Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

A postcard from the hanging.  Strange Fruit began life as a poem by Abel Meeropol, written sometime in the mid-1930s, and eventually published in 1936 under Meeropol's pen name of Lewis Allen. Meeropol wrote Strange Fruit after seeing the infamous 1930 photo of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana.  Meeropol would eventually set the song to music, and Strange Fruit enjoyed a minor notoriety among the New York intelligentsia club set during the late 1930s before becoming popularized by Lady Day.

Although Billie Holiday is often mistakenly identified as one of the authors of Strange Fruit (a fiction compounded by her Lady Sings the Blues ghostwriter) she probably wasn't familar with the song until 1939, when the owner of the Cafe Society in Greenwich Village, Barney Josephson, brought it to her attention.  Strange Fruit quickly became a staple of Lady Day's live performances. Holiday also recorded the song for the Vocalian label in 1939 after Columbia - fearing a backlash from their Southern customers - refused. As it turned out, Strange Fruit would become Holiday's biggest selling record.

A man without fear, Abel Meeropol would also write the lyrics for the Frank Sinatra hit, The House I Live In, and with his wife Ann adopted the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after their parents execution for espionage against the United States.

Billie Holiday - I Hear Music (Remix version)

I'm not much of a fan of remixed music - especially of classics, but this version of Billie Holiday doing I Hear Music, remixed by Swingsett and Takuya, is an exception to the rule. A lot of my liking is due to Karina Correa's aka "SpecialK" (coincidentally one of Top Cat Curly Lasagna's nicknames) excellent and touching video work which somehow evokes both the `40s and these modern times simultaneously.

The remix album or individual songs can be picked up at Amazon as mp3s, and while you're at it, pick up the original - straight from the 78 - too as an mp3. Of the original, Mr. D. says on his Artist's Choice CD:

"You could throw a dart at a Billie Holiday record and put that song in this collection and it would sound sublime. I chose this one because it's a snapshot of that feeling you get early in the morning, when all things are possible and there's music everywhere..."

Episode 12 - Love, Theft, and Emails

[Intro]

Episode 12 - Love, Theft, and Emails



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[Dylan - Email]

Time for a change of pace again and time to answer some of the emails that have been coming into Dreamtime. First up is a letter from two brothers, Johnny and Jack Richard from Birmingham, Alabama, one of my favorite towns. They write,

Dear Dreamtime,

We love your show and we're glad it's a podcast so we can listen to it during the day, since our Mom won't let us stay up late. But we have a question: how come you call it Dreamtime, and how come you never play any John Lennon, our Mom wants to know?

Well, that's two questions, J&J, but I'll let it go this time. I call it "Dreamtime" because Mr. Dylan calls his show, "Theme Time," and I like the rhyme. Plus, his tag-line is "Themes, Dreams and Schemes." But "Scheme Time" didn't make any sense.

Tell your Mom I'll play some Lennon and/or Beatles music when "Theme Time" does. But while we're waiting, here's a song you all will enjoy, played by your namesakes, the singing brother act, Johnnie & Jack, who weren't brothers at all, but brothers-in-law.

[Uncle John's Bongos]

That was Johnnie & Jack and their song from way back in 19 and 61, "Uncle John's Bongos." Johnnie's wife was a lady named Muriel Deason who, if you're a fan of country music, you'll know better as Kitty Wells. Johnnie & Jack made the Billboard country charts a total of 15 times - with and without Kitty.

In 19 and 63, Jack would die in a car crash - ironically while he was on his way to a memorial service for Patsy Cline, herself killed in a plane crash - ending the team of Johnnie & Jack.

Here's an email from Roberta Warren of Washington, D.C….

Dear Dreamtime,

So, how was the Dylan concert at the Manchester ballpark that you said you were going to way back in Episode 2?

Well, Roberta, I gotta tell you, I'm sorry to say I discovered I wasn't the True Fan I make myself out to be. That day was the coldest day of the Summer this year, and it was either drizzling or raining hard all day.

And you know what? They don't allow umbrellas in ball parks. Guess they're scared you might poke out someone's eye, I guess. Now, I love Bob Dylan, but I'm smart enough to come in out of the rain, especially when I don't have an umbrella.

Sorry, Bob.

Here's someone I'd go listen to rain or shine, in the Summer Days or the Summer nights… Big Joe Turner with "Roll `Em, Pete."

[Roll `Em Pete]

Big Joe's gal got eyes like diamonds, they shine like Klondike gold. And all he wants is a little loving from her, cause he knows she's going to die someday. Just wants a little loving, he does, before she passes away.

More email here from Brenda Starr, down the road in Cambridge, MA. Brenda writes,

Dear Dreamtime,

I love your shows, especially the one about Tiny Tim, but how come you're doing them? Forgive me, but you don't sound like a natural radio talent.

Well, thanks, Brenda. I'm doing Dreamtime for lots of reasons, but mostly because I love radio, and always wanted to be on it. But today's radio ain't radio… programmed-ized, homogenized, stupefied. I want the radio back that I grew up with as a kid, with DJ's like Wolfman Jack - before he got popular - and Dusty Roads, and Outrageous Nevada, Stephen Seagull, and the Night Bird. I want DJ's who played whatever they felt like… like Bob Dylan does.

Here's someone you're not likely to hear on any commercial radio soon, Eddie James House, Jr., better known as Son House, with "Low Down Dirty Dog Blues." from 19 and 42.

[Low Down Dirty Dog Blues]

You know, I think Son House liked songs with "Dog" in the title. Some of the other ones he recorded included, "Sic 'Em Dogs On," "Weary Dog Blues," "Baby Please Don't Dog Me 'Round," and "Police Dog Blues." Dylan could have done the whole "Dogs" show just using Son House tunes!

Well, I'm tired of being insulted in emails, so I think I'll play something to cheer myself up before I read another one. Here's one of my favorites, Billie Holiday, also known as Lady Day, who's having herself a time.

[Having Myself A Time]

"Having Myself A Time," was written by the team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. Some of their other hits included "La Bomba," "Blue Hawaii," "Easy Living," which was another hit for Billie Holiday, and the Bob Hope theme song, "Thanks for the Memory."

Okay, I'm feeling better now, so let's go back to the emails. Here's one from someone whose name I can't read… looks like the ink got smeared. They write…

Dear Dreamtime,

Why do you think Dylan plays mostly old music on "Theme Time"? Don't you think he likes Modern Times?

Hmmm. Is that some sort of joke?

I like old songs too, and here's a classic from the '30s and the golden age of dance bands. If it's not too much to ask, think of a moonlight lake, a dance hall, and the girl of your dreams floating in your arms and snuggled on your shoulder

[Snuggled On Your Shoulder]

If "Snuggled on Your Shoulder" sounds like it could be from a Woody Allen movie, you're right. Allen used the composer's - Carmen Lombardo - music in several movies, including "Annie Hall," and "Radio Days." Carmen's more famous brother was Guy, who, if you're as old as me and Dylan, you probably listened to on New Year's Eve, before it got rockin'.

Well, the big clock on the wall says there's no more time for any more emails, but keep those electronic cards and letters coming, please. dreamtimepodcast@gmail.com.

We're closing out with another oldie, "Lonesome Road," by the voice of the Southland, Gene Austin.

[Lonesome Road]

This has been Fred Bals with the Dreamtime podcast - occasional commentary on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour weekly show… and occasionally commentary on something else. Dreamtime is not associated with XM Radio or Bob Dylan, but sometimes sees other associations. Until next week, dream on, my brothers and sisters.

Sources: Bob Dylan's Hidden Inspiration ; Johnnie & Jack biography from CMT.com ; Son House discography; Roll `Em Pete lyrics


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Episode 5 - Two voices from Chronicles

[From Theme Time - "Cars"] - "A delivery boy makes a wrong turn."

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This is the Dreamtime podcast - occasional commentary on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour weekly show.

Episode 5 - "Two voices from Chronicles."

I'm changing gears in this episode, talking about two singers who have yet to appear on Theme Time... but probably will at some point. To correct a mistake I made in episode 4, Fred Neil was not the owner of the Cafe Wha?, but a singer/songwriter who ran the daytime show at the Wha? as Dylan notes in Chronicles. Thanks to "jump right in" for pointing out the error to me.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1936 and raised in St. Petersburg Florida, Neil came to New York in the late '50s, working at the Brill Building as a staff writer. At the Brill, a musician could find a publisher and printer, cut a demo, promote the record, and cut a deal with radio promoters, all within one building.

In 1960, Neil began to perform solo at the Cafe Wha?, as well as the Night Owl and Bitter End. By 1961, he was sometimes accompanied by Dylan and Karen Dalton, both pictured with Neil in this episode's show notes.

Neil was something of a musician's musician, influencing among others John Sebastian, who would go on to form the Lovin' Spoonful; Paul Kantner, who would lead Jefferson Airplane; Richie Havens, Felix Pappalardi, the producer of Cream (as well as the bassist for the group, Mountain), and both David Crosby and Stephen Stills. A story, possibly apocryphal, has it that Stills and Crosby originally wanted to call their supergroup with Graham Nash “The Sons of Neil.”

Neil compositions were recorded by both Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison; he also played as a session guitarist for Bobby Darin and Paul Anka. In 1968, Nilsson recorded a cover version of Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'," which became a mega-hit when it was used as the theme song in the film Midnight Cowboy.

Neil semi-retired in the 1970s and passed away in 2001.

[Everybody's Talkin' excerpt]

Of Neil, Dylan writes,

"Freddy had the flow, dressed conservatively, sullen and brooding, with an enigmatical gaze, peachlike complexion, hair splashed with curls and an angry and powerful baritone voice that struck blue notes and blasted them to the rafters with or without a mike. He was the emperor of the place, even had his own harem, his devotees. You couldn't touch him. Everything revolved around him. Years later, Freddy would write the hit song 'Everybody's Talkin'.' I never played any of my own sets. I just accompanied Neil on all of his and that's where I began playing regular in New York."

In the same section, Dylan reveals his favorite singer at the Cafe Wha? was Karen Dalton.

"A tall white blues singer and guitar player, funky, lanky and sultry," Dylan writes. "Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday's and played the guitar like Jimmy Reed and went all the way with it."

Picture a room, empty except for an unmade bed. A woman lies on it, staring up at the ceiling, watching a fan turn, slowly pulling the smoke from her cigarette into its blades. A half-empty glass of wine is on the floor, by the woman's hands...

[Little Bit of Rain excerpt]

That's Karen Dalton, singing Fred Neil's Little Bit Of Rain on her first album, It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best, originally released in 1969 and reissued on CD in 1997. As Dylan, and nearly everyone else who heard her noted, Karen's voice strongly resembles that of Billie Holiday's, in fact to the point where the Capitol press release for her first album described her as "the folksinger's answer to Billie Holiday."

Dalton's voice is also eerily similar to the modern day smoky voiced singer, Madeleine Peyroux, who herself is often compared to Holiday. Unlike Peyroux, Dalton never had that much popular success. In the little information available about her on the Web, that may have been because she was uncomfortable in the studio and had to be coaxed into recording the two albums she did produce, or perhaps because she rarely wrote her own songs, or perhaps because of drug and alcohol problems she reported struggled with until her death in 1993.

Fred Neil who had first brought her to the attention of Capitol Records wrote in his 1971 liner notes to her second album:

"She did 'Blues On The Ceiling' (which is my song) with so much feeling that if she told me she had written it herself I would have believed her. Her voice is so unique, to describe it would take a poet. All I can say is she sure can sing the shit out of the blues."

The country singer Lacy J. Dalton has said that she took her name from Karen, who had greatly influenced her singing style. Also known as "Sweet Mother K.D.", It is said that the song "Katie's Been Gone" by The Band was written about her.

A great, haunting talent that never got the audience she deserved, you can buy Karen Dalton's first album on Amazon or as separate tracks through iTunes.

There's apparently a European version of "It's So Hard…" just released in July of 2006, that includes a DVD described in a review at Amazon UK as, "a 25 minute home movie , directed by Dalton and shows her hanging out playing her guitar and performing four songs."

This has been Fred Bals with the Dreamtime podcast - occasional commentary on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour – and occasionally commentary on other things that may or may not show up on Theme Time.

Until next time, sweet dreams.

Sources: FredNeil.com; Karen Dalton disography page; Nicholas Hill email on Karen Dalton; "Folk Revisited" by Steve Ritchey in The Student Underground, 2004 (Google cache link); Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan