Billie Holiday Research Paper

Every time Johnny Cash would step out in front of a crowd he would greet his millions of followers with the same line: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. He would be greeted with roars, hollers, and cheers whenever he was seen. Cash influenced a generation and blended music genres to bring the country together. Known as The Man in Black, for it was the only color he would wear after 1957 (Streissguth 80). Cash through his more than 50 year career had thirteen number 1 hits (Macnie). Johnny Cash evolved country music and became a quintessential American hero, admired and adored by millions.

The last and most difficult struggle Billie faced was because of the color of her skin. There are many occasions when the color of her skin yielded Billie from being able to accomplish what she wanted to do. One of the many occasions where racial difficulties were involved is when she “tried out to be a dancer at a nightclub. Yet, Billie was not accepted because she did not have the right skin tone that was required”(Nash 448). Although, she got denied for being a dancer she then “tried out to be a singer”(Nash 447). Because being a singer does not involve your physical body she got accepted. They believed her singing “brought attention with her unique diction, phrasing, and emotive vocals”(Nash 447). In the biography, “Billie Holiday”, Michael L. LaBlanc states,

Ella Fitzgerald To some, Ella Fitzgerald had a hard life from the moment she was born. To others, Ella had it made. Ella Fitzgerald was born April 25th 1917 in Virginia. Soon afterwards, her parents separated and Ella followed her mother to Yonkers, New York.

To understand the controversy that Billie presented one must first go to the root or source of such controversy and examine Billie's childhood. Billie was born Eleanora Harris to her father Clarence Holiday and mother Sadie Fagan who were just fifteen and thirteen years old, respectively, at the time (A 91). Born between 1912 and 1915 in Baltimore, the date unsure, Billie grew up without her father, who moved away early on in her life.

In the summer of 1969, a music festival known as “Woodstock” took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York with thirty-two musical acts playing, and over 400,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical and peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to promote peace in the world. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. This three day music festival represented the perfect concert for the “baby boomers” during a messy political time. Woodstock significantly impacted the counterculture era of the 1960’s in a number of ways; how it began, the ideas of the concert, the sense of union and love it represented and it

Singer. Born April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia. (Though many biographical sources give her birth date as 1918, her birth certificate and school records show her to have been born a year earlier.) Often referred to as the "first lady of song," Fitzgerald enjoyed a career that stretched over six decades. With her lucid intonation and a range of three octaves, she became the preeminent jazz singer of her generation, recording over 2,000 songs, selling over 40 million albums, and winning 13 Grammy Awards, including one in 1967 for Lifetime Achievement.

Every memory of the summer of 1969 is connected to, in one way or another, the historical event, Woodstock. The festival could not have left more of an impact on the “hippie” generation anymore than it did those three days of music and peace. The generation of the time wanted nothing more than what they got out of Woodstock. Today, people still look back on the festival and think of how well it made history without the expectance of doing so. Woodstock, one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century, combined iconic musical acts with interesting social behavior.

Butch Cassidy: Wanted Dead or Alive Butch Cassidy was no man with a clean slate. He was an infamous outlaw of the Old West, taking all he could from trains and banks. He worked with many people throughout his lifetime who helped him with his misdeeds. He was born in Beaver, Utah on April 13th, 1866.

Billie was born to the name, Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915. She was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fell's Point section of Baltimore. Her mother, was just 13 at the time of her birth; her father, was 15. Holidays' teenage parents, Sadie Harris (aka Fagan) and probable father, Clarence Holiday, never married, and they did not live together for a long time. Clarence, a banjo and guitar player worked with Fletcher Henderson's band in the early 30s. He remains a shady figure who left his family. Clarence would often be away from home, and during the stay with Henderson, which lasted until 1932, the guitarist severed connections with the Fagans. Billie was an angry chile who lived a hard life. She was raped at the age of 10 soon

Billie Holiday was a well known jazz singer who was born in Pennsylvania on April 7, 1915. She was also known as Elanora Fagon in which unfortunately had fallen victim in her life towards the addiction of heroin. In conjunction with her addiction, she developed a criminal record due to her numerous arrests relating to her drug abuse and prostitution. She eventually checked herself into an institution to help break her addiction. However, at the young age of forty-four she died from congestion of the lungs which had stemmed from having heart failure. Billie’s life was filled with trials and tribulations. Throughout her life she had dealt with racism, sexism, and poverty. Billie dropped out of school in the fifth grade to run errands in a brothel, and then at the age of twelve she was arrested for prostitution. Around 1930 she started singing in local clubs. One of her most popular and intense songs was ‘Strange Fruit’ written in 1939.

Being a touring singing and performer can become a very rough and tiring job. Being on the road traveling for many months, playing different shows every night would make you really realize if singing is what you love to do. Ella was a singer for more than 60 years. Ella Fitzgerald goes down in history as one of the greatest female singers proven by the many awards and respect she received.

Who is John Lennon? John lennon is a songwriter, musician, and an activist who played a big part in the influence of politics. What marked his name into the history of music and history of the world was neither his voice nor song-writing talent, but how he made use of these talents against political injustices. “John Lennon’s name will always be synonymous with peace and political activism.” said William Hammett, the author of John Lennon and the Mercy Street Café. Lennon was known for injustice, peace, and his views against war.

John Lennon was in a famous rock band called the Beatles and released their first album

The strokes seen are very gentle, as details of every aspect is intricately done with the blending of warm colors. Although the background is un-detailed and the main focus is the woman and flowers, deep down something in my gut was telling me this piece was created over another. After some research it was brought to light that it indeed was painted over an original piece. Even though this piece is supposed to be Billie Holiday, it does not appear much like her. A feeling prompts me to refer to her as “the woman” for it seems as though this painting discusses the kind of women that were alive during that time period shift in the world. The gaze is one of longing, pain, hope, even dreamlike. This woman is clearly feeling the pain and power

Billie Holiday, real name Eleanora Fagan, was a very brave individual who had an impact with one of her songs she performed. Billie herself felt uneasy when singing “Strange Fruit”, which is understandable considering the possible backlash against her. With the fear of retaliation against her for this song, she still managed to perform a haunting and poignant song. So well done was her performance that she received approval from the audience, yet there were those who did not like this song.