Good Morning Heartache

When Billie Holiday recorded Good Morning Heartache in 1946, she did so in New York alongside the orchestra of Bill Stegmeyer. On that session, which took place on January 22, musicians such as Chris Griffin and Joe Guy participated on trumpets, Hank Ross, Bernie Kaufman and Armand Camgros on saxophones, Joe Springer on piano, Tiny Grimes on guitar, John Simmons on bass and Sidney Catlett on drums, in addition to four strings and Holiday herself on vocals. The song, which blends the genres Jazz and Blues, has a duration of 3 minutes and 5 seconds and was released by the label Decca.

The story of Good Morning Heartache took a new turn in 1972, when Diana Ross portrayed Billie Holiday in the film Lady Sings the Blues. Ross's version for the film's soundtrack, which narrates Holiday's life from her beginnings in Harlem to her rise as a jazz star, was well received. It reached number 20 on the Billboard R&B charts and number 34 on the general pop charts, in addition to reaching the top ten in the Easy Listening category. The film, directed by Sidney J. Furie, was a Motown Productions project and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973.