Lady Sings the Blues: The 50th-Anniversay Edition with a Revised Discography (Harlem Moon Classics)

Three Rivers Press

$14.87 - $21.94
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UPC:
9780767923866
Maximum Purchase:
2 units
Binding:
Paperback
Publication Date:
7/25/2006
Release Date:
7/25/2006
Author:
Holiday, Billie
Language:
English: Published; English: Original Language; English
Edition:
Anniversary
Pages:
272
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Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensationa fiftieth-anniversary edition updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an insightful foreword by music writer David Ritz Taking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holidays rough-and-tumble Baltimore childhood (where she ran errands at a whorehouse in exchange for the chance to listen to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith albums), to her emergence on Harlems club scene, to sold-out performances with the Count Basie Orchestra and with Artie Shaw and his band, this revelatory memoir is notable for its trenchant observations on the racism that darkened Billies life and the heroin addiction that ended it too soon. We are with her during the mesmerizing debut of Strange Fruit; with her as she rubs shoulders with the biggest movie stars and musicians of the day (Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and more); and with her through the scrapes with Jim Crow, spats with Sarah Vaughan, ignominious jailings, and tragic decline. All of this is told in Holidays tart, streetwise style and hip patois that makes it read as if it were written yesterday.