God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday (1941)

"God Bless The Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 in New York City by Holiday under the OKeh label. She recorded the song with Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra with Roy Eldridge and Ernie Powell on trumpet, Jimmy Powell and Lester Boone on alto saxophone, Eddie Heywood on piano, Paul Chapman on guitar), Grachan Moncur II on bass, and Herbert Cowans on drums. Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. In her autobiography 'Lady Sings The Blues', Holiday indicated an argument with her mother over money led to the song. She indicated that during the argument she said the line "God bless the child that's got his own". The anger over the incident led her to turn that line into a starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog. Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan, April 7, 1915 July 17, 1959) was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed 'Lady Day' by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Above all, she was admired for her deeply personal and intimate approach to singing. Critic John Bush once wrote that she "changed the art of American pop vocals forever". In 1987, Billie Holiday was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The United States Postal Service introduced a Billie Holiday postage stamp in 1994, she ranked #6 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Rock n' Roll in 1999, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. This channel is dedicated to the classic jazz music you've loved for years. The smokin' hot, icy cool jams that still make you tap your feet whenever you hear them . . . Cool Jazz is here!

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Copyright 1941 OKeh/Columbia Records
All Rights Reserved

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[RainingMetal]

Would you kindly press the Like button?

[ChoclateDiva69]

Best 2:53 of my day.... My favorite song ever... Wonder if she knew that in 2011 her lyrics would still be relevant to so many?

[Meghan McCarty]

So much class, so much substance, so much intelligence; why did this get lost in translation?

[darchylde612]

that's because shania twain's song and billie's song share a song title ONLY; shania's song is not a re-make of billie's classsic; they are two entirely different songs altogether.

[darchylde612]

i couldn't agree more....diana ross' acting and singing aside, which were excellent BTW, that movie was so historically and factually so far removed from the truth, the essence and spirit of the real billie holiday, it's not even funny. i've been a holiday devotee for over 30 years, getting my first taste of her music at the age of 14. lady day is one of my top ten singers of all time; no one could sing about love, hunger, heartache or longing like lady.

[darchylde612]

ones who are so enamoured with it and that's as far as they go with regards to lady's legacy. however, those who have a deep love for billie holiday and jazz music in general make the extra effort and explore other avenues available other than that movie.

[darchylde612]

that movie NOWHERE captures the essence or the true spirit of the real billie holiday. not trying to start an "internet beef" but i've been reading about various bigographies about billie holiday for over 30 years as well as numerous well produced documentaries that included people and musicians who knew and worked with her. even if they wanted to gloss over some of the more seedier aspects of lady's life, "LSTB" could have been a MUCH better than what it was; diana ross syccophants are the ->

[darchylde612]

mckay was NOT a nice person in the least; in fact he was one step above a leech and a thief; he bought all sorts of property with billie's money and put it in his name and was physically and emotionally abusive to her. everything about that "movie", the music notwithstanding, was pure hollywood schlock. if anyone wants to know anything about the REAL billie holiday, there are excellent biographies and documentaries about her. all due respect to diana ross who did an excellent acting job--->

[darchylde612]

that movie, as one would call IS far from the truth...there was no "piano man", the character played by richard pryor; her closest friend personally and musically was lester young a.k.a. "the prez". if they were going to make a story about billie holiday's life, at least have the decency to include people who were IN her life. furthermore, the "love story" concocted in that crappy script between billie and louis mckay was TOTALLY contrived; from everything that has been written about him louis

[Christopher Green]

DR. SIR CHRISTOPHER A GREEN ESQ MD 0009261142

[MultiJoker54321]

yep