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Zoe Karp
December 18, 2016
Jazz Literature Class
BSA 17
Billie Holiday; The Beautiful Tragedy
Eleanora Fagan (some say that her name was put on her papers as Elinore DeViese, and some
histories have her listed with the surname of her stepfather, Philip Gough) was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (however a biography published in 1995 insists her birthplace was
Baltimore, Maryland) on April 7th, 1915. Her mother, Sadie Fagan, never married her father,
Clarence Holiday, who was a famous banjo and guitar player in the Fletcher
Henderson band. He did not acknowledge his daughter for a long while.
When Billie was born, her mother was thirteen years old, and her father was
fifteen years old. Eleanoras teenage mother brought her to live with other
relatives in Baltimore, however they were very abusive (except Eleanoras
grandfather, who was very supportive). As she got older, Elenora grew to
love music and changed her name to Billie Holiday (her idol was named Billie, and Holiday was
her fathers name). Under the name Elenore Gough, Billie was sent to House of the Good
Shepherd for Colored Girls at age nine for some time because of her supposed rebellious
attitude. At age ten, Billies neighbor raped her. At age eleven, she dropped out of school. In
her early teens, Billie began her singing career as she went to perform in the waterfront
entertainment district.

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She moved to New York in 1929 to join her mother, however its speculated that she went to
New York a few years earlier at age fourteen to work with her mother at a Harlem whorehouse
(they both where arrested, with Billies mom getting to sentence, and Billie, who said she was
twenty-one, getting a hundred days in jail). Influenced by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith,
fifteen-year-old Billie was thrilled when her mother got a job at Mexicos Harlem speakeasy. To
help get tips, Billie would sing from table to table. An audition was eventually set up for Billie,
but she didnt know what key to sing in, and thus blew the opportunity. Nevertheless, Billie
would frequently perform in speakeasies in Harlem, sometimes as a booked attraction, other
times as a drop-in guest. In 1933, jazz recording producer and critic John Hammond heard Billie
sing at Monette Moores club and wrote about her voice and style in Melody Maker. Not a
month after that, Billie did her first recordings: Your Mothers Son-in-Law and Riffin the
Scotch. She even performed Big City Blues in Duke Ellingtons 1935 short film Symphony
in Black. Not only that, but Billie frequently performed at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem.

Billie Holiday went solo in 1938, where she made frequent appearances at Caf Society in
Greenwich Village. One of her most notorious songs was Strange Fruit, an anti-lynching song
recorded in 1939. Columbia records, her recording company, refused to produce her recording
of that song, but that didnt stop Billies message from resonating around the world. This was
not the only thing that skyrocketed Billie to fame. She also performed with Count Basie, Duke
Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Lester Young, and Teddy Wilson.
As WW2 neared an end, Holiday began to record with Decca, where she had more musical
freedom. With her new style, she recorded Lover Man, which sold many more copies than her
previous songs. From 1946-47, Billie also appeared in a feature film called Now Orleans.

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At the peak of her career, however, Billie became addicted to heroin (supposedly introduced
to her by her husband, Jimmy Monroe), a drug that is still rampant in Baltimore (I personally
have a friend in Baltimore who struggled with a heroin addiction. If you or a loved one are
struggling with addiction, I strongly advise you get immediate help. No one should ever end
up like my friend). Every man she married had issues with drug addiction, drug dealing, drug
arrests, and/or pimping. She married her first husband, Jimmy, on August
25, 1941. After two years, Billie claimed to be married to Joe Guy, and
then John Levy. On March 28, 1957, she married Louis McKay in Cuidad
Juarez, Mexico (this was so they couldnt be forced to testify against each
other since both where under formal accusation in Philadelphia). She
voluntarily entered a private clinic, and was arrested for narcotics
possession not even a month after her release. She stayed in the federal
penitentiary in Alderson, West Virginia for a year and a day. Ten days after
she was released, Billie performed in Carnegie Hall in New York. She no longer had her
Cabaret Performance License by the early 50s, which was viewed with disapproval by many
of her former friends and fans. This didnt stop her, as she continued to tour in Europe and
was considered the Princess of Harlem.

In 1962, a dance duet by Butler called Portraits of Billie was released as a performance.
One of the performers, Geoffrey Holder, had a very high opinion of Billie Holiday. He saw
her as a funny woman who never pitied herself, despite the morbidity of her songs. Listen
to her music, he stated, She never cried. We cry for her. We feel sorry for her. Youve

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changed, she sings. The sparkle in your eye is gone. She does not boohoohoo. She is very
gallant. Even in Strange Fruit, she is not angry. She is telling a story.

Billie Holiday influences many famous artists, including Frank Sinatra and Carmen McRae.
One of the most interesting relationships with Billie was her friendship with Lester Young,
which began in 1934. Both artists had their lives viewed as unimaginable tragedies.
Struggling with his own issues, Lester Young had decided
to stay in the apartment of Billies mother, Sadie. As his
musical partnership with Billie grew, his knowledge of
New York life grew too, as Billie helped him adjust to the
ins and outs of New York. They collaborated up to do a
Teddy Wilson recording session (This Years Kisses,
he Aint Got Rhythm, I Must Have That Man). Not
long after, was when Billie joined the Basie band, which
greatly increased the time she spent with Lester.

The sheer amount of time they made music together contributed to the musical success of
their collaborations. They could communicate sheer joy with none of the hogwash that was
mistaken for Swing. Their duet on the last bridge of the song Sailboat in the Moonlight
is filled with passion and understatement. The Wilson-Holiday sessions were filled with a
variety of songs, chord changes, and usual keys, while the Basie sessions, though more
celebrated, had very limited kays and harmonic structures. Throughout their collaborations,
Young plays as Holiday sings, yet what is created is far different than the traditional playing

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behind a vocalist. Its more like counterpoint, where either player can be focused on without
the loss of melodic imperative that was bequeathed to them both by the legacies of Louis
Armstrong.

During the bridge of Who Wants Love, Lester and Billie switch functions,

with Lester playing the melody while Billie floats in and out around it before the land in
unison on the word stories of castles in the air.

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Her last album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958 and had orchestral arrangements by
Ray Ellis. Her last appearance was in 1959 at a benefit concert at New Yorks Phoenix
Theatre. Billie Holiday became seriously ill (liver ailment complicated by cardiac failure) on
May 31, 1959, and was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in Harlem, where she was shunned as
an alcoholic and a drug addict. Twelve days later, she was arrested in her bed for possession
of heroin (although no drugs were found). On July 17, 1959 at 3:10am Billie Holiday died
with only seventy cents in her bank account. Despite what they say, Billie Holiday had two
children who she left with a family friend. That friend soon also wanted to pursue a music
career and couldnt raise the kids anymore, but she
couldnt find or reach Billie. She put those children in
foster care, where they got lost in the system. Billies
grandchild and great-grandchildren are alive today and
have a YouTube channel. Billie Holiday might have had
a very tragic life, but that did not stop her from
becoming one of the most influential jazz singers of all
time. There is no doubt that she felt alone, and hopeless
(if she was mentally stable enough to be able to feel at all) when she died. She will never
know how many hearts she touched, nor will she know how many people have her in their
hearts.

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Bibliography

Chapelle, Suzanne Ellery Greene., and Glenn O. Phillips. "Billie Eleanora Holiday."
African American Leaders of Maryland: A Portrait Gallery. Baltimore: Maryland Historical
Society, 2002. 90-91. Print.

Dunning, Jennifer. "Three: Painting in Paris And Josephine Baker." Geoffrey Holder: A
Life in Theater, Dance, and Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001. 93. Print.

Holiday, Billie, and William Dufty. Lady Sings the Blues. New York: Broadway, 2006.
Print
Kirchner, Bill. The Oxford Companion to Jazz. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. 196, 198, 205,
235, 240, 245-249, 777. Print.

Margolick, David, and Hilton Als. Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, and an
Early Cry for Civil Rights. Philadelphia: Running, 2000. Print.

Salzman, Jack, David L. Smith, and Cornel West. "Holiday, Billie." Encyclopedia of
African-American Culture and History. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1996.
1290-291. Print.

Smith, Marcia A. Black America: A Photographic Journey: Past to Present. San Diego,
CA: Thunder Bay, 2002. 270. Print.

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