FREE ESSAY ON BILLY HOLIDAY

BILLY HOLIDAY

In the early twentieth century, even though slavery had been abolished years before,
racism was rampant in America. There were few brave enough to speak out about what was
happening. Black artists could perform in clubs, but were not able to patron those same
establishments because they were designated white only. One of those black artists
decided to take a stand. Billie Holiday, known as Lady Day, recorded "Strange Fruit" on
April 20, 1939 at Brunswick's World Broadcasting Studios with Frankie Newton's Cafe
Society Band. Much later, in 1995, Cassandra Wilson recorded a cover of this harrowing
song. Billie Holidays ability to propel a listener into a time and place overshadows
Cassandra Wilson's weaker version of "Strange Fruit".
Billie Holiday, upon being approached with "Strange Fruit", at first was uneasy about the
song. The message was so controversial it could have easily ruined her career. Inspite of
the risk Billie performed it anyway. The message was too important. To reinforce the
inherent drama of the song the waiters, immediately before her performing, would instruct
the patrons to remain absolutely silent during the performance. The house lights were
turned down with only a pin-spot lighting her face. When she finished, all the lights
were turned out. When the house lights came back up Billie was gone. There were no
encores so the stark imagery would be seared into the white audience's mind. 
Billie Holidays version opens with a very solemn melody from the trumpet, followed by a
somber piano solo setting the mood of the piece. She ignores the melody outlined by the
introduction. She knows the impact comes from the words rather than any specific feature
of the songs melodic or harmonic construction (Nicholson113). She also uses the grit in
her voice and fluctuating tones to portray the message of the piece. 
` Cassandra Wilson's version lacks the power of Billie Holidays. There is a mysterious
quality to Cassandra's voice. Which is accentuated by an octave guitar that is keeping
the rhythm, and a trumpet playing an eerie melody that seems to flow from the bowels of
the hatred that this piece speaks of. Most distinctly it lacks a piano which added so
much to Holidays version. Cassandra also uses fluctuating tones in her voice to convey
the message, much like Billie had. The tempo of her singing is much slower, she draws out
the lyrics until the last word of the verse where she abruptly cuts it off. 
Billie Holidays version is grander than Cassandra's in part because of the era in which
it was performed. Also because of Lady Day's ability to force these brutal images into
the listeners mind, making them a witness to the violent reality of racism in early
twentieth century America. Billie holiday should be held in the same regard as Martin
Luther King jr. and Malcom X because she paved the way for these future leaders in the
fight for civil rights. 
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