With Billie: A New Look at the Unforgettable Lady Day [Paperback]

Julia Blackburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2006

Few jazz singers have become icons like Billie Holiday. In With Billie, we hear the voices of those people who knew Billie best: piano players and dancers, pimps and junkies, lovers and narcs, producers and critics, each recalling intimate stories of the Billie they knew. What emerges is a portrait of a complex, contradictory, enthralling woman, a woman who — contrary to myth — knew what she wanted and what really mattered to her. Julia Blackburn has pieced together an oral history of this jazz great, creating a unique and fascinating view of an astonishing woman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Piecing together interviews with more than 150 people who knew Billie Holiday, Blackburn creates a biography that at times surges with energy. These interviews, which were conducted in the 1970s but never published, offer readers a unique glimpse into Holiday's life as those close to the legendary jazz singer recall the sometimes touching, often brutal events that formed her resilient character. Blackburn, author of several books, including Old Man Goya, begins by recalling her first experience with Holiday's music, but quickly steps aside, allowing the interviewees' stories to speak for themselves. Each person offers a unique perspective of Holiday, from girls who attended reform school with her to fellow musicians and boyfriends who chronicle the world of prostitution and drug use in which Holiday was immersed. Unfortunately, Blackburn makes little attempt to weave together these different voices, which makes for a disjointed read. But the anecdotes are nonetheless fascinating, covering Holiday's troubled childhood in Baltimore through her years of acclaim and hardship: "In that era all the female vocalists had to have a man who'll beat on them and take their money sic," recalls her bass player John Levy. Described alternately as a "shy girl" and a boisterous woman who loved to laugh, someone comfortable in the slums but also "a person with a lot of pride," Holiday emerges as a multifaceted figure. The one thing agreed upon by all the interviewees, though, is the mesmerizing quality of her voice, and fans will cherish this book as an attempt to reveal the complexities of the woman behind that extraordinary talent.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Blackburn (Old Man Goya, 2002) picked up the loose ends of a previous effort by biographer Linda Kuehl to chronicle the life of Billie Holiday, an effort that yielded 150 interviews with people who knew the jazz singer. Among those sharing remembrances are her godfather, friends, lovers, fellow musicians, producers, and critics. A woman recalls watching over Holiday in the House of Good Shephard reform school in New York. A black narcotics agent tells of being haunted by the harassment and harsh treatment of Holiday. Friends recall the strained relationship with her musician father, who, out of vanity, wouldn't acknowledge her. Others relate the genesis of Holiday's signature song, "Strange Fruit," and her belief that it provoked the wrath of the government. Included are poignant remembrances of her relationships--troubled and nurturing--with pimps, socialites, musicians, and actors, including Lester Young and Tallulah Bankhead. They speak of Holiday's drug abuse and sexual proclivities, her amazing talent and generous spirit, and her early death, at age 44. This is a much deeper and grittier look at Holiday's life than was rendered in her autobiography, the admittedly prettified Lady Sings the Blues. Fans will love Blackburn's honest portrait of the enormously talented singer. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375705805
• ISBN-13: 978-0375705809
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,395,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This One, July 27, 2005

By 

Terrance H. Heath "terrancedc" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: With Billie (Hardcover)

I've been a Billie Holiday fan since I was in my teens, but I'd never read a biography of her. I avoided the "Lady Sings the Blues" autobiography, after hearing how much of it was just plain wrong or made up. And I was never able to decide which of the existing bios to read, until I saw this one in my Amazon recommendations. After reading the description, and realizing that it was taken from interviews of people who actually lived and worked with Billie -- and loved her -- I knew this would be the one I read.

This book isn't so much about Billie as it is haunted by her. The interviews construct a rough timeline of her life, but still drift in and out of various periods. You get a sense of Billie. You catch a glimpse of her here and there. Once in awhile her voice breaks through, so you hear it clearly. The overall effect is somewhat ghostly. And at the end, when the picture of her last days begins to come into sharp focuse, she fades away again.

This is a book written by a Billie Holiday fan, for Billie Holiday fans, that presents her both through the eyes of those who knew the flesh and blood woman, and through the eyes of someone captivated by the legend. There are fascinating details throughout, and author manages to fill in the holes just enough to hold the story together. Even the footnotes are worth reading.

Some have complained about there not being enough pictures of Billie in the book. The truth is that this book should really be a companion to the recently released "Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection" box set, because most of Linda Khuel's pictures (Khuel did the original interviews before her suicide) ended up on the DVD portion of that package. (Another must for a Holiday fan.)

As one reviewer said, it's an addictive read. I found it impossible to put down, and like someone in the audience at one of Billie's concerts, in the end I was left wanting more.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ADDICTIVE READ, May 23, 2005

By 

Thomas Adrahtas "vee goalie" (Niles, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: With Billie (Hardcover)

Julia Blackburn's biographical WITH BILLIE is a fascinating slant on the legendary singer. The author did a brilliant job editing the original interviews conducted by Linda Kuehl, leaving this work vibrant with the voices of Lady Day's contemporaries. It is more oral history than biography, and the author never imposes her own voice unnecessarily.

I was literally sad when I completed reading the book,the ultimate litmus test of a work's enjoyability. Blackburn shows Holiday vividly, her genius, her deep flaws, her humanity.

This book is a must-read for fans of Lady Day, jazz, or female singers everywhere.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful look..., May 14, 2005

By 

Bellagrace (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Billie (Hardcover)

This book offers a new and insightful look into the tangled, intriguing life of Lady Day. However, it only has ONE photo of the legend in the entire book. I would like to have seen more photos, copies of documents mentioned, and other visual aids included. That's about the only negative thing about this book. A must have for the Billie collector.