if billie hadn’t persisted, 'strange fruit' may not have been released until much later than 1939. columbia refused, at first (‘they won’t buy it in the south’), to let billie include it even though she’d made the song a central & permanent part of her repertoire during her tenure at cafe society. it remains one of the most gripping, haunting indictments of racism across all artistic disciplines.
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only billie could inhabit a tune like that. she's been criticised for her lack of depth & range, but she told a story with the texture of her voice.
biographers recounted erroneous tales from some of billie’s former collaborators who said that she didn’t understand the lyrics when she first began working lewis allen to put his poem to music. sorry? billie set the story straight. she knew that jim crow legislation had killed her veteran father, jazz guitarist clarence holiday.
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she could make you feel every word & nuance. that's worth a million beyonces. you don't need to throw your lungs all over the shop like an olympic gymnast. billie instinctively recognised this. ray ellis, who worked with her on her penultimate record ('lady in satin') said that he wasn't impressed by her performance of 'i'm a fool to want you'.
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it had brought billie to tears, but ray thought she should give it another go...until he stopped to listen to her final take with his emotions rather than with a technical ear. it was then that he realised she'd sung it perfectly. lady day brought love, heartbreak, sorrow, rage & sensuality to life because she experienced them in such abundance during her short time in this world.
#billieHoliday #vocalist #singer #music