"... used to win all of Billy [Berg's]'s lindy contests. Maybe he couldn't cut the cats at the Savoy in , but he sure could dance. He was like me when I was a kid, in a way, wanting to make it as a dancer and not interested in singing. And he was a switch on me in another way. My singing voice is clear but my speaking voice is husky; Mel's speaking voice was clear but his singing voice sounded kind of cloudy and foggy. I tried to tell him he had something different in the way of sound and encouraged him to try singing. He never seemed to want to listen. Maybe a lot of other people told him the same thing, but anyway, I was pleased later to hear he was making it. I always liked his singing, too. No matter what he was doing, he wasn't imitating anybody and he had that beat."
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People from PhiladelphiaWomen singersSinger-songwriters from the United StatesJazz singersSingers from Maryland
Original Language: English
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Ch. 11.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday
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Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan Goughy, was an American jazz singer. Commonly known as Lady Day, her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.
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