http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvRFGwreBI
It was so sad to see this about one of the greatest women singer, in the 20th century. The toll that drugs had took hold of her, is very evident in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvRFGwreBI
It was so sad to see this about one of the greatest women singer, in the 20th century. The toll that drugs had took hold of her, is very evident in this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05GqhosMews
This is a better one. I think this is how I really wanna remember her as.
Thanks for the youtubes, loved Billie Holiday what a voice, it seems that drugs and alcohol gets our best musicians, wonder if loneliness lends its ungrateful hand here?
I believe that the creative arts are a magnetic for many people with issues, demons, etc. They choose these venues as a way of expression, and to deal with these things......they have a lot to get out ! Unfortunately, I believe this also makes them prime targets for substance abuse
Great Great singer.
abe lincoln was a temperance man.but he thought some slack should be given to artists,for the same reasons jazbabee posted. i wonder if he was thinking of Poe?
Last edited by midnitelamp; 12-02-2007 at 05:12 AM.
Again the bloody drug thing, such a talented lady.
Guest
I just love her voice and music. There is no one else like her, she was really unique. So sad she had such demons in her life.
I've always love Billie Holiday but this is the first clip of her performing I've seen, I'm fascinated, I think I could watch her all day long. I just got a live performance cd of her at a garage sale. Thanks for posting those video links
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvGs...feature=colike
My own, personal, Dexter...
One more reason to hate Heroin. I remember asking my mom why she always sounded like she was going to fall asleep before the songs were over. My mother said "Girl, she is already dead, and ain't nuthin cool about that".
Well, I thought she was cool....just not her habit....
Thanks Mom for keeping me on the high road
Thanks Billie for showing me the low road
Thanks Mr Pusher Man for nothing
Sharon
I loved Billie. Such a sad story I read once, about how Billie was on her death bed.
In alot of pain dying of cancer and still having a heroin habit, she had someone score for her and bring it to the hospital for her. Well, she got busted and the police confiscated her stash. You'd think they would leave her alone as she was dying anyway.
Loved me some Billy Holiday. Nobody's Business if I Do is my fave.
I don't think she had cancer...
Wiki--On May 31, 1959, she was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York suffering from liver and heart disease. Police officers were stationed at the door to her room. She was arrested for drug possession as she lay dying.[11] Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died from cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959. In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person. Billie Holiday is interred in Saint Raymond's Cemetery, The Bronx, New York.
Her 'last rocket' took off way too early. My God, what a voice she had!
The most dangerous woman of all is the one who refuses to rely on your sword to save her because she carries her own.
- R.H. Sin
Her song, "Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer" was one of the songs played at my mom's funeral.
I love to work out to her "What a Little Moonlight Can Do." Such catchy peppy song with a great beat. Always gets me a movin'!!!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvGs...feature=colike
My own, personal, Dexter...
Ah, it was her liver, not cancer. Thank you CindyT. Sad ending for Lady Day. I loved her songs, my fave was "Them There Eyes", she sounded happy in that song
One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7llu...eature=related
Love Lady Day! What a voice..."Strange Fruit" and "All the Way" are a few of my favorites. That wack "Lady Sings The Blues" movie w/Diana Ross did no justice to her story, as most of it was made up. I would really like to see someone portray her realistically in a movie.
I agree! They should make another movie about her. Who do you think could pull it off? Macy Gray's a maybe...
God Bless the Child is one of my fav's.........here she is with Count Basie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IYTx60s07A
Such an unusual voice....always sounded eerie to me....like the sensation of being high, expressed vocally....
Hmm...Macy Gray is a possibility. She was good in the movie "Lackawanna Blues". Plus I think she's had her own bout with drugs, so I think she may be familiar with the drug culture. I could kind of see Queen Latifah doing this role as well. I will have to think some more about other actresses that could pull this off.
There's an artist out there who sounds very much like Billie - pretty eerie! Her name is Madeleine Peyroux.
Here's one of her songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ie1yt_cJAM
(I have ALL this girl's albums!)
Tell me what ya'll think...
speaking of klaus nomi in another thread,has anyone seen joey arias' portrayal of Lady Day?
I like her Aries! TY for the video link. She sure does sound like Billie! It says she was only 17 when she made that video. I have to look for more of her stuff
Get her first album, "Dreamland". She does a couple of Patsy Cline songs: "Lovesick Blues" and "Walkin' After Midnight", and also this great song, "Muddy Water" - which is my favorite.
She's been described as "the white girl who sounds like Billie Holiday that sings Patsy Cline songs"!
I love her music too
Aries, I sure will get her CD. My God "Walkin' after Midnight" is one of my all time faves. Thanks again Aries!
For sure one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century. So amazing.
I've been a huge fan for 30 years. People tell me why dont' I get depressed listening to her - nothing about her depresses me.
I read a brilliant book about her a year ago.
The research for the book was carried out in the 1970s and interviewed people who knew her from when she was a child. It was done before all the hype grew up around her. But the author sat on the research and didn't complete it until 2006 or something.
People who knew her as a teenager said she loved her drugs even then - showbusiness did not get her into drugs, she was heading that way from being young - she loved getting off her face.
Also, she was a sexual masochist and would get her boyfriend to beat her up just before she went on stage - she reckoned she gave a better performance after a good hiding.
Also, Frank Sinatra smuggled heroin into the hospital for her despite his hate of class a drugs. That's what you call a true friend eh?
What is the name of that book? I have got to read it! She would get her boyfriend to beat her up before going on stage? wow
Hi Noreen, this is the book:
http://www.rbooks.co.uk/product.aspx?id=0099483653
Thank you very much Lady Day. I will order it next payday.
You're welcome Noreen. I think I'll order a copy for myself, well worth a second read!
"Strange Fruit"...a haunting song if ever there was one. And Billie was born to sing it. From wiki:
The "strange fruit" referred to in the song are the bodies of African American men hanged during a lynching. They contrast the pastoral scenes of the South with the ugliness of racist violence. The lyrics were so chilling that Holiday later said "The first time I sang it, I thought it was a mistake. There wasn't even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to clap nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping and cheering."
I've always loved Billie Holiday.... it was through listening, reading and indulging in Billie that I was turned on to Bessie Smith... another great...
Listening to Billie doesn't bolster my blues, it lifts me beyond them... I need a little Billie today...
Billie Holiday- You Go To My Head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNc1yLGPug
Billie Holiday- I'll Be Seeing You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLB32n6lq8
God bless you Billie....
Billie Holiday- Travelin' Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dX0pdsLVb0
This video is so hauntingly beautiful..... she is simply amazing....
Billie Holiday- Here It Is Tomorrow Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-AuYGtXjB4
http://www.ladyday.net/
Billie Holiday- Autumn in New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_e7UW-bz8
http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/
The top link is Billie's Unofficial Site and the last link is her Official Site
Here's another good link for Billie info...
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/ar...day_billie.htm
Here's a link to her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame notation... inducted in 2000
http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/billie-holiday
A Good Read.....
Didn't they already make a movie about her starring Diana (im highly overrated ) Ross? I'm too lazy to look it up online, I could swear she did though, I'll look it up later.
Yes they did... Lady Sings The Blues with Diana and Billy Dee Williams
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068828/
It was a good film but Ross just wasn't the right woman to play Billie - too reedy in build and voice and attitude.
The whole Billie story makes me what to shout 'Important call for Miss Amy Winehouse. Paging Miss Amy Winehouse, please pick up the house phone.'