Broadcast: September 29, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
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Lacking any formal training, Billie Holiday is considered among the greatest jazz vocalists of all time, with one of the most tumultuous lives of any legendary musician. She once said: "I do not think I'm singing. I feel like I’m playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel."
Sonny Terry (Harmonica, vocals) and Brownie McGhee (Guitar, vocals) had a celebrated career together, with hundreds of recordings across more than a dozen record labels, inspired the likes of Guy Davis, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal and Bob Dylan.
Billie Holiday’s candid, poignant approach influenced countless musicians, from Nina Simone, to Joni Mitchell, to Frank Sinatra, who called her his greatest single musical influence. She’s been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards, all posthumously, with recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Billie was also inducted into the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame, the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She said, "I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That is all I know."
Brownie was short and extroverted, while Sonny was tall, and basically spoke only when spoken to. Like a positive and negative charge, Sonny and Brownie were opposites that stuck with each other, likely because of their success. Because of their mutual upbringing around Piedmont blues, a unique style of blues where whites and blacks lived in close proximity and shared a variety of music, they blurred the lines of race for many listeners. In 1982 Sonny and Brownie were among the very first recipients of the National Heritage Fellowship, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, making them national treasures.