clxxvi. HOLIDAY, Billie (1915-1959)
The story of the writing of the song.
Leslie Hutchinson ("Hutch") [fathered eight children with seven different mothers; reportedly had affairs with Lady Edwina Mountbatten, Tallulah Bankhead, and Cole Porter] discovered the song on top of a piano at the BBC.
Holiday was one of the first Americans to record it.
What makes Billie Holiday so unique in the history of popular singers is 1) the way she disregarded the written melodic line in favor of using only a few notes; and 2) the way she sang ahead of and behind the beat.
A rough transcription of her take on the first line might look something like this:
Notice that she sings only three notes -- and two of those three are sung only once!
And of course the rhythm has that relaxed feeling produced by singing anywhere but on the beat!
No comments:
Post a Comment