Quote 3

"Don't tell me about those pioneer chicks hitting the trail in those slip-covered wagons with the hills full of redskins.  I'm the girl who went West in 1937 with sixteen white cats, Artie Shaw and his Rolls-Royce - and the hills were full of white crackers." - Billie Holiday

I have a confession to make, fearless reader.  

I'm in love with Lady Day.  

Really, I don't see how anybody cannot be in love with her.  Her voice, her swagger, her singing, her style, her songs . . .  *swoon*

I'm reading her autobiography (the review will appear in a future installment of Latest Read), but thought I'd share this gem of a quote now, since it's so brilliant.

I love the imagery of a Great Depression jazz/blues band doing a cross-country tour, led by a Rolls Royce, heading through the most rural, fucked up (Dust Bowl, anybody?) parts of the US.  And making the comparison to the homesteaders from 70 years earlier is spot on. 

The irony - the settlers had invaded the land, claiming right of ownership and wondering what the hell the Indians' problem was.  Now, a few generations later, their descendants are all up in arms about a black woman touring with a white band - this cultural invasion from the East.

I also perceive a sense of dignity in spite of it all that seems mirrored in the settler experience.  But, Holiday is not just making a comparison, but also making a claim that her experience was actually more harrowing, which makes sense.  After all, she was just trying to sing some songs and make some money, and had to face a lot of fucked up, degrading stuff  on top of the threat of violence.  The settler women at least were part of a larger, invading group that was armed and perpetrated at least as much violence as it received.

Somebody should make a road-trip movie about the experience - I'd do it Hunter Thompson and gonzo-journalism style kinda like Easy Rider, but cooler and with better music.