Lady Sings The Blues
(Paramount)
I remember seeing this back in ’72 and being wowed by Diana Ross’s portrayal of Billie Holiday, but left the theater feeling like something was missing. Now that I’m older and have a bit of jazz history under my belt, I can understand what the problem was. Granted, given her prior lack of acting experience, Ross is fantastic as the tragic singer with a long history of alcoholism and drug addiction, but what about recording and touring? Nowhere is there any mention of her stints with Teddy Wilson, Artie Shaw or Count Basie, her failed film career, or the hundreds of recordings she made while being backed up by some of the best musicians in the jazz world. I found Richard Pryor’s shtick to be a little annoying towards the end and I wasn’t that sad to see him put to rest by a bunch of thugs for not repaying his debts. For the neophyte interested in learning the basics about Lady Day’s life, I suppose the script was adequate enough for 1972, but now that biopics like Ray or Walk The Line have raised the bar considerably, it’s hard not to wish that Lady Sings The Blues had covered a little more territory. One only has to look at the current popularity of singer Madeline Peyroux to understand how Holiday touched her fans through her music and particularly, that voice – that beautiful, weary voice that seemed to speak for the loneliness that resides in each and every one of us. .--David Bassin