Fine and Mellow

By Billie Holiday
1939

Fifty-four years ago today, Billie Holiday, the greatest jazz singer of her time or perhaps any, died of heart failure in a hospital bed to which she had been handcuffed due to narcotics possession. But 20 years before that tragic day, she composed this sublime song--one of only a handful she wrote herself. Typical of her cynical and mournful nature, the song is a blue whose lyrics describe poor treatment at the hands of an unworthy man, who is loved nevertheless. It truly epitomizes the pain at the heart of this great artist's work. She initially recorded it in 1939, but also performed it during a 1957 TV special, The Sound of Jazz. Today Standard of the Day remembers the song, as we remember the passing of this unparalleled legend of music.

AND, with this month bringing the FIFTH anniversary of Standard of the Day on July 21, I'll be devoting the rest of the month to vocalists' signature songs, like this one. Stay tuned!

Lyrics:

My man don't love me

Treats me oh so mean
My man he don't love me
Treats me awfully
Hes the, lowest man
That Ive ever seen

He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow
He wears high trimmed pants
Stripes are really yellow
But when he starts in to love me
Hes so fine and mellow

Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long repeat
Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long repeat
Love will make you do things
That you know is wrong

But if you treat me right baby
Ill stay home everyday
But if you treat me right baby
Ill stay home everyday
But you're so mean to me baby
I know you're gonna drive me away

Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Love is just like the faucet
It turns off and on
Sometimes when you think it's on baby
It has turned off and gone.

Recorded By:

Nina Simone
Eva Cassidy
Ella Fitzgerald
Lou Rawls
Dee Dee Bridgewater

Solitude

By Duke Ellington, Eddie DeLange & Irving Mills
1934

Few songs are as associated with Billie Holiday as this aching ballad of love in isolation, even though it was Ellington himself who introduced it. Perfectly suited to Lady Day's unique voice, this tune became an instant classic the moment she first recorded it in 1941. It has since become one of the all-time most revered jazz standards.

Lyrics:

In my solitude, you haunt me
With reveries of days gone by.
In my solitude, you taunt me
With memories that never die.

I sit in my chair,
Filled with despair.
Nobody could be so sad.
With gloom ev'rywhere,
I sit and I stare,
I know that I'll soon go mad.

In my solitude, I'm praying,
Dear Lord above, send back my love.

Recorded By:

Billy Eckstine
Ella Fitzgerald
Tony Bennett & Count Basie
Nina Simone
Aretha Franklin

Strange Fruit

By Lewis Allan
1936

Sometimes called the defining song of the 20th century, this powerfully moving indictment of lynchings in the South was composed by Bronx schoolteacher Allan (real name Abel Meeropol), and brought to Billie Holiday, who would make it her signature song, despite protests from her record label, which refused to allow her to record it. She recorded it independently, closed almost every show with it, and was reported to break down almost every time.

Lyrics:

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Recorded By:

Nina Simone
Tori Amos
Diana Ross
Cassandra Wilson
Lou Rawls

Crazy, He Calls Me

By Bob Russell & Carl Sigman
1946

Elling and Sigman had the enviable benefit of having this song introduced by the one and only Billie Holiday. Sigman (pictured) was a lyricist who had collaborated with many, and is also responsible for songs like "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "Enjoy Yourself". He was a protege of Johnny Mercer, perhaps the greatest lyricist of them all.

Lyrics:

I say I'll move the mountains,
And I'll move the mountains,
If he wants them out of the way.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love, I say.

I say I'll go through fire,
And I'll go through fire.
As he wants it, so it will be.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love, you see.

Like the wind that shakes the bough,
He moves me with a smile.
The difficult I'll do right now,
The impossible will take a little while.

I say I'll care forever,
And I mean forever,
If I have to hold up the sky.
Crazy he calls me,
Sure, I'm crazy,
Crazy in love am I.

Recorded By:

Dinah Washington
Aretha Franklin
Peggy Lee
Anita O'Day
Natalie Cole

God Bless the Child

By Billie Holiday & Arthut Herzog Jr.
1939

Perhaps Billie Holiday's most famous recording, and a song co-written by her, as well. Holiday would later indicate that the origin of the lyrics came with an argument over money she had with her mother, in which she uttered the title line. From there, she was inspired to build the entire song around it. It remains one of the most iconic of all standards, to be found in numerous movies, TV shows, and countless cover versions.

Lyrics:

Them that's got shall get,
Them that's not shall lose.
So the bible says,
And it still is true.

Momma may have,
Poppa may have,
But God bless the child that's got his own,
That's got his own.

Yeah, the strong gets more,
While the weak ones fade.
Empty pockets don't
Ever make the grade.

Momma may have,
Poppa may have,
But God bless the child that's got his own,
That's got his own

Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowdin' round the door.
When it's gone and spendin' ends,
They don't come no more.

Rich relations give
A crust of bread and such.
You can help yourself,
But don't take too much

Momma may have,
Poppa may have,
But God bless the child that's got his own,
That's got his own.

Recorded By:

Diana Ross
Anita O'Day
Lou Rawls
Crystal Gayle
Barbra Streisand

All of Me

By Gerald Marks & Seymour Simons
1931

Haven't been able to post much lately, so to make up for it today, I'm bouncing back with a biggie--one of the most recorded standards of all time, in fact. Billie Holiday's iconic version is probably the most well-known, although it was originally recorded by Belle Baker. Usually performed in a swing tempo, the classic tune has endured the ages, being revived in the 1950s by Johnnie Ray, and even getting a punk treatment by NOFX.

Lyrics:

All of me--
Why not take all of me?
Can't you see
I'm no good without you?

Take my lips,
I wanna lose them.
Take these arms,
I'll never use them.

Your goodbye
Left me with eyes that cry.
How can I
Go on, dear, without you?

You took the part
That once was my heart,
So why not
Take all of me?

Recorded By:

Louis Armstrong
Paul Whiteman
Frank Sinatra
Django Reinhardt
Willy Nelson

Easy Living

By Ralph Rainger & Leo Robin
1937

Written for the film of the same name, the song was originally performed as an instrumental, but became a big vocal hit for Billie Holiday and the Teddy Wilson orchestra shortly after the pictures' release. It has been popular with jazz artists ever since. The song was re-used in the 1949 movie of the same name (different plot), in which it was sung by Audrey Wilder, wife of director Billy Wilder.

Lyrics:

Living for you is easy living.
It's easy to live when you're in love,
And I'm so in love.
There is nothing in life but you.

I never regret the years that I'm giving,
They're easy to give when you're in love.
I'm happy to do
Whatever I do for you.

For you maybe I'm a fool,
But its fun.
People say you rule me with one wave of your hand.
Darling, its grand.
They just don't understand.

Living for you is easy living.
It's easy to live when you're in love.
And I'm so in love.
There's nothing in life but you.

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Stan Getz
Ann Hampton Callaway
Dinah Washington
Sarah Vaughan

The Man I Love

By George & Ira Gershwin
1927

This Gershwin classic originates in the first production of Strike Up the Band, which lasted for all of one day in its first Philadelphia run. The song was cut when the show was revived in New York three years later. It later became a standard thanks to Billie Holiday's famous rendition, which perfectly communicating the tender longing embodied in the material.

Lyrics:

Some day he'll come along,
The man I love.
And he'll be big and strong,
The man I love.
And when he comes my way,
I'll do my best to make him stay!

He'll look at me and smile;
I'll understand.
And in a little while,
He'll take my hand;
And though it seems absurd,
I know we both won't say a word!

Maybe I shall meet him Sunday,
Maybe Monday, maybe not.
Still I'm sure to meet him one day;
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day!

We'll build a little home
Just meant for two,
From which I'll never roam;
Who would? Would you?
And so, all else above,
I'm waiting for the man I love!

Recorded By:

Ella Fitzgerald
Lena Horne
Kate Bush
Barbra Streisand
Etta James

Lover Man

By Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez & James Sherman
1941

While serving in the Army, Davis wrote the song specifically for Billie Holiday, and brought it straight to her when he was home on leave. Unfortunately, he was shipped back to Europe with the outbreak of World War II, and didn't live to see Lady Day make it one of her classic recordings three years later. Holiday adored the haunting, deeply bluesy ballad, and was adamant about recording it will a full string section, which Columbia Records agreed to after some prodding.

Lyrics:

I don't know why, but I'm feeling so sad.
I long to try something I never had.
Never had no kissin',
Oh, what I've been missin'.
Lover man, oh, where can you be?

The night is cold, and I'm so alone.
I'd give my soul just to call you my own.
Got a moon above me,
But no one to love me.
Lover man, oh, where can you be?

I've heard it said
That the thrill of romance
Can be like a heavenly dream.
I go to bed with a prayer
That you'll make love to me,
Strange as it seems.

Someday we'll meet, and you'll dry all my tears,
Then whisper sweet little things in my ear.
Hugging and a-kissing,
Oh, what I've been missing.
Lover man, oh, where can you be?

Recorded By:

Sonny Rollins
Ella Fitzgerald
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie & Sarah Vaughan
Dinah Washington

Me, Myself and I

By Irving Gordon, Allan Roberts & Alvin S. Kaufman
1937

Like Fred Astaire, Billie Holiday had the privilege of introducing a great many standards, and this is one of the most charming. It was written by former song parodist Gordon, with lyrics by Roberts and Kaufman, his collaborators at Mills Music, then the largest independent song publisher in the world. Gordon was also responsible for Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable".

Lyrics:

Me, myself and I
Are only loving you.
We all think you’re wonderful, we do.

Me, myself and I
Have just one point of view:
We’re convinced there’s no one else like you.

It can’t be denied dear,
You brought the sun to us,
We’d be satisfied dear,
If you belonged to one of us.

So if you pass me by,
Three hearts will break in two,
‘Cause me, myself and I
Are all in love with you.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Benny Goodman
Tony Bennett
Lester Young
Bob Howard