Billie Holiday in New York City - between the 1920's and the 1950's

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 198:

I used to run errands for a madam on the corner. I wouldn't run errands for anybody, still won't carry a case across the street today, but I ran around for this woman because she'd let me listen to all Bessie [Smith's] records-- and Pops [Louis] Armstrong's records of "West End Blues." I loved that "West End Blues" and always wondered why Pops didn't sing any words to it. I reckoned he must have been feeling awfully bad. When I got to New York, I went to hear him at the Lafayette Theatre. He didn't play my blues and I went back stage to tell him about it. I guess I was nine years old then. …   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 198. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435063951392 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: New York City

Listeners

Billie Holiday
jazz singer, Songwriter
1915-1959

Listening to

hide composers
blues singing, female voice performed by Bessie Smith

Experience Information

Date/Time between the 1920's and the 1950's
Medium live, playback
Listening Environment in the company of others, in private, indoors, in public, solitary

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Tue, 23 Jun 2015 13:52:31 +0100
Approved on Mon, 29 Aug 2016 15:33:13 +0100