STILL SINGING

O'Day, Anita with George Eells with a new epilogue.

High Times, Hard Times [Signed] [Jazz Memoir]

New York: Limelight. 1997. Third printing of this revision.

Warmly inscribed by Anita O'Day: 'Bill, Nice to see you, love xxx.' Signed during a performance at the Court Show, Burbank, California, June 24, 2000, with the event noted in pencil at the head of the page. O'Day had celebrated her eightieth birthday the previous October and was still performing, making this an appealing late-career inscription.

THE VOICE THAT NEVER STOPPED SWINGING.
Few jazz autobiographies match the candor and resilience of Anita O'Day's High Times, Hard Times. Written with George Eells, the memoir traces her remarkable journey from Depression-era Chicago clubs to international acclaim with the Gene Krupa and Stan Kenton orchestras. Along the way, O'Day recounts the triumphs that established her as one of jazz's most original vocal stylists and the personal struggles that repeatedly threatened both her career and her life.

This revised edition includes a new epilogue and an updated discography, while the personal inscription—written as O'Day continued performing into her eighties—adds a direct connection to one of jazz's most enduring performers.

HONEST, UNSENTIMENTAL, UNFORGETTABLE.
O'Day writes with the same fearless independence that defined her performances. She reflects openly on addiction, discrimination, the realities of touring with big bands, and the demanding world of postwar jazz without self-pity or embellishment. Her story is both a personal memoir and a vivid portrait of American jazz during its most influential decades.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Publisher's illustrated softcover. Octavo; 9 inches tall; 376 pages. Includes a revised text with a new epilogue and an updated discography compiled by Robert A. Sixsmith and Alan Eichler.

CONDITION: Fine. No flaws or blemishes beyond minimal shelf handling. The binding is tight and square. Text is clean and appears unread, with no spine crease. An exceptionally well-preserved signed copy.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE VOICE OF AN ERA—A LIFE IN JAZZ.
 Anita O'Day helped redefine jazz singing through her rhythmic freedom, inventive phrasing, and refusal to imitate conventional pop vocalists. Her work with Gene Krupa and Stan Kenton established her as one of the leading voices of the Swing Era, while her celebrated Verve recordings confirmed her place among the greatest interpreters of American jazz.

BEYOND THE SPOTLIGHT.
Far more than a musician's memoir, High Times, Hard Times offers an unflinching account of addiction, recovery, gender, and survival within the twentieth-century music industry. O'Day's willingness to confront both her successes and failures has made the autobiography one of the essential firsthand accounts of postwar American jazz.

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS
+++ Anita O'Day's complete life story in her own voice.
+++ Big-band years with Gene Krupa and Stan Kenton.
+++ Frank discussion of addiction and recovery.
+++ New epilogue and expanded discography.
+++ Personal inscription from O'Day's final performing years.

SUBJECTS: Anita O'Day; George Eells; Jazz Vocalists; Gene Krupa; Stan Kenton; Swing Era; Bebop; Women in Jazz; Music Memoirs; Signed Books; African American Music History, Jazz History; Music Memoir; American Music; Performing Arts; Autobiography.

Item #18672

Price: $125.00