Like with Bessie Smith, I keep coming back to this voice. In this one, she reminds me a little of Smith. Holiday’s voice could be aggressive or laid back, but always full of meaning and soul.
Holiday could truly call this song her own from top to bottom. She wrote it herself in 1939, at a time when much of her material came from professional songwriters and Tin Pan Alley publishers. This was the B-Side to Strange Fruit, but this song went on to become known as well.
This song was different because it came directly from her own life, built around a blues structure that fit her voice. Holiday had lived through enough difficult relationships by then that the words carried more weight than a typical mistreated song.
Though it was not one of her biggest commercial hits, it stayed with Holiday throughout her career. She returned to it often in live performances because it gave her room to interpret the story differently as she aged. By the 1950s, her voice had changed, rougher and more worn, but that only added credence to the song.
The most famous later version came in 1957 when Holiday appeared on the CBS television special The Sound of Jazz. Surrounded by an all-star lineup that included Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, and Lester Young, Holiday delivered a performance that many consider one of the most moving moments in television music history.
She took this simple blues song and made it feel like a private memory shared with the public.
Here is Billie singing Fine and Mellow in 1957 on The Sound Of Jazz. The entire show is up there if you want to watch it. It is incredible. She would pass away only two years after this was recorded. This is my go-to version of this song.
Fine and Mellow
My man don’t love meTreats me oh so meanMy man he don’t love meTreats me awfullyHe’s the lowest manThat I’ve ever see
He wears high trimmed pantsStripes are really yellowHe wears high trimmed pantsStripes are really yellowBut when he starts in to love meHe’s so fine and mellow
Love will make you drink and gambleMake you stay out all night longLove will make you drink and gambleMake you stay out all night longLove will make you do thingsThat you know is wrong
But if you treat me right babyI’ll stay home everydayIf you treat me right babyI’ll stay home everydayBut you’re so mean to me babyI know you’re gonna drive me away
Love is just like the faucetIt turns off and onLove is like the faucetIt turns off and onSometimes when you think it’s on babyIt has turned off and gone
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Yes indeed that live performance is incredible. From what I understand the song is taken from her own life experiences. So your remark about her changing her delivery overtime seems to coincide with that.
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Very cool! 😎
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Very nice, Max. This rendition represents the pure, unadulterated soul of jazz and serves as a heartfelt, visual testament to the relationships and musical empathy within the jazz community.
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