1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the high and 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: low notes of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: celebrating the unique style and soulful voice of the incomparable 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: Lady Day. The day was November eleven three. At age eighteen, 7 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: jazz legend Billie Holiday released her first hit song, Riffin 8 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: on the Scotch, How Pan Right into the Fire, May 9 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: Got a no count wipe the A one one nave 10 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: anu one breaking by Ryan saying right into the five, 11 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: Right into the five. After being discovered in a nightclub 12 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: by a talent scout. For Columbia Records, Holiday recorded two 13 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: tracks with jazz clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman. Their first collaboration, 14 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: titled Your Mother's Son in Law, sold about three hundred copies, 15 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: but Riffing on the Scotch sold five thousand, making it 16 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: the first commercial success of Holiday's storied career. The song's 17 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: title and melody were the work of guitarists Dick McDonough, 18 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: who provided the song's Scotch in the form of a 19 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: vaguely Scottish sounding melody at the start of the song. 20 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,919 Speaker 1: The lyrics, which have nothing to do with the title, 21 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: were written by Johnny Mercer. They describe a romance going 22 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: from bad to worse with the line I jumped out 23 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: of the frying pan and into the fire. Later in life, 24 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: after three troubled marriages, Holiday could likely relate better to 25 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: the song than when she recorded it in her teens. 26 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: But that's not to say her life had been easy 27 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: until then. Unfortunately, it was difficult from the start. The 28 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: singer was born on April seventh, nineteen fifteen, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 29 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: Her unmarried teenage mother, Sadie Fagin, had moved there from 30 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: Baltimore after being kicked out of her parents house for 31 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: getting pregnant. Holiday's father was a traveling musician who played 32 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: guitar and banjo and some of the earliest jazz bands. 33 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: He abandoned the family shortly after Holiday was born, and 34 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: she was soon sent to live with Sadie's older half 35 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: sister in Baltimore, Maryland. Holiday later reflected on the poverty 36 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: of her youth, saying quote, I never had a chance 37 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: to play with dolls like other kids. I started working 38 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,519 Speaker 1: when I was six years old in the fifth grade, 39 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: Holiday dropped out of school and took a job as 40 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: an errand girl for the madam of a local brothel. 41 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: If there was any upside to the gig, it's that 42 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: Holiday got to listen to records while she scrubbed the floors. 43 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: She loved music and singing from an early age, and 44 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: it's while working in the brothel that she first heard 45 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,639 Speaker 1: the songs of famous black artists like Bessie Smith and 46 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: her future collaborator Louis Armstrong. As a teenager, Holiday moved 47 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: in with her mother in Harlem and began looking for 48 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: work in the local nightclubs. As she later recalled, quote, 49 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: one day in ninety two, we were so hungry we 50 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: could barely breathe. It was cold as all hell, and 51 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: I walked from a hundred and forty five to a 52 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty third, going in every joint trying to 53 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: find work. Work. I stopped in the Log Cabin club 54 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: run by Jerry Preston and told him I was a dancer. 55 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: He said, to dance. I tried it, he said I stunk. 56 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: I told him I could sing. He said sing. Over 57 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: in the corner was an old guy playing the piano. 58 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: He struck traveling and I sang. The customers stopped drinking. 59 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: They turned around and watched the pianist swung into body 60 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: and soul. You should have seen those people. All of 61 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: them started crying. Preston came over, shook his head and said, kid, 62 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: you win. It's as a young singer in Harlem that 63 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: she first adopted the stage name Billie Holiday. Her birth 64 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: name was Eleanora Fagan. Despite her father's absence, the singer 65 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: used his surname Halliday before eventually changing it to Holiday, 66 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,559 Speaker 1: just as he had done for his performances. As for Billy, 67 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: that was a tribute it to silent movie actress Billie Dove, 68 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: of whom the singer was a big fan. In a 69 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: funny twist, Billie Dove was itself a stage name. The 70 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: star's real name was Lillian Bony. Although she couldn't read 71 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: music and had no formal training, Billie Holiday quickly became 72 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: a fixture in Harlem's vibrant jazz scene. When she was seventeen, 73 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: Holiday landed her best gig yet when she was asked 74 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: to replace the singer Monette Moore at a popular club 75 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: called Covin's in early nineteen thirty three, she met a 76 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: record producer named John Hammond, no relation to the founder 77 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: of Jurassic Park. He had come to the club that 78 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: night hoping to hear Monette Moore perform. Instead, he heard 79 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: Billie Holiday, and he liked her sound even better. After 80 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: Billy had turned eighteen, more arranged for her to record 81 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: a couple tracks with Benny Goodman, a k a. The 82 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: King of Swing in November of that year. Holiday was 83 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: nervous during her first recording sessions, but you wouldn't be 84 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: able to tell from the finished product. Her voice sounds 85 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: very different than on her later records, but it still 86 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: has the intensity and improvisational quality that would become defining 87 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 1: features of her vocal style. Riffin on the Scotch was 88 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,600 Speaker 1: a big hit for Benny Goodman and his orchestra and 89 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: for Billie Holiday. She was only paid thirty five dollars 90 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: for her contributions, but that early success jump started her career. 91 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: By five, she was recording hit after hit with the 92 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: likes of pianist Teddy Wilson and tenor sacks player Lester Young. 93 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: Recording Riffin on the Scotch was almost as big a 94 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: deal for John Hammond too. The producer later said of 95 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: working with Holiday, quote, her singing almost changed my music 96 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: tastes and my musical life because she was the first 97 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: girl singer I'd come across who actually like an improvising 98 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:06,160 Speaker 1: jazz genius. Hammond was picking up on the fact that 99 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: Billie Holiday put her whole heart into every song she sang, 100 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: and in doing so, she turned each one into her own, 101 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: whether she was the first to sing it or not. 102 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: As for her being like an improvising jazz musician, that's 103 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: actually how Holiday saw it too. She once said, quote, 104 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: I do not think I'm singing. I feel like I 105 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: am playing a horn, and I try to improvise. What 106 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. 107 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: I have to change a tune to my own way 108 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: of doing it. That is all I know. Clearly that 109 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: was enough. Billie Holiday went on to become one of 110 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: the most celebrated jazz and swing singers of all time. 111 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: The traumas of her early life never lost their hold 112 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: on her, and she was plagued by addiction and substance 113 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: abuse until her death in n when she was just 114 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: forty four years old. Her life was a series of 115 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: high and low notes successes, and tragedies. Her singing express 116 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: that range of human experience in emotion for all to hear, 117 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: and the world is richer for it. I'm Gabe Lousier 118 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 119 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep 120 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 121 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. You can 122 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and you 123 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: can write to us at this Day at i heart 124 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,439 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for 125 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 126 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. 127 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: For more podcasts, for my Heart Radio, the I Heart 128 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 129 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: favorite shows.