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BILLIE HOLIDAY/ 2011
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Prints on paper: Portraits 3 | | Medium: | Giclée on Japanese matte paper | | Size (inches): | 16.5 x 11.7 (paper size) | | Size (mm): | 420 x 297 (paper size) | | Edition size: | 25 | | Catalog #: | PP_0238 | | Description: | From an edition of 25. Signed, titled, date, copyright, edition in pencil on the reverse / Aside from the numbered edition of 5 artist's proofs and 2 printer's proofs.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
- Strange Fruit by Abel Meeropol
"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who released her first recording of it in 1939, the year she first sang it.
Strange Fruit -
"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who released her first recording of it in 1939, the year she first sang it. Written by the teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem, it exposed American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans. Such lynchings had occurred chiefly in the South but also in all other regions of the United States. The writer, Abel, set it to music and with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan, performed it as a protest song in New York venues, including Madison Square Garden.
The song has been covered by numerous artists, as well as inspiring novels, other poems and other creative works. In 1978 Holiday's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[2] It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
References:
1. ^ "Billie Holiday recording sessions". Billieholidaysongs.com. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
2. ^ Grammy Hall of Fame[dead link]
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit
Billie Holiday -
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan[1] April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.
Critic John Bush wrote that Holiday "changed the art of American pop vocals forever."[2] She co-wrote only a few songs, but several of them have become jazz standards, notably "God Bless the Child", "Don't Explain", "Fine and Mellow", and "Lady Sings the Blues". She also became famous for singing "Easy Living", "Good Morning Heartache", and "Strange Fruit", a protest song which became one of her standards and was made famous with her 1939 recording.
Successes (1940–1947):
Holiday's mother Sadie Fagan, nicknamed "The Duchess," started her own restaurant called Mom Holiday's. Fagan used the money her daughter earned while shooting dice with members of the Count Basie band, whom she was on tour with in the late 1930s. "It kept mom busy and happy and stopped her from worrying and watching over me," Holiday said. Soon, Fagan began borrowing large amounts of money from Holiday because the restaurant wasn't turning a profit. Holiday obliged, but soon fell upon hard times herself. "I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some," Holiday said. "So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn't give me a cent." The two argued and then, Holiday, in a rage, hollered "God bless the child that's got his own," and stormed out of the restaurant. With help from Arthur Herzog, Jr., a pianist, the two wrote a song based on the line "God Bless the Child" and added music.[42]
"God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and covered record. It reached number 25 on the record charts in 1941 and ranked third in Billboard's top songs of the year, selling over a million records.[43][44] In 1976, the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.[45] Herzog later claimed that Holiday contributed little to the lyrics of her music, adding only a few lines. He also stated that Holiday came up with the line "God Bless the Child" from a dinner conversation the two had.[46]
On June 24, 1942, Holiday recorded "Trav'lin Light" with Paul Whiteman. Because she was still under contract with Columbia records, she couldn't release the song under her own name and instead used the pseudonym "Lady Day."[47] The song was a minor success on the pop charts, reaching number 23, but hit number one on the R&B charts, which were called the Harlem Hit Parade at the time.[48]
In September 1943, Life magazine complimented Holiday on her work. They wrote, "she has the most distinct style of any popular vocalist and is imitated by other vocalists."[49]
Milt Gabler eventually became an A&R man for Decca Records, in addition to owning Commodore Records, and he signed Holiday to the label on August 7, 1944, when Holiday was 29.[50] Her first recording for Decca was "Lover Man" (#16 Pop, #5 R&B), one of her biggest hits. The success and wide distribution of the song made Holiday a staple in the pop community, allowing her to have her own solo concerts, a rarity for jazz singers in the late 40s. Gabler commented on the song's success, saying, "I made Billie a real pop singer. That was right in her. Billie loved those songs."[51] Jimmy Davis and Roger "Ram" Ramirez, "Lover Man"'s songwriters, tried to get Holiday interested in recording the song in 1941, but she didn't take interest.[52] In 1943, a flamboyant male torch singer by the name of Willie Dukes began singing "Lover Man" on 52nd Street.[53] Because of Duke's success with the song, Holiday decided to add it to her live shows. The song's B-side is "No More", a song Holiday considered one of her favorites.[50]
When it came time to record the song, Holiday begged Gabler for strings, which were associated with big name acts like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, to accompany her in the background. "I went on my knees to him," Holiday said. "I didn't want to do it with the ordinary six pieces. I begged Milt and told him I had to have strings behind me."[54] On October 4, 1944, Holiday walked into the recording studio to record "Lover Man" and saw the string ensemble and walked out. The musical director for the session, Toots Camarata said she was overwhelmed with joy.[54] Another reason for Holiday wanting to use strings may have been to dodge the comparisons made between her commercially successful early work with Teddy Wilson and everything produced afterward. Her 1930s sides with Wilson used a small jazz combo. Her recordings with Decca often involved string ensembles and presented her voice in a new light.[55]
A month later, in November, Billie Holiday returned to the Decca studio to record three songs, "That Ole Devil Called Love", "Big Stuff", and "Don't Explain". Holiday wrote "Don't Explain" after she caught her husband, Jimmy Monroe, with lipstick on his collar.[56]
After the recording session, Holiday did not return to the studio until August 1945. She recorded "Don't Explain", "Big Stuff", "What Is This Thing Called Love?", and "You Better Go Now". Ella Fitzgerald declared "You Better Go Now" as her favorite Billie Holiday recording.[57] "Big Stuff" and "Don't Explain" were recorded again but with additional strings and a viola.
In 1946, Holiday recorded "Good Morning Heartache". Although the song failed to chart, it remained a staple in her live shows with three known live recordings of the song.[58]
In September 1946, Holiday began work on what would be her only major film New Orleans. She starred opposite Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman. Plagued by racism and McCarthyism, producer Jules Levey and script writer Herbert Biberman were pressured to lessen Holiday and Armstrong's role in the film as to not give the impression that black people created jazz. Their attempts failed because in 1947 Biberman was listed as one of the Hollywood Ten and sent to jail.[59]
Holiday was not pleased that her role was reduced to that of a maid: "I thought I was going to play myself in it," she said. "I thought I was going to be Billie Holiday doing a couple of songs in a nightclub setting and that would be that. I should have known better. When I saw the script, I did."[citation needed] Before filming, Holiday was assigned a dramatic coach who coached her on how to properly say "Miss Marylee", the lead character's name. "So this coach was trying to get the right kind of tom feeling into this thing," Holiday said.[citation needed] At one point, after feeling cornered and unable to walk off the set, she burst out into tears. Louis Armstrong tried comforting her. "Better look out," he said. "I know Lady, and when she starts crying, the next thing she's going to do is start fighting."[citation needed] Several scenes were deleted from the film. "They had taken miles of footage of music and scenes," Holiday said, "[and] none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did... and that was cut out of the picture."[60] She recorded the track "The Blues Are Brewin'", for the film's soundtrack. Other songs included in the movie are "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" and "Farewell to Storyville".
Holiday's drug addictions were a growing problem on the set. She earned more than a thousand dollars a week from her club ventures at the time, but spent most of it on heroin. Her lover Joe Guy traveled to Hollywood while Holiday was filming and supplied her with drugs. When discovered by Joe Glaser, Holiday's manager, Guy was banned from the set.[61]
By the late 1940s, Holiday had begun recording a number of slow, sentimental ballads. The magazine Metronome expressed its concerns in 1946 about "Good Morning Heartache," saying "there's a danger that Billie's present formula will wear thin, but up to now it's wearing well."[37] The New York Herald Tribune reported on a Holiday concert in 1946 that her performance had little variation in the melody of her songs, with no change in tempo.[62]
Notes:
1. ^ Autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues" p. 14.
2. ^ Bush, John. "Billie Holiday: Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
37. ^ a b Nicholson, p. 113.
42. ^ Autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues" pp. 100–101.
43. ^ a b c Song artist 250 – Billie Holiday. Tsort.info. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
44. ^ a b Jazz History: The Standards (1940s). Jazzstandards.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
45. ^ GRAMMY.com. GRAMMY.com (2009-02-08). Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
46. ^ Ghosts of Yesterday: Billie Holiday and the Two Irenes (March 4, 2006) http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/ghosts-of-yesterday-billie-holiday-and-the-two-irenes-a-jazz-mystery/#program-article
47. ^ Nicholson, p. 130.
48. ^ Harlem Hit Parade – The eMusic Dozen. Emusic.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
49. ^ Nicholson, p. 133.
50. ^ a b Billie Holiday Studio Songs. Billieholidaysongs.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
51. ^ Nicholson, p. 150.
52. ^ Nicholson, p. 122.
53. ^ 52nd Street, the street of jazz – Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
54. ^ a b Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?) (1942) JazzStandards.com
55. ^ Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)). Jazzstandards.com (1944-10-04). Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
56. ^ Alagna, Magdalena. Billie Holiday, The Rosen Publishing Group (2003), p. 61 – ISBN 0823936406.
57. ^ Billie Holiday Studio Songs. Billieholidaysongs.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
58. ^ Billie Holiday Live Songs. Billieholidaysongs.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
59. ^ Nicholson, pp. 152-155.
60. ^ Autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues" pp. 136-140.
61. ^ Nicholson, pp. 152–157.
62. ^ Nicholson, p. 151.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday
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