...The history and progression of Billie Holiday’s rise to fame is not only tragic but also inspirational. She was able to overcome her traumatic childhood issues and become one of the greatest jazz vocalists of the twentieth century. Although her career was cut short by her untimely death at the young age of 44, her legacy lives on through her music. Billie Holiday was born as Eleanora Fagan Gough in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 1915, to a single mother. Her alleged father, Clarence Holiday, who ultimately became a successful jazz musician, was absent from her life except for an occasional visit. Without a father figure in her life, she began getting into trouble, mainly by ditching school. In January of 1925, at the tender age of 9, Holiday was sent to the House of Good Shepherd, a home for problematic girls of African-American heritage. She stayed in the home for approximately eight months before returning to her mother’s care. She eventually returned to the House of Good Shepherd after allegedly being sexually assaulted in 1926. Music became her salvation. She would listen to Bessie Smith and Louie Armstrong and sing along with them. She started singing at local clubs in New York City after following her mother there. It was during this time in 1930 that she changed her name to “Billie”, supposedly after the actress Billie Dove. Holiday’s troubles did not end in childhood. She had difficulty with relationships, chose unsuitable men and drank excessively...
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...From the video “The Story of Billie Holiday”, we learned a lot about the life story of Billie Holiday. She was one of most well-known American jazz singers of all time, and she did not start out to have a good childhood. Her mother was unmarried when she had Billie, and she did not receive a lot of parenting from her family. Billie got raped when she was ten years old by one of her neighbors, and got raped again when she was fourteen years old. However, the attacker only got sentenced in jail for three months. After she grew up, she first got hired by Jerry Preston because of her voice. Billie Holiday’s music was able to touch everybody, even though she didn’t receive any vocal education. She always sings her heart and soul into the songs, which makes it special. Billie even received a nickname “Lady Day” from her friend and music partner Lester Young. She became famous in Harlem within a short period of time. Back in the 1930’s the...
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...From the year 1933 to the late 1940s, Billie Holiday sang of the heartaches and miseries African Americans faced and gave them a voice. Ms. Holiday, despite being taken over by her drug and alcohol addiction, was a prominent voice in the jazz industry due to her stylistic choices and unique voice. Billie Holiday, born Eleanora Fagan, was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was mainly raised by her young mother, Sarah Julia Fagan. Her father, although not present in her life, was believed to be successful jazz musician, Clarence Holiday. Unfortunately, Holiday was a rather mischievous child, and was sent to live in a facility for troubled African American girls called “House of Good Shepherd”, in January of 1925, at the age of 9. In August of that same year, Holiday was returned to her mother but sadly was sent to the “House of Good Shepherd” again in 1926 after being sexually assaulted....
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...was an anti-lynching poem, published in the Marxist publication n1936, which was then setinto music. The song had been covered by many artists. It inspired many novels that were written. Even though many other artist performed the song but Strange fruit was most famously perform by Billie Holiday. The song was a hit in and out New York when it was published. It was include in the Songs of the Century. At the time that Abel wrote the poem, American racism and lynching African American was present in the South, and all the other regions in the USA. Abel was really touched by all the violence, especially after seeing a photograph of the 1930 lynching ofThomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana. Usually he wouldask others to put his poems into songs. But after seeing the photograph he set the poem into a song himself this time. Hiswife, the black vocalist Laura Duncan first, and him perform it at Madison Square Garden.Then the song was introduced to Billie Holiday who first performed it at Café Society in 1939. Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. When Barney Josephson, founder of the Café Society in Greenwich Village, heard of the song he went and introduced it to Billie. At that time she was recording for Columbia. She said that when she’s singing the song, it made her fearful of retaliation, but because its imagery reminded her of her father, she continued to sing it. The song is related to her because her father was denied treatment for a fatal...
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...Billie Holiday is a famous jazz vocalist player, who was one the best Jazz vocalist of all times. She inspired and shared her emotions through her beautiful voice. She was born an only child, to a teen mother, but her father was considered to be Clarence Holiday, an amazing musician. She went through many difficulties in her life, but she managed to achieve her dreams and become a famous vocalist. I want to share with you her personal life journey, and musical career. Billie was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April, 7, 1915, originally born Eleanora Fagan. Billie changed her name from Eleanora when she found her love for music, and after one of her inspiration Billie Dove. Billie went to school in Baltimore where she lived most of her life, with her mother. Billie didn’t have a very stable childhood do to her mother struggling and leaving her with other people. Billie started skipping school, most likely do to her mother never being around. Billie and her mother were called to court over Billie skipping school, and she was sent to the House of God Shepherd for disobedient kids. Billie was sent back home from the House of God Shepherd do to sexual harassment in 1926. She then went to New York with her mother, and her singing career started kicking off....
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...These Billie Holiday, a Jazz vocalist and a great person. The life of Billie Holiday was amazing throughout her years, but there were many obstacles she had to face in life. She was one of the most influential jazz singers to many people, she had an amazing career for many years, before she lost to the battle to addiction. Like everyone in life Billie Holiday did not have the most amazing life, but she found her way of life and some time got distracted from her purpose in life Early life April 7,1915, Eleanora Fagan was born, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Some sources say Baltimore, Maryland. Her birth certificate reportedly reads "Elinore Harris.") Singer, jazz vocalist. Spent most of her child life in baltimore, Maryland. Her father who people believe is Clarence Holiday, became a very successful jazz musician, playing with Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately, Her dad wasn't really in her life. Her mother Sadie later married to Philip Gough in 1920. The Marriage didn't really work and they later let things end. That left Billie and her mother Sadie to struggle. (Article 1,paragraph5) states,...
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...Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday Initial reactions to the work This song, by Billie Holiday, was made famous with its dark meaning and the astounding performance that was brought forwards. With nothing more than a fine piano, a few brass instruments, and the haunting pain heard in Ms. Holiday’s voice, this piece of music was truly a gem of modernism. Billie Holiday did an amazing job with the simulation of pure distraught that was easily conveyed to me. The sense of sadness and lamentation is truly genuine and the tone can only be recreated by Lady Day herself. Historical context Holiday’s piece of music was released at the end of the American Great Depression, which resulted from a crash in the stock market, causing a deep depression in the economy for the following ten years to come. During this time, unemployment rates skyrocketed out of control and people began to lose their homes and most of their possessions. This period of time was a clear contrast to the previous decade and the wealth that came from the 1920s. However, this proved to not be a complete detriment to the arts. The music industry had almost arrived at a full collapse, but this era in American history helped pave the way for jazz and blues to become a new light in otherwise dark times (Ward, 2000). Black musicians were arguably some of the most influential people during this time, with men and women like Louie Armstrong, Sarah Vaughn, Duke Ellington, and of course, Billie Holiday herself. Artistic experimentation...
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...name on her birth certificate read “Elinore Harris”. Regardless of what she was named when she was born, she will always be remembered as Billie Holiday. Holiday was one of the most influential and successful vocalists of her time. Whether through her famous live shows or her timeless recordings, she used her broad voice and melancholy lyrics to captivate her audience between the years 1934 and 1959. Holiday spent most of her early life in Baltimore. Her mother, Sadie, was just 13 when she gave birth, and her biological father, Clarence Holiday, was non-existent most of her childhood. Sadie married in 1920, which provided some stability in Eleanora’s life. However, Sadie divorced a few years later, leaving Holiday and her mother poor and struggling to make ends meet. With her mother working very long hours, Eleanora was often left in the care of friends and neighbors. With a lack of adult supervision, Holiday often skipped school and got into trouble. In 1925 she was sent to the House of Good Shepherd, a school for troubled African-American girls, where she spent eight months. Throughout her harsh early life, she found consolation in the music of jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. She moved to New York City with her mother in the late 1920s and began performing in local clubs under the name “Billie”, after movie star Billie Dove. John Hammond discovered her while she was performing at a Harlem jazz club when she was 18. She began singing vocals for emerging clarinetist...
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...STRANGE FRUIT AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA DeVry University Submitted to Professor Scott Gessford December 17, 2014 HUMN 303: Introduction to the Humanities INTRODUCTION 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. By Lewis Allan, 1940 These words paint a picture and speak of an unpleasant time in American history, where blatant racism, lynchings and inequalities were committed against African Americans. Strange fruit can be considered a protest song of the pre-civil rights era. Its importance to the movement can be felt in the lyrics of the song paving the way for protest songs of the civil rights era and its impact on the world today. Strange Fruit was composed by Abel Meerpol, a school teacher from the Bronx, NY who wrote a poem under the pseudonym Lewis Allan (Independent Lens, 2003) about the horrors of racism after seeing graphic photos of a lynching of two teenagers, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. These teenagers, who were accused of killing a white man, were taken from an Indiana jail and lynched...
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...Edgardo Del Rosario MUS 114 Richard Armandi 21 February 2016 Billie Holiday The career of jazz singer, Billie Holiday, was full of intense, life-changing moments. Billie was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia. One of the first major events in her early life was being raped at the age of 11. Billie was always an outspoken person, who often swore. At the age of 14, she joined a brothel. She claimed she was 24, but her lie was soon exposed and was punished. These types of experiences molded her strong exterior and personality, which changed the course of her life. Billie added her own improvisation to her singing. When she sang at restaurants, she would go around to different tables, and sing her own improvised chorus each time. People were very impressed by her improvised singing, and caught the attention of recording artists. He was able to land a part in a Duke Ellington movie as well. In a certain scene, Billie’s character was beaten. They had to record the scene so many times that she was bruised black and blue towards the end. Her life events so far show a contrast between her natural talent as a singer, and the harsh brutalities of being a black female during a time of prejudice. Eventually Billie Holiday would have a masochistic side to her, opting to stay in relationships where she is abused. Her suitors introduced her to various drugs, such as opium and heroin. Needless to say, she would easily become addicted to them. The influence of drugs on Billie’s life...
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...to pieces. 3. The third scene I choose is Brendan talking to his brother in the kitchen asking him does he love him. The song I choose for this scene is “The Art of Dreaming” by Russell Harris as functional music. This song fits the scene because it is suspenseful and dramatic. 4. The fourth scene I choose is Dave standing outside by the bay talking to Jimmy Markum about who he killed. The song I choose for this scene is “You Ruin Me” by The Veronicas as functional music. This song fits the scene because Jimmy Markum received the confession he wanted and ruined Dave. 5. The fifth scene I choose is Dave and the Savage brothers in the bar drinking before Jimmy arrives. The song I choose for this scene is “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday as source music from the jukebox. I choose this song because I feel that it leads up into Jimmy Markum arriving. 6. The sixth scene I choose is the cops entering the room while Ray Jr.’s Friend has a gun drawn on Brendan Harris. The song I choose for this scene is “You Really Got Me” by Van Halen as functional. I choose this song because they caught Katie’s killer in this scene and saved...
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...The rhyme of trumpet and piano are both negative and singer’s sound is sadness, and sometimes the voice is lowering. The music includes many depressed melodies and blues that make the music listener feeling the singer is singing about a tragedy. At this time I learned that why the music is a universal language for communication without boundary. The second time I listen to the music, I can understand what the lyrics saying. This song is singing about the lynching movement at the southern America. By reading and studying, I start to know this song is a typical representation of Anti-lynching movement. The original title of this song was "Bitter Fruit," and the song started as a poem wrote by Abel Meeropl. The singer of this song is Billie Holiday. [1] In the David Margolick’s book, has said: "Strange Fruit" marked a watershed, praised by some, lamented by others, in Holiday's evolution from exuberant jazz singer to chanteuse of lovelorn pain and loneliness. Once she began to sing it, some of the [*93] song’s sadness seemed to cling to her. In its own small...
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...Billie was born on the 7th April, in Philadelphia, Penn and died July 17, in New York and is buried at saint Raymond’s cemetery in Bronx County, NY. Billie holiday was a unique singer and had the ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music, this is what made her a superstar of her time. Billie holidays real name is Eleanora Fagan After Billie holiday died her song, Lady Sings the Blues, which was written in 1956. won five Grammy Awards When Billie was a child she had to work she would do things such as running errands and cleaning houses. It was while cleaning a house when she first heard Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith records through the open windows. At the age of 18, Holiday was discovered by producer...
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...Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald were friends and influential singers of the Swing Era. Each singer possessed a unique musical style that continues to be emulated by today’s jazz singers. Listen to Billie Holiday’s Back in Your Own Back Yard and Ella Fitzgerald’s Flying Home. [Back In Your Own Back Yard (Gridley, Chapter 5, Page 83: Jazz Classics for Concise Guide to Jazz CD 1 track 11; Flying Home: Chapter 5, Page 86: Jazz Classics for Concise Guide to Jazz CD 1 track 12]. Respond to each prompt. Then, offer commentary regarding the similarities and differences between the examples. Back In Your Own Back Yard (Billie Holiday) Flying Home (Ella Fitzgerald) Similarities and Differences Tempo (slow, medium, fast, dance-like?) Medium/slow Medium/Fast (BPM) Back Yard is different as slower tempo, as Flying Home is more faster/up-beat Swing feel (Do you sense a weak, medium, or strong rhythmic pulse? Which song has a stronger pulse?) Medium pulse Strong pulse Flying Home has a stronger pulse Syncopation (Is there evidence of syncopation or tugging and pulling against the musical pulse?) Tugging/Pulling background of Lester Young playing the Sax. Guitar elements give like a dirtier sound. There is disorienting being heard. The syncopation seems to be more apparent with the tone in Flying Home; pure and supple tone compared to Backyard. Lyrics (What story, if any, is told by lyrics each artist sings?) That you left your happiness at home, in the backyard. Hard to say because...
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...Billie Holiday was one of America’s influential singers of time. When Billie Holiday was 9 years old she was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd a facility for troubled African-American girls.Billie Holiday met a man named Lester Young and Artie Shaw they were both part of a orchestra called the Count Basie’s Orchestra.She was a part of the Count Basie Orchestra for quite some time after a few years working with them she was forced to quit.In October 1945 Billie started taking drugs after the grief of losing her mother she even escalated her drug use to keep the pain away. During that time she was arrested too many times that made her go to a rehab center in New York City. To begin with, When Billie was 5 years old Billie’s mother Sadie...
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