Line: 479 There are great archival photos of East Baltimore and of the reform school and the jail she was sent to. Having a camera in ones face automatically creates artifice or at least a self-consciousness that is less present in an audio-only interview, especially one conducted after ones concert, over a drink. popupTrigger.click(function(){ How Kuehl managed to construct Billies life and Kuehls life is just as interesting as Holidays life in my opinion. Linda Lipnack Kuehl was an American arts journalist, based in New York City. During the famous 1957 Sound of Jazz television recording of Fine & Mellow others have described Holidays face as smacked out on drugs or liquor; instead, this film makes it clear that the ecstasy on Holidays face is from hearing the sounds of her musical soulmate saxophonist Lester Young play. resize77260563c877fb82c45(wrapper); Eleven years after Billie Holiday died at the age of 44, from heart failure due to drug and alcohol abuse, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl, a Lady Day devotee, interviewed as many people as. else if ('' == 'right') Then, before she could finish her biography, Kuehl died: In 1978, her body was found on a Washington, D.C. street. Olika andra frfattares biografier p Holiday har anvnt Kuehls . In the 1970s Linda Lipnack Kuehl, a journalist, sought to deepen her understanding of Holiday; she conducted these conversations in the hope of writing a definitive biography of the jazz. captainForm772605PreloadInterval63c877fb82c45 = setInterval(function(){ She was a generous person, Id say, in thought anyway. Line: 192 function resize77260663c877fb834ac(wrapper){ elementType: "script", She also got a lot of abuse and harassment from racists they encountered. Holiday deserves a multi-hour Ken Burns treatment on just her life. var append_element = append_element || function(e){if(void 0==e)return!1;if(! jQuery(wrapper).find('a').removeAttr('href'); Watching the footage of her face singing with no sound could reduce the watcher to tears alone without hearing a single note. And by the age of 14, Holiday was singing professionally in nightclubs. function resize77260663c877fb829bf(wrapper){ At the time, she had her own girls on the street. Culture Mix Survey var wrapper = jQuery('#captainformForm772606EmbedPopup63c877fb829bf'); (document.removeEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.removeEventListener("load",d)):(document.detachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.detachEvent("onload",d))},d=function(){t||!document.addEventListener&&"load"!==event.type&&"complete"!==document.readyState||(t=!0,n(),e())};if("complete"===document.readyState)e();else if(document.addEventListener)document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.addEventListener("load",d);else{document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.attachEvent("onload",d);var o=!1;try{o=null==window.frameElement&&document.documentElement}catch(a){}o&&o.doScroll&&!function c(){if(!t){try{o.doScroll("left")}catch(d){return setTimeout(c,50)}t=!0,n(),e()}}()}}; var popupParams = { She wanted to retire and care for orphans. She lost her cabaret license to perform in New York City nightclubs, thereby limiting her income options. var captainformDomReady = captainformDomReady || function(e){var t=!1,n=function(){document.addEventListener? textContent: 'var frmRef=""; try { frmRef=window.top.location.href; } catch(err) {}; var captainform_servicedomain="app.captainform.com";var cfJsHost = "https://";', In the 1970s, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl recorded over 200 hours of interviews for a biography she intended to write about Billie Holiday. Pulled out of school at 11, she worked in a brothel at age 12, and by age 14 she was in Harlem singing at the Hot Cha Club. She was high profile, successful, and the opposite of small. In the 1970s, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl embarked on a deep dive into Billie Holiday's history with an eye towards writing a more comprehensive and truthful biography than that which was available. jQuery(wrapper).css('top', jQuery(window).height() * 0.4 + wrapper.width() + wrapper.css('padding').replace('px', '') * 2); Are you sure you want to cancel your membership with us? var popupTrigger = jQuery("#captainformForm772605EmbedPopup63c877fb83722"); formId: '772606' Documentary showcasing American legend Billie Holiday, capturing her depths and complexity through the voices of those who knew her best. Those now-deceased jazz voices include Count Basie, Charles Mingus, John Hammond, Jo Jones and Sylvia Syms. jQuery(wrapper).css('top', jQuery(window).height() * 0.4 + wrapper.width() + wrapper.css('padding').replace('px', '') * 2); captainformThemeStyle['772606'] = ''; popupTrigger.css('visibility', 'visible'); elementType: "script", } "[9] However, Kuehl did not complete the book. Her body as usual is still as a statue; only her hands wave occasionally in small restrained circles. Strange Fruit was banned from radio airplay in certain areas, and many venues forbid Holiday from performing the song. This was one of the principal reasons why she left the band. Hammond estimates that Holidays salary with Basie was $125 a week, at the most. Her mother Sadie transported her to New York City to be a prostitute at age 13. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); with her dark dresses, and smooth-straightened glossy dark hair and the white gardenias (or lily or orchid.) [3]. id: "captainform_js_global_vars", captainForm772605PreloadInterval63c877fb83722 = setInterval(function(){ [3] The interviews were a major source for the text in Robert O'Meally's book of photographs Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday (1991)[12] and around the same were used for the script for a Masters of American Music series documentary of the same name. }); Function: view, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/index.php She spoke to Holidays friends, and to those who had been there for the most transformative chapters of her life. resize77260563c877fb82c45(wrapper); Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. var readyStateOverflowInterval; In Holidays case we could also add being female to that equation as well. Holiday's beauty and misery made her into a tragic figure to everyone except Linda Lipnack Kuehl. Linda Lipnack Kuehl spent eight years trying to write the definitive biography of Billie Holiday. She was raped at age 10 and sent to a reform school as a result. She was discovered by Michael Tilson Thomas while singing to packed audiences live with no amplification at San Franciscos Alta Plaza. resize77260563c877fb83722(wrapper); }, 50); Kuehl was and still is, posthumously, THE preeminent biographer of Billie Holiday, despite never having completed Holiday's biography before she died in 1978. It also brings up a few necessary, if rarely confronted questions. captainform_preload_form_popup(popupParams); captainformCustomVars['772605'] = ''; window.addEventListener('resize', function(){ Intending to write a biography of Billie Holiday, she interviewed friends, fellow performers, and key figures in Holiday's life, but died before its completion. Dr. James Hamilton, a psychiatrist who interviewed Holiday when she was in prison, had this diagnosis of her. The film highlights a review that scathingly derides Billie for being heavy reminding us that draconian female standards of beauty have been around for a long time. Add a bio, trivia, and more. Line: 68 Some of the best moments of the documentary are hearing Billie talk about herself in her slight drawl infused with vocal fry. Function: _error_handler, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Joe Guy, a trumpet player in her band, was also one of her main drug connections. Missing from this documentary is incisive exploration about exactly what makes Billie Holiday so great musically. [6] In 1971, she began plans for a biography of Holiday, who had died aged 44 in 1959. Cafe Society owner Barney Josephson says that it wasnt unusual for white customers to walk out of the club and complain if Holiday performed the song. UNSUNG HEROES THROUGH THE NIGHT- Special Free Screening Thursday, Jan. 19, NEW YEARS CHEER- A Nostalgic Look at Past New Years Through Images, Movies and Music, They Were Calling It the Twentieth Century, THE ART OF EATING: THE LIFE OF M.F.K. She wasnt making enough money. var wrapper = jQuery('#captainformForm772605EmbedPopup63c877fb83722'); Looking for Linda Kuehl online? Function: _error_handler, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_harry_book.php Then there's the story of journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl, who had been working on a biography of Holiday for nearly a decade before she met her own untimely death in 1978. He stripped the singer of almost every dollar before leaving her in 1959 to die a heroin addict in a . So many people have rhapsodized about her voice that we often forget that for those who saw her sing live her face was also a powerful vehicle of emotion. Kuehl had dedicated the last eight years of her life to a biography of jazz singer Billie Holiday, whose rich, sensuous voice had been steeped in a lifetime of pain. Several people in the documentary say that New York City doormen (especially on 52nd Street) would regularly supply her with drugs. It is similar to how the documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is as much about Mark Bittner as the parrots. She began working on the Holiday biography in 1971 and interviewed an impressive number of people. } if (document.getElementById('captainform_js_global_vars') == null) { The problems became too much for her, and she quit working with Artie Shaw and His Orchestra. Kuehl's parents were Sol and Ida Lipnack and she had a sister, Myra Luftman. Courtesy of the Kuehl family. var wrapper = jQuery('#captainformForm772606EmbedPopup63c877fb829bf'); append_element({ } When asked if the stories were true that Holiday had to darken her skin when performing with Basie and his band, because she was so much lighter-skinned then they were, Basie also claims ignorance about that issue. KUEHLLinda (Lipnack). She also began hanging out at a brothel, which is where she first heard jazz music. In the late 1960's, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie Holiday. Holiday can only be fairly described as oscillating from pleasingly plump to svelte for much of her career. captainformDomReady(function() { The insightful documentary Billie (directed by James Erskine) is a highly unusual non-fiction film because most of it is based on previously unreleased audio interviews that were conducted in the 1970s. var append_element = append_element || function(e){if(void 0==e)return!1;if(! (The documentary has lots of images of cassette recorders and reel-to-reel tap machines in operation, to give a visual representation of these interviews.) if (document.getElementById('captainform_js_global_vars') == null) { In 1971, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie Holiday. (document.removeEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.removeEventListener("load",d)):(document.detachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.detachEvent("onload",d))},d=function(){t||!document.addEventListener&&"load"!==event.type&&"complete"!==document.readyState||(t=!0,n(),e())};if("complete"===document.readyState)e();else if(document.addEventListener)document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.addEventListener("load",d);else{document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.attachEvent("onload",d);var o=!1;try{o=null==window.frameElement&&document.documentElement}catch(a){}o&&o.doScroll&&!function c(){if(!t){try{o.doScroll("left")}catch(d){return setTimeout(c,50)}t=!0,n(),e()}}()}}; jQuery(wrapper).css('top', jQuery(window).height() * 0.4 - wrapper.outerHeight()); To describe it any other way is to diminish her musicianship. A talented journalist who wrote a biography about the songstress 20 years after her gradual death, Kuehl dedicated a decade to interviewing the friends and artists who knew Holiday best. Over 8 years, she tracked down and tape-recorded over 200 hours of interviews with the extraordinary characters that populated the iconic singer's short, tumultuous life. In the late 60s, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Holiday's life, interviewing everyone from jazz greats such as Charles Mingus, Tony Bennett and. She just looked fast., However, Holidays former pianist Memry Midgett says in the documentary that Holidays prostitution past haunted her throughout her life. [11] "Police deemed it suicide, Kuehl having supposedly jumped from her hotel room, although there was no proof of this",[3] and her family believes she may have been murdered. The testimonies of those who knew Holiday before she became famous help make up for that deficiency. (Courtesy of the Kuehl family) Kuehl left behind a trove of notes, transcripts and some 200 hours of interviews on cassette tapesmostly in shoeboxes, some labeled, some not. Function: _error_handler, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/page/index.php Eleanoras parents got married when she was 3 years old, and she was raised primarily in Baltimore. gallery of images and videos of both singers. Jones insists: She didnt leave the band. That Holiday took the bottom of the barrel Tin Pan Alley tunes that no one wanted to record and made them works of art is never covered. An epilogue at the end of the documentary mentions that because of the destruction of police records, investigations into Lindas death made during the film proved inconclusive., In the documentary, Luftman explains why her sister wanted to write a Billie Holiday biography: Even thought they came from totally different backgrounds, I think she really identified with Billie. Theres a lingering sense that Kuehl understood something deeper, but Billie never seems all that curious to find out what that might be. }); They got married in 1957. Function: view, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/controllers/Main.php In the documentary interview, Hammond says, There was a real problem between Billie and Basie. Before her mysterious death in 1978, Lipnack Kuehl had taped over 200 hours of interviews. An avid fan of Holiday, she planned to write a biography of the hero with whom she, perhaps to an unhealthy degree, self-identified. Add or change photo on IMDbPro Add to list More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Credits Edit IMDbPro Archive Footage Previous 1 Billie Self (archive footage) 2019 Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content She had also recorded her most important song, Strange Fruit a battle cry against Americas vicious history of lynching, sat right at the dawn of the civil rights movement. For news, music (including some previously unreleased live recordings), complete discography, videos and much more visitKims websiteand many more performances can be found on herYouTube channel. Her second drug bust came in San Francisco in 1949, but she didnt get any prison time for that arrest. Depending on whom you believe, she either quit or was fired. Linda Lipnack Kuehl [1] was an American arts journalist, based in New York City. Function: _error_handler, Message: Invalid argument supplied for foreach(), File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php She was a perfectionist, according to her sister, which is why it took so long for Kuehl to work on the uncompleted book. elementType: "script", She changed her last name to Holiday to capitalize on her fathers connection as a guitarist with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, one of the most respected Black Big Bands of its day. He was like a visitor, but she was too.. Holiday can only be fairly described as oscillating from pleasingly plump to svelte for much of her career. The director James Erskine does a great job inserting commentary during relevant moments. (Its one of the reasons why biopics about Holiday portray her in very different ways.). Her make-up is minimal. Memry Midgett, an Oakland pianist who played with Holiday in the 1950s and remained close with her, said Holiday confided that she was worried about the sins of her youth and Gods forgiveness. She did not see [Billie Holiday] as the victim, which is the way she had been portrayed.. Daviss and Parkers women are not given a megaphone to comment on them, and I never have seen their musical genius attributed to drug use. [3] She worked as a high school teacher and free lance writer. popupTrigger.click(function(){ Contact Us jQuery(wrapper).css('top', jQuery(window).height() * 0.4 - wrapper.outerHeight()); Over 8 years, she tracked down and tape-recorded over 200 hours of interviews with the extraordinary characters that populated the iconic singer's short, tumultuous life. Billie Holiday, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins in The Sound of Jazz.. popupTrigger.css('visibility', 'visible'); Did someone consider the pairs intimacy a threat? Contact Us Kuehl, in that period of eight years, began to see parts of herself in Holiday. There was a rebellious engine inside both of them. She was the singer for Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, who were all white. And it seems that Holiday didnt want to settle down with anyone who was considered nice or normal., Irene Kitchen, one of Holidays friends, mentions musician Sonny White, who was briefly Holidays fianc, as nice, quiet, a very good musician Her mother and I hoped that she would marry him. } var readyStateOverflowInterval; As Holidays fame grew, so too did her notoriety for being a drug addict. However, Linda's book was never finished and the tapes never heard . Billie feels typical, even if its attention to detail gives it an obvious appeal. The biopic will follow Holiday's life through the eyes of Linda Lipnack Kuehl, who as a fan and literary journalist in 1970 began a biography of Holiday. Before completing her work, Kuehl died suddenly in February 1978. if (document.getElementById('captainform_js_global_vars') == null) { [3] In 1978 she was found dead on a Washington, D.C. sidewalk,[3][8][10] after attending a Count Basie concert. 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