God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday

And we're back with our 3rd entry from Billie Holiday.  Again, for more info on Billie, check out our review of Strange Fruit.

So God Bless the Child is one of the few songs that Billie actually wrote.  It is said that she penned it after having had an argument about money with her mother, and her mom sort of bastardized a passage from the Bible which became the starting point for the song.  The song was then recorded in New York in 1941.  Anyway, it's probably one of Billie's biggest hits and has been covered by a lot of people, including Lou 'Smooth Like Butter' Rawls, Liza 'Can't Sing Legato' Minelli and Diana 'Don't Make Eye Contact With Me' Ross.  It was also included in the Bioshock soundtrack, so all you gamers out there can listen for it.

Holly:

God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday): Wow, Billie Holiday again! I like her a lot, I really do, but this is pretty crazy. We’re only 23 songs in and we’ve heard the same artist 3 times! Oh well, she’s awesome, so I guess I’ll let it slide. I know that this is one of the few songs that Billie Holiday actually wrote, and yaddayadda, but it’s never really been my favourite. It’s good, but I just don’t like the actually melody that much. I think it’s a bit unimaginative. The band backing her up is good and I love the trumpet (Roy Eldridge) sound. Is it just me, or are the saxophones not mic’ed? They sound like they’re playing down the hall from the rest of the band! 3.5/5

Kelly:

Billie Holiday.  AGAIN.  Sorry list, but if it came down to Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Ella would win every time.  Anyway, I've always kind of liked this song, and I feel like it's one of those songs that when Holiday recorded it, it was pretty simple and basic, so it made for a good song to cover and put your own spin on, like Blood Sweat and Tears did (and I'm actually more familiar with their version.)  Like Holly, I think the band sounds really good, especially the trumpet, but they're all just kind of churning along, nothing spectacular or virtuosic.  All said, it's a classic, but that doesn't mean I have to love it. 3/5

God Bless the Child