Billie Holiday

by Stuart Nicholson

Traces the life and career of the great jazz singer, including her imprisonment for heroin possession, her struggles against racial prejudice, and an analysis of her performances and recordings

Genres: Music, Biography, Jazz, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1995

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry account of the legendary Ms. Holliday's life and death, but will turn on any music geek with Nicholson's exhaustive deconstruction of every song Ms. Holliday has ever recorded. For anyone looking for a more substantial (if slightly tabliod-ish) biography, Nicholson recommends *Lady Sings the Blues*. Two & 3/4 stars.

[Kate Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are a big jazz fan/aficionado and you are intimately familiar with the music scene in the 1930s-40s, you might love this book. I love Billie Holiday's music and I have a fair portion of her catalog on my iPod, but I didn't read this book for a chronology of her career - I read it hoping to learn about Billie Holiday the person, as opposed to just Billie Holiday the musician. Nicholson has obviously done his homework, but so much of the book - let's say 80 percent - is dedicated to extremely specific details of Holiday's career, including dates that she played certain clubs, set lists, and (this was the most tiring for me) descriptions of songs, including phrases like "ABBA cadence." I skimmed a lot, because a technical description of Holiday's music isn't interesting to me. The book got better in the last 50 pages or so, but I finished it not knowing any more about Holiday than I did before. The circumstances of her life are compelling and sad and fascinating, but I have no idea how she felt about any of them or how she managed to survive as long as she did. That's not what I hope for from a biography. If you're interested in knowing what sort of person Billie Holiday was, anything about her personality or likes and dislikes or emotions, I'd skip this one.

[Karah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone wanting the juice on Billie Holiday needs to read one of the other biographies. Nicholson turns a scholarly eye on her vocal capacity and performing engagements. He's truthful and respectful, adding anecdotes to verify her description at every stage of her life and career.

No overly salacious details in this biography. Meticulously researched.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible book, well researched and very readable.

[Bill O'driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid bio makes a strong case for Holiday as the nation's (or the West's) most important vocalist, partly because of her technical innovations but largely because of the way she could make even the most generic lyric seems like a vehicle for deep self-expression. The focus on technical aspects might be off-putting for some readers, but anyone will leave with a good sense of her life, her foibles and tragedies as well as her triumphs.

[Gail]

So, so dry that I couldn't finish it. Little to nothing about her life, lots about the musical format of songs. Great reference work, I suppose.

[Shirley Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book by far about Billie.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, well-researched biography, but what a story! If you don't know the details of Billie Holiday's life story, you owe ut to yourself to read this book.