LADY SINGS

THE BLUES:
THE LIFE AND
MUSIC OF
BILLIE
H O L I D AY

B Y:
MEGAN
 E A R LY L I F E
 Born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, PA
and raised in Baltimore, MA

 Her father, Clarence Halliday, abandoned the family to

become a jazz guitarist in Fletcher Henderson’s band

 Brought up in extreme poverty, she dropped out of school

in the 5th grade at age 11.

 Worked at a brothel running errands and cleaning at age 12.

 Discovered jazz records working at the brothel and

fell in love with singing jazz. Holiday, aged two, in 1917
 Music Career Beginnings
 Moved to Harlem in at 14 to
work in a brothel with her
mother.
 Began Singing in Jazz clubs at 14; was
“discovered” at age 18.

 Worked on her first studio recordings with

Benny Goodman.

 First hit single – “Riffin The Scotch”

 Signed to Brunswick records in

1935, at age 20 https://youtu.be/CrRPm2G2qx4

Riffin' The Scotch - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

Featuring Billie Holiday (1933) Video Link
RIFFIN THE SCOTCH:
AN ANALYSIS
KEY: A♭ Major BPM:
Time 181
Observations
0:00- Trumpet Solo Introduction
0:04
0:05-0:49 Introduction of Clarinet as solo, with intermixed
accompanying trumpet, tenor saxophone, and
trombone.
0:50-1:13 Introduction of piano, vocals, drums, and guitar.
1:14-2:00 Trumpet solo with trombone, piano and drums
playing softer harmonies behind solo.
2:00-2:32 Trumpet, trombone playing in tandem, tenor sax,
piano, clarinet, drums play harmony in closing
instrumental.
BIG BAND TOURS &
BREAKING
BARRIERS IN THE
SEGREGATED  1937 - Met Lester Young while touring with
SOUTH Count Basie, giving her the nickname “Lady
Day”
 First performed “Summertime” from Gershwin’s Porgy
and Bess while touring with Basie, becoming a hit.
“Summertime from Porgy and
Bess by Billie Holiday and
 1938 - Toured with bandleader Artie Shaw, being the first
Her Orchestra” black woman to tour with an all white band.

 Toured the segregated Southern U.S, faced lots of

racial discrimination, causing Holiday to quit.

 Touring brought her more fame than ever, and

racism inspired her to sing riskier music.
 Strange Fruit (1939 Version)  Originally a poem, written by Abel Meeropol in
1937 in response to seeing a postcard of a
lynching.

 Lawrence Beitler's photograph of the

1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram
Smith in Marion, Indiana.

 The 1939 recording eventually sold a million

copies, becoming Holiday's biggest-selling
recording.
Video link

Strange Fruit -  Selected for preservation in the National

Recording Registry by the Library of Congress
The First Civil in 2002.

Rights Song 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
S T R A N G E F R U I T: A N
A N A LY S I S
KEY: B♭ Minor BPM:
Time 120
Observations
0:00- Brass duo introduction in a minor key
0:26
0:27-1:07 Solo piano introduction in a minor key, funereal tempo, messo-
piano softness, building slowly into messo
1:08-1:35 Reintroduction of brass section accompanying vocals and
piano, slow crescendo throughout
1:38-1:48 Piano solo section before reintroduction of brass section and
vocals of verse two
1:49-2:48 Verse two sung somberly with backing of soft piano and brass,
building from mezzo into a rapid fortissimo crescendo at 2:32
2:49-3:06 Brief pause of music and vocals. Last two lines of lyrics, with
another smaller crescendo at the last word, with accompanying
piano and trumpet also coming to a climax at the last note, and
then abrupt silence.
 1940’S - 1950’S – SUCCESS, FAME, ABUSE, JAIL, DRUGS, AND
DECLINE. Target by Federal Bureau of Narcotics agents from
release of Strange Fruit until her death
Mug shot of Holiday taken in 1947 May 16, 1947 - Arrested for narcotics, sentenced to one
year of prison.
Lost cabaret performer’s license, wasn’t allowed to sing
anywhere that alcohol was served, and career declined.
By late 1950’s she’s ill, penniless, and addicted to
narcotics, and is hospitalized in may of 1959.
Handcuffed to a hospital bed by narcotics agent Harry
Anslinger who’d been following her since 1939
 Left her to withdraw off heroin, alone, in the dark.
Died on July 17th 1959 - cirrhosis of the liver and heart
failure. Age 44.
 Billie Holiday: I Love You Porgy - February 1959
Video Link
Her last TV performance, she
would be dead in 5 months.
I L OVE YOU P ORGY:
AN ANALYSIS.
Time Observation

0:00-1:05 Solo vocal introduction, with quick lead in with bass

section, piano, and drum beat. Two verses with similar full
orchestral instrumentals.

1:05-1:08 Solo piano run interstitial in between vocal verses and

orchestral instrumentation

1:09:2:00 Introduction into second verse slower tempo with piano

solo instrumentals, minor key shift, piano run ends the solo
piano

2:01-2:47 Vocal and instrumental fermata for a count, followed by

last vocal verse, reintroduction of full orchestra until the
end.
THANK
YOU
FOR ALL
THE
MAGIC,
LADY
DAY.
 Grammy Hall of Fame (1987)
 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2000)
 Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame (2004)
 ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame (1997)
 National Women’s Hall Of Fame (2011)
 US Postage Stamp (1994)
 PLUS, MANY MORE.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Carvalho, John M. (2013). "'Strange Fruit': Music between Violence and Death". The Journal of Aesthetics
and Art Criticism. 71 (1): 111–119 at 111–112.  ISSN 0021-8529. JSTOR 23597541.

 Davis, Angela (1999). Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-679-77126-5

 Gourse, Leslie (2000). The Billie Holiday Companion: Seven Decades of Commentary. New York: Schirmer
Trade Books. ISBN 0-02-864613-4.

 Holiday, Billie; Dufty, William (1992). Lady Sings the Blues. Edition Nautilus. ISBN 978-3-89401-110-9.
Autobiography.

 Lynskey, Dorian (2011). "33 Revolutions Per Minute". London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24134-7.