl were arrested. On August 11, Judge Harold B. Landreth found them guilty, and handed down 90-day sentences.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anita O'Day: High Times And Hard Times |url=https://www.npr.org/2008/10/16/95746374/anita-oday-high-times-and-hard-times#:~:text=O'Day's%20drug%20problems%20first,1953%2C%20this%20time%20for%20heroin. |website=National Public Radio}}</ref> After her jail stint, she performed with [[Woody Herman]]'s Herd and the Stan Kenton Artistry In Rhythm Orchestra. Her career was back on the upswing in September 1948 when she sang with [[Count Basie]] at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five [[aircheck|airchecks]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fordham |first1=John |title=Anita O'Day |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/nov/27/guardianobituaries.obituaries1 |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 November 2006}}</ref> What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, were the 17 albums she recorded for [[Norman Granz]]'s [[Norgran Records|Norgran]] and [[Verve records|Verve]] labels between 1952 and 1962.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anita O'Day, Clef, Norgran & Verve Recordings 1952-56 (2CD) |url=https://www.trapezemusic.com/anita-oday-clef-norgran--verve-recordings-1952-56-2cd-3860-p.asp |website=Trapeze Music & Entertainment}}</ref>

Her first album, ''Anita O'Day Sings Jazz'' (reissued as ''The Lady Is a Tramp''), was recorded in 1952 for the newly established [[Norgran Records]] (it was also the label's first [[Vinyl record|LP]]). The album was a critical success and boosted her popularity. In February 1953, she was in court again for another marijuana charge, this time for smoking a joint while riding in a car. The case was dismissed by a jury for lack of evidence, but while awaiting her trial, O'Day was introduced to sniffing [[heroin]] by [[Harry Gibson|Harry the Hipster]]. She had switched from marijuana to alcohol after her second arrest, and her first thought on feeling the effects of heroin was, "Oh good, now I don't have to drink." Within a month, she allegedly was framed on a heroin charge and was facing six years in prison. Soon after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, ''Songs by Anita O'Day'' (reissued as ''An Evening with Anita O'Day''). She recorded steadily throughout the 1950s, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day generally was backed by a trio that included John Poole, the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/apr/14/jazz-drummer-poole-dies-at-73/ |title=Jazz drummer Poole dies at 73 |newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]] |date=14 April 1999}}</ref>

As a live performer, O'Day began performing in festivals and concerts with musicians such as [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Oscar Peterson]], [[Dinah Washington]], [[George Shearing]], [[Cal Tjader]] and [[Thelonious Monk]]. She appeared in the documentary ''[[Jazz on a Summer's Day]]'', filmed at the 1958 [[Newport Jazz Festival]], which increased her popularity.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> She admitted later that she was probably high on heroin during the concert.<ref name="Voice of Choice">{{cite magazine |last=Als |first=Hilton |author-link=Hilton Als |title=Voice of Choice |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=11 August 2008 |issn=0028-792X |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/notebook/2008/08/11/080811gonb_GOAT_notebook_als}}</ref>  

The following year, O'Day made a cameo appearance in ''[[The Gene Krupa Story]]'', singing "[[Memories of You]]". Late in 1959, she toured Europe with [[Benny Goodman]] to great personal acclaim. O'Day wrote in her 1981 autobiography that when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.

O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist and appeared on such TV specials as the ''[[Timex All-Star Jazz Show]]'' and ''[[The Swingin' Years]]'' hosted by [[Ronald Reagan]]. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962, and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> During this time, her working trio included Chicagoan George Finley on drums, father of performance artist [[Karen Finley]]. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 [[Berlin Jazz Festival]]. She also appeared in the films ''[[Zig Zag (1970 film)|Zig Zag]]'' a.k.a. ''[[False Witness]]'' with [[George Kennedy]] (1970) and ''[[The Outfit (1973 film)|The Outfit]]'' (1974) with [[Robert Duvall]]. She resumed making live and studio albums under the new management of [[Alan Eichler]], many recorded in Japan, and several were released on Emily Records, owned by Anita O'Day and John Poole.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/>

==Memoir and later life==
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).<ref name="LarkinJazz"/>

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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-18-tm-57102-story.html|title=They Said She'd Never Sing Again|first=Ed|last=Leibowitz|date=18 July 1999|access-date=7 August 2018|website=Articles.latimes.com}}</ref> In 2005, her version of the standard "[[Sing, Sing, Sing]]" was remixed by [[RSL (band)|RSL]] and was included in the compilation album ''[[Verve Remixed|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bay Area News Group |first= |date=November 27, 2006 |title=Renowned jazz singer Anita O’Day dies |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/11/27/renowned-jazz-singer-anita-oday-dies/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}}</ref> On 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.<ref name="Voice of Choice" /><ref>{{YouTube|QfcH8fAf7TM|"Anita O'Day: Indestructible"}}</ref>

==Style==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2023}}
O'Day cited [[Martha Raye]] as the primary influence on her vocal style, also expressing admiration for [[Mildred Bailey]], [[Ella Fitzgerald]], and [[Billie Holiday]]. She always maintained that the accidental excision of her [[palatine uvula|uvula]] during a childhood [[tonsillectomy]] left her incapable of [[vibrato]], and unable to maintain long [[phrase]]s. That botched operation, she claimed, forced her to develop a more percussive style based on short notes and rhythmic drive. However, when she was in good voice she could stretch long notes with strong [[crescendo]]s and a telescoping vibrato, e.g. her live version of "[[Sweet Georgia Brown]]" at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, captured in [[Bert Stern]]'s film ''[[Jazz on a Summer's Day]]''.

==Discography==
{{Main|Anita O'Day discography}}

==Filmography==
===Features===
*''[[The Gene Krupa Story]]'' (1959) - Herself
*''[[Zig Zag (1970 film)|Zig Zag]]'' (1970) - Sheila Mangan
*''[[The Outfit (1973 film)|The Outfit]]'' (1973) - Herself

===Documentaries===
*''[[Jazz on a Summer's Day]]'' (1959)
*''Anita O'Day - Live at Ronnie Scott's'' (2006)
*''[[Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer]]'' (2007)
*''Live in Tokyo '63'' (2007)
*''Jazz Icons'' (2009)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Archival records|title=Anita O’Day papers, 1937-2004|location= [[Library of Congress]]|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu012009}}
{{Commons category|position=left}}
*[https://www.npr.org/2008/10/16/95746374/anita-oday-high-times-and-hard-times Anita O'Day] at [[Jazz Profiles]]
*{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=anita-oday-mn0000479028}}
*{{Discogs artist|258903-Anita-ODay}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0640595}}

{{Anita O'Day}}
{{Portal bar|Biography}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oday, Anita}}
[[Category:American jazz singers]]
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:American women jazz singers]]
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[[Category:Traditional pop music singers]]
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