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The United States vs. Billie Holiday (soundtrack)

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The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album by
Andra Day
ReleasedFebruary 19, 2021
RecordedSeptember 2019
VenueBay Eight Recording Studios, Miami, Florida
Genre
Length39:26
LabelWarner
Producer
Andra Day chronology
Cheers to the Fall
(2015) 		The United States vs. Billie Holiday
(2021)
Singles from The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture)
  1. "All of Me"
    Released: January 13, 2021
  2. "Strange Fruit"
    Released: January 21, 2021
  3. "Tigress & Tweed"
    Released: January 27, 2021
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Original Motion Picture Score)
Film score by
Kris Bowers
ReleasedFebruary 26, 2021
RecordedDecember 2020
GenreFilm score
Length19:23
LabelLakeshore Records
Kris Bowers chronology
Bridgerton
(2020) 		The United States vs. Billie Holiday
(2021) 		Space Jam: A New Legacy
(2021)

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album to the 2021 film of the same name, released on February 19, 2021 by Warner Records. The film is based on the life of singer Billie Holiday, and also from the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. Directed by Lee Daniels, it features Andra Day performing the titular character.[1] The soundtrack featured several compilation of songs composed and performed by Day. She also wrote the original song "Tigress & Tweed" and had co-produced the album with Salaam Remi, and Raphael Saadiq and Warren Felder. Lynn Fainchtein and Daniels were the music supervisors.

The 13-song soundtrack album is composed mostly of western, contemporary classical, pop and soul music originated from the 1930s and late-1950s, reflecting on Billie Holiday's time period.[2] It was recorded mostly live on sets and conceptualised in late-September 2019, even before the film's shooting began, the following month. The soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 64th Grammy Awards, with the track "Tigress & Tweed" being nominated for Best Original Songs at the Golden Globe, Critics' Choice Movie Award and Black Reel award ceremonies in 2021.

The original score is composed by Kris Bowers. Bowers' score was released into a separate 12-track album titled The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Original Motion Picture Score) on February 26, 2021 by Lakeshore Records, which coincided with the film's streaming release on Hulu.

Background

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The songs were recorded live on sets, and mostly used period instruments from 1930s and 1950s to capture the essence of contemporary classical music.[3] Salaam Remi co-produced the original songs with Day, with the film's director Lee Daniels and Lynn Fainchtein jointly supervised the music.[3] Remi and Fainchtein, in an interview to Variety, had spoken about the production of the compiled tracks. For Remi, "it was an understanding of what the original arrangements were, and how they would have done them at that time, but also how they were playing out in the movie". Both wanted the music to be as authentic to the time period, though the layers of the music and the orchestration, are more like the pop of the '70s than the jazz of the '40s or '50s. Remi stated that "On a lot of Billie Holiday recordings, you can't always hear [the detail]. There might have been one mic going straight to vinyl. I had to augment because I was recording digital at the highest possible bit rate."[3] All the tracks were composed prior to the film's shooting, in Miami, in September 2019. Day, had sung for most of the tracks in the film, whom Remi had claimed that she "had the vocal chops and was nailing it from the beginning".[3]

Mark Isham, Craig Harris and Christopher Gunning were previously announced to compose for the score,[4][5] until Kris Bowers, was approached by the makers and recording for the background score were completed by late-December 2020.[6]

Release

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Prior to the soundtrack release, Day's cover versions of "All of Me" and "Strange Fruit"[7][8] were released as digital singles on January 13 and 21, 2021, respectively.[9] The original song "Tigress & Tweed" was released as the third track from the album on January 27.[10][11] Day co-wrote the song with Raphael Saadiq, who also composed and produced the track.[11] The track list for Music from the Motion Picture was first released on February 1, with pre-orders beginning on the same date through the Amazon.com website.[12][13] Warner Records released the soundtrack digitally on February 19, followed by a physical release on March 19,[12] and a vinyl edition being released on July 23.[14] Original Motion Picture Score, which contains Kris Bowers' compositions for the film score was released on February 26, coinciding with the streaming release on Hulu.[6]

Track listing

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The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."All of Me" (Andra Day)
Salaam Remi3:35
2."Strange Fruit" (Day)
Remi3:26
3."Tigress & Tweed" (Day)
  • Day
  • Saadiq
3:11
4."The Devil & I Got up to Dance a Slow Dance" (Charlie Wilson and Sebastian Kole)
Felder for GO! Music/The Orphanage3:21
5."Solitude" (Day)
Remi3:01
6."Break Your Fall" (Day)
  • Tillman
  • Felder
Felder for GO! Music/The Orphanage2:20
7."I Cried for You" (Day)
Remi2:40
8."Ain't Nobody's Business" (Day)
Remi3:03
9."Them There Eyes" (Day)
Remi2:49
10."Lady Sings the Blues" (Day)
Remi3:15
11."Lover Man" (Day)
Remi3:00
12."Gimme a Pigfoot and Bottle of Beer" (Day)Wesley WilsonRemi2:50
13."God Bless the Child" (Day)
Remi2:27
Total length:39:06

All music is composed by Kris Bowers

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Original Motion Picture Score) track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Don’t Cause a Fuss"1:22
2."Great Night"1:09
3."Billie’s Waltz"3:12
4."Tallulah"0:57
5."Judge's Ruling"1:38
6."Jimmy's Mistake/Lie to Her"1:08
7."Carnegie Hall"1:29
8."Lynching"3:08
9."Walk in the Park/Levy Frames Billie"1:12
10."All of Me"2:08
11."Paint My Nails"1:10
12."You Hate Her"0:44
Total length:19:23

Chart performance

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Release history

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Release dates and formats for The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture)
Region Date Format(s) Label Catalog Version(s) Ref.
Various February 19, 2021
Warner Records — Standard [20]
United States March 19, 2021 CD 093624883395 [13]
Canada [21]
Europe [22]
Japan April 21, 2021 WPCR 18422 [23]
Brazil May 6, 2021
  • Warner Records
  • Lil Dank Records
 093624883395 [24]
United States August 13, 2021 Vinyl Ultra 093624883388 Limited edition [14]

Personnel

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Credits adapted from Allmusic.[25]

Instruments

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  • Strings – Stephen Coleman (arrangements), Dan Higgins (arrangements)
  • Bass – Salaam Remi, Raphael Saadiq
  • Drums – Salaam Remi, TFOX
  • Guitar – Vincent Henry, Charlie Hunter
  • Horns – Vincent Henry (arrangements)
  • Saxophone – Vincent Henry (arrangements), Khari Allen Lee
  • Clarinet – Vincent Henry
  • Orchestra – Czech Film Orchestras
  • Piano – Alex Bugnon, James Poyser, Daniel Crean (programming), Eren Cannata (programming)
  • Trumpet – Emilio Lopez
  • Flugelhorn – Emilio Lopez
  • Keyboards – Oak Felder (programming)

Production

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  • A&R – Rani Hancock, Joanna Terrasi (administration)
  • Arranged By – Salaam Remi
  • Music co-ordinator – Nik Boskoff
  • Design – Stephen Walker (packaging)
  • Executive producer – Aaron Bay-Schuck, Amanda Ghost, Lynn Fainchtein, PJ Bloom, Rani Hancock, Tom Corson
  • Legal advisor – Jason R. Heller
  • Management – Jeffrey Evans, Chris Atlas (marketing), Shawnaé Corbett-Rice (marketing), Nacho Burgoa (music clearance)
  • Mastered by – Chris Gehringer (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 13), Dave Kutch (tracks: 3)
  • Mixed by – Eric J. Dubowsky (tracks: 4, 6), Hotae Alexander Jang (tracks: 3), Jimmy Douglass (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7 to 13), Salaam Remi (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7 to 13), Matt Curtin (tracks: 4, 6; mixing assistance)
  • Photography by – Philippe Bosse
  • Producer – Andra Day (tracks: 3), Raphael Saadiq (tracks: 3), Salaam Remi (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7 to 13), Warren Felder (tracks: 4, 6)
  • Recorded by – Hotae Alexander Jang (tracks: 3), Ryan Evans (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7 to 13), Downtown Trevor Brown (tracks: 4, 6), Warren Felder (tracks: 4, 6)
  • Supervised by – Lynn Fainchtein

Recording

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  • Recorded at – Bay Eight
  • Mixed at – The Magic Mix Room
  • Mixed at – Instrument Zoo
  • Mastered at – Sterling Sound
  • Mastered at – The Mastering Palace

Awards and nominations

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Black Reel Awards April 11, 2021 Outstanding Original Song "Tigress & Tweed" – Andra Day & Raphael Saadiq Nominated [26]
Critics’ Choice Movie Awards March 7, 2021 Best Song "Tigress & Tweed" – Andra Day & Raphael Saadiq Nominated [27]
Golden Globe Awards February 28, 2021 Best Original Song "Tigress & Tweed" – Andra Day & Raphael Saadiq Nominated [28]
Grammy Awards April 3, 2022 Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) Won [29]
Hollywood Music in Media Awards January 27, 2021 Best Original Song in a Feature Film "Tigress & Tweed" – Andra Day & Raphael Saadiq Nominated [30]
Best Music Supervision – Film Lynn Fainchtein Nominated
NAACP Image Awards February 26, 2022 Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) – Salaam Remi, Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq, Warren Felder Nominated [31]

References

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  1. ^ Lindahl, Chris (April 15, 2021). "Andra Day Talks with Phillip Noyce About How Billie Holiday Helped Her Discover Her Voice". IndieWire. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  2. ^ "Interview: Director Lee Daniels on the cultural importance of The United States vs Billie Holiday". The AU Review. April 22, 2021. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Burlingame, Jazz Tangcay, Jon; Tangcay, Jazz; Burlingame, Jon (February 26, 2021). "Recording Andra Day as Billie Holiday Was an Exercise in 'Surround' Sound". Variety. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Field, Victor. "Christopher Gunning to Score Lee Daniels' 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  5. ^ "Mark Isham to Score Lee Daniels' 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' Score Album to Be Released". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Pietsch, Bryan (April 25, 2021). "Behind 'Strange Fruit,' Billie Holiday's Anti-Lynching Anthem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Andra Day's New Song In 'The United States Vs. Billie Holiday' Pays Tribute To The Artist". Bustle. February 25, 2021. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  9. ^ "Andra Day's 'All of Me' Cover from 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' Released". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  10. ^ "Andra Day: The Story of "Tigress & Tweed" | The United States vs. Billie Holiday". Los Angeles Times. February 2, 2021. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Andra Day's & Raphael Saadiq's Original Song 'Tigress & Tweed' from 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' Released". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  12. ^ a b "'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Andra Day (2021), The United States vs. Billie Holiday Music from the Motion Picture, Warner Records, archived from the original on October 21, 2021, retrieved May 12, 2022
  14. ^ a b "Andra Day - The United States Vs. Billie H (Vinyl)". www.target.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  15. ^ "Official Compilations Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  16. ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  17. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  18. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Soundtrack Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  19. ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  20. ^ The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) by Andra Day, February 19, 2021, archived from the original on May 13, 2022, retrieved May 13, 2022
  21. ^ DAY, ANDRA (2021), United States Vs. Billie Holiday, WARNER RECORDS, archived from the original on May 13, 2022, retrieved May 13, 2022
  22. ^ The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture) (in European Portuguese), February 19, 2021, archived from the original on May 13, 2022, retrieved May 13, 2022
  23. ^ "The United States Vs. Billie Holiday (Music From The Motion Picture) Andra Day CD Album". CDJapan. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  24. ^ Andra Day - The United States Vs. Billie Holiday: Music From The Motion Picture, archived from the original on May 13, 2022, retrieved May 13, 2022
  25. ^ The United States vs. Billie Holiday [Music From the Motion Picture] - Andra Day | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, archived from the original on May 13, 2022, retrieved May 13, 2022
  26. ^ Amanda N'Duka (February 18, 2021). "'One Night in Miami', 'Judas and the Black Messiah' Lead Nominations For 21st Annual Black Reel Awards". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  27. ^ Davis, Clayton (February 8, 2021). "Critics Choice Awards: 'Mank' Leads With 12 Nominations, Netflix Makes History With Four Best Picture Nominees". Variety. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  28. ^ Oganesyan, Natalie; Moreau, Jordan (February 3, 2021). "Golden Globes 2021: The Complete Nominations List". Variety. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  29. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List". Grammy Awards. November 23, 2021. Archived from the original on November 25, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  30. ^ Grein, Paul (January 27, 2021). "Diane Warren & James Newton Howard Among Top Winners at 2021 Hollywood Music in Media Awards". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  31. ^ Spivey, Kemberlie (January 19, 2022). "2022 NAACP Image Awards Nominations: The Full List". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
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