Comments on: Friends of Lady Day

Friends of Lady Day

salishsea — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:03:09 -0800

In 1972 Lady Sings the Blues was released. Ostensibly a biopic about the life of Billie Holiday, it was a travesty of made up history and glaring ommissions. In response to that release a symposium was held on Lady Day's life and work which included storytelling from Artie Shaw (about hiring her in 1938) and Carmen McRae (about her drug life). The CBC recently put together an excellent podcast with these stories and some interview tape from Billie Holiday herself.

By: caddis

caddis — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:39:28 -0800

Billie ruled my world for a few years after a particular tragedy in my life. She soothed my pain with her beautiful voice and emotion. She remains my favorite singer of all time. God broke the mold when she was born.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:29:22 -0800

Yes!

By: dancestoblue

dancestoblue — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:44:54 -0800

Thank you so much for this post. She gave us so much, dead at 44 after an acheful drug addiction and lots of difficult relationships but damned if she didn't leave us with a lot. Including one hell of a life story. You can almost hear the ache in her voice in that interview toward the end of her life. Gawd. Great post.