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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:02,250 --> 00:01:05,875 ♪ Saddest tale on land or sea ♪ 4 00:01:06,625 --> 00:01:11,333 ♪ Was when my man walked out on me ♪ 5 00:01:12,958 --> 00:01:14,791 I'd like to write 6 00:01:14,875 --> 00:01:16,291 something that is real, you know 7 00:01:16,375 --> 00:01:18,250 that is really Lady, and, uh... 8 00:01:18,333 --> 00:01:21,250 people who don't see her in any sentimental way 9 00:01:21,333 --> 00:01:23,083 you know, really as she is. 10 00:01:26,208 --> 00:01:29,000 I'd like to hear what Bobby Tucker said... 11 00:01:29,083 --> 00:01:30,208 What'd he say? 12 00:01:30,291 --> 00:01:31,291 I can't say. 13 00:01:31,416 --> 00:01:32,791 But you can give me an idea. 14 00:01:32,875 --> 00:01:35,500 I can't. I never talk, and nobody ever hears the tapes. 15 00:01:36,708 --> 00:01:37,958 Are you interviewing me 16 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,208 or am I interviewing you? 17 00:01:39,291 --> 00:01:41,333 When I tell you something, you print it! 18 00:01:42,291 --> 00:01:44,291 Billie's dead, you're talking to me now. 19 00:01:52,833 --> 00:01:54,375 Well, my friend today is 20 00:01:54,458 --> 00:01:57,416 a gal who has been singing jazz for a good many years now. 21 00:01:57,500 --> 00:01:59,333 Long enough to earn for herself the title 22 00:01:59,375 --> 00:02:01,666 "The world's greatest Jazz vocalist". 23 00:02:02,125 --> 00:02:04,125 Miss Billie Holiday. 24 00:02:08,416 --> 00:02:11,375 ♪ Hey there, baby, make up your mind ♪ 25 00:02:11,708 --> 00:02:15,250 ♪ Cos I've been waiting such a long, long time ♪ 26 00:02:15,958 --> 00:02:21,333 ♪ Now, baby, or never, I've been so sad and blue ♪ 27 00:02:22,416 --> 00:02:25,083 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 28 00:02:25,333 --> 00:02:28,500 ♪ I've been so lonesome, too ♪ 29 00:02:29,250 --> 00:02:32,083 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 30 00:02:32,291 --> 00:02:35,000 ♪ If I mean anything to you ♪ 31 00:02:36,083 --> 00:02:38,833 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 32 00:02:39,291 --> 00:02:42,541 ♪ Cos I've wasted so much time ♪ 33 00:02:43,166 --> 00:02:45,666 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 34 00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:48,875 ♪ And it ain't no fault of mine ♪ 35 00:02:49,166 --> 00:02:52,166 ♪ It's gotta be yes or no ♪ 36 00:02:52,291 --> 00:02:55,666 ♪ It's either you stay or go ♪ 37 00:02:55,750 --> 00:02:58,833 ♪ You can't leave me on the shelf ♪ 38 00:02:59,333 --> 00:03:02,666 ♪ You gotta commit yourself ♪ 39 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:04,583 ♪ It's either you will ♪ 40 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,000 ♪ Baby, or you won't fall in love with me ♪ 41 00:03:09,208 --> 00:03:11,291 An interview with Sylvia Syms 42 00:03:11,416 --> 00:03:13,875 January 20th, 1973. 43 00:03:14,833 --> 00:03:16,916 To the people in our industry 44 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,791 she was the great lady of all time. 45 00:03:19,791 --> 00:03:21,041 She was the queen bee. 46 00:03:21,541 --> 00:03:24,083 ♪ I've been so sad and blue ♪ 47 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:26,875 Without even trying, she was the most sensual 48 00:03:26,958 --> 00:03:28,416 of all of the lady singers. 49 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:31,041 ♪ I've been so lonesome, too ♪ 50 00:03:31,375 --> 00:03:33,500 I saw the whole world in that face... 51 00:03:35,541 --> 00:03:37,708 all of the beauty and all of the misery. 52 00:03:39,458 --> 00:03:43,125 Billie Holiday sang only truth, she knew nothing else. 53 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,041 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 54 00:03:46,666 --> 00:03:49,791 ♪ I've been so sad and blue ♪ 55 00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:53,083 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 56 00:03:53,166 --> 00:03:55,291 Met her in Philadelphia, once. 57 00:03:55,958 --> 00:03:58,750 There was a funny situation because I was very unknown 58 00:03:58,833 --> 00:04:02,416 I was just a fan, and she just kinda lifted up her skirt 59 00:04:02,583 --> 00:04:04,875 and went right into her stocking and took out a bill 60 00:04:04,958 --> 00:04:06,583 and said get me some gin, son. 61 00:04:08,166 --> 00:04:11,750 ♪ I'm gonna call you once more on the telephone ♪ 62 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,583 ♪ I'll give you till twelve, then I'll be gone ♪ 63 00:04:15,916 --> 00:04:17,291 In what way do you think of her 64 00:04:17,375 --> 00:04:18,500 as being innovative? 65 00:04:18,625 --> 00:04:20,666 Well, the fact that she just told 66 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:23,041 her own story, just by being herself. 67 00:04:23,166 --> 00:04:25,333 ♪ Now, baby, or never ♪ 68 00:04:25,416 --> 00:04:27,458 Must be a pretty interesting story 69 00:04:27,541 --> 00:04:28,750 that you're writing. 70 00:04:28,833 --> 00:04:30,250 She's had a wild life. 71 00:04:30,750 --> 00:04:34,083 ♪ You gotta commit yourself ♪ 72 00:04:34,333 --> 00:04:37,416 ♪ It's either you will, baby, or you won't ♪ 73 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:41,583 ♪ Fall in love with me ♪ 74 00:04:41,666 --> 00:04:44,250 I wanna know why all girl singers crack up. 75 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,250 They all crack up! 76 00:04:48,166 --> 00:04:51,125 When they hit the top, something tragic happens. 77 00:04:52,625 --> 00:04:54,416 I wanna know what causes that. 78 00:05:08,833 --> 00:05:13,458 ♪ Them that's got shall have ♪ 79 00:05:14,666 --> 00:05:17,875 ♪ Them that's not shall lose ♪ 80 00:05:18,666 --> 00:05:24,916 ♪ So the Bible said and it still is news ♪ 81 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,708 ♪ Mama may have ♪ 82 00:05:29,541 --> 00:05:31,958 ♪ Papa may have ♪ 83 00:05:32,875 --> 00:05:38,208 ♪ But God bless the child that's got his own ♪ 84 00:05:39,250 --> 00:05:41,708 ♪ That's got his own ♪ 85 00:05:43,041 --> 00:05:44,750 The things that I sing 86 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,666 have to have something to do with me and my life 87 00:05:47,833 --> 00:05:50,041 and my friends' lives. 88 00:05:50,458 --> 00:05:51,625 They have a meaning. 89 00:05:52,208 --> 00:05:58,958 ♪ Empty pockets don't ever make the grade ♪ 90 00:06:21,708 --> 00:06:28,333 ♪ Money, you've got lots of friends ♪ 91 00:06:29,375 --> 00:06:30,750 ♪ Crowding round... ♪ 92 00:06:39,375 --> 00:06:40,833 We used to stay together 93 00:06:40,916 --> 00:06:42,458 as small kids. 94 00:06:42,541 --> 00:06:43,791 How old were you? 95 00:06:43,875 --> 00:06:45,583 Eight or nine years old. 96 00:06:46,375 --> 00:06:48,291 Her and her mother were very close. 97 00:06:48,416 --> 00:06:49,708 They were very close. 98 00:06:51,416 --> 00:06:54,416 The area she came up in, as a kid... 99 00:06:55,583 --> 00:06:57,458 everybody knew each other, you know. 100 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,208 It was just a nice community to live in 101 00:07:00,291 --> 00:07:01,791 even though we were poor. 102 00:07:03,208 --> 00:07:06,125 It was a different type of poor what they call today, you know. 103 00:07:06,750 --> 00:07:09,791 If we made it and we were happy with what we had. 104 00:07:11,750 --> 00:07:15,750 ♪ Crowding round no more ♪ 105 00:07:17,125 --> 00:07:20,750 ♪ Rich relations give... ♪ 106 00:07:21,250 --> 00:07:23,708 In the bloom of her youth, she was pretty. 107 00:07:25,583 --> 00:07:28,833 ♪ You can help yourself ♪ 108 00:07:29,166 --> 00:07:30,250 ♪ But don't take... ♪ 109 00:07:30,333 --> 00:07:31,750 People played on her. 110 00:07:31,833 --> 00:07:33,541 Did they play on her when she was a kid? 111 00:07:33,625 --> 00:07:34,625 Of course. 112 00:07:34,708 --> 00:07:36,791 - Who? Who? - The men folks. 113 00:07:36,875 --> 00:07:39,708 ♪ Papa may have ♪ 114 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:46,208 ♪ But God bless the child that's got his own... ♪ 115 00:07:48,583 --> 00:07:50,291 You hung out with Billie? 116 00:07:50,375 --> 00:07:51,541 That's right. 117 00:07:51,625 --> 00:07:52,916 You called her Eleanora. 118 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,708 That's her name, Eleanor, Eleanora Fagan. 119 00:07:55,791 --> 00:07:57,666 That's the name that we knew her by. 120 00:07:58,666 --> 00:08:00,291 You never knew the father? 121 00:08:00,541 --> 00:08:02,458 No, I never knew her father, no. 122 00:08:03,541 --> 00:08:05,541 Did she curse a lot when she was a kid? 123 00:08:06,208 --> 00:08:07,541 - Yep. - What'd she say? 124 00:08:07,625 --> 00:08:08,750 What were her favourite words? 125 00:08:08,833 --> 00:08:09,875 "Motherfucker". 126 00:08:09,958 --> 00:08:12,250 Every other word was motherfucker. What else? 127 00:08:12,333 --> 00:08:14,416 "Cocksuckers", that was her word. 128 00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:16,125 "Motherfucker", "cocksucker"... 129 00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:19,375 She would say, "You suck my ass, motherfucker". 130 00:08:24,750 --> 00:08:26,416 A lot of people didn't like you calling 'em 131 00:08:26,500 --> 00:08:28,291 "motherfucker", they would beat you up. 132 00:08:28,833 --> 00:08:29,791 A lot of men. 133 00:08:29,875 --> 00:08:31,375 Right there on the street? 134 00:08:31,833 --> 00:08:33,041 Yeah. 135 00:08:33,291 --> 00:08:35,791 - Think she liked it? - She must'a liked it. 136 00:08:36,375 --> 00:08:38,708 But the fellas that liked her, she didn't dig them. 137 00:08:42,291 --> 00:08:43,958 Let me ask you something, John... 138 00:08:44,041 --> 00:08:45,041 Go ahead. 139 00:08:45,416 --> 00:08:48,083 Did Billie... did she turn tricks? 140 00:08:48,666 --> 00:08:50,083 Sure, of course. 141 00:08:50,166 --> 00:08:52,333 During them times, you had to survive 142 00:08:52,708 --> 00:08:54,333 and she had to survive. 143 00:08:54,583 --> 00:08:56,375 Was she younger than most girls? 144 00:08:57,083 --> 00:09:00,041 No. Girls start young, some of 'em, you know. 145 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:02,208 She wasn't like a slut. 146 00:09:02,291 --> 00:09:05,708 No, no, no, no... she just lived fast. 147 00:09:11,083 --> 00:09:15,541 ♪ The saddest tale on land or sea ♪ 148 00:09:15,875 --> 00:09:20,500 ♪ Was when my man walked out on me ♪ 149 00:09:47,208 --> 00:09:48,666 Yeah? 150 00:10:00,208 --> 00:10:01,666 Why? 151 00:10:05,625 --> 00:10:10,000 ♪ My man's gone, I feel forlorn ♪ 152 00:10:10,625 --> 00:10:15,833 ♪ I've got those "lost my man" blues ♪ 153 00:10:16,291 --> 00:10:18,875 ♪ He didn't treat me fair ♪ 154 00:10:19,166 --> 00:10:21,958 ♪ It's more than I can bear ♪ 155 00:10:22,166 --> 00:10:23,458 - ♪ I've got those... ♪ - Did you ever hear 156 00:10:23,541 --> 00:10:24,708 - her sing? - Yeah. 157 00:10:24,791 --> 00:10:26,500 - When she was a kid? - Yeah, yeah. 158 00:10:26,875 --> 00:10:28,208 She used to sing every night. 159 00:10:28,291 --> 00:10:30,750 ♪ I've got those "lost my man... ♪ 160 00:10:30,833 --> 00:10:34,875 ♪ ...can't get him back again" blues ♪ 161 00:10:49,583 --> 00:10:51,500 Well, now wait a minute, it's quite a jump 162 00:10:51,583 --> 00:10:53,583 - from Baltimore to New York... - Listen... 163 00:10:53,666 --> 00:10:55,416 Well, it was a jump. 164 00:10:55,500 --> 00:10:57,666 So, you were 15 years old then, weren't ya? 165 00:10:57,750 --> 00:10:59,083 No, I was 14. 166 00:10:59,166 --> 00:11:00,541 I beg your pardon. 167 00:11:09,708 --> 00:11:11,833 My first encounter with Billie Holiday 168 00:11:11,916 --> 00:11:12,958 was as a listener... 169 00:11:14,916 --> 00:11:16,583 not as a biographer or critic. 170 00:11:18,625 --> 00:11:20,750 Age 14, I happened to spot an album... 171 00:11:21,583 --> 00:11:23,375 "The Essential Billie Holiday" 172 00:11:24,250 --> 00:11:26,333 and curiously listened to the voice. 173 00:11:27,541 --> 00:11:28,833 A strange voice... 174 00:11:29,500 --> 00:11:31,416 that was more real and true... 175 00:11:31,541 --> 00:11:33,416 than anything I'd ever heard before. 176 00:11:35,083 --> 00:11:37,791 It told of experiences so deeply felt... 177 00:11:38,291 --> 00:11:40,583 wailed huskily from some netherworld... 178 00:11:41,416 --> 00:11:42,750 that I had no choice... 179 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:46,291 I had to listen to where that voice was coming from. 180 00:12:02,958 --> 00:12:04,583 Linda was my big sister 181 00:12:04,750 --> 00:12:07,250 and she was my protector, and, uh... 182 00:12:07,333 --> 00:12:08,375 she was my best friend. 183 00:12:13,458 --> 00:12:16,458 We grew up in the Bronx Borough of New York. 184 00:12:18,166 --> 00:12:20,416 My father was a labour union organiser. 185 00:12:22,666 --> 00:12:25,875 Our family was Jewish but non-religious. 186 00:12:28,500 --> 00:12:30,583 Linda was a public high school teacher 187 00:12:30,666 --> 00:12:33,541 but she had been doing interviews on women 188 00:12:33,833 --> 00:12:35,458 and women's rights 189 00:12:35,541 --> 00:12:37,958 as a journalist for Paris Review 190 00:12:38,041 --> 00:12:40,666 for the New York Times Sunday magazine section. 191 00:12:42,750 --> 00:12:45,500 That's when she decided to start writing a biography 192 00:12:45,583 --> 00:12:47,041 on Billie Holiday. 193 00:12:48,416 --> 00:12:51,083 Even though they came from totally 194 00:12:51,291 --> 00:12:52,541 different backgrounds... 195 00:12:53,041 --> 00:12:54,958 I think she identified with Billie. 196 00:12:56,125 --> 00:12:59,083 I think she felt the pain of someone's struggles. 197 00:13:00,875 --> 00:13:03,041 She did not like seeing her as a victim 198 00:13:03,791 --> 00:13:06,291 which I think is the way she had been portrayed. 199 00:14:39,458 --> 00:14:41,750 Hello Pigmeat, how are you? 200 00:14:41,833 --> 00:14:43,708 Why hello, Mabel. 201 00:14:43,875 --> 00:14:45,125 It's good to see you. 202 00:14:45,208 --> 00:14:47,125 Yeah, where in the world is you been? 203 00:14:47,208 --> 00:14:48,875 Someone told me about this girl 204 00:14:48,958 --> 00:14:50,541 who could sing so beautiful. 205 00:14:51,166 --> 00:14:53,458 And I went by to see her and hear her. 206 00:14:53,958 --> 00:14:55,750 That's when I discovered her... 207 00:14:56,875 --> 00:15:00,208 a week or two after she started coming the Apollo Theatre. 208 00:15:00,875 --> 00:15:03,000 And that's where she made her stage appearance 209 00:15:03,083 --> 00:15:04,416 first time in her life. 210 00:15:05,750 --> 00:15:07,500 Why'd you think she was so nervous? 211 00:15:07,583 --> 00:15:09,291 Well, she was stage-frightened 212 00:15:09,375 --> 00:15:11,041 she'd never been on a stage before. 213 00:15:11,708 --> 00:15:14,541 And a lot of people can sing in them little small places 214 00:15:14,625 --> 00:15:17,000 with eight, ten, 15, 45 people... 215 00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:20,083 and then when you put 'em in front of a big audience... 216 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:23,583 a thousand, two thousand people, they just freeze up. 217 00:15:42,458 --> 00:15:45,041 It must've been something! 218 00:15:57,083 --> 00:15:58,750 Tell us something, Billie 219 00:15:58,833 --> 00:16:00,458 about the background that, uh... 220 00:16:00,541 --> 00:16:02,458 brought about your interest in jazz. 221 00:16:10,875 --> 00:16:13,083 ♪ My man... ♪ 222 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,333 And that was it? 223 00:16:34,083 --> 00:16:35,791 Well, I was the first white guy 224 00:16:35,875 --> 00:16:37,083 who ever heard Billie, you know. 225 00:16:37,166 --> 00:16:39,541 I was the first one who introduced her around. 226 00:16:40,541 --> 00:16:43,250 About the eighth stoop up here 227 00:16:43,375 --> 00:16:46,208 is where I first heard Billie Holiday. 228 00:16:46,291 --> 00:16:49,750 It says laundry there, see? And that's the place 229 00:16:49,833 --> 00:16:52,166 where Billie Holiday made her debut 230 00:16:52,250 --> 00:16:53,791 as far as I know in New York 231 00:16:53,875 --> 00:16:57,333 in about February of 1933. 232 00:16:58,541 --> 00:17:01,291 What did you hear that said to you 233 00:17:01,375 --> 00:17:03,625 "I have to let the rest of the world know about this?" 234 00:17:03,916 --> 00:17:07,458 I heard a singer who was an improvising horn player. 235 00:17:07,541 --> 00:17:09,250 Horn player? - Yeah, well, that's how... 236 00:17:09,333 --> 00:17:10,333 that's how she sounded. 237 00:17:10,458 --> 00:17:11,708 Any specific horn player? 238 00:17:11,791 --> 00:17:12,958 Well, I think she liked Louis... 239 00:17:13,041 --> 00:17:15,000 Louis Armstrong. - Louis Armstrong, I'm sorry. 240 00:17:15,083 --> 00:17:17,000 I need to add that last-- That's quite alright. 241 00:17:17,291 --> 00:17:20,291 And I knew, you know, that these two would... 242 00:17:20,708 --> 00:17:22,083 would find, uh... 243 00:17:22,166 --> 00:17:24,666 would make music together that was unprecedented. 244 00:17:24,708 --> 00:17:25,625 And it was. 245 00:17:28,125 --> 00:17:31,083 ♪ When the moon's kinda dreamy ♪ 246 00:17:31,833 --> 00:17:34,333 ♪ Starry-eyed and dreamy ♪ 247 00:17:35,166 --> 00:17:38,708 ♪ And nights are luscious and long ♪ 248 00:17:40,916 --> 00:17:44,041 ♪ If you're kinda lonely ♪ 249 00:17:44,833 --> 00:17:47,208 ♪ And all by your own-ly ♪ 250 00:17:48,083 --> 00:17:52,583 ♪ Then nothin' but the blues are brewin' ♪ 251 00:17:53,041 --> 00:17:56,375 ♪ The blues are brewin' ♪ 252 00:17:59,500 --> 00:18:02,750 ♪ When the wind through the window... ♪ 253 00:18:13,166 --> 00:18:16,500 ♪ If love goes a-thirstin' ♪ 254 00:18:17,250 --> 00:18:19,666 ♪ Till you feel like burstin' ♪ 255 00:18:20,666 --> 00:18:24,875 ♪ Then nothin' but the blues are brewin' ♪ 256 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:29,333 ♪ The blues are brewin' ♪ 257 00:18:29,833 --> 00:18:32,291 I persuaded the American Record Company 258 00:18:32,375 --> 00:18:35,333 that they should record the hits of the day 259 00:18:35,750 --> 00:18:39,041 with the wonderful girl singer, and hit the jukebox trade. 260 00:18:40,041 --> 00:18:41,500 I says "It costs so little". 261 00:18:41,916 --> 00:18:43,416 We would do these records, you see 262 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:46,208 for less than $300 a session. 263 00:18:48,291 --> 00:18:51,041 ♪ Suppose you want somebody ♪ 264 00:18:51,708 --> 00:18:54,166 ♪ But you ain't got nobody ♪ 265 00:18:54,958 --> 00:18:59,333 ♪ You only got a gleam in your eye ♪ 266 00:19:26,708 --> 00:19:29,416 If you went to Harlem just for music and no sex 267 00:19:30,041 --> 00:19:31,708 it was the strangest thing in the world. 268 00:19:32,541 --> 00:19:34,041 And I went just for music. 269 00:19:49,125 --> 00:19:50,958 First time I met Billie was... 270 00:19:51,416 --> 00:19:53,583 in a place behind the Apollo Theatre 271 00:19:54,208 --> 00:19:56,583 and she asked me to take her home 272 00:19:57,291 --> 00:19:59,666 because some of her friends that were there 273 00:19:59,958 --> 00:20:02,000 she says, "I don't want them to take me home". 274 00:20:05,375 --> 00:20:09,250 The apartment was in Harlem, that was considered a ghetto. 275 00:20:10,541 --> 00:20:13,083 When we got there, she asked me to stay with us. 276 00:20:13,750 --> 00:20:16,416 I ended up staying, oh, about six months. 277 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:20,875 Her mother used to tell me about her 278 00:20:20,958 --> 00:20:22,500 when she was a little girl. 279 00:20:23,458 --> 00:20:24,791 What would she tell you? 280 00:20:24,875 --> 00:20:28,208 That she was still in love with Billie's father. 281 00:20:29,375 --> 00:20:31,916 And a lot of times when she used to talk about it, she'd cry. 282 00:20:34,666 --> 00:20:38,000 Somebody told me that Billie used to go with girls. 283 00:20:38,083 --> 00:20:39,583 Now, is there any truth in that? 284 00:20:39,666 --> 00:20:40,916 Oh, of course! 285 00:20:41,666 --> 00:20:43,625 Her nickname among the men... 286 00:20:44,041 --> 00:20:46,666 they called her Mister Billie Holiday 287 00:20:46,750 --> 00:20:49,583 because she was seldom seen with fellas. 288 00:20:50,666 --> 00:20:52,625 And I will always believe 289 00:20:52,916 --> 00:20:54,750 that her mother was the cause of it 290 00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:58,541 cos she never wanted Billie to get close with any fellas. 291 00:20:59,666 --> 00:21:01,458 She would tell her they're no good. 292 00:21:02,208 --> 00:21:05,416 "I heard this about him" and "I heard that about him"... 293 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,291 Her mother pushed that in her mind to be careful 294 00:21:08,750 --> 00:21:10,291 cos they'll break your heart. 295 00:21:11,916 --> 00:21:13,458 Just like Billie's father. 296 00:22:10,583 --> 00:22:11,666 What was he like? 297 00:22:58,208 --> 00:23:00,208 Whether the men who Billie went with 298 00:23:00,291 --> 00:23:02,708 treated her well or not... 299 00:23:03,416 --> 00:23:05,583 she always chose them for a reason. 300 00:23:07,750 --> 00:23:10,708 They played for her, they protected her... 301 00:23:11,750 --> 00:23:14,666 and in the man's world of the night club... 302 00:23:15,541 --> 00:23:18,708 they allowed her to do the one thing that mattered... 303 00:23:19,458 --> 00:23:20,750 which was to sing. 304 00:23:22,541 --> 00:23:25,500 Music didn't bring Billie to Harlem... 305 00:23:26,166 --> 00:23:29,541 but it was her voice that would allow her to escape. 306 00:23:33,416 --> 00:23:34,625 Attention everybody! 307 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,333 ♪ Now, here's a boogie-woogie, solid beat ♪ 308 00:23:38,750 --> 00:23:40,958 ♪ Come on you dancers, on your feet ♪ 309 00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:43,791 ♪ The winners get a prize as you all know ♪ 310 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,458 ♪ And we pick 'em by the speed and the class they show ♪ 311 00:23:46,541 --> 00:23:47,750 ♪ Let's go! ♪ 312 00:23:50,083 --> 00:23:51,500 Billie, I'm just wondering 313 00:23:51,583 --> 00:23:54,083 if you might tell us how people began to call you "Lady Day". 314 00:25:40,416 --> 00:25:41,916 What would be a good question 315 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,000 for you to ask me... 316 00:25:43,083 --> 00:25:44,916 - You? - About Billie? 317 00:25:46,041 --> 00:25:48,291 You said that you used to alternate 318 00:25:48,375 --> 00:25:51,625 riff-raff joints, and then you'd play some big white hotel. 319 00:25:51,708 --> 00:25:54,708 Go from one extreme to the other. Is that true? 320 00:25:55,583 --> 00:25:58,541 Well, I don't call no place a riff-raff 321 00:25:58,625 --> 00:25:59,791 that pays me. 322 00:26:01,208 --> 00:26:03,125 She said you weren't your own boss... 323 00:26:03,708 --> 00:26:05,166 that you had too many managers. 324 00:26:05,708 --> 00:26:07,625 It's true? 325 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:35,916 Both. 326 00:26:36,166 --> 00:26:38,166 I can't write about Billie Holiday with your band 327 00:26:38,250 --> 00:26:39,833 if I'm not gonna talk about your band. 328 00:26:39,916 --> 00:26:43,583 Am I? 329 00:26:45,208 --> 00:26:46,375 Can I? 330 00:26:49,083 --> 00:26:51,666 My name is Jonathan David Samuel Jones 331 00:26:51,791 --> 00:26:53,708 professional name Jo, J.O. 332 00:26:54,166 --> 00:26:56,125 And everybody professes to know her... 333 00:26:56,583 --> 00:26:58,375 they knew nothing about her. 334 00:26:58,708 --> 00:27:01,500 All that they knew was what was in it for them. 335 00:27:03,708 --> 00:27:06,250 What happened with her and Count Basie? 336 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:07,666 I mean, why did that-- 337 00:27:07,750 --> 00:27:09,125 Count Basie? 338 00:27:09,208 --> 00:27:10,666 Can't you leave Count Basie alone? 339 00:27:10,750 --> 00:27:13,000 That's no problem. That was no problem. 340 00:27:13,958 --> 00:27:15,083 That was no problem. 341 00:27:15,375 --> 00:27:17,083 Well, why did she leave the band? 342 00:27:17,875 --> 00:27:20,041 She didn't leave the band, she was fired! 343 00:27:20,166 --> 00:27:21,166 Who fired her? 344 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:22,166 John Hammond! 345 00:27:23,041 --> 00:27:25,958 John Hammond fired her? Why? 346 00:27:26,916 --> 00:27:28,625 That's a big question, if you can answer that 347 00:27:28,708 --> 00:27:30,083 they wouldn't have the UN. 348 00:27:32,541 --> 00:27:35,583 About Basie, um, why did Billie leave the band? 349 00:27:35,916 --> 00:27:38,000 Well, you see, here's the thing... 350 00:27:38,875 --> 00:27:41,916 there was a real problem with Billie and Basie. 351 00:27:42,833 --> 00:27:45,625 She weren't making enough money, simple as that 352 00:27:45,791 --> 00:27:48,000 and this is really one of the principal reasons 353 00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:49,291 why she left the band. 354 00:27:49,833 --> 00:27:51,666 How much was she getting paid then? 355 00:27:51,750 --> 00:27:53,541 I think 100 and a quarter a week 356 00:27:53,625 --> 00:27:55,125 something like that, at the most! 357 00:27:56,166 --> 00:27:57,125 She quit? 358 00:27:57,250 --> 00:27:58,833 Oh sure, sure. 359 00:27:59,958 --> 00:28:02,333 John Hammond wanted her to sing the blues. 360 00:28:02,416 --> 00:28:05,625 So, since she wouldn't sing the blues, he fired her. 361 00:28:07,583 --> 00:28:09,041 How can I verify it? 362 00:28:10,125 --> 00:28:13,041 His number's 0803 4173. 363 00:28:13,125 --> 00:28:14,500 Call him up and I'll tell him 364 00:28:14,583 --> 00:28:16,250 and I'll give him another heart attack. 365 00:28:17,125 --> 00:28:18,125 Call him. 366 00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:20,083 - I'm... I'm not... - Call him! 367 00:28:20,291 --> 00:28:22,625 - I'm not gonna call him now. - Call him! 368 00:28:22,708 --> 00:28:25,041 Listen, I'm gonna call him, I'm gonna to ask him. 369 00:28:25,125 --> 00:28:26,625 No, call him! - You know I'm not gonna 370 00:28:26,708 --> 00:28:27,791 get through to him. 371 00:28:29,666 --> 00:28:31,208 I guess you've heard by now 372 00:28:31,291 --> 00:28:33,208 that Jo Jones said that you fired her. 373 00:28:33,291 --> 00:28:34,750 Oh, absolute lie. 374 00:28:35,458 --> 00:28:36,458 Absolute lie. 375 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:38,500 ...because she wouldn't sing the blues. 376 00:28:39,041 --> 00:28:41,375 How can Jo say a thing like that? 377 00:28:41,958 --> 00:28:43,625 - Did you talk to Jo? - Yeah. 378 00:28:44,125 --> 00:28:46,500 Jo said I...? Oh, Jo's out of his mind. 379 00:28:47,333 --> 00:28:48,916 He's a garbage-mouth liar! 380 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,250 Why didn't... would... 381 00:28:50,333 --> 00:28:52,166 He fired her because he wanted her to sing the blues! 382 00:28:52,250 --> 00:28:53,625 He wanted her to be a coloured mammy! 383 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:55,375 Didn't I tell you 384 00:28:55,458 --> 00:28:57,291 not to let me catch you at that piano again? 385 00:28:57,750 --> 00:29:00,208 I'm sorry, Mam. If I'd have heard you coming 386 00:29:00,291 --> 00:29:02,041 I wouldn't have let you catch me. 387 00:29:02,125 --> 00:29:04,041 Well, let me fix you a good hot tub. 388 00:29:04,416 --> 00:29:06,458 I'm telling you this in front. 389 00:29:06,541 --> 00:29:09,666 He wanted her to just be yassa boss, yassa boss. 390 00:29:09,708 --> 00:29:11,875 And everybody talk about how he's the great white father. 391 00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:13,416 Don't give me that shit. 392 00:29:13,500 --> 00:29:15,666 But nobody got guts enough to tell the people that 393 00:29:15,750 --> 00:29:17,041 because they're afraid of him. 394 00:29:17,916 --> 00:29:20,375 The problem with Jo is, you know, that... 395 00:29:20,458 --> 00:29:23,583 Jo is not always the most reliable, uh... 396 00:29:23,666 --> 00:29:26,041 I just saw Jo last week. I'll have to ask him 397 00:29:26,125 --> 00:29:29,458 how he could possibly have given you such a personal... 398 00:29:29,541 --> 00:29:31,125 Sure, do indeed. 399 00:29:32,375 --> 00:29:34,416 It happened. That was a long time ago. 400 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:35,750 How in the hell can I tell you 401 00:29:35,833 --> 00:29:37,666 - what happened 40 years ago? - How can I prove it? 402 00:29:37,791 --> 00:29:39,958 You don't have to prove it, it happened! 403 00:29:40,916 --> 00:29:43,208 - I believe you! - No, it happened! 404 00:29:43,291 --> 00:29:44,375 OK! 405 00:29:45,041 --> 00:29:46,541 But when I put something in print... 406 00:29:46,625 --> 00:29:48,625 I don't give a damn. Put it in print and quote me. 407 00:29:48,708 --> 00:29:49,750 It happened. 408 00:29:49,833 --> 00:29:52,208 So don't you ask if you're interviewing me 409 00:29:52,291 --> 00:29:54,333 and when I tell you something, you print it! 410 00:29:55,666 --> 00:29:57,708 Are you interviewing me or am I interviewing you? 411 00:29:58,916 --> 00:30:00,416 Where were you 30 years ago? 412 00:30:12,250 --> 00:30:14,000 Linda was very conscious 413 00:30:14,083 --> 00:30:17,750 of being a white writer and writing about Billie. 414 00:30:18,541 --> 00:30:20,333 You don't know what we was going through. 415 00:30:20,416 --> 00:30:21,458 What were you going through? 416 00:30:21,541 --> 00:30:23,041 We was going through hell. 417 00:30:23,875 --> 00:30:26,958 Miss Billie Holiday didn't have the privilege of using 418 00:30:27,041 --> 00:30:29,000 a toilet in a filling station. 419 00:30:30,416 --> 00:30:32,625 The boys at least could go out in the woods. 420 00:30:33,833 --> 00:30:35,208 You don't know anything about it 421 00:30:35,291 --> 00:30:37,666 because you've never had to subjugate yourself to it. 422 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,041 Never! 423 00:30:40,333 --> 00:30:41,791 Most neighbourhoods 424 00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:44,791 where we were, were segregated by race. 425 00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:49,333 But we were very much aware of what was happening 426 00:30:49,416 --> 00:30:51,166 in the world, racially. 427 00:30:53,291 --> 00:30:56,083 Violations of people's civil rights. 428 00:30:58,291 --> 00:31:02,500 The horrors of dogs attacking black people in the South. 429 00:31:05,208 --> 00:31:08,708 The African-American struggle resonated with Linda. 430 00:31:10,916 --> 00:31:13,333 And it was always an outrage to Linda 431 00:31:13,416 --> 00:31:15,291 that people walked in the front door 432 00:31:15,375 --> 00:31:16,750 who were coming to see her 433 00:31:17,125 --> 00:31:20,500 but Billie Holiday had to walk through the kitchen to perform. 434 00:31:28,416 --> 00:31:30,458 This is no secret, of course 435 00:31:30,500 --> 00:31:33,125 that wherever musicians gather and talk about singers 436 00:31:33,208 --> 00:31:35,916 they generally elect you as their favourite. 437 00:31:36,250 --> 00:31:37,750 Now, who is your favourite? 438 00:31:46,916 --> 00:31:53,000 ♪ Alone, from night to night, you'll find me ♪ 439 00:31:53,791 --> 00:31:55,708 Jo Jones told me that, uh... 440 00:31:55,791 --> 00:31:57,791 Hammond fired Billie from the Basie Band 441 00:31:57,875 --> 00:31:59,500 because she wouldn't sing the blues. 442 00:31:59,583 --> 00:32:00,458 Is that the truth? 443 00:32:00,541 --> 00:32:01,750 It's probably... sure. 444 00:32:01,833 --> 00:32:03,375 Could be? She never told you? 445 00:32:03,458 --> 00:32:05,458 No, she never told me, but... 446 00:32:05,541 --> 00:32:08,333 I wanna be known as a singer who can sing the ballad 447 00:32:08,416 --> 00:32:10,333 who can sing up-tempo things. 448 00:32:10,708 --> 00:32:12,958 Don't tell me I'm only a blues singer 449 00:32:13,041 --> 00:32:14,958 that that's I all I can do is the blues. 450 00:32:15,041 --> 00:32:17,125 - And that's what-- - That's what they did! 451 00:32:17,208 --> 00:32:18,875 Did you two ever talk about this? 452 00:32:18,916 --> 00:32:20,458 We would've had to. 453 00:32:21,125 --> 00:32:23,750 See, now, you've got the misconception 454 00:32:23,833 --> 00:32:25,791 that black is the blues. 455 00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:26,875 Sure. 456 00:32:28,125 --> 00:32:30,791 It seems as if the people who were running 457 00:32:30,875 --> 00:32:32,208 the recordings were white... 458 00:32:32,916 --> 00:32:35,000 I mean the powers, the agents... 459 00:32:35,833 --> 00:32:38,416 let's say 7/8ths of the musicians were black. 460 00:32:40,166 --> 00:32:42,875 You see what people do to suppress you... 461 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:46,583 the frustration of what connected with black performers. 462 00:32:48,041 --> 00:32:51,083 The difference in being, quote, a "black star" 463 00:32:51,166 --> 00:32:53,458 in relationship to it being a star. 464 00:32:55,875 --> 00:32:57,625 Billie Holiday, she's a black singer. 465 00:32:57,708 --> 00:33:00,041 Billy Eckstine, "Oh, you mean the black singer". 466 00:33:00,125 --> 00:33:02,625 And not Peggy Lee, she's a "Slav singer" 467 00:33:02,958 --> 00:33:05,291 or Barbara Streisand, she's a "Jewish singer". 468 00:33:05,416 --> 00:33:07,166 Not that, you don't get that. 469 00:33:08,333 --> 00:33:10,250 Get a load of the critics for God's sake 470 00:33:10,333 --> 00:33:14,500 the people who judge our music as being good or bad... 471 00:33:15,041 --> 00:33:16,666 there isn't a black critic. 472 00:33:17,041 --> 00:33:19,583 There was never a black critic in swing music. 473 00:33:19,666 --> 00:33:20,583 Why? 474 00:33:20,666 --> 00:33:22,833 Why? Because of the power structure is such 475 00:33:22,916 --> 00:33:24,583 that you never got a chance. 476 00:33:24,625 --> 00:33:27,041 You have all white critics to decide 477 00:33:27,125 --> 00:33:29,000 whether or not you were good or bad. 478 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,708 It's a pleasure, always, to welcome Mr Billy Eckstine. 479 00:33:36,583 --> 00:33:38,041 Do black people get bugged... 480 00:33:38,125 --> 00:33:39,875 I think this is one of the most ironic things 481 00:33:39,958 --> 00:33:41,625 that a man named Paul Whiteman... 482 00:33:41,708 --> 00:33:43,125 was known as the "King of Jazz". 483 00:33:43,208 --> 00:33:45,333 Paul Whiteman was a white man. 484 00:33:45,416 --> 00:33:47,458 And, err, jazz is supposed to be-- 485 00:33:47,541 --> 00:33:49,166 Benny Goodman was the "King of Swing". 486 00:33:55,041 --> 00:33:56,916 We used to laugh at the fact 487 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,583 that Benny Goodman was, uh, King of Swing. 488 00:34:00,375 --> 00:34:03,208 Paul Whiteman, King of Jazz, you know, these things 489 00:34:03,291 --> 00:34:05,583 they're absolutely comedic! 490 00:34:08,041 --> 00:34:09,125 Look at Tom Jones. 491 00:34:10,833 --> 00:34:13,875 Tom Jones openly declares that he got his style 492 00:34:13,958 --> 00:34:16,041 from Otis Redding, from Jackie Wilson 493 00:34:16,125 --> 00:34:17,375 from Chuck Berry 494 00:34:17,458 --> 00:34:19,458 and that he started learning how to sing ballads 495 00:34:19,541 --> 00:34:20,916 by listening to my records. 496 00:34:21,666 --> 00:34:23,583 Now, all four of us that they named 497 00:34:23,666 --> 00:34:26,083 where's ours? Where's our compensation? 498 00:34:26,166 --> 00:34:27,291 Where's your payday? 499 00:34:40,791 --> 00:34:42,541 The most remarkable things 500 00:34:42,625 --> 00:34:44,166 about jazz performers... 501 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:46,541 you're way ahead of so many of the rest of us 502 00:34:46,583 --> 00:34:48,291 when it comes to de-segregation. 503 00:34:48,875 --> 00:34:52,125 Why is it that the colour thing has not ever really been 504 00:34:52,208 --> 00:34:54,166 that important with musicians? 505 00:35:02,375 --> 00:35:04,208 Who was it that brought about the job 506 00:35:04,291 --> 00:35:06,500 you did with Artie Shaw in the old days, you remember? 507 00:35:06,583 --> 00:35:08,333 Well, Artie Shaw. 508 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:10,875 He asked me, did I want a job? 509 00:35:11,291 --> 00:35:12,958 So, I says, "Yeah, I want a job". 510 00:35:13,916 --> 00:35:15,625 And there was still a policy 511 00:35:15,708 --> 00:35:18,416 of no coloured singers being with a white organisation. 512 00:35:18,500 --> 00:35:19,916 Would you tell that story to us now? 513 00:35:26,916 --> 00:35:30,000 I first met Billie back in around 1930. 514 00:35:31,458 --> 00:35:33,958 Billie was just a young kid then and I was almost as hungry 515 00:35:34,041 --> 00:35:35,166 in those days as she was. 516 00:35:35,875 --> 00:35:37,750 I remember saying to her one day, "Billie... 517 00:35:38,083 --> 00:35:39,166 if I ever make the grade 518 00:35:39,250 --> 00:35:41,458 and get a band of my own, you're gonna sing with it". 519 00:35:42,125 --> 00:35:43,750 And sure enough, that's what happened. 520 00:35:45,416 --> 00:35:49,250 Do you remember when Billie first came to sing? 521 00:35:50,708 --> 00:35:52,375 To the best of my knowledge 522 00:35:52,458 --> 00:35:55,333 it would've had to have been in either '36 or '37. 523 00:35:56,791 --> 00:35:59,208 We were a travelling group of minstrels. 524 00:35:59,500 --> 00:36:03,125 We got a bus and travelled 300 miles. 525 00:36:04,916 --> 00:36:07,541 And the way we carried it out was part of the life. 526 00:36:09,666 --> 00:36:11,208 Did Billie have any trouble 527 00:36:11,291 --> 00:36:12,833 as a black singer with a white band? 528 00:36:12,916 --> 00:36:14,833 Yes, the normal kind of problems 529 00:36:14,916 --> 00:36:18,208 that would exist for any black person in those days. 530 00:36:21,666 --> 00:36:23,958 She was remarkable in that she was a trailblazer 531 00:36:24,041 --> 00:36:26,125 - without really, you know-- - Being conscious? 532 00:36:26,208 --> 00:36:28,541 Yeah, she wouldn't make a thing or anything. 533 00:36:30,208 --> 00:36:33,625 Today, it's hard to even describe the climate, you know 534 00:36:33,708 --> 00:36:35,916 like waitresses refusing to server her. 535 00:36:37,166 --> 00:36:41,625 After we would eat, she always ordered an extra hamburger 536 00:36:42,250 --> 00:36:43,666 and she'd put that in her purse... 537 00:36:44,541 --> 00:36:46,333 because she never knew 538 00:36:46,416 --> 00:36:48,416 when she would not be able to be served. 539 00:36:50,916 --> 00:36:52,708 The incidents concerning Billie 540 00:36:52,791 --> 00:36:55,500 were mostly concerning finding a place to stay 541 00:36:55,583 --> 00:36:57,250 - wherever we went. - Mm-hm. 542 00:36:58,083 --> 00:36:59,791 The usual racial problem. 543 00:37:04,291 --> 00:37:06,333 We'd get in in the early morning hours 544 00:37:06,416 --> 00:37:09,458 you see, and many times she either slept in the car... 545 00:37:09,541 --> 00:37:11,166 the bus, or... wherever. 546 00:37:11,666 --> 00:37:13,083 And where would you go? 547 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,083 To a hotel. 548 00:37:15,166 --> 00:37:16,500 How did she take it? 549 00:37:22,958 --> 00:37:24,458 Do you remember an incident 550 00:37:24,541 --> 00:37:26,625 by any chance, when you first hit Kentucky 551 00:37:26,708 --> 00:37:29,625 and, uh, the sheriff, he came up to the band stand 552 00:37:29,708 --> 00:37:31,791 and said, "What's that black bitch going to sing?" 553 00:37:31,875 --> 00:37:33,583 And there was a brawl or something? 554 00:38:14,750 --> 00:38:17,875 Well, he didn't fire her, she left on her own. 555 00:38:19,583 --> 00:38:20,750 She had a lot of pride. 556 00:38:22,791 --> 00:38:23,958 How'd she take it? 557 00:38:24,250 --> 00:38:26,250 Uh... philosophically, I guess... 558 00:38:26,583 --> 00:38:29,958 in her vulgar language method. 559 00:38:32,291 --> 00:38:34,875 If she had other words at her disposal 560 00:38:34,958 --> 00:38:36,291 she would've used them. 561 00:38:37,541 --> 00:38:39,875 The only words she could speak were those in the song. 562 00:38:41,166 --> 00:38:44,083 This beautiful soul she had that she could only do 563 00:38:44,166 --> 00:38:46,166 by expressing herself singing. 564 00:38:50,375 --> 00:38:53,000 And now a little tune written especially for me... 565 00:38:53,500 --> 00:38:54,791 "Strange Fruit". 566 00:39:12,875 --> 00:39:16,125 ♪ Southern trees ♪ 567 00:39:17,291 --> 00:39:22,625 ♪ Bear a strange fruit ♪ 568 00:39:25,166 --> 00:39:28,333 ♪ Blood on the leaves ♪ 569 00:39:30,250 --> 00:39:33,333 ♪ And blood at the root ♪ 570 00:39:35,166 --> 00:39:37,875 ♪ Black bodies swingin' ♪ 571 00:39:39,708 --> 00:39:42,750 ♪ In the southern breeze ♪ 572 00:39:44,333 --> 00:39:46,958 ♪ Strange fruit hangin' ♪ 573 00:39:48,583 --> 00:39:52,833 ♪ From the poplar trees ♪ 574 00:39:55,250 --> 00:39:59,166 Around '39, she actually was a Columbia artist 575 00:39:59,708 --> 00:40:02,750 and they gave me permission to record "Strange Fruit"... 576 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:05,625 which they didn't want to record. 577 00:40:06,208 --> 00:40:07,208 Why not? 578 00:40:07,625 --> 00:40:09,458 Because of the social content 579 00:40:09,541 --> 00:40:10,708 of it, I guess. 580 00:40:12,125 --> 00:40:16,208 And how unusual it was to do a protest song. 581 00:40:19,208 --> 00:40:23,125 That was the thing that made all the publicity and noise. 582 00:40:23,958 --> 00:40:26,208 ♪ Pastoral scene ♪ 583 00:40:27,708 --> 00:40:30,916 ♪ Of the gallant South ♪ 584 00:40:32,416 --> 00:40:36,208 ♪ The bulging eyes ♪ 585 00:40:37,375 --> 00:40:40,291 ♪ And the twisted mouth ♪ 586 00:40:41,875 --> 00:40:43,458 It was actually a shocking 587 00:40:43,541 --> 00:40:44,458 piece of material. 588 00:40:45,208 --> 00:40:46,708 She would come close to breaking up 589 00:40:46,791 --> 00:40:48,500 when she was singing "Strange Fruit". 590 00:40:48,958 --> 00:40:51,000 You can hear the crack in the voice, huh? 591 00:40:51,541 --> 00:40:53,625 Yeah, yeah, also in the eyes. 592 00:40:53,708 --> 00:40:56,250 And almost a reflection of what she had had to do 593 00:40:56,333 --> 00:40:58,791 in her lifetime in order to make it. 594 00:41:00,625 --> 00:41:04,291 The fact that negroes did not have equal chances... 595 00:41:05,291 --> 00:41:07,375 this was something that she felt very deeply... 596 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,125 and about the only way she could really 597 00:41:10,208 --> 00:41:11,750 crusade or bring these thoughts together 598 00:41:11,833 --> 00:41:13,666 would be to sing songs like that. 599 00:41:15,416 --> 00:41:18,416 ♪ Scent of magnolia ♪ 600 00:41:20,083 --> 00:41:23,208 ♪ Sweet and fresh ♪ 601 00:41:25,833 --> 00:41:29,916 ♪ Then the sudden smell ♪ 602 00:41:31,666 --> 00:41:35,958 ♪ Of burning flesh ♪ 603 00:41:38,375 --> 00:41:40,833 ♪ Here is a fruit ♪ 604 00:41:42,750 --> 00:41:46,250 ♪ For the crows to pluck ♪ 605 00:41:48,791 --> 00:41:51,916 ♪ For the rain to gather ♪ 606 00:41:55,041 --> 00:41:58,666 ♪ For the wind to suck ♪ 607 00:42:00,708 --> 00:42:04,125 ♪ For the sun to rot ♪ 608 00:42:06,041 --> 00:42:08,958 ♪ For the tree... ♪ 609 00:42:10,750 --> 00:42:18,125 ♪ ...to drop ♪ 610 00:42:19,875 --> 00:42:22,791 ♪ Here is a strange... ♪ 611 00:42:24,333 --> 00:42:26,791 ♪ ...and bitter... ♪ 612 00:42:29,541 --> 00:42:35,791 ♪ ...crop ♪ 613 00:42:43,291 --> 00:42:45,291 Do you remember the first time she sang 614 00:42:45,375 --> 00:42:46,666 that song at Café Society? 615 00:42:46,750 --> 00:42:49,083 Sure, it's unforgettable. 616 00:42:49,166 --> 00:42:51,208 Every time she sang, it was unforgettable. 617 00:42:51,833 --> 00:42:54,666 ♪ Scent of magnolia... ♪ 618 00:42:56,416 --> 00:42:59,208 ♪ Sweet and fresh ♪ 619 00:42:59,625 --> 00:43:02,208 Soon after the Time Magazine appeared 620 00:43:02,291 --> 00:43:03,708 and the caption read... 621 00:43:03,791 --> 00:43:06,583 "Most unusual song ever to be heard in a night club". 622 00:43:07,416 --> 00:43:11,375 ♪ Of burning flesh ♪ 623 00:43:12,083 --> 00:43:13,916 When she sang "Strange Fruit" 624 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:14,916 she never moved. 625 00:43:15,416 --> 00:43:16,750 Billie stood there... 626 00:43:17,458 --> 00:43:20,250 all service stopped at the bar, everywhere. 627 00:43:20,708 --> 00:43:22,750 Can you remember any time where anybody 628 00:43:22,833 --> 00:43:25,083 - might have caused any commotion? - Oh, yes. 629 00:43:25,583 --> 00:43:26,791 I had people walk out. 630 00:43:26,875 --> 00:43:29,250 - These are white people? - White people. 631 00:43:29,375 --> 00:43:30,916 One party after another... 632 00:43:31,541 --> 00:43:33,833 "We come to your nightclub to be entertained... 633 00:43:34,416 --> 00:43:36,083 and we don't call this entertainment". 634 00:43:39,583 --> 00:43:41,083 "Strange Fruit"... 635 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:43,916 What is that, man? 636 00:44:05,625 --> 00:44:09,791 The Treasury Department intends to pursue a relentless warfare 637 00:44:10,166 --> 00:44:13,833 against the despicable dope peddling vulture 638 00:44:13,916 --> 00:44:15,041 and public enemies. 639 00:44:15,416 --> 00:44:18,166 And we hope to place the drug addicts arrested 640 00:44:18,791 --> 00:44:20,541 under institutional care. 641 00:44:26,166 --> 00:44:28,166 It was Billie's interpretation 642 00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:29,541 of "Strange Fruit" 643 00:44:30,208 --> 00:44:33,083 not the song itself that changed the direction 644 00:44:33,166 --> 00:44:34,375 of American music. 645 00:44:37,291 --> 00:44:40,958 But not everyone stood to applaud her primal howl 646 00:44:41,041 --> 00:44:43,458 against the bloody history of white America. 647 00:44:46,166 --> 00:44:48,291 And her refusal to stop singing it... 648 00:44:49,333 --> 00:44:51,958 would give vindication to those powerful men 649 00:44:52,875 --> 00:44:56,291 already circling the decadent world of jazz 650 00:44:56,583 --> 00:44:58,625 in search of a high-profile target 651 00:44:59,166 --> 00:45:01,125 to burnish their reputation. 652 00:45:03,083 --> 00:45:06,125 And now that Billie's star shone so brightly... 653 00:45:07,125 --> 00:45:10,583 she could not easily retreat back into the night. 654 00:45:16,625 --> 00:45:18,583 I ought to get myself ready for this. 655 00:45:18,666 --> 00:45:20,541 You know, I'd better have a couple of drinks 656 00:45:20,625 --> 00:45:22,791 cos if gonna talk about her, I wanna feel good. 657 00:45:23,583 --> 00:45:27,208 She's something else, she was really something. 658 00:45:28,750 --> 00:45:30,375 When did you first meet her? 659 00:45:30,791 --> 00:45:34,208 I met her in 1942. 660 00:45:34,958 --> 00:45:37,333 I was just a kid, I was only, like, 20 years old. 661 00:45:38,791 --> 00:45:40,333 She used to call me in there, and... 662 00:45:40,416 --> 00:45:42,416 "You gotta write out the chords to this tune". 663 00:45:42,833 --> 00:45:44,625 Where was this, in her dressing room? 664 00:45:44,666 --> 00:45:45,791 Yeah! 665 00:45:45,875 --> 00:45:47,125 And she'd stand there with nothing 666 00:45:47,208 --> 00:45:48,250 but a pair of shoes on. 667 00:45:48,791 --> 00:45:49,791 That was it! 668 00:45:51,083 --> 00:45:52,166 No clothes. 669 00:45:54,958 --> 00:45:57,166 ♪ My man don't love me ♪ 670 00:45:58,750 --> 00:46:01,666 ♪ He treats me oh so mean ♪ 671 00:46:05,833 --> 00:46:09,750 ♪ My man, he don't love me ♪ 672 00:46:11,166 --> 00:46:15,041 ♪ He treats me awful mean ♪ 673 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,875 ♪ He's the lowest man ♪ 674 00:46:23,791 --> 00:46:27,166 ♪ That I've ever seen ♪ 675 00:46:28,083 --> 00:46:29,958 Her boy was Lester Young... 676 00:46:31,291 --> 00:46:33,125 cos she was always happy 677 00:46:33,208 --> 00:46:35,791 when she knew Pres was playing for her. 678 00:46:40,875 --> 00:46:42,333 The way he played behind her... 679 00:46:43,166 --> 00:46:46,458 she was just like she was in her mother's arms. 680 00:46:50,916 --> 00:46:53,791 I liked Lester's feeling, you know. 681 00:46:54,250 --> 00:46:55,958 When he first started 682 00:46:56,041 --> 00:46:59,458 everyone felt his tone is too thin 683 00:47:00,166 --> 00:47:02,916 but I told him it doesn't matter because, you watch 684 00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:05,458 after a while, everybody's gonna to be copying you. 685 00:47:06,375 --> 00:47:08,625 ♪ He wears high-draped pants ♪ 686 00:47:10,958 --> 00:47:14,833 ♪ Stripes are really yellow ♪ 687 00:47:15,416 --> 00:47:17,083 They had the funniest way 688 00:47:17,166 --> 00:47:18,416 of loving each other. 689 00:47:18,875 --> 00:47:21,750 It was brother and sister, but it was another thing. 690 00:47:21,958 --> 00:47:23,666 ♪ ...fine and mellow ♪ 691 00:47:24,208 --> 00:47:25,875 Anybody that ever knew him would tell you 692 00:47:25,958 --> 00:47:27,791 he's one of the strangest people on earth. 693 00:47:29,083 --> 00:47:31,333 He was like a visitor, really. 694 00:47:32,375 --> 00:47:35,333 And she was too, so you can figure the two of 'em together 695 00:47:35,416 --> 00:47:36,625 is pretty wild. 696 00:47:37,041 --> 00:47:38,583 That was the way it was, all the time. 697 00:47:40,250 --> 00:47:42,166 But everybody loves a wild woman. 698 00:47:46,083 --> 00:47:49,375 ♪ But you're so mean to me, baby ♪ 699 00:47:50,791 --> 00:47:54,416 ♪ I know you gonna drive me away ♪ 700 00:47:54,958 --> 00:47:56,750 She sang from her crotch. 701 00:47:58,291 --> 00:48:00,833 You bet she had the greatest crotch in life! 702 00:48:02,291 --> 00:48:05,125 And, now that I look back, I'm sorry I missed it. 703 00:48:10,333 --> 00:48:12,125 How do you envision her sex life? 704 00:48:13,291 --> 00:48:15,583 It had an awful lot to do with the way she was 705 00:48:15,666 --> 00:48:16,916 with everything she did. 706 00:48:17,625 --> 00:48:19,583 So, you look at Lady Day, you've gotta include 707 00:48:19,666 --> 00:48:21,458 her sex life, or you don't look at her. 708 00:48:24,333 --> 00:48:27,833 ♪ Sometimes when you think it's on, baby ♪ 709 00:48:29,166 --> 00:48:32,916 ♪ It has turned off and gone ♪ 710 00:49:24,708 --> 00:49:26,708 I know a couple of good friends of yours 711 00:49:26,791 --> 00:49:28,000 who are not musicians. 712 00:49:28,458 --> 00:49:30,958 Orson Well... Tallulah Bankhead. 713 00:49:59,791 --> 00:50:01,916 The bar used to be packed 714 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:04,041 with hero-worshippers. 715 00:50:06,750 --> 00:50:08,166 She looked like a panther... 716 00:50:08,458 --> 00:50:09,958 is the only way I can describe her 717 00:50:10,041 --> 00:50:13,083 with the most unbelievable face in the world. 718 00:50:15,625 --> 00:50:17,333 She really dug being high 719 00:50:17,416 --> 00:50:19,166 that's one thing I've got to say. 720 00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,291 But I never knew anyone with such a capacity. 721 00:50:25,833 --> 00:50:27,458 All the doormen 722 00:50:27,541 --> 00:50:29,500 along 52nd Street 723 00:50:29,583 --> 00:50:31,083 had what Lady needed. 724 00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:33,458 Like what? 725 00:50:33,625 --> 00:50:34,958 Like pot. 726 00:51:20,333 --> 00:51:21,250 Why? 727 00:51:21,958 --> 00:51:23,666 Why all those extremes? 728 00:51:24,375 --> 00:51:25,250 Why? 729 00:51:30,416 --> 00:51:31,833 And why shouldn't she? 730 00:52:53,916 --> 00:52:56,291 And would you say Billie was extremely smart 731 00:52:56,375 --> 00:52:57,541 in protecting herself? 732 00:54:55,166 --> 00:54:56,875 And she was in the hotel? 733 00:55:51,250 --> 00:55:52,916 Here at Alderson... 734 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:55,541 the system was that when a person came in 735 00:55:55,666 --> 00:55:58,166 who was on drugs at the time 736 00:55:58,250 --> 00:56:00,208 that they were sent to the hospital 737 00:56:00,625 --> 00:56:02,791 and remained there until they were drug free. 738 00:56:04,458 --> 00:56:07,375 This prison was segregated as to race. 739 00:56:10,208 --> 00:56:12,291 She really went into the woodwork here. 740 00:56:13,166 --> 00:56:15,666 She had made up her mind that she was just going 741 00:56:15,750 --> 00:56:18,750 to do her time and get out as fast as she could. 742 00:56:20,875 --> 00:56:23,458 This was the room she occupied. 743 00:56:24,375 --> 00:56:26,500 She certainly was no trouble ever. 744 00:56:26,583 --> 00:56:27,458 She was a... 745 00:56:28,291 --> 00:56:31,208 generous person, I'd say, uh... 746 00:56:32,375 --> 00:56:33,750 in thought, anyway. 747 00:56:33,833 --> 00:56:36,208 She never bothered anybody. 748 00:56:37,666 --> 00:56:39,500 It's almost impossible 749 00:56:39,583 --> 00:56:41,041 to say how quiet she was. 750 00:56:42,291 --> 00:56:44,750 To my knowledge, she never sang a note. 751 00:56:59,250 --> 00:57:02,125 It took Linda a long time to work on the book. 752 00:57:03,500 --> 00:57:04,875 Eight years of her life. 753 00:57:06,541 --> 00:57:09,333 She had some bad times, and, uh, we would get calls 754 00:57:09,416 --> 00:57:10,833 in the middle of the night. 755 00:57:12,833 --> 00:57:14,875 I just don't feel like doing it. 756 00:57:15,500 --> 00:57:18,083 All this shoulda been done about this woman before she died 757 00:57:18,166 --> 00:57:19,833 not after she's dead, and everybody's... 758 00:57:20,291 --> 00:57:22,625 just going through all kinds of shit about it now 759 00:57:22,708 --> 00:57:24,708 cos I've had it up to here with that shit. 760 00:57:26,708 --> 00:57:28,875 As the time went on, she kept pushing 761 00:57:28,958 --> 00:57:31,625 her own set deadline further and further. 762 00:57:33,708 --> 00:57:36,416 At one point, I remember we had a discussion 763 00:57:36,541 --> 00:57:38,583 and I said, "You know, maybe it's just time 764 00:57:38,666 --> 00:57:41,166 to finish it, and to leave it imperfect". 765 00:57:41,833 --> 00:57:45,291 But she couldn't, it was so much part of her. 766 00:57:47,083 --> 00:57:49,208 The reason that Linda struggled so much 767 00:57:49,541 --> 00:57:52,000 was that inside her own head 768 00:57:52,083 --> 00:57:55,000 she heard the voice that she wanted Billie to have... 769 00:57:55,875 --> 00:57:59,250 but she couldn't get that correct voice on paper. 770 00:58:02,791 --> 00:58:07,625 ♪ Just one more chance ♪ 771 00:58:10,666 --> 00:58:12,708 ♪ I've learned the meaning... ♪ 772 00:58:12,916 --> 00:58:15,041 Haven't you gotta find a piano man 773 00:58:15,125 --> 00:58:16,500 of your own that you bring in there? 774 00:58:16,583 --> 00:58:18,000 Yes, he goes everywhere with me. 775 00:58:18,083 --> 00:58:19,541 His name is Bobby Tucker. 776 00:58:19,666 --> 00:58:23,083 Bobby's been with me four years, and he's a very great musician. 777 00:58:24,583 --> 00:58:26,375 After she came out of jail 778 00:58:26,458 --> 00:58:28,541 she was so glad to get back 779 00:58:28,625 --> 00:58:31,708 and she was so amazed that people hadn't forgotten her. 780 00:58:34,833 --> 00:58:36,458 ♪ Still I'm hoping... ♪ 781 00:58:36,666 --> 00:58:39,375 We did Carnegie Concert Hall. 782 00:58:41,416 --> 00:58:42,625 I remember opening night. 783 00:58:42,708 --> 00:58:44,458 There was a line around the block 784 00:58:44,500 --> 00:58:46,833 and the people were standing out there in really waiting 785 00:58:46,916 --> 00:58:48,916 to see what a women prisoner looked like. 786 00:58:52,041 --> 00:58:53,916 What happened in Carnegie Hall? 787 00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:54,958 Were you frightened? 788 00:58:55,041 --> 00:58:56,625 Oh, I was scared to death. 789 00:58:56,708 --> 00:58:58,166 I waited until the last minute 790 00:58:58,250 --> 00:58:59,666 and I said I wasn't going to go on. 791 00:58:59,708 --> 00:59:01,708 There's too many people. 792 00:59:02,500 --> 00:59:04,583 And I couldn't control my knees! 793 00:59:05,250 --> 00:59:07,541 Boy, you could see my knees is going 794 00:59:07,625 --> 00:59:10,000 and people didn't know if I was going to dance or sing. 795 00:59:16,083 --> 00:59:18,500 ♪ Still I'm hoping... ♪ 796 00:59:19,333 --> 00:59:21,083 She would walk out 797 00:59:21,166 --> 00:59:23,833 and before she opens her mouth 798 00:59:24,708 --> 00:59:27,416 she had everybody in the place. 799 00:59:27,833 --> 00:59:29,583 ♪ ...somewhere... ♪ 800 00:59:32,416 --> 00:59:34,625 ♪ I said that I... ♪ 801 00:59:34,708 --> 00:59:36,291 She didn't really think that she was 802 00:59:36,375 --> 00:59:37,708 a very good singer. 803 00:59:37,791 --> 00:59:39,666 She could tell a story. 804 00:59:40,541 --> 00:59:42,500 She had no confidence in her voice? 805 00:59:42,583 --> 00:59:44,500 - No. - None at all? 806 00:59:45,791 --> 00:59:48,250 Actresses, artists, I look at them 807 00:59:48,375 --> 00:59:49,500 like "woah". 808 00:59:49,583 --> 00:59:50,750 And you don't consider yourself 809 00:59:50,833 --> 00:59:51,833 in the same league? 810 00:59:51,916 --> 00:59:53,375 No, my God, no! 811 00:59:53,458 --> 00:59:54,500 Why not? 812 00:59:54,583 --> 00:59:55,958 You've thought as much about it. 813 00:59:56,083 --> 00:59:58,291 You have developed a style, a technique, just as much 814 00:59:58,375 --> 01:00:00,833 as they have done, you please just as many people 815 01:00:00,916 --> 01:00:02,833 so, why are you not just as much an artiste 816 01:00:02,916 --> 01:00:04,125 as any one of them? 817 01:00:13,833 --> 01:00:15,250 Oh, I think you do. 818 01:00:15,375 --> 01:00:16,583 I think you do know that. 819 01:00:17,375 --> 01:00:19,583 What was the difference between what Ella did 820 01:00:19,666 --> 01:00:20,708 and Billie? 821 01:00:38,208 --> 01:00:40,250 She taught me that if you almost 822 01:00:40,333 --> 01:00:41,583 laugh out loud 823 01:00:41,666 --> 01:00:44,250 but never quite make it, the audience will laugh. 824 01:00:45,750 --> 01:00:48,541 If you almost cry, but never quite make it 825 01:00:48,666 --> 01:00:50,083 the audience will cry. 826 01:00:52,833 --> 01:00:54,041 When would she cry? 827 01:00:54,458 --> 01:00:56,250 She'd cry about a lot of things 828 01:00:56,333 --> 01:00:59,041 but never when she thought anybody was watching her. 829 01:00:59,250 --> 01:01:01,500 ♪ ...to cry my heart out ♪ 830 01:01:03,375 --> 01:01:05,291 ♪ For just... ♪ 831 01:01:05,833 --> 01:01:07,958 Nobody could sing like Lady. 832 01:01:08,041 --> 01:01:09,041 Not ever. 833 01:01:10,708 --> 01:01:12,625 We worked the Club Ebony together. 834 01:01:14,333 --> 01:01:16,916 That's when John Levy came into the spotlight. 835 01:01:26,541 --> 01:01:28,083 John became manager 836 01:01:28,875 --> 01:01:30,875 sometimes called "husband-manager"... 837 01:01:32,166 --> 01:01:33,375 though he never married her 838 01:01:33,458 --> 01:01:35,500 because he was already married and had a son. 839 01:01:37,541 --> 01:01:39,208 But Billie did not care about 840 01:01:39,291 --> 01:01:41,125 such legal considerations, anyway. 841 01:01:42,666 --> 01:01:44,791 She did not relate to legal codes. 842 01:01:46,375 --> 01:01:50,041 She did what she wanted to do with a vengeance. 843 01:01:55,250 --> 01:01:57,916 ♪ It costs me lot ♪ 844 01:02:00,291 --> 01:02:02,791 ♪ But there's one thing ♪ 845 01:02:03,916 --> 01:02:06,166 ♪ That I've got ♪ 846 01:02:07,666 --> 01:02:11,791 ♪ It's my man ♪ 847 01:02:12,458 --> 01:02:14,708 John Levy, right! 848 01:02:14,791 --> 01:02:15,875 The bastard! 849 01:02:15,958 --> 01:02:18,625 The dirty, rotten, stinking bastard! 850 01:02:18,708 --> 01:02:21,166 There is nothing good you could say about that man? 851 01:02:21,250 --> 01:02:22,458 Not one thing, sweetheart. 852 01:02:22,541 --> 01:02:24,125 I try to say something good about, you know... 853 01:02:24,208 --> 01:02:25,750 There's no reason to say anything good... 854 01:02:25,791 --> 01:02:27,708 No reason to say anything good about him. 855 01:02:27,791 --> 01:02:31,416 ♪ All of this I'll soon forget ♪ 856 01:02:32,916 --> 01:02:36,166 ♪ With my man ♪ 857 01:02:36,625 --> 01:02:38,500 John Levy is a pimp. 858 01:02:39,083 --> 01:02:40,166 A parasite. 859 01:02:40,458 --> 01:02:42,916 I wouldn't wanna brush up with him if I had overalls on. 860 01:02:43,541 --> 01:02:45,875 ♪ He's no hero ♪ 861 01:02:45,958 --> 01:02:47,875 See, these kind of guys 862 01:02:47,958 --> 01:02:50,166 with the Cadillac, or whatever... 863 01:02:50,541 --> 01:02:52,166 they represented something to Lady. 864 01:02:52,250 --> 01:02:54,208 They represented what she came up for. 865 01:02:54,291 --> 01:02:55,291 Yeah. 866 01:02:55,416 --> 01:03:00,291 ♪ Yes, I love him ♪ 867 01:03:02,125 --> 01:03:06,041 ♪ Two or three girls has he ♪ 868 01:03:07,541 --> 01:03:11,708 ♪ That he likes as well as me ♪ 869 01:03:13,083 --> 01:03:15,458 ♪ But I love him ♪ 870 01:03:15,833 --> 01:03:18,166 I usually spit after John Levy. 871 01:03:19,750 --> 01:03:21,958 If she'd ask him for 50 dollars, he'd knock her down! 872 01:03:22,333 --> 01:03:23,625 How'd he knock her down? 873 01:03:23,708 --> 01:03:24,791 With his fist! 874 01:03:24,833 --> 01:03:26,000 His fist in her face? 875 01:03:26,083 --> 01:03:27,416 You darned right! 876 01:03:27,500 --> 01:03:29,541 In the stomach, anywhere. 877 01:03:30,458 --> 01:03:34,125 ♪ He beats me too ♪ 878 01:03:37,166 --> 01:03:42,458 ♪ What can I do ♪ 879 01:03:44,625 --> 01:03:46,958 If she was hooked, she was hooked. 880 01:03:47,333 --> 01:03:48,666 And I mean on... 881 01:03:49,500 --> 01:03:52,083 men, chick, dope... whatever it was. 882 01:03:53,125 --> 01:03:54,291 She was hooked. 883 01:03:55,750 --> 01:03:57,958 ♪ But I don't care ♪ 884 01:03:58,916 --> 01:04:02,208 ♪ When he takes me in his arms ♪ 885 01:04:03,958 --> 01:04:10,666 ♪ The world is bright alright ♪ 886 01:04:10,791 --> 01:04:13,125 She's up there singing "My Man". 887 01:04:13,583 --> 01:04:15,791 See, a masochist is what she was. 888 01:04:17,250 --> 01:04:20,750 All she wanted was a guy who'd tell her he loved her... 889 01:04:20,833 --> 01:04:22,958 you know, but not all the time 890 01:04:23,041 --> 01:04:24,750 because she digs punishment. 891 01:04:25,416 --> 01:04:26,666 So, when he does say it 892 01:04:26,750 --> 01:04:28,583 it's gotta mean something real wild 893 01:04:28,708 --> 01:04:30,916 you know, like in the middle of something crazy. 894 01:04:32,208 --> 01:04:36,625 ♪ I'm his... ♪ 895 01:04:37,375 --> 01:04:42,458 ♪ ...forever... ♪ 896 01:04:44,000 --> 01:04:49,416 ♪ ...more ♪ 897 01:06:25,833 --> 01:06:26,833 Why not? 898 01:07:58,875 --> 01:08:00,541 Billie was indicted. 899 01:08:02,625 --> 01:08:04,125 As soon as she was arrested 900 01:08:04,708 --> 01:08:07,041 I immediately put her in Twin Pines 901 01:08:07,208 --> 01:08:09,666 kept her under full psychiatric controls 902 01:08:10,041 --> 01:08:11,916 for five days and proved 903 01:08:12,000 --> 01:08:14,125 that she was not addicted to an opiate. 904 01:08:15,500 --> 01:08:17,083 Now, you made observations. 905 01:08:17,166 --> 01:08:19,083 You have to, especially if you're a psychiatrist. 906 01:08:19,166 --> 01:08:20,750 But what's made her the way she is? 907 01:08:20,833 --> 01:08:24,250 What drove her to a series of John Levys, to heroin? 908 01:08:25,000 --> 01:08:27,041 I don't like to use this word 909 01:08:27,125 --> 01:08:29,375 and it's not a good word, but... 910 01:08:30,541 --> 01:08:32,083 she's really a psychopath. 911 01:08:33,750 --> 01:08:35,000 A psychopath? 912 01:08:37,041 --> 01:08:39,208 An impulse-driven... 913 01:08:39,500 --> 01:08:41,916 strong, talented... 914 01:08:42,500 --> 01:08:44,708 but not dependable individual... 915 01:08:45,583 --> 01:08:49,625 who does this because this is what she has the impulse to do 916 01:08:49,708 --> 01:08:51,958 right now, and she gets into all sorts of trouble. 917 01:08:53,291 --> 01:08:54,416 A psychopath. 918 01:08:56,833 --> 01:08:58,458 Key to this thing 919 01:08:58,541 --> 01:08:59,916 is the impulse. 920 01:09:01,208 --> 01:09:02,958 Was there any perversity in this? 921 01:09:04,208 --> 01:09:06,708 When I said "perversity", I meant a demon. 922 01:09:07,083 --> 01:09:09,833 You know, there's a demon sometimes eating away at... 923 01:09:10,750 --> 01:09:12,750 It kinda forces you to... 924 01:09:13,083 --> 01:09:16,500 do something that's going to illicit some kind of shock. 925 01:09:18,875 --> 01:09:21,375 And this is something I can identify with. 926 01:09:28,041 --> 01:09:29,708 As Linda went on 927 01:09:29,791 --> 01:09:32,333 the identification became much more intense. 928 01:09:34,666 --> 01:09:38,750 Like Billie, she was attracted to men who were not bringing out 929 01:09:38,833 --> 01:09:40,375 necessarily the best in her. 930 01:09:41,833 --> 01:09:44,166 She was married twice, and she was divorced twice. 931 01:09:47,666 --> 01:09:49,000 While she was writing the book... 932 01:09:49,833 --> 01:09:52,916 Linda became close with some of the people she interviewed. 933 01:10:00,333 --> 01:10:02,083 One time we were in our apartment 934 01:10:02,291 --> 01:10:04,708 the phone rang, and a man's voice said 935 01:10:05,416 --> 01:10:06,708 "Can I speak to Linda?" 936 01:10:07,041 --> 01:10:08,791 Of course I asked, "Who's calling?" 937 01:10:09,250 --> 01:10:10,916 and he said, "Well, it's Bill". 938 01:10:13,083 --> 01:10:15,291 Linda said, "Do you know who Bill is?" 939 01:10:15,375 --> 01:10:16,875 I said, "No". 940 01:10:16,958 --> 01:10:18,291 And she says, "Well, you do 941 01:10:18,375 --> 01:10:19,583 it's Count Basie". 942 01:10:22,375 --> 01:10:24,083 Ask me a question about Billie. 943 01:11:03,708 --> 01:11:06,208 I'm not sure what Linda's relationship 944 01:11:06,291 --> 01:11:08,208 with Basie actually was. 945 01:11:11,583 --> 01:11:14,208 It's an impression that there was a closeness 946 01:11:14,708 --> 01:11:16,833 based on what she had said to me. 947 01:11:23,875 --> 01:11:26,041 I understand that one of the reasons 948 01:11:26,125 --> 01:11:28,458 for your present happiness is your husband Louis. 949 01:11:28,541 --> 01:11:31,166 How does he react to some of your more suggestive things? 950 01:11:31,250 --> 01:11:35,083 Ah, no, he tells me how to sing and what to sing 951 01:11:35,166 --> 01:11:37,041 and, oh, it's just getting terrible. 952 01:11:38,291 --> 01:11:39,666 Well, your husband's right here 953 01:11:39,750 --> 01:11:41,875 in the dressing room with us. Mr Louis McKay. 954 01:11:42,625 --> 01:11:44,458 Mr McKay, tell us something 955 01:11:44,541 --> 01:11:46,375 about how you two work together. 956 01:11:46,750 --> 01:11:48,166 Well, we have something like 957 01:11:48,250 --> 01:11:49,333 a private agreement. 958 01:11:49,416 --> 01:11:52,250 I handle all the business, she handles all the music. 959 01:11:52,500 --> 01:11:53,750 Though she tells me sometimes 960 01:11:53,833 --> 01:11:55,166 "You stay outta my music". 961 01:11:55,375 --> 01:11:57,083 And does she stay out of the business? 962 01:11:57,166 --> 01:11:59,166 Yes, she does. - Then you'll get along fine. 963 01:11:59,250 --> 01:12:01,125 What else are you doing besides the records 964 01:12:01,208 --> 01:12:02,708 and touring around the spots? 965 01:12:03,041 --> 01:12:05,458 Well, 12th October, my dream is 966 01:12:05,541 --> 01:12:07,416 supposed to come true. I'm going to Europe. 967 01:12:07,541 --> 01:12:08,958 Oh, you've never been there? 968 01:12:09,041 --> 01:12:10,333 No. - Oh! Well... 969 01:12:10,416 --> 01:12:11,916 I've always wanted to go. 970 01:12:14,583 --> 01:12:16,875 Is this a vacation trip to Europe, or? 971 01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:20,833 No, honey, no vacations, all work. 972 01:12:22,458 --> 01:12:25,375 ♪ Are the stars out tonight? ♪ 973 01:12:25,958 --> 01:12:28,625 ♪ I don't know if it's cloudy or bright ♪ 974 01:12:30,958 --> 01:12:34,750 ♪ For I only have eyes for you, dear ♪ 975 01:12:36,541 --> 01:12:38,541 ♪ The moon may be high ♪ 976 01:12:38,833 --> 01:12:41,708 ♪ Millions of people go by ♪ 977 01:12:42,916 --> 01:12:46,500 ♪ But I only have eyes for you ♪ 978 01:12:48,416 --> 01:12:53,541 ♪ I don't know if we're in a garden ♪ 979 01:12:55,125 --> 01:12:58,875 ♪ Or on a crowded avenue ♪ 980 01:12:59,791 --> 01:13:02,750 ♪ You are here, so am I ♪ 981 01:13:03,666 --> 01:13:06,208 ♪ Millions of people go by ♪ 982 01:13:07,625 --> 01:13:11,208 ♪ But they all disappear from view ♪ 983 01:13:12,458 --> 01:13:17,666 ♪ And I only have eyes for you ♪ 984 01:13:18,708 --> 01:13:20,041 What is it that you're after 985 01:13:20,125 --> 01:13:21,083 out of life yourself, Billie, now? 986 01:13:31,208 --> 01:13:33,250 She'd always wanted children... 987 01:13:33,333 --> 01:13:34,458 never able to have any. 988 01:13:36,041 --> 01:13:38,166 I just had two girls then. 989 01:13:39,916 --> 01:13:42,083 She used to love to paint them fingernails. 990 01:13:42,541 --> 01:13:44,250 And she would sing to 'em 991 01:13:44,333 --> 01:13:46,208 and she would take them shopping. 992 01:13:47,458 --> 01:13:50,250 ♪ You are here, so am I ♪ 993 01:13:50,916 --> 01:13:53,708 ♪ Millions of people go by ♪ 994 01:13:55,041 --> 01:13:58,500 ♪ But they all disappear from view ♪ 995 01:13:59,916 --> 01:14:03,541 It was her dream to retire someday 996 01:14:03,833 --> 01:14:06,541 with enough money to buy a big spread 997 01:14:07,083 --> 01:14:10,458 and have a home for children who had no mother and father. 998 01:14:11,041 --> 01:14:13,541 ♪ And I only have eyes ♪ 999 01:14:14,333 --> 01:14:16,666 ♪ Big bulging eyes ♪ 1000 01:14:17,833 --> 01:14:20,041 ♪ Great big eyes ♪ 1001 01:14:20,166 --> 01:14:22,125 ♪ For you ♪ 1002 01:14:22,208 --> 01:14:24,083 But he was just using her 1003 01:14:24,166 --> 01:14:25,958 to get control of her money. 1004 01:14:36,958 --> 01:14:39,583 I was with her during the return to New York. 1005 01:14:40,041 --> 01:14:42,125 This was a tremendously big concert. 1006 01:14:42,625 --> 01:14:45,083 I'm sure you've been told all the people that were on it. 1007 01:14:45,541 --> 01:14:50,000 Duke Ellington's orchestra, Sarah Vaughan, Bird, Prez... 1008 01:14:50,833 --> 01:14:52,000 Count Basie. 1009 01:14:53,541 --> 01:14:55,666 But it seemed like everybody there 1010 01:14:55,750 --> 01:14:57,750 had come to see one person. 1011 01:14:58,750 --> 01:15:00,375 And now I'd like you to know America's 1012 01:15:00,458 --> 01:15:02,958 number one song stylist, Miss Billie Holiday. 1013 01:15:06,250 --> 01:15:07,833 She closed the show. 1014 01:15:10,166 --> 01:15:14,000 And she sang encore after encore after encore. 1015 01:15:14,083 --> 01:15:15,791 If we stayed on that stage an hour... 1016 01:15:15,875 --> 01:15:17,875 we stayed on an hour and 30 minutes. 1017 01:15:23,583 --> 01:15:26,541 Well, after the concert was the fight. 1018 01:15:29,208 --> 01:15:33,500 Louis began to loudmouth, and that started a big rumble... 1019 01:15:34,083 --> 01:15:36,666 which then we all ended up out in the street... 1020 01:15:38,291 --> 01:15:41,625 and he literally knocked her across the street. 1021 01:15:44,625 --> 01:15:46,208 But she loved that punishment. 1022 01:15:47,208 --> 01:15:49,166 This is the nature of a masochist. 1023 01:15:51,125 --> 01:15:55,166 After he had just beaten her severely and kicked her... 1024 01:15:55,291 --> 01:15:57,291 is that after they had gotten the punishment 1025 01:15:57,375 --> 01:16:00,041 then they had been so completely gratified 1026 01:16:00,125 --> 01:16:04,083 then they can just enter into a sexual tryst. 1027 01:16:08,291 --> 01:16:12,458 Louis had a technique going of trying to control her mind. 1028 01:16:13,083 --> 01:16:14,333 It was like hypnotism. 1029 01:16:14,500 --> 01:16:16,458 "You can't depend on anyone but me". 1030 01:16:16,750 --> 01:16:19,625 "You have no friends but me, you must stay in here 1031 01:16:19,708 --> 01:16:22,125 and keep yourself away from everyone but me". 1032 01:16:24,875 --> 01:16:27,916 There were days when he just kept her under lock and key. 1033 01:16:32,416 --> 01:16:33,833 He'd boss her around... 1034 01:16:34,666 --> 01:16:36,500 and tell her she "couldn't do this" 1035 01:16:36,583 --> 01:16:37,791 she "couldn't do that". 1036 01:16:38,250 --> 01:16:40,083 And she wanted something to eat, and he'd say 1037 01:16:40,166 --> 01:16:42,166 "Go on to bed, you don't need anything to eat". 1038 01:16:44,250 --> 01:16:45,875 And she lost so much weight. 1039 01:16:47,083 --> 01:16:48,833 She looked like a skeleton. 1040 01:16:51,916 --> 01:16:53,958 If you were to talk to Louis 1041 01:16:54,041 --> 01:16:56,375 he would probably tell you an entirely different story. 1042 01:16:56,458 --> 01:16:57,875 He's a pathological liar. 1043 01:17:00,708 --> 01:17:02,333 And he'd probably ask for money. 1044 01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:05,958 There was a time he came up to the apartment 1045 01:17:06,041 --> 01:17:07,500 after he hit her on the head. 1046 01:17:07,750 --> 01:17:09,750 He said he hit her on the head with a telephone? 1047 01:17:09,833 --> 01:17:11,958 Yeah, I locked her in my bathroom. 1048 01:17:13,208 --> 01:17:15,916 He came and he said, "I got a gun here". 1049 01:17:22,250 --> 01:17:23,958 See, I can't... I can't write 1050 01:17:24,041 --> 01:17:26,958 whether you're telling me something about Louis or not. 1051 01:17:27,083 --> 01:17:29,000 I can't say it, write it 1052 01:17:29,083 --> 01:17:30,583 because I'm liable 1053 01:17:30,666 --> 01:17:32,916 and he's alive and he's tough. - Yeah, mm-hm. 1054 01:17:33,750 --> 01:17:35,208 I'm in trouble, not you. 1055 01:17:43,666 --> 01:17:46,166 In the process of interviewing for the book 1056 01:17:47,000 --> 01:17:48,583 Linda had been threatened... 1057 01:17:50,000 --> 01:17:52,875 by people within the world that she was travelling. 1058 01:17:55,875 --> 01:17:57,791 I don't know why she was threatened. 1059 01:17:58,458 --> 01:18:01,041 She was a journalist, she was interviewing... 1060 01:18:02,333 --> 01:18:05,208 but I think the threat was personally motivated. 1061 01:18:08,916 --> 01:18:11,625 At times, she said there was discomfort 1062 01:18:11,708 --> 01:18:13,958 with how she was spoken to 1063 01:18:14,041 --> 01:18:18,208 in terms of having a relationship with Basie. 1064 01:18:21,083 --> 01:18:23,791 I don't know whether it was because of the age. 1065 01:18:23,875 --> 01:18:26,083 I just know she had been threatened. 1066 01:18:26,916 --> 01:18:31,541 Not by Basie, but by some of the people surrounding him. 1067 01:18:33,166 --> 01:18:34,791 OK, uh... 1068 01:18:34,875 --> 01:18:37,208 I guess we're gonna end now. Do you know something? 1069 01:18:37,291 --> 01:18:39,083 This is the end of our interview. 1070 01:18:43,416 --> 01:18:47,208 ♪ I'll never smile again ♪ 1071 01:18:50,750 --> 01:18:54,916 ♪ Until I smile at you ♪ 1072 01:19:00,041 --> 01:19:03,666 ♪ I'll never laugh again ♪ 1073 01:19:06,583 --> 01:19:08,333 ♪ What good would it do? ♪ 1074 01:19:20,500 --> 01:19:21,916 I was in love with Billie... 1075 01:19:22,791 --> 01:19:25,250 not necessarily Billie, but somebody. 1076 01:19:26,125 --> 01:19:27,916 That voice, it turned me on. 1077 01:19:30,125 --> 01:19:32,208 But when I met her, she was a repulsive. 1078 01:19:33,916 --> 01:19:36,166 She looked a little scabby, a little dirty. 1079 01:19:43,625 --> 01:19:45,916 Poor Billie, her heart was just broken. 1080 01:20:32,166 --> 01:20:34,833 Of all the songs you've written, Billie Holiday 1081 01:20:34,916 --> 01:20:37,458 which one most clearly tells your story? 1082 01:20:38,458 --> 01:20:40,458 Oh, I think "Don't Explain". 1083 01:20:40,541 --> 01:20:42,416 Did you write the words and the music? 1084 01:20:42,500 --> 01:20:43,666 Yes. - Both of them? 1085 01:20:43,750 --> 01:20:45,083 I had help with it. 1086 01:20:45,416 --> 01:20:48,333 Close your eyes and speak the words like a poet. 1087 01:20:50,750 --> 01:20:54,583 Um, hush now, don't explain. 1088 01:20:55,875 --> 01:20:58,000 I know you raised Cain. 1089 01:20:59,083 --> 01:21:00,791 I'm glad that you're back. 1090 01:21:01,458 --> 01:21:02,666 Don't explain. 1091 01:21:04,291 --> 01:21:06,541 Quiet, don't explain. 1092 01:21:07,458 --> 01:21:09,916 You mixed with some dame. 1093 01:21:11,083 --> 01:21:12,666 Skip that lipstick. 1094 01:21:13,458 --> 01:21:14,833 Don't explain. 1095 01:21:17,416 --> 01:21:21,458 ♪ You know that I love you ♪ 1096 01:21:22,333 --> 01:21:26,666 ♪ And what love endures ♪ 1097 01:21:28,583 --> 01:21:33,041 ♪ All my thoughts are of you ♪ 1098 01:21:34,291 --> 01:21:39,500 ♪ For I'm so completely yours ♪ 1099 01:21:40,291 --> 01:21:42,708 She would call me up maybe three 1100 01:21:42,791 --> 01:21:44,708 three thirty, four o'clock in the morning... 1101 01:21:45,375 --> 01:21:46,958 and it seemed like she was... 1102 01:21:47,666 --> 01:21:49,250 almost hallucinating... 1103 01:21:49,916 --> 01:21:51,833 and she would say, "Oh, I'm so scared 1104 01:21:51,916 --> 01:21:53,541 I'm here all by myself". 1105 01:21:55,666 --> 01:21:57,833 But she would talk to me for hours 1106 01:21:57,916 --> 01:22:01,166 and tell me about how she got started in prostitution. 1107 01:22:02,125 --> 01:22:03,708 She was 13 years old 1108 01:22:04,125 --> 01:22:07,125 and at that time, she had her own girls on the street. 1109 01:22:09,166 --> 01:22:11,208 She was terribly worried 1110 01:22:11,291 --> 01:22:13,458 about whether or not God would forgive her. 1111 01:22:15,875 --> 01:22:19,000 ♪ My life ♪ 1112 01:22:20,541 --> 01:22:24,791 ♪ Yours, love ♪ 1113 01:22:26,875 --> 01:22:28,458 ♪ Don't explain ♪ 1114 01:23:02,250 --> 01:23:04,000 As far as I'm concerned 1115 01:23:04,541 --> 01:23:10,583 her use of narcotics was just another way of self-punishment. 1116 01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:16,458 She told me that when she was a little girl 1117 01:23:16,791 --> 01:23:18,166 down in her hometown... 1118 01:23:19,208 --> 01:23:20,333 she was raped. 1119 01:23:23,458 --> 01:23:25,166 Who raped her? 1120 01:23:25,833 --> 01:23:27,208 She didn't tell me. 1121 01:23:28,166 --> 01:23:30,000 There were tears in her eyes. 1122 01:23:36,791 --> 01:23:40,125 She was always a vulnerable child to me. 1123 01:23:42,500 --> 01:23:45,916 I don't think she was ever really in love in her life. 1124 01:23:47,625 --> 01:23:50,125 Nor ever knew what it was. 1125 01:23:52,291 --> 01:23:53,666 She just suffered. 1126 01:24:46,666 --> 01:24:48,375 She went to hospital on the Sunday. 1127 01:24:49,541 --> 01:24:50,958 She knew she was dying. 1128 01:24:53,041 --> 01:24:54,250 That damn hospital. 1129 01:24:55,416 --> 01:24:58,458 They had her under arrest, this woman laying in bed. 1130 01:25:04,375 --> 01:25:06,291 But she did tell me one time 1131 01:25:06,375 --> 01:25:08,125 that if they ever arrested her again 1132 01:25:08,625 --> 01:25:10,583 that she couldn't go through that experience 1133 01:25:10,666 --> 01:25:11,875 and she'd rather be dead. 1134 01:25:24,041 --> 01:25:26,000 No innovator was like her, nobody! 1135 01:25:31,166 --> 01:25:32,875 And all she wanted to do was sing. 1136 01:25:34,916 --> 01:25:36,583 She ain't bothering nobody. 1137 01:25:39,708 --> 01:25:42,125 Billie had a Cadillac and a mink, so what? 1138 01:25:44,208 --> 01:25:45,583 What's wrong with that? 1139 01:25:46,500 --> 01:25:48,333 Wasn't she entitled to have a Cadillac? 1140 01:25:48,458 --> 01:25:49,791 Wasn't she entitled to have her mink? 1141 01:25:50,125 --> 01:25:51,916 Wasn't she entitled to have diamonds? 1142 01:25:53,291 --> 01:25:55,000 "Oh, you ain't supposed to have that... 1143 01:25:55,875 --> 01:25:57,083 you're a negro! 1144 01:25:57,750 --> 01:25:59,500 Stay in your place, you know". 1145 01:26:03,333 --> 01:26:05,916 All y'all need to do is get some black-eyed peas and rice 1146 01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:07,458 and that's all ya'll need. 1147 01:26:09,583 --> 01:26:11,291 I'm talking about what we went through. 1148 01:26:13,833 --> 01:26:16,791 No vocalist had ever went through what she went through. 1149 01:26:20,583 --> 01:26:21,875 "Greatest country in the world". 1150 01:26:22,333 --> 01:26:25,916 The most stupid, most prejudiced, racial people... 1151 01:26:26,916 --> 01:26:28,166 even as of today. 1152 01:26:31,625 --> 01:26:33,208 I'm leaving, quick as I can. 1153 01:26:34,291 --> 01:26:36,416 I will not be a part of this farce. 1154 01:26:44,333 --> 01:26:45,750 July the 17th. 1155 01:26:47,041 --> 01:26:48,375 That's when she died. 1156 01:27:02,958 --> 01:27:05,250 I closed up Miss Billie Holiday's casket... 1157 01:27:06,666 --> 01:27:08,166 and put two flowers on it. 1158 01:27:25,958 --> 01:27:28,125 And the question, Billie, that I was going to ask 1159 01:27:28,208 --> 01:27:33,208 was that why so many jazz greats seem to die so early? 1160 01:27:37,083 --> 01:27:39,416 The only way I can answer that question is... 1161 01:27:40,583 --> 01:27:43,291 we try to live one hundred days in one day. 1162 01:27:47,791 --> 01:27:50,875 I, myself, try to please so many people. 1163 01:27:54,125 --> 01:27:55,666 I guess we all suffer. 1164 01:28:34,833 --> 01:28:36,708 It was in the middle of the blizzard 1165 01:28:36,791 --> 01:28:38,000 of 1978. 1166 01:28:38,291 --> 01:28:40,416 Linda was going to Washington D.C. 1167 01:28:40,500 --> 01:28:42,250 for a Basie concert. 1168 01:28:45,583 --> 01:28:49,666 And, um, we received a phone call from my mother... 1169 01:28:50,833 --> 01:28:51,875 and... 1170 01:28:55,208 --> 01:28:57,750 she said you have to come home, Linda just died. 1171 01:29:01,208 --> 01:29:04,333 The police told my parents that she had committed suicide 1172 01:29:04,416 --> 01:29:05,791 and jumped out of the window 1173 01:29:06,250 --> 01:29:09,000 and we were just devastated. 1174 01:29:12,250 --> 01:29:13,291 And also... 1175 01:29:13,583 --> 01:29:15,458 yeah, unsure that that... 1176 01:29:16,333 --> 01:29:17,500 was how she died. 1177 01:29:20,541 --> 01:29:22,333 To our knowledge, there was no note. 1178 01:29:23,916 --> 01:29:26,250 She was a writer, and there never was a letter. 1179 01:29:30,958 --> 01:29:33,416 At the time, the Washington D.C. police 1180 01:29:33,500 --> 01:29:35,708 did not have a great reputation 1181 01:29:35,791 --> 01:29:39,333 for integrity, and we really questioned 1182 01:29:39,416 --> 01:29:43,000 how much they had actually investigated Linda's death. 1183 01:29:47,500 --> 01:29:49,208 My thought is that, uh... 1184 01:29:50,208 --> 01:29:51,458 somebody had pushed her. 1185 01:29:52,458 --> 01:29:53,500 Uh... 1186 01:29:54,208 --> 01:29:58,041 I have absolutely no evidence of it... 1187 01:29:59,458 --> 01:30:02,083 only what I know of Linda, and, um... 1188 01:30:03,291 --> 01:30:04,875 the surrounding situations. 1189 01:30:07,708 --> 01:30:11,416 When Linda died, it appeared that she had been getting ready 1190 01:30:11,500 --> 01:30:14,125 to go to sleep, because one of her rituals 1191 01:30:14,250 --> 01:30:15,833 was to put on a facemask. 1192 01:30:16,583 --> 01:30:19,291 When she was found, she had the facemask on. 1193 01:30:24,958 --> 01:30:28,416 ♪ I love you Porgy ♪ 1194 01:30:30,375 --> 01:30:33,291 ♪ Don't let him take me ♪ 1195 01:30:35,291 --> 01:30:37,750 ♪ Don't let him handle me ♪ 1196 01:30:39,583 --> 01:30:41,875 ♪ And drive me mad ♪ 1197 01:30:43,958 --> 01:30:46,250 ♪ If you can keep me ♪ 1198 01:30:47,916 --> 01:30:50,333 ♪ I wanna stay here ♪ 1199 01:30:52,083 --> 01:30:54,416 ♪ With you forever ♪ 1200 01:30:55,875 --> 01:30:58,625 ♪ I've got my man ♪ 1201 01:31:00,958 --> 01:31:02,458 I just thank the Lord 1202 01:31:02,541 --> 01:31:04,291 that I did know this girl 1203 01:31:04,500 --> 01:31:05,875 when things were different. 1204 01:31:05,958 --> 01:31:08,500 ♪ I know he's coming ♪ 1205 01:31:08,875 --> 01:31:13,500 And I would pray that she'd come back. 1206 01:31:14,166 --> 01:31:18,541 ♪ He's going to handle me and... ♪ 1207 01:31:19,041 --> 01:31:21,291 Wouldn't that be nice, just one day? 1208 01:31:21,375 --> 01:31:23,083 ♪ ...told me so... ♪ 1209 01:31:23,166 --> 01:31:24,916 But you had to get a good ticket 1210 01:31:25,000 --> 01:31:26,041 to get there. 1211 01:31:26,125 --> 01:31:29,333 ♪ It's going to be... ♪ 1212 01:31:30,625 --> 01:31:32,791 ♪ Like dying ♪ 1213 01:31:33,041 --> 01:31:34,958 I can't cry about Billie now. 1214 01:31:35,125 --> 01:31:37,333 I don't even cry about her when I listen to her. 1215 01:31:38,625 --> 01:31:41,083 She makes me smile, even sadly. 1216 01:31:43,166 --> 01:31:45,458 And it's just too bad that it took all this time 1217 01:31:45,541 --> 01:31:47,791 for all of this shit to come up. 1218 01:31:48,541 --> 01:31:53,625 ♪ I'll have to go ♪ 1219 01:31:56,000 --> 01:32:00,500 ♪ I love you Porgy ♪ 1220 01:32:02,375 --> 01:32:05,375 ♪ Don't let him take me ♪ 1221 01:32:06,750 --> 01:32:09,833 ♪ Don't let him handle me ♪ 1222 01:32:11,750 --> 01:32:14,875 ♪ And drive me mad ♪ 1223 01:32:16,041 --> 01:32:18,416 ♪ If you can keep me ♪ 1224 01:32:20,208 --> 01:32:22,333 ♪ I've gotta stay here ♪ 1225 01:32:24,375 --> 01:32:27,541 ♪ With you forever ♪ 1226 01:32:29,625 --> 01:32:32,500 ♪ I've got my... ♪ 1227 01:32:33,625 --> 01:32:38,083 ♪ ...man ♪ 90899