Billie Holiday (1915-1959) Jazz singer, lyricist. "Lady Day" had a personal approach to a song, her individual phrasing and intonation, and the often rough but highly emotional quality of her voice soon earned her a supreme position among modern jazz singers. Although she was financially successful, she suffered many personal disasters, complicated by the drug addiction that she could not overcome and that eventually destroyed her career and hastened her death. Excessively rare 78 RPM V-Disc record (# 286A) featuring Trav'lin' Light by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra with the vocal by Holiday, signed on the label. V-Disc ("V" for Victory) was a morale-boosting initiative involving the production of several series of recordings during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. The records were produced for the use of United States military personnel overseas. After the V-Disc program ended in 1949, the Armed Services set out to honor the original AFM request that the records not be used for commercial purposes. Original masters and stampers were destroyed. Leftover V-Discs at bases and on ships were discarded. On some occasions, the FBI and the Provost Marshal's Office confiscated and destroyed V-Discs that servicemen had smuggled home. This record, while intact, has a major crack in the upper portion but is probably playable. The reverse side (# 286B) features the Nat King Cole Trio.