This is one of the times jimmy and cindy dont fight or antagonize each other at all. The 50thanniversay edition with a revised discography harlem moon classics. On november 10, 1956, in new york city, she gave two concerts at carnegie hall before packed audiences. Interesting that the arrangement was also sung by billie. If you have the slightest spark of interest, you would be cheating yourself by passing on this wonderfully haunting book. In 1939, blues and jazz singer billie holiday performed at a new york city. It was produced by motown productions for paramount pictures.
Also in it are billy dee williams and richard pryor. Her addiction to narcotics and alcohol brought about her early death at the age of 44. Watch lady sings the blues starring diana ross in this biography on directv. Beginning with holidays traumatic youth, the film depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with louis mckay billy dee williams, her boyfriend and manager. Furie about jazz singer billie holiday loosely based on her 1956 autobiography which, in turn, took its title. Lady sings the blues film wikimili, the best wikipedia. She got her initial singing break when she applied at a harlem club that was looking for a dancer, but where she got hired as a singer.
Billie holiday lady sings the blues paperback march 1, 1985 by billie holiday author. Lady sings the blues is the fiercely honest, noholdsbarred originally released by doubleday in 1956, harlem moon classics celebrates the publication with the fiftiethanniversary edition of billie holidays unforgettable and timeless memoir. The book formed the basis of the 1972 film lady sings the blues starring diana ross overview. The movie first starts outwith bille at one of the lowest period point in her life.
Lady sings the blues is a very loosely constructed autobiography arranged in chronological order but leaving many gaps. Diana ross god bless the child motown records 1972. Lady sings the blues was originally published in 1956 some 3 years before her death aged only 44. Diana ross with jay weston on the set of lady sings the blues 38 years ago. Lady sings the blues billie holiday album wikipedia. Lady sings the blues 1956 is an autobiography by jazz singer billie holiday, which was coauthored by william dufty. Ross ever did, lady sings the blues, i watched with great interest and some amusement. Lady sings the blues by billie holiday, william dufty. Other times include hypnobirthday to you, safety first and my big fat spy wedding. Billie holidays autobiography, lady sings the blues, begins with one of the great alltime leads. Beginning with holidays traumatic youth, the film depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult. Richard pryor and diana ross in lady sings the blues 1972 billy dee. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form.
Holiday writes candidly of sexual abuse, confinement to institutions, heroin addiction, and the. By this time, paramount had signed on to help finance lady sings the blues. In deference to the other nominees, every time i watch this film i can only think diana ross was robbed for. Theres the childhood poverty, the searching for love, the unhappy early sexual experiences, the first audition, the big break, the years of climbing to the top, the encounter with hard drugs, the fall, the comeback, the loyal lover we know the scenes by heart. Lady sings the blues book lady sings the blues 1956 is an autobiography by jazz singer billie holiday, which was coauthored by william dufty. Lady sings the blues is a 1972 film about jazz singer billie holiday based on her 1956 autobiography which, in turn, took its title from one of holidays most popular songs. Lady sings the blues diana ross billy dee williams richard pryor 1972 billie holiday diana ross goes from harlem brothel maid to heroinaddicted singing star, losing the man billy dee williams she loves. Lady sings the blues has most of the cliches we expectbut do we really mind cliches in a movie like this. The episode name is a parody of the film lady sings the blues, as libby likes to sing. But that film, coming during one of the most significant transitional periods in american film, and on the heels of the most important political movement of the 20th century, deserves to be remembered not only as a great film, but as a significant and revolutionary work.
Her recordings are still reissued, and a film based on her life, lady sings the blues, starring diana ross, was released in 1972. Published march 6th 1984 by penguin books first published 1956. Lady sings the blues is almost twoandahalf hours of callhermiss lady day in closeup, with half that running time devoted to rosss irreverent interpretations of holiday standards and the other half occupied by what roger ebert then proclaimed this is acting. Lady sings the blues is a 1972 american biographical drama film directed by sidney j.
But where the film glosses over the complexities and bleak realities of her. Diana ross made her film debut opposite billy dee williams in this romantic biopic. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. To ask other readers questions about lady sings the blues, please sign up. Lady sings the blues is an album by american jazz vocalist billie holiday released in december 1956. The movie was based on the autobiography lady sings the blues written by billie holiday and william duffy. In 1956, renewed public attention came her way with the release of her life story in print, lady sings the blues, a book written by william duffy, although parts of it were later questioned for accuracy. In lady sings the blues, holiday recalls some of the most resonant memories of her turbulent pastthe good, the mostly bad and the frequently ugly. From the very start, billie holiday birth name eleanora fagan, born to thirteen year old sadie fagan and sixteen year old clarence holiday, had a very difficult life.
Lady sings the blues is a patchwork quilt of anecdotes with no consistent thesis holding it together. She got her initial singing break when she applied at a harlem club that was looking for a dancer, but where she got hired as a. While this film may gloss over a lot of billies life, the script was based on her. The book formed the basis of the 1972 film lady sings the blues starring. Through this difficulty, she dreamed of becoming a jazz singer. Diana ross discusses lady sings the blues on oprah huffpost. Born to a single mother in 1915 baltimore, billie holiday had her first runin with the law at aged. That it now enters the list as a penguin modern classic is possibly due to current interest in the ongoing stilltobesolved problems of world. Motown released a hugely successful soundtrack doublealbum of ross recordings of billie holiday songs from the film, also titled lady sings the blues. One of the major themes has to do with the difficulties of being a black jazz artist in.
Lady sings the blues billie holiday, william dufty. Mom and pop were just a couple of kids when they got married. The book was written via interviews with william dufty, who assembled the book from their conversations and didnt do any advanced factchecking. Lady sings the blues is an amazing chronicle of one of musics most gifted and soulful human beings. The life story of jazz singer billie holiday told in her own words. Taking the reader on a fastmoving journey from holidays roughandtumble baltimore childhood where she ran errands at a whorehouse in exchange for the chance to listen to louis armstrong. Buy lady sings the blues penguin modern classics new ed by holiday, billie isbn. Lady sings the blues is the fiercely honest, noholdsbarred autobiography of billie holiday, the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation. All of those thoughts were wiped out of my mind within the first three or four minutes of lady sings the blues, and i was left with a feeling of complete confidence in a dramatic performance. She sang mostly popular tunes of the day with her own unique bluesy style.
In other words, read his eruption as a quantitative statement, not. Billie holiday saw that her storys value was dependent upon absolute honesty on her part. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing lady sings the blues near you. Watch lady sings the blues online stream full movie.
Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. It is based on billie holidays reminiscences as told to collaborator. The book lady sings the blue was so different from the movie featured decades ago. Oscarwinning actor adolphe ceasar solider story narrates the classic and original movie trailer for the hit film lady sings the blues starring diana ross, billy dee williams and richard pryor. Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer billie holiday. In this day and age, it can be difficult for some to understand the importance of lady sings the blues. For the two years i was in the band we had a book of a hundred songs, and every one of us carried every last damn note in our heads. Diana rosss gives a dramatic performance as the late great jazz singer. Lady sings the blues, the first of what threatens to be a series of socalled entertainments based on the life and hard times of the late, truly great billie holiday, poses a tough question. Lady sings the blues song, a 1956 song by billie holiday lady sings the blues billie holiday album, a 1956 album by billie holiday lady sings the blues rebecca ferguson album, a 2015 album by rebecca ferguson, consisting of cover versions of holliday songs lady sings the blues book, a 1956 autobiography by billie holiday lady sings the blues film. Lady sings the blues captures the essence of billie holliday in this semibiographic sketch of the tragic life of.
Lady sings the blues incongruously transforms holidays messy, bisexual, masochistic romantic history into a glossy romance about a troubled, needy womanchild and the endlessly patient dreamboat who could slow but never entirely halt her march toward selfdestruction. Lady sings the blues by billie holiday and william dufty. John szweds briskly revealing book on billie holiday treats the writing of her autobiography, lady sings the blues, as a key event in the singers life. Born elinore harris, billie holiday had a difficult teen and young adulthood period, which included working in brothels, both as a cleaning woman and a prostitute, and being raped. Lady sings the blues 1972 is a motown film based on the 1956 book of the same name about the life of jazz singer billie holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.
The book formed the basis of the 1972 film lady sings the blues starring diana ross. Lady sings the blues billie holidaywilliam dufty 180 pages isbn. Lady sings the blues is the inimitable autobiography of one of the greatest icons of the twentieth century. It was holidays last album released on clef records. This book told her entire life story growing up in baltimore.
Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. As an early pop music memoir, lady sings the blues was written without heavy editorial oversight, and the word on the street is that many of the facts dont check out. Lady sings the blues dvd the essence of billie holiday, one of americas most loved and memorable blues singers, is captured brilliantly in a tourdeforce d ebut perfor mance by singer diana ross. Autobiographie holiday, billie, witzel, frank isbn. Since i was personally responsible for and produced the most successful film which ms. Furie about jazz singer billie holiday, loosely based on her 1956 autobiography which, in turn, took its title from one of holidays most popular songs.
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