Sad and Strong Blues Women in the Whirlwind

One of the most famous recordings in jazz history is Billie Holiday's anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit".  It is a protest song written by Lewis Allen in 1938 about the ongoing and intransigent problem of lynching in the American South. Listen to an audio sample of Billie singing Strange Fruit.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop. 

Billie Holiday
“Strange Fruit”

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 After reading and listening to the song, consider the following questions for our class discussion:

The Effect of Songs on Political Consciousness

At the time, Billie Holiday was ready to record "Strange Fruit", her record company thought the song was too controversial to release. It was eventually put out by the Commodore label. It was an immediate success and to this day it remains Holiday's most famous song.  Consider whether or not the song might have had an impact on racism in the '30s. Do you think social scientists or historians can gauge the effects of a song on the public, and if so how?


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Women in Jazz - Often forgotten by mainstream jazz histories, black newspapers, such as the Chicago Defender, celebrated the success of many black all-girl bands and performers. Why these bands and/or performers not made their rightful appearance in jazz history?  Is there a relationship to the conflict between different representations of womanhood - which challenged comfortable notions of the black maid, mammy, or Jezebel?

Ella Fitzgerald

Carter, Betty   

  • “You’re Driving Me Crazy”

  • “My Reverie”

  • “Babe’s Blues”

  • “You’re Getting to be A Habit With Me”

  • “Mean to Me”

  • “Jazz Ain’t Nothin’ But Soul”

Vaughan, Sarah          

  • “Shulie a Bop”

  • “Lullaby of Birdland”

  • “My Favorite Things”

  • “Round Midnight”

  • “I Remember You”

 

Billie Holiday

Lincoln, Abbey          

  • “They Call It Jazz”

Washington, Dinah    

  • “I’ll Get By”

  • “Wise Woman Blues”

  • “Lover, Come Back to Me”

 
Bessie Smith (1895-1937)

A "classic" blues singer of power and authority, Bessie Smith has inspired many vocalists. Bessie Smith's championing, through lyrics, of the less fortunate and underpriviledged, together with her acknowledgement of community and political issues, gained her respect from generations.  A feminist in her own time, Bessie Smith stood her ground on race, class and sexuality

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Simon, Nina

 

 A classically trained pianist whose singing mixed genres of classical music, jazz, blues and soul -- and her music and outspoken ideas on American racism, became part of civil rights and black power history.          

  • “I Loves You Porgy”

  • “Wild Is the Wind”

  • “Little Girl Blue”