1. Billie Holiday The Rise and Fall of One of the Greatest Jazz Singers Kyra Bedell Professor Sean Abel Music 34 22 July 2011

3. It is also a known that African Americans have come a very far way in the United States.

4. It is known that women and African Americans were discriminated and judged all to often in early America, especially when it comes to music.

6. “Those who wish to sing, always find a song.”

7. The start of Holiday’s career… From 1929 to 1931 young Billie had teamed up with a tenor saxophone player, Kenneth Hollan. The two had become a musical team playing at small clubs like the Brooklyn Elks’ club. By the end of 1932, when Billie was just seventeen years of age she replaced Monette Moore at a club called Monettes in New York. John Hammond first heard Holidays singing in early 1933 and arranged for Holiday to have her first record by the age of eighteen. Together with Benny Goodman(pictured left), Holiday composed her first record. Songs included, “Son-In-Law” and “Riffin’ the Scotch” both of which became her hit singles selling over 5,300 copies. Click here to listen to “Riffin’ the Scotch” http://Click Me!

9. Her producers heavily tried to persuade Holiday to sound more like Cleo Brown, a popular woman jazz singer of the 1930s and 40s who was considered “established.”

10. After Billie Holidays recording of “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” had done well, producers recognized Holiday as an individual.

11. One year after “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” was released, Holiday started to record under her own name.Please click to listen to “What a Little Moonlight Can Do.” Click Me!

13. She began to record current pop tunes with Teddy Wilson, a swing pianist.

14. “Swing” became popular around 1935 and began to have a distinct sound.

15. Holiday and Wilson began to cover popular pedestrian tunes such as “Yankee Doodle Never Went To Town.” Click here to listen to it: Click Me!

16. Holidays recordings with Wilson are now an important part of the jazz vocal library. Teddy Wilson

18. Young was a boarder at Holidays mothers house in 1934.

19. Young gave the name “Lady Day” to Holiday

20. “Lady Day” became Holidays recognizable stage name

21. Holiday gave Young his recognizable stage name, “The Prez.”

24. Holiday became an established artist by singing radio and retail hits that she originally sang with Teddy Wilson

25. Click the link to listen to a song by Billie Holiday and Count Basie called “Swing Brother, Swing,” which has a very catchy beat: Click Me(Basie and Holiday)

27. “What A Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Easy Living” were now being imitated by singers and were becoming the standards of jazz.

28. Holidays single, “ImGonna Lock My Heart” released 1938, ranked the sixth most played song and the fourth best seller of September 1938.

29. “ImGonna Lock My Heart” is ranked as number two according to Joel Whitburn’s “Pop Memories: 1890-1954” book.

30. People were finally realizing Holidays true talents and seeing not only African Americans, but women as talented and successful individuals.

32. 1939, Holiday was introduced to “Strange Fruit,” a song based poem by Lewis Allan, real name: Abel Meerepol.

33. Barney Josephson, propietor of Café Society, a nightclub, introduced the song to Holiday.

34. Holiday first performed “Strange Fruit” at Café Society.

35. When Holiday wanted to record and release “Strange Fruit” to the public Columbia records found the matter to sensitive.

36. Milt Gabler, an original producer from Brunswick records, agreed to record the song for his new label, Commodore Records.

37. “Strange Fruit” was recorded and released by Holiday on the 20th of April, 1939.

39. Written by Lewis Allan

40. Has been called the original protest song.

41. A haunting song about lynching in America.

42. Was written more than sixty years ago.Lyrics 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. Click here to listen to “Strange Fruit” performed by Billie Holiday: Click Me

44. Time Magazine mentioned Holiday in one of their articles

45. Holiday returned to Commodore Records in 1944 and recorded songs that Teddy Wilson and her sang in the 1930s.

46. Holiday recorded her own version of “Embraceable You” originally written by George and Ira Gershwin.

47. This cover was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005

50. Fagan was able to open the restaurant with Holidays hard earned money.

51. Holiday claimed that it kept her mother busy so she would not worry about her.

52. Holiday soon fell into hard times and needed money, so she went to her mothers restaurant to ask for some and her mother completely turned her down.

53. After arguing, Holiday shouted, “God bless the child that’s got his own!”

54. Holiday teamed up with Arthur Herzog Jr., a pianist and wrote a song called, “God Bless the Child.”

55. This became Holidays most popular song

56. It ranked number twenty-five on the record charts of 1941 and third on Billboards top songs of the year.

57. It sold over one million records.

58. In 1976 the song was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame

60. Click to listen: Click Me

61. Holiday sang this song at almost every live concert she performed

62. In 1946 Holiday began to work on New Orleans, the only major film that Holiday would work in.

63. However, racism affected Holidays role. Holiday starred as a maid.

64. This helped stem Holidays drug use.

66. On May 27, Holiday was in court it was named The United States of America versus Holiday.

67. Holiday pleaded guilty and was sentenced to Alderson Federal Prison Camp.

69. The concert sold out

70. Holiday sang thirty-two songs at the Carnegie concert

73. When Holidays mother died in 1945 she began to heavily drink.

74. By the 1950s Holidays drug abuse, drinking, and abusive boyfriends started to harm her health.

75. Her voice suffered as well, it became coarse and weak

76. But from this, she became a more visual singer using stronger emotion when performing.

77. On the 28th of March, 1952, Holiday married Louis Mckay

78. Like most of the men that Holiday dated, Mckay was abusive

80. She began recording with Norman Granz, an owner of small jazz labels.

81. In 1954 Holiday had a very successful tour of Europe

82. Holiday performed The Sound of Jazz on CBS with Ben Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins

85. Click to listen to “Lady in Satin.” Click Me

86. The album had a different sound that displayed Holidays voice, which was now more rough, raspy, and fragile.

88. She was so addicted to heroin at the time that she was arrested for possession of the narcotic while in the hospital on June 12, 1959.

90. Causes of death were cirrhosis of the liver and congestion of the lungs complicated by heart failure.

92. The service was held on July 21, 2011.

93. Many popular jazz artists and popular singers of the era appeared. Such artists included, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Tony Scott, Buddy Rogers, and John Hammond.

94. In 1972, Holidays autobiography Lady Sings the Blues was turned into a film.

95. Diana Ross played the part of Holiday.

96. This helped renew Holidays popularity

97. In 2000 Holiday was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

100. “Billie Holiday.” American Masters. Pbs.org. 8 July, 2006. Web. 14 Jul, 2011.

101. “Billie Holiday Biography.” Bio. True Story. Biography.com. 2011. Web. 17 Jul 2011.

102. Cossar, Neil. “This Day in Music, Jul 17: Billie Holiday, The Beatles, and The Stones.” The Morton Report. Themortonreport.com. 17 Jul, 2011. Web. 17 Jul, 2011.

103. Daniels, Peter. “’Strange Fruit’: the story of a song.” World Socialist Web Site. wsws.org. 8 Feb, 2002. Web. 17 Jul, 2011.

104. “Inspirational Quotes.” Values The Foundation for a Better Life. Values.com.N.d. Web. 17 Jul, 2011.

106. Panache, Myra. “Billie Holiday and Louis Mckay.” Panache Report. Panachereport.com. N.d. Web. 14 Jul, 2011.