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!
8.
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!
12.
13. She began to record current pop tunes with Teddy Wilson, a swing pianist.
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)
26.
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.
31.
32. 1939, Holiday was introduced to “Strange Fruit,” a song based poem by Lewis Allan, real name: Abel Meerepol.
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
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.
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.
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.
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