Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, And An Early Cry For Civil Rights

167 Pages·2000·1.03 MB·English

by  David Margolick

Strange Fruit : Billie Holiday, Café Society,
title:
and an Early Cry for Civil Rights
author: Margolick, David.
publisher: Running Press
isbn10 | asin: 0762406771
print isbn13: 9780762406777
ebook isbn13: 9780585264158
language: English
Allan, Lewis,--1903-1986.--Strange fruit,
Holiday, Billie,--1915-1959--Political and
subject social views, Café Society (Nightclub : New
York, N.Y.) , Lynching--Southern States--
Songs and music.
publication date: 2000
lcc: ML3477.M37 2000eb
ddc: 782.421592
Allan, Lewis,--1903-1986.--Strange fruit,
Holiday, Billie,--1915-1959--Political and
subject:
social views, Café Society (Nightclub : New
York, N.Y.) , Lynching--Southern States--
Songs and music.
Page 1
"Strange Fruit" The Best Song of the Century
In this sad, shadowy song about lynching in the South, history's greatest jazz
singer comes to terms with history itself.
Time, December 31, 1999
Praise for Strange Fruit:
I have been haunted by the beauty and the sadness of David Margolick's
devastating biography of the song "Strange Fruit" and the tragic performer
who made it her anthem.
Dominick Dunne
The one song that can't be defined as a pop song, a jazz piece, or a ballad is
"Strange Fruit." It defies all labels, but its power is overwhelming. David
Margolick captures its meaning, its circumstances, and, of course, the
exquisite artist whose hallmark it became: Billie Holiday.
Studs Terkel
I cannot recall so multidimensional an account of an unforgettable songand
singeras David Margolick's Strange Fruit. He has provided a deeply evocative
accompaniment to the still disturbing music.
Nat Hentoff
David Margolick once again reminds me of the great emotions that Billie
Holiday and "Strange Fruit" can arouse.
Lena Horne
Page 3
Strange Fruit
Billie Holiday, Café Society, and an Early Cry for Civil
Rights
by David Margolick
Foreword by Hilton Als
Page 4
© 2000 by David Margolick
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International
Copyright Conventions
Printed in the United States
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now
known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the
publisher.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Number 99-74354
ISBN 0-7624-0677-1
STRANGE FRUIT by Lewis Allan
Copyright © 1939 (Renewed) by Music Sales Corporation (ASCAP)
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted by Permission.
Research material by Linda Lipnack Kuehl,
courtesy Avalon Archives, Ltd.
Cover photographs by Culver Pictures (front) and Frances J. Soo Ping
Chow (back)
Picture research by Susan Oyama
Cover and interior design by Frances J. Soo Ping Chow
Edited by Caroline Tiger
Typography: Perpetua
This book may be ordered by mail from the publisher.
Please include $ 2.50 for postage and handling.
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Running Press Book Publishers
125 South Twenty-second Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-4399
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www.runningpress.com
Page 5
To the City of New York,
which gave "Strange Fruit"and mea home
Page 6
Acknowledgments
This book was not only a labor of love, but labor-intensive, too. I have
many debts to acknowledge.
First, there are the eyewitnesses: the people who experienced "Strange
Fruit" firsthand, and shared their thoughts with me: Heywood Hale
Broun, Holmes "Daddy-O" Daylie, Ahmet Ertegun, Milt Gabler,
Norman Granz, Lena Horne, Bernard and Honey Kassoy, Albert
Murray, Max Roach, Ned Rorem, Pete Seeger, Artie Shaw, Studs
Terkel, Bobby Tucker, Mal Waldron, and George Wein. There are
those who've refreshed and perpetuated the song: Tori Amos, Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Abbey Lincoln, Eartha Kitt, Cassandra Wilson.
Many other people assisted me. Apart from those quoted in the text,
whose contributions are clearly apparent, these include Bob Adams,
Michael Anderson, George Avakian, Charlie Bourgeois, Oscar Brand,
Paul Buehl, Donald Clarke, Ron Cohen, Art D'Lugoff, William Dufty,
Bill Ferris, Henry Foner, Leah Garchik, Marvin Gertleman, Farah
Jasmine
Page 7
Griffin, John Jeremy, Ken Maley, Gertrude Margolick, David
Ostwald, Carrie Rickey, Mark Satlov, Don Shirley, Chuck Stone,
Elijah Wald, Jay Weston, Josh White, Jr., Douglas Yeager, and Sidney
Zion. My thanks to them all.
Two of the musicians I interviewedHarry "Sweets" Edison and Johnny
Williamsdied before this book was completed, and I want to pay
special tribute to them, as well as to the late Jack Millar, founder and
guiding light of the Billie Holiday Circle, who was unfailingly
courteous to me. The book was greatly enhanced by the help and
encouragement of Abel Meeropol's two sons, Michael and Robert
Meeropol. I also want to thank the many people who responded to my
queries about "Strange Fruit," recalling with great power and
eloquence their associations with Billie Holiday, Josh White, and the
song. It was a thrill to read their recollections and a privilege to
include many of them in my book.
I want also to thank the incomparably knowledgeable and generous
Dan Morgenstern at the Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers
University; Tom
Page 8
Bourke and George Bozewick of the (also incomparable) New York
Public Library; Sean Noel at Boston University; Peter Filardo at the
Tamiment Library at New York University; Ralph Elder of the
University of Texas; and Deborah Gillaspie of the Chicago Jazz
Archive. The archive of my alma mater, the New York Times, is
another inspiring institution, and I want to thank Lou Ferrer there for
his cheerful assistance.
My editors at Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter and Doug Stumpf, were
enthused about this project from the outset, and I am grateful to them.
I am thankful, too, to Caroline Tiger, Carlo DeVito, Susan Oyama,
Justin Loeber, Jennifer Worick, and the many other wonderful people
at Running Press who encouraged me to revisit and expand upon my
research, making it an even more rewarding experience for me.
DAVID MARGOLICK
NEW YORK, JANUARY 2000