John White - Billie Holiday: Her Life and Times

This is a series of books about jazz artists, all of whom have made either a significant contribution or have had an impact on the jazz scene. Unlike some jazz books that concentrate upon the detail of the performers lives or music, this series is concerned with much more. Here can be seen the social background into which the subject was born and raised and the environment in which his or her music was formed. The social, domestic, racial and commercial pressures that shaped the person are examined alongside an assessment of other musicians who may have influenced the artist or been influenced by them. Of course, the music is not overlooked and each book carries a discographical essay in which the artists recorded output is summarized and analyzed. Well-illustrated, the Life & Times series of books is an important and long overdue addition to jazz literature.

Copyright 1987 John White
This edition 2012 Omnibus Press
(A Division of Music Sales Limited, 1415 Berners Street, London W1T 3LJ)

EISBN: 9780857128249

The Author hereby asserts his / her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with Sections 77 to 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages.

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of the photographs in this book, but one or two were unreachable. We would be grateful if the photographers concerned would contact us.

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

For all your musical needs including instruments, sheet music and accessories, visit www.musicroom.com

For on-demand sheet music straight to your home printer, visit www.sheetmusicdirect.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following friends for their help and support:

Bruce Crowther, Mike Pinfold, Michael Shera, Richard Palmer, Mike Bowen, Richard Gibson, Mike Somerton and Brian Ward.

The illustrations in this book come from the Max Jones Collection, the Frank Driggs Collection, Beryl Bryden, G. Schilp, Andre Sass, and from stills used to publicize films made or distributed by the following companies: Majestic, Paramount, BBC Television & TCB Releasing Ltd; and records made or distributed by the following companies: CBS, Columbia, Jasmine, Verve. Pictures are reproduced by courtesy of Ole Brask, Ebony Magazine, Jazz Journal International, the Maryland Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, the National Film Archive, Roy Burchell and Melody Maker.

Although efforts have been made to trace the present copyright holders of photographs, the publishers apologize in advance for any unintentional omission or neglect and will be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement to companies or individuals in any subsequent edition of this book.

We are grateful for kind permission to quote lyrics as below:

Strange Fruit

Composer: Lewis Allan

c1959 Planetary-Nom (London) Limited,

222a Ladbroke Grove, London, W10 5FD.

My Man

Composer and author: Charles/Yvain/Pollack/Willemetz

c1920 Editions Salabert, France.

Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew Ltd.

Without Your Love

Composer: R. J. Lange

Zomba Music Publishers Ltd.

FOR ASTRAID

Mom and Pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. He was eighteen, she was sixteen, and I was three.

Billie Holiday

To tell you the truth I was a little afraid of her. We were almost the same age, but Billie thought I was a square. And she could never understand why I didnt make a pass at her. But I was a very straight young man in those days.

John Hammond

She was the first non-white singer to sing with Artie Shaws band, and also with Paul Whiteman. He was supposedly King of Jazz at the time. But to have one of the great black stars singing with your band wasnt acceptable. It was acceptable to go to Harlem and see black groups. It wasnt acceptable to go to a smart hotel and see black players.

Bobby Tucker

When Billie Holiday got busted in the forties, when she went to jail, it was headlines in the papers. You didnt hear so much when Anita ODay got busted, or how many times. There were no rehabilitation places for black people, only prison.

Betty Carter

Billie Holiday used to sing in her day of My Man Who Treats Me Mean and that kind of material. But I dont see Negro men that way. I prefer to sing Strong Man. I am a black woman and a married woman, and I no longer see trite songs as an expression of our social existence.

Abbey Lincoln

Sometimes you are afraid to listen to this lady.

Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

Lady Day

INTRODUCTION

Lady Day sang with the soul of Negroes from centuries of sorrow and oppression. What a shame that proud, fine, black woman never lived where the true greatness of the black race was appreciated.

Malcolm X

Lady Day has suffered so much in her life she carries it all for you.

Colin MacInnes

Billie Holiday is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest artists in the history of jazz, a legend in her own lifetime and, nearly thirty years after her untimely death, a persisting and profound influence on popular music. To the perceptive British critic and musician, Benny Green, the primary fact about the career of Billie Holiday is its purity For a woman to sing for nearly thirty years without once bowing to the demands of the world of popular music surrounding her sounds nearly impossible when we remember that most of her material was borrowed from that very world. Yet Billie Holidays art and artistry transcended the ill-defined boundaries of jazz and pop. As Frank Sinatra informed readers of