 |
|
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Trolling the Underground: Billie Holiday
 I first heard of Billie Holiday in high school when I was in the chorus. I had joined for two reasons. First it was a very easy "A", since the teacher needed basses something fierce and just appreciated having a few guys there to sing the low notes. Second, that teacher was fine, and any excuse to just sit and look at her while getting an easy "A" worked for me. We did God Bless the Child, and I really didn't like it much. Of course, why would I? High school chorales don't exactly make the music sound cool. In fact, we sucked every last vestige of blues out of that puppy in no time at all. It was years before I even bothered to listen to anything Billie had actually recorded, and when it finally happened I wasn't in control of the musical situation, so I had no choice. Wow. What an eye-opener. I don't remember what song it was, but what a delivery. It's difficult to describe my reaction to her singing. I could analyze it every way 'till Sunday like the intellectuals do, but I'd just end up sounding like a jackass, as they do. Billie just had something, something so genuine. Billie was real blues.
Of course, there's good reason for that. She had a rough ride from the get-go. Abused throughout childhood and adulthood, she died in 1959 from the effects of long-term heroin abuse. It was after her death that she finally received the appreciation she deserved, first with a film about her life and then with her induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. I sometimes wonder if performers like her, Charlie Parker, Elmore James and others would have done that to themselves if they knew how much we'd look up to them eventually. When I first found this bootleg from 1951, it unseated my 1954 Louis Armstrong recording as the oldest in my collection. That lasted about 2 weeks when some 1940s Benny Goodman popped up. You have to love these old radio recordings! These songs come from the Storyvill Club in Boston, MA. on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of October. Her band included Buster Harding (piano), John Fields (bass), and Marquis Foster (drums), but that subtle sax you'll hear hanging back there came from the soon-to-be-world-famous Stan Getz. First, from Oct. 29, 1951, I offer a helping of Billie's famous attitude, with a song that's been covered many times. It's called Ain't Nobody's Bizzness If I Do.Then, from the next night, we have the autobiographical Billie's Blues.From the 31st, I give you the lonely, forlorn I Cover the Waterfront. Well, my second summer class kicked in yesterday, and since both classes are writing classes, July promises to be much more intense. So, I won't really get into any big posts for the next few weeks, and we'll see how things are during the fall semester. In the meantime, Trolling the Underground is a little cumbersome, so I'm temporarily bagging it. I'm going to start a new series of music posts, however, that will allow me to share more music without all the research, expository and whatnot. It will be much simpler, so I'll do it weekly and I'll start this weekend at Where the Vibe Is. That blog needs aome attention, methinks. The name lives on.
Posted at 11:03 am by Joe_the_Troll
 | | | Tim
July 9, 2008 08:18 AM PDT
I, too was in the Chior because it was an easy A in high school. My teacher was an old guy. Very Nice, but nothing much to look at. | |
| | | Name
July 9, 2008 08:43 AM PDT
Bille Rules. I actually hate listening to any recent female jazz singers because they all seem to be chanelling Billie the same way all recent female country singers are chanelling Dolly. Actually Dolly is still alive, so I guess it's 'ripping off'
I was in chorus until 8th grade when my voice changed to something with an unmeasurably small range. | |
| | | DangerDoll
July 9, 2008 06:51 PM PDT
Billie's "Come Rain or Come Shine" has always been my favorite of the 10,000 versions out there...even better than Ray Charles' version and I loves me some Ray. Hers just oozes sex without, well, *oozing* sex. How she did that vocally is amazing. You can hear a lifetime in every note she sang.
"I sometimes wonder if performers like her, Charlie Parker, Elmore James and others would have done that to themselves if they knew how much we'd look up to them eventually."
I think they would have destroyed themselves anyway. All the greats (of any generation - witness the late, great Jeff Buckley) seem to have the same problems balancing their demons and talents - maybe wearing so much potential feels like a straitjacket to the ill-equipped. | |
| | | annie
July 10, 2008 09:33 PM PDT
excellent choice, joe.
i adore her-all thanks to my mom.
good luck with the new classes. | |
|
|
 |
