Jack Clifford
Chapter 6
Billie had just become a member of the road band known as the Count Basie Orchestra. She did not receive a lot of money since she had to pay for staying at the hotels, food, and her outfits, so in the end she was left with practically nothing. However, that changed when the Billie performed an impressive show at the Apollo. She became known as Lady Day, a nickname that Lester Young gave her. She soon spent masses of time in the studio either recording for herself or for Teddy Wilson, although she was controlling of the songs lyrics and structure. When Billie was not in the studio, she traveled to different locations, like Philadelphia and Washington. She was working with the best of the best in the music industry, which improved her confidence, creativity, voice, and her appearance because for the first time she realized that it really makes an impact on the audience. After, she always wears a couple of gardenias in her hair so the audience can recognize her.
Besides her appearance, Billie had a particular style. She normally sang the entire song with little or no instrumentals, she preferred a slower tempo that displayed emotions especially about love, and she was always had a “behind-the-beat syncopation” (97). Her style was so different from other singers like Ella Fitzgerald that it was hard for people to vote for the best vocalist. Yet, Ella won in the competition.
A couple months later, Basie and Billie separated because Billie had a fight with the personal manager, John Hammond, about how she did not want to sing the blues. They say that she would have become famous if she would have given in to other people’s suggestions, but she soon joined Artie Shaw’s band.
Shaw, at the age of fifteen, was already a professional saxophone playerand he has played in several popular bands like Jonny Cavallaro’s band and Irving Aaronson’s band. He wanted to start a new type of band known as dance orchestra but he was forced to break it up. Within a month, he had formed the loudest band consisting of six brass, four saxophones, and Peg La Centra as vocalist, but once he heard the Billie was not performing with anyone, he hired her. Even with Shaw’s higher wages than hers in the past, she still did not have enough to give to her mother, so Shaw offered her a job as a maid. Sadie took the job but was fired because when Shaw was having quests over, she burnt all of his turkey and drank his liquor.
Together they were successful on the nightly radio broadcast and they became known as the “best ‘white band in the worl’” (100). However, they there were conflicts about choice, structure, and emotions of songs they performed, so Shaw decided to hire a new girl, Selma Cord known as Nita Bradley. There success continued with winning band battles and having songs on the top played songs list. They were sixth-out- of-fifty. Then on July 24, 1938, Shaw signed with RCA Victor and his next songs soon became hits like “Begin the Beguine”, and “Any Old Time” which was arranged for Billie; it was one of the first songs to be arranged for the singer because in that era, the singer was usually chosen for the song. Shaw was given the choice to perform at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria or the Blue Room at the Hotel Lincoln. He chose the Blue Room because he thought that his performances could make that location. Then once again, Shaw hired another girl singer. HelenForest had been on CBS and was becoming one of the greatest band singers. Despite their growing success, Billie became angry at the disrespect she was shown because she was the only black member of the group. She was not allowed to sit at the bar or enter the dining room with the other group members. When they were at parties she acted liked nothing was wrong.
On November 19, 1938, Billie left Shaw to become a free agent and she was missed because Shaw realized that she never missed beat or pitch, and she could bring any song alive.