rough recordings. From Mildred Bailey she learned that it was possible "to sing consonants instead of vowels the way most singers do" (O'Day and Eells 52). Guitarist Al Lyons introduced her to other singers' records as well, instructing her in what to listen for. She learned from the way Billie Holiday held notes, "shaping and flatting for effect," and from Ella Fitzgerald's "sly, little-girl quality and her scatting" (O'Day and Eells 52). Another important influence was the comic actor Martha Raye who was what O'Day calls "a presentation singer," who taught O'Day that she "could sing jazz and still perform" (O'Day and Eells 53).
In these early days O'Day began to develop her individual style and sound. Part of what made her sound so unusual was its lack of vibrato. She claimed that this was due to a careless doctor who had sliced off her uvula during a tonsillectomy. The vibrations of the uvula cause tone as air is forced past it. But, lacking this trait, O'Day sang eight and sixteenth notes rather than quarter notes. As she put it, "instead of singing 'Laaaaaaaaa,' I'd sing 'La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,' etc. to keep it moving" (O'Day and Eells 53). Friedwald claimed that her story struck him "as apocryphal at best," but he admitted that she used almost no vibrato, even in her earliest recordings, and this made her sound unusual (Friedwald 281). In the rare instances, especially in mid-career, when she did employ vibrato it occurred "only on long-note values" and was very "finely calibrated, used as a musically controlled, appropriate affect, rather than as merely an immutable aspect of the voice" (Schuller 726).
A second important aspect of O'Day's style that evolved at this time was her use of rhythm. Most singers simply work against the beat. But, as Friedwald points out, O'Day and Mel Torme are among the very few who work in "rhythmic empathy" with the musicians (289). For such singers the drummer becomes the mos...