“Strange Fruit” Song of the Century By the late 1930s most - TopicsExpress

“Strange Fruit” Song of the Century By the late 1930s most left-wing events in New York City included a performance of Abel Meeropol’s anti-racism song “Strange Fruit.” Robert Gordon, director of the floor show at the new Café Society nightclub in Greenwich Village, heard the song at a fund-raiser for anti-fascist forces during the Spanish Civil War and took Meeropol to the club to meet its featured entertainer, Billie Holiday. Meeropol played “Strange Fruit” for Holiday, who asked him only one question, about its lyrics: “What does pastoral mean?” Her rendition became such a sensation that Café Society began to advertise the song itself. “Strange Fruit” became the standard finale of Holiday’s act. She typically sang it with a single spotlight on her face in an otherwise dark room, and no food or drinks were served during the song. Holiday always left the stage when it was over. There was no encore. She was intent on recording “Strange Fruit,” but her label, Vocalion, refused, fearing reprisals from Southern conservatives. In 1939 she recorded it with Commodore, a small, adventurous jazz label run out of a record store. She was paid $500 for the four tracks she laid down that day. [mediander/culturemap/Strange-Fruit/?utm_source=TaboolaCultureMaps&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=IntUS#!/connection/8]