Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday photographed by Carl Van Vechten
Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 - July 17, 1959), also called Lady Day is generally considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time. Born Eleanora Fagan, she had a difficult childhood which affected her life and career.
Much of Billie Holiday's childhood is clouded by conjecture and legend, some of it propogated by her own hand in her autobiography published in 1950. She was the daughter of Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday who was an accomplished jazz guitarist playing in a band led by Fletcher Henderson. She rarely saw her father, however, and was largely raised by her mother and other relatives.
There is still a controversy regarding the paternity of Billie Holiday. This stems from a copy of her birth certificate in Baltimore archives that lists the father as a "Frank DeViese." Some historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker (See Donald Clarke, Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon [1]). Certainly, Clarence Holiday recognized the paternity of his child and it was generally accepted during Billie Holiday's life, and after, that he was her father.
Billie Holiday was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fell's Point section of Baltimore. A hardened and angry child, Holiday dropped out of school at an early age and, allegedly, began working the streets as a prostitute. This preceded her move to New York, along with her mother, sometime in the early 1930s.
Settling in Harlem, Holiday began singing informally in numerous clubs. Around 1932 Holiday was "discovered" by record producer John Hammond at a Harlem club called Pod's and Jerry's (there is still some dispute among historians about who was the first to hear and publicise Billie Holiday, although it is generally agreed that Hammond was the first). Hammond arranged several recording sessions for her with Benny Goodman. Produced in 1933, these LPs were to be her first recordings.
It was also around this time that Holiday had her first successes as a live performer. On November 23 1934 Billie Holiday performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem to glowing reviews. The performance, with pianist (and lover) Bobby Henderson, did much to solidify her fame and standing as a jazz and blues singer. Shortly thereafter Holiday began performing regularly at numerous clubs on 52nd Street in Manahttan.
She later worked with such legends as Lester Young, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw, breaking the color barrier along the way by becoming one of the first jazz singers of that era to perform with white musicians. Nevertheless, she was still forced to use the back entrance and described being forced to wait in a dark room away from the audience before appearing on stage. Once before an audience, she was transformed into Lady Day with the white gardenia in her hair. She explained the sense of overpowering drama that featured in her songs, saying, "I've lived songs like that".
Even when she was young and singing trivial pop songs, however, her unique tone and emotional commitment made her performances special.
Holiday's success was marred by a growing dependence on drugs, alcohol, and abusive relationships. This affected her voice as well, and in her later recordings youthful spirit is replaced by overtones of regret, but her impact on other artists was substantial in all phases of her career. Even after her death she influenced such singers as Janis Joplin and Nina Simone. Diana Ross played her in a movie version of her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. In 1987 Bono wrote Angel of Harlem as a tribute to her, and the song became one of U2's hits.
Her late recordings on Verve are as well remembered as her Commodore and Decca recordings of 20 years before. Several of her songs, including her signature song "God Bless the Child", George Gershwin's "I Love You Porgy" (covered exactly by Simone), and the rueful blues "Fine and Mellow" are jazz classics.
Her performance of Lewis Allan's (Abel Meeropol) anti-lynching song on Commodore, "Strange Fruit", with the lyric "Southern trees bear strange fruit" gave her a place, not just in musical history, but in American history [1].
Holiday's final years were a tragedy. She was swindled out of her considerable earnings and died with only 70 cents in the bank and $750 dollars hidden about her person.
Billie Holiday is interred in St. Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx, New York.
Early life
First success
Later life and death
References