[78-L] Strange Fruit (was: Billie) also microphones andtechnology too

[Taylor Bowie]

 and has little to do with the improvisation on a theme jazz has (and man am 
I going to get into trouble for saying this!), great record, too bad it 
changed the perception to Billie and the audiences alike on who she was, 
personally I preferred the carefree happy go lucky full of life, full 
figured teenager she was in 1935, more than the "serious artiste" she became 
... I guess I just prefer
 art it is not self conscious ...
Yves Francois



You won't get any trouble from me,  Yves.  I think the happy and upbeat 
things she did from about 1935 through 1941 are the best Holiday records of 
all.  Now I MYSELF might get in trouble because the only one from that era I 
don't like is her much-praised version of "Summertime" which leaves me as 
cold as a Chicago winter.  I just don't think she "gets" the song in the way 
that she "got" other somewhat somber songs of the same era,  e.g. "I'll 
Never be The Same" and the little-played "If You Were Mine."  In fact,  her 
"serious" interpretation of "Summertime" is almost a preview of what 
happened with "Strange Fruit."

Taylor