God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)
God Bless the Child is a song by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. in 1941, which evolved into the Jazz Standard.
Features of the song
Interpreted in mid temp song is composed in the song form AABA, where the A part is all held in a major tonality and the B section in a minor tonality. The harmonic progression is based on a series of Plagalkadenzen (IV -I). The condensed in the A- part contained ten written blues chorus gives the piece some of the " fascinating character of an archaic folk - blues number. "
Billie Holiday sang the song in 1941 for the first time in a bluesy Parlando with an extremely delayed timing. The title refers to a Bible verse ( Luke chapter 2, verse 40). However, it says in the lyrics: "Mama june have, Papa june have, but God bless the child that's got his own! "
Genesis
The song came at the time when the American collecting society ASCAP went on strike from radio stations; for radio performances the artists therefore had to resort to songs whose authors were no ASCAP members. On the Origin of God Bless the Child, there are two versions of Billie Holiday. Arthur Duke and
Duke remembers as follows to the emergence of the song: " You should provide me some old-fashioned phrase from the south, from which one could make a song, something like, Water Boy '. She scratched his head, and she found it absolutely nothing a. In conversation we came up with her mother, Sadie, and that they now wanted without a license to open a restaurant late, and therefore constantly demanded money from Billie, and Billie had no desire to ever give her that. And suddenly blurted out angrily from her: " God bless the child ". And I said, " Billie, what does that mean? " She replied, "Well, you know, usually we say that, if your mother has money, has your sister money has your cousin money, but as long as you have none, God bless the child that has his own. " And I it: "That's what is' it, Billie! " And we have, just once used twenty minutes for the song, as it exists today. "For these (minimal) participation and that she recorded the song, Herzog wrote her 50% of the copyrights.
Holidays version, according to her mother had no means requires money, but wanted to move even none. In addition she had so annoyed that in her for weeks the song was written and ever matured. Then she was approached Duke and have it sung to him, then one note on the piano together and brought it sought to paper.
Effect story
The interpretation by Billie Holiday was so successful that God Bless the Child was later gecovered by many musicians; however, vocalists have spared about Holidays lifetime to sing the song. Mention may be made cover versions of Lou Rawls (1962 ), Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Abbey Lincoln, Ernestine Anderson, Diane Schuur, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.
The song was also used by many musicians such as Eric Dolphy ( of 1961-1963, the piece presented five times ), Sonny Rollins (1962), Freddie Hubbard or Blood, Sweat & Tears interpreted, of course, last by Holidays pianist Mal Waldron, together with Jackie McLean (1976). More saxophonist Stanley Turrentine like (1963, 1995), Archie Shepp, Heinz Sauer and David Murray is the song took just like Wes Montgomery or Keith Jarrett.
There is also a version of Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues After all, he even formed the basis for a children's book, in which the text of Holiday is based on the story of a family in the Great Depression and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.
The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1976 and is part of the list of Songs of the Century, which was published in 2001 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Disco Graphical Notes
- The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol 9 (Columbia )
- Carmen McRae Sings Lover Man and Other Billie Holiday Classics (Columbia CS -8530 )