Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society, and an Early Cry for Civil Rights - Softcover

Margolick, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841952842 ISBN 13: 9781841952840

Publisher: Canongate Books, 2002

Synopsis

The story of the song that foretold a movement and the Lady who dared sing it.
Billie Holiday's signature tune, 'Strange Fruit', with its graphic and heart-wrenching portrayal of a lynching in the South, brought home the evils of racism as well as being an inspiring mark of resistance.
The song's powerful, evocative lyrics - written by a Jewish communist schoolteacher - portray the lynching of a black man in the South. In 1939, its performance sparked controversy (and sometimes violence) wherever Billie Holiday went. Not until sixteen years later did Rosa Parks refuse to yield her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Yet 'Strange Fruit' lived on, and Margolick chronicles its effect on those who experienced it first-hand: musicians, artists, journalists, intellectuals, students, budding activists, even the waitresses and bartenders who worked the clubs.

About this title

Review:

"This is how cultural history should be told." (Buzz)

"These admiring and admirable pages put both the issues and the verses chicly in perspective for a new century that show few signs of growing out of the need for such spirited arias of rage." (Spectator)

"Compelling biography of arguably the greatest song ever written. Margolick has written a fascinating study of the song's unique power, and if you're feeling strong, a free CD of Holiday's recording comes with the book." (Uncut)

"His prose is an elegant and pared-down as the song, evocative of a brutal period in America's history." (Q Magazine)

"Thanks to a panoply of revealing interviews, Margolick shows how a single 12-line song became a lightning-rod for US attitudes to race." (Independent)

Synopsis:

This text explores the story of a song that foretold a movement, and the lady who dared to sing it. In 1939, the performance of the song's evocative lyrics portraying the lynching of a black man in the Southern US sparked controversy, and sometimes violence, wherever Billie Holiday went. It was 25 years before Dr Martin Luther King Jr, led his famous march on Washington, yet "Strange Fruit" lived on. In this text Margolick chronicles its effect on those who experienced it first-hand: musicians, artists, journalists, intellectuals, students and even the waitresses and bartenders who worked in the clubs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1841952842
• ISBN 13: 9781841952840
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176