by John Szwed
and “Strange Fruit,” 159, 161–63
Lady Sings the Blues (film), 22, 64–71, 165
“Lady Sings the Blues” (song), 46
Laughton, Charles, 22, 28–29
Layton, Skip, 175
Lee, Peggy, 1, 36, 91, 164
Levey, Jules, 59, 61
Levy, John, 22, 34, 36–37
Lewis, Sam M., 170
Lieb, Harry A., 21–22
Life magazine, 72–73, 166
Lincoln, Abbey, 68, 101
Lincoln Hotel (New York City), 152–53
Loeb, John Jacob, 139
Lombardo, Carmen and Guy, 139
Los Angeles, 30, 56, 60, 175, 187–88
“Love for Sale,” 94, 169, 190–91
Love, Preston, 147
“Lover, Come Back to Me,” 132
“Lover Man,” 127, 132, 179–80
lynching, 4, 11, 157–59, 163, 165–66
Lyttelton, Humphrey, 144
Majestic Pictures, 58–59
Major, Gerry, 72
Margolick, David, 6
McCrary, Tex, 120
McCullough, Frances, 5
McDonough, Dick, 136
McKay, Louis, 16, 21–22, 43, 67, 70–71
“Me, Myself, and I,” 125
Meeropol, Abel. See Allan, Lewis
Melody Maker magazine, 135
Mendelsohn, Danny, 160, 174
Mercer, Johnny, 132, 136, 174–75
Mercer, Mabel, 87–88, 90–91, 182
Metronome, 18
Metropolitan Hospital, 51, 196–97
Mezzrow, Mezz, 29
MGM, 141, 188, 191, 194–97
microphones, 79, 85, 102–3, 108, 136, 147, 190
Mili, Gjon, 73, 166
Millstein, Gilbert, 46–47
Mingus, Charles, 6, 105
minstrel shows, 79–82, 84–85
“Moanin’ Low,” 32
Monroe, Clark, 28, 30
Monroe, Jimmy, 30, 173, 175
Monroe, Marilyn, 107, 192
Moore, Marianne, 41
Moore, Monette, 135
Moreau, Jeanne, 66
Morgan, Helen, 4, 95
Morton, Benny, 144
Morton, Jelly Roll, 118–19, 140
Motown Records, 68–69
Mulligan, Gerry, 63, 124
Muni, Paul, 28
Murphy, Rose, 87
Museum of Modern Art, 40–41
music critics/reviewers
on African American singers, 78–79
compare Holiday to poets, 114
criticize Holiday, 11–12, 49, 100, 138, 193–94
Holiday complains about, 15, 23
praise Holiday, 12, 22, 100, 105, 138, 185–86
See also press, the
music producers, 19, 28, 97, 126–27, 136–37, 141, 143, 154, 167–68, 179–80, 187, 189–91, 194
music publishers, 138, 151, 161
musical theater, 4, 32, 56, 67, 77, 79, 82, 84, 94–95, 132, 157–58
musical traditions
African American, 3, 77–86, 91, 93, 121–22, 126, 139, 155, 173
classical, 1, 40, 60, 78–79, 118, 125, 131, 140, 150, 168, 185, 191
European, 78–80, 91–92, 94–95, 118, 121
musicians
admire Holiday, 105, 147, 156–57
criticize Holiday, 98, 100
on working with Holiday, 117–18, 120
Holiday’s views on, 126, 146–47
See also specific names
“My Man,” 4, 89, 95, 128–29, 132, 142, 147, 183–84, 186
NAACP, 32, 95, 135, 153, 166
New Jersey, 187
New Masses, 157, 164
New Orleans, 56–62, 119, 125, 165, 178
New Statesman, 18–19
New York Amsterdam News, 147
New York City
52nd Street clubs, 6, 177–79
133rd Street clubs, 133–34
elite clubs in, 179, 192
Holiday banned in, 12, 49, 63, 65
Holiday’s life in, 6, 16, 27–28, 40, 77
racial interaction in, 134–35, 154–55
See also specific club names; specific theater names
New York Herald Tribune, 23–24, 185
New York Post, 15–17, 48, 143, 197
New York Times, 11–12, 41, 47, 65, 82–83
New Yorker, 23, 117
Newport Jazz Festival, 67
Newton, Frankie, 156, 165
Nichols, Herbie, 46
“No Good Man,” 183
“No More,” 132–33, 180–81
“No Regrets,” 141
Obama, Barack, 2
obbligato, 125–26
O’Day, Anita, 2
O’Hara, Frank, 197
OKeh Records, 168
O’Meally, Robert, 13
Onyx Club (New York City), 31
opera, 78–79, 105, 141–44
Our World magazine, 49
Panassié, Hugues, 138
Paramount, 55, 69, 87
Paris, 57, 90, 95, 121, 156, 175–76, 183
Parker, Charlie, 168, 180
Parker, Dorothy, 132, 155
Patton, Charlie, 118
Paul, Elliot, 57–59, 61
Paul Whiteman Orchestra, 90, 169, 174–75
“Pennies from Heaven,” 110, 132
People, The, newspaper, 25
Peterson, Oscar, 189–91
Philadelphia, 12, 24, 43, 133, 187
Philharmonic Auditorium (Los Angeles), 188–89
Piaf, Édith, 95, 121, 141
Pleasants, Henry, 78–79
PM newspaper, 18, 160–61
Pod’s and Jerry’s (Harlem), 149
poetry, 39, 41, 98, 112, 114, 120, 133–34, 140, 143, 158, 162, 164, 197
politics, 6, 92, 126, 162, 178
pop
artists of, 87–88, 122
and blues songs, 93–94
music, 70, 96, 137, 150, 159
recordings, 126–27
songs, 80–82, 85, 89, 100, 148, 151, 189
sung by Holiday, 94, 98, 110–12, 114, 179–80, 187, 193
Porgy and Bess, 141–44
Porter, Cole, 94, 118, 153, 155, 161
poverty, 13, 24, 50, 52, 62, 70, 93
press, the, 2, 6, 18, 38, 90, 96, 108, 153
African American, 49, 89, 99, 166
Holiday’s views on, 25, 51
hound Holiday, 16, 43, 48
and Lady Sings the Blues book, 14–15, 18, 23
See also music critics/reviewers
Prohibition, 77, 133, 177–78
prostitution, 11–12, 25, 32, 52, 62, 92, 95
protest songs, 159–60, 166. See also “Strange Fruit”
Queens, New York, 34, 44
Quill, Gene, 195
race, 89, 135, 198
and films, 58, 60–61, 65, 157
and Holiday’s songs, 47, 159, 167
Holiday’s views on, 6, 49–50, 143
and jazz, 6, 35, 45, 59, 96, 154–55
and Porgy and Bess, 141–43
records, 93, 127
and stage performances, 84–85, 151–55, 159
and torch songs, 32, 94
See also discrimination
racism, 3, 62, 70, 107, 194
radio, 57–58, 78, 102, 107, 111, 122, 134, 181
bans Holiday songs, 94, 166, 168–69
Holiday’s acting on, 32, 60
Holiday’s interviews on, 143, 153
leaks “race records,” 93
and royalties, 172–73, 176
Raft, George, 28
ragtime, 81
Rainey, Ma, 85–86
Ramirez, Roger “Ram,” 179
rap music, 89, 122
recordings, 78, 93, 128. See also Holiday, Billie: recordings
red-hot mamas, 77, 86–87, 89, 92
Redding, J. Saunders, 23
religious music, 121–22, 163. See also gospel music; spirituals
Richmond, June, 151
Riddle, Nelson, 191, 195
“Riffin’ the Scotch,” 136
RKO, 30, 56–58, 61
Robeson, Paul, 55, 166, 169, 174
Robinson, Earl, 158
Ronell, Ann, 64, 66
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 155, 170
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 35, 45–46, 158
Rorem, Ned, 6, 28, 40, 93, 104
Rosenkrantz, Timme, 105–6, 149
Ross, Diana, 68–71
Rowles, Jimmy, 189–90
Rushing, Jimmy, 63, 146, 148
Russell, Bob, 180
“Saddest Tale, The,” 55–56
San Francisco, 37, 143
Sands, Diana, 67
Savoy Ballroom (New York City), 147
scat singing, 3, 87, 89, 100, 112
Schiffman, Frank, 101
Schuller, Gunther, 97–98, 112, 132, 144, 193
Scott, Hazel, 45, 56, 155
segregation, 52, 59, 78, 188
Shaw, Artie, 62, 64, 99, 117, 141–42, 148–53, 170, 180
sheet music, 111, 114, 119, 137–38, 140, 161, 172–73, 192
Sherman, James, 179
Shore, Dinah, 96, 99
Show Boat (film), 65–66, 95
show tunes, 94, 110, 126–27, 142–44
Showboat Club (Philadelphia), 43
Simone, Nina, 166
Sinatra, Frank, 2, 91, 100, 103, 120, 139, 158, 176, 191, 195
“Sistren an’ Brethren,” 157, 161–62
Smith, Bessie, 57, 89, 93, 136, 157, 159
influences Holiday, 4, 108–10, 115, 132, 186, 195
as leading jazz singer, 78
photographs of, 71–72
and “red-hot mamas,” 86–87
Smith, Mamie, 111
Smith, Willie “The Lion,” 149–50
“Solitude,” 132, 186
songs, naming of, 92–93
soul music, 122
“Sound of Jazz, The” (television show), 63, 124–25
“Speak Low,” 132
speech-song method, 112–14, 120–22, 131–32, 165, 183–84
spirituals, 78, 126, 142, 155, 158, 172
“St. Louis Blues,” 109, 115
Stafford, Jo, 99–100, 139
Stardusters, 186
Starr, Kay, 96
Still, William Grant, 150
“Stormy Weather,” 89, 110, 189
Story of Jazz, The (film), 56–59
“storytelling” songs, 92, 101, 121–23, 168, 185
Strand Theatre, 34–36, 38, 187
“Strange Fruit,” 4, 27, 47, 69, 92, 107, 122, 126, 132, 157–69, 181
Sullivan, Maxine, 151
“Summertime,” 142
Supremes, 68, 71
swing music, 33, 90, 109, 112, 115, 117, 127, 136, 140, 146, 153, 155, 169, 172
Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (film), 55–56
Tan magazine, 20, 49
Tanguay, Eva, 84–86
Tatum, Art, 42
television, 1, 62–63, 67, 95, 107, 120, 124–25, 187
“Tell Me More and More and Then Some,” 174
tent shows, 80, 85, 109
Terkel, Studs, 105
“Them There Eyes,” 41, 105, 132
“They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” 147–48
“Things Are Looking Up,” 133, 145
Thornhill, Claude, 151
Time magazine, 164, 166
Tin Pan Alley, 81–82, 93–94, 110, 141
Tone, Franchot, 28
torch singing
history of, 77, 91–96
by Holiday, 91–92, 94, 100, 127, 168, 182, 184, 187
by Libby Holman, 32, 93–95
Town Hall (New York City), 106, 184–86
Townsend, Irving, 194
“Trav’lin’ Light,” 174–76
Trouville Club (Los Angeles), 30, 175, 188
Tucker, Earl, 55
Tucker, Sophie, 32, 84, 86–87, 89
Turner, Lana, 28, 30, 65
United Artists, 65–66
“Until the Real Thing Comes Along,” 171
V-Discs, 73, 176
Van Vechten, Carl, 71–72, 106
vaudeville/variety shows, 81, 85
Vaughan, Sarah, 78, 127, 155, 180
vernacular music/singing, 111, 114
Verve Records, 127, 184, 191
Victor Records, 81, 174
“Violets for Your Furs,” 193
vocalese, 112
Vocalion Records, 141, 147, 163–64, 171
Vrbsky, Alice, 195
Waldron, Mal, 192
Wallace, Mike, 100–1
Ward, Helen, 33
Washington, Buck, 136
Washington, Dinah, 2
Waters, Ethel, 61, 84, 93, 95, 111, 135–36, 148
autobiography of, 19, 24–25
career of, 88–89
criticizes Holiday, 88, 166
influences Holiday, 4, 87–90, 167, 195
Sadie Holiday works for, 60, 88
sings “Supper Time,” 157–58
Waters, Muddy, 80
Webb, Clifton, 28, 32
Webster, Ben, 100, 105, 124, 189
“Weep No More,” 186
Welch, Elizabeth, 94
Welles, Orson, 29–32, 56–59, 61, 67
Wells, Dickie, 28, 38, 134
Weston, Jay, 67–69, 71
“What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” 132, 140, 191
“What Is This Thing Called Love,” 118–19, 121
White, Beverly, 98
White House, 45–46
White, Josh, 73, 94, 165–66
White, Sonny, 160, 165
Whitman, Walt, 78
“Who Wants Love?,” 125
Wiley, Lee, 73, 96
Williams, Billy Dee, 70
Williams, Martin, 105
“Willow, Weep for Me,” 105, 132
Wilson, Irene, 182–83
Wilson, Jackie, 80
Wilson, Teddy, 33, 63, 73, 98, 117–18, 122, 125–26, 136–39, 141, 144, 146, 168, 171, 182–184
Winchell, Walter, 95, 153
women singers, 52, 93, 77–78, 87–91, 100, 150–51. See also blues: sung by black women; specific names; torch singing
Woody Herman band, 61–62
World War II, 57–58, 145, 157, 169, 176
“Yesterdays,” 128–29, 132, 167
“You’d Better Go Now,” 91
Young, Lester, 63, 122–26, 139, 146, 148, 155
Young, Trummy, 174–75
“Your Mother’s Son-in-Law,” 90, 136
“You’re My Thrill,” 187
“You’ve Changed,” 192–93
Zaidins, Earle, 191–92, 196
Ziegfeld Follies, 83, 132, 183–84
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