Music: Strange Record
Billie Holiday is a roly-poly young colored woman with a hump in her voice. Dance-hall crowds have heard her with Count Basie's Orchestra, radio audiences with Artie Shaw. She does not care enough about her figure to watch her diet, but she loves to sing. She also likes to listen to records of her singing.
Last spring Billie Holiday went to the Manhattan studios of the Vocalion Company, which has her under exclusive contract, to make a batch of records. One number, which she had been singing at a new downtown hotspot called Café...
To read the entire article, you must be a TIME subscriber. Already registered? Sign in below
Current print subscribers to register
Subscribe now to get TIME All Access
Email, Password or Region is incorrect
A required form parameter was missing.
The System is currently down. Please try again in a few minutes.
Email Address is invalid
Password is blank
Most Popular »
- The 2012 World Press Photo of the Year
- Top 10 Celebrity Restaurants
- Jimmy Stewart: A Hero Home From the War
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?
- Facing the Challenge of China, Should India Embrace the U.S.?
- A Record of China’s Changing Coastlines
- The Art of Nazi Hunting: How Israel's Mossad Found Adolf Eichmann
- Oscars 2012: Great Performances
- The Foreclosure Deal: Obama and the Banks Win Big While Homeowners See Modest Reward
- Why Is Your Boss Moving to Brazil?
- The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)
- The Second Coming of Warren Jeffs: The Jailed Polygamist Leader Prepares His Flock for Doomsday
- Why Mario Monti Is the Most Important Man in Europe
- Lessons Unlearned: Why Another Gigantic Famine Looms in Africa
- Social Issues Overtake U.S. Politics
- The Brain: How The Brain Rewires Itself
- Can Israel Stop Iran's Nuke Effort?
- I Hope I Die Before I Have to Live with Old People
- A Monk's Struggle




