First Issue: The Great American Songbook

1994 年发行的专辑《First Issue : The Great American Songbook 伟大美国经典歌曲》，收录了「Billie Holiday」的 34 首精选歌曲，完美且完整地掌握到她低沉声线裡苦中带甜、甜中带涩的凄美特质，并透过其最真挚诚恳的语气倾吐，娓娓道尽如悲剧般人生的情思抒怀。34 首歌曲代表着刻画在「Billie Holiday」内心深处的泪痕絮语，透过其满载丰富情感的流洩歌声，所咏唱的字字句句均带给爱乐者最盪气迴肠之声音感动。在感情路上迭有起伏的「Billie Holiday」，透过她渗透人心的歌声，将其感情历练化作音符，集结为专辑中的首首经典。她时而甜美感性，时而沙哑伤怀的真情演绎，让这些隽永经典听在人们的耳裡，更有让人为之动容的贴心感触。 by John Bush For this double-disc set commemorating her American postage stamp (and patterned after Ella Fitzgerald's Songbook series), Verve compiled two discs of Billie Holiday covering the best of American popular song, from Ellington to Gershwin to Berlin to Porter and others. Though most of the material comes from the late '50s, when Holiday's voice was often in poor shape, her versions never fail to stir the heart -- often because her voice was in such bad repair. All of the tracks are familiar standards, including light-hearted songs like "A Fine Romance," "Embraceable You," "Prelude to a Kiss," and "I Get a Kick Out of You," as well as darker fare like "But Not for Me," "Stormy Weather," "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," and "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues."