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| Jazz Masters Series - Bruni Sablan |
God Bless The Lady, She’s Got Her Own
I walked into this dreary, smoky club called Càfe Society in Harlem. It took me a few seconds to adjust to the darkness of the room. I made my way over to the bar to see if I could find out where my two p.m. appointment was. The bartender motioned over to a small wrap around booth in the corner, away from the stage. It almost seemed like it was purposely placed there so that one could hide from everything and everyone. I shuffled my feet on the dirty, dusty floor, through a maze of cocktail tables and private spaces where you could be anyone and no one would care.
“Miss Holiday? My name is Thompson, Hank Thompson, from the Brooklyn Gazette,” I stammered. “We have an appointment today. May I sit down with you and talk?”
“Sure honey. I remember you. You caught my act in ’37 with the Count. Those sure were some interesting times. It’s been awhile. A lot has happened since then. Do you want something to drink?”
She waved at the bartender to bring drinks to the table.
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| Billie Holiday and "Mister" - William P. Gottlieb |
“I hear your singing a new song tonight, ‘Odd Fruit’? That seems kind of different. What’s the song about?”
Her laugh was throaty and almost melancholy. “It’s ‘Strange Fruit’ honey, not ‘Odd Fruit’. It’s based on a poem by Lewis Allan. This Lewis Allan, man, he’s Jewish but he really got it. He got the racism, the whole thing. I hope things change. We all just want love, you know?
We both looked down in an almost solemn prayer.
“You haven’t really shared a lot with the public about your private life, your childhood. Could we talk a little about that?” I knew she purposely didn’t want the public to know about her drinking or the drug usage. I had to at least ask since it seemed to give her credence in the jazz community; the tortured soul.
“Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married; he was 18, she was 16 and I was three. I never had a chance to play with dolls like other kids. I started working when I was six years old. It was a tough time. I got moved around a lot because Mom couldn’t handle me. She was so young and innocent. Oh Lord, poor thing.”
“I was greatly influenced by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. They had such style. I use to be a dancer when I was younger until I auditioned at this speakeasy. I really wasn’t a professional dancer honey, I just moved around a lot and they thought I was cute.”
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| Billie Holiday - Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images |
“The accompanist asked me if I could sing. I thought I had nothin’ to lose so I gave it a try. I was so scared. I was shaking like a leaf. I got the gig! Can you believe that?! A couple of nights later this man named John Hammond came in and caught my performance. He seemed to be impressed cause he passed my name onto Benny Goodman. I sang with the Goodman orchestra for awhile and then I got restless. I went on to work with Duke Ellington, Roy Eldredge, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, and Count Basie. There were so many sweet little combos around Brooklyn and Harlem. The mid-thirties have been so rewarding for me professionally. Singing songs like ‘The Man I Love’ or ‘Porgy’ is no more work than sitting down and eating Chinese roast duck, and I love roast duck.”“Miss Holiday, you’ve been so busy with your singing and traveling. Have you had any time for romance?”
“Honey, have you ever heard any of my songs?”
I felt embarrassed for asking such a rookie question. A wave of tingling heat came over my face.
I felt embarrassed for asking such a rookie question. A wave of tingling heat came over my face.
“I think you need another drink.” She called over to the bartender for another round.
“Oh, Miss Holiday, I can’t really drink on the job. I’ll just have some water if you don’t mind.”
“Your funeral.”
And without even asking, she picked up the conversation. She went on to talk about how she was so moved after she read Lewis Allan’s poem and how she was compelled to perform and inform her audience about what goes on behind the scenes. The ugly and frightening world that colored people go through, especially in the South, was the factor that made her fought to sing this song.
“People don’t understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it. I just feel like this song is going to be important for people to hear and as an added bonus, important for my career.”
“Miss Holiday, how do you want people to remember you?”
“Honey, I ain’t that old yet. I guess if I had to say though, I’d want people to see me as someone who was unlike anyone else. You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling. No two people on earth are alike, and it’s got to be that way in music or it isn’t music at all.”
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| Billie Holiday - Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images |
“Thank you so much Miss Holiday for your graciousness and time. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you. I wish you nothing but the best for your career. You’ll be around a long time, I’m certain of that.”
And with that, she smiled at me and shook my hand. I stood up and watched her walk away into a flood of sunlight that came through one of the only windows in the club. It was like I was witnessing an angel ascending into a golden light. I hope to talk with her again soon.
-Hank “Hub” Thompson, Brooklyn Gazette, 1939
Article written by:
Lisa Cruz-Shelley
University of Texas at Arlington
US History 1312
Feb 20 2011
Article written by:
Lisa Cruz-Shelley
University of Texas at Arlington
US History 1312
Feb 20 2011
Unfortunately, Billie Holiday’s alcoholism and heroin addiction plagued the rest of her short life. She continued to perform, but her health eventually failed her. She collapsed in Europe in May of 1959 of heart and liver disease. Even as she lay dying at Metropolitan Hospital in New York, she was still “fixing” and ignoring any advice of quitting or slowing down. Police officers were stationed at her door because she was under arrest for drug possession.
On July 17th, 1959 Billie Holiday, 44 years old, died of cirrhosis of the liver with $0.17 in her bank account and a $750 dollar tabloid fee amongst her personal possessions in her hospital room.
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Works Cited:
Duncan, Damon E. "61. The Harlem Renaissance Series: Billie Holiday (Lady Sings the Blues) « FathersFootprints.com." Weblog post. FathersFootprints.com. 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://fathersfootprints.com/2009/12/14/61-the-harlem-renaissance-series-billie-holiday-lady-sings-the-blues/>.
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Billie Holiday Quotes." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. New York Times Company. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/billie_holiday.htm>.
United States. Congress & United States Government. Library of Congress. Today in History: April 7. United States Government. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr07.html>.
Walker, Toby. "Billie Holiday Page." Welcome to Soulwalking. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Billie%20Holiday.html>.
Moore, Edwin. "Strange Fruit Is Still a Song for Today | Edwin Moore | Comment Is Free |Guardian.co.uk." Editorial. Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited, 18 Sept. 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/18/strange-fruit-song-today>.
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