Fine and Mellow
{{about|the song}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Fine and Mellow
| cover = CommodoreRecord.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Billie Holiday
| album =
| A-side = Strange Fruit
| released = 1939
| recorded = April 20, 1939
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Jazz
| length =
| label = Commodore
| writer = Billie Holiday
| producer =
| prev_title = I'm Gonna Lock My Heart
| prev_year = 1938
| next_title = God Bless the Child
| next_year = 1942
}}
"Fine and Mellow" is a jazz standard written by Billie Holiday,Jacobs, Dick & Harriet. Who Wrote That Song?, Writers Digest Books (1994), page 70 - {{ISBN|0-89879-639-3}} who first recorded it on April 20, 1939 on the Commodore label.{{cite web|url=http://www.ladyday.net/trac/a20s5.html |title=Fine and Mellow : Billie Holiday : Lyrics |website=Ladyday.net |access-date=2016-07-26}} It is a blues lamenting the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man".
Notable performances and recordings
The song was famously performed by Billie Holiday in 1957 in a television special, The Sound of Jazz.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_holiday_billie.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124043100/http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_holiday_billie.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2001 |title=JAZZ A film by Ken Burns |publisher=PBS |date=2012-01-06 |access-date=2016-07-26}}
The line-up included several jazz legends (the first six are listed in the order of their solos):
- Ben Webster – tenor saxophone
- Lester Young – tenor saxophone
- Vic Dickenson – trombone
- Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone
- Coleman Hawkins – tenor saxophone
- Roy Eldridge – trumpet
- Doc Cheatham – trumpet
- Danny Barker – guitar
- Milt Hinton – double bass
- Mal Waldron – piano
- Osie Johnson – drums
It has been covered several times, sometimes with a change in lyrics or emphasis. For example, Lou Rawls switched the gender to a girlfriend{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EHQ82I |title=Lou Rawls - The Best of Lou Rawls: The Capitol Jazz & Blues Sessions |website=Amazon.com |access-date=2016-07-26}} and Eva Cassidy sang it in a defiant tone. Notable cover versions were sung by Nina Simone (on the 1959 At Town Hall), Dee Dee Bridgewater on her Billie Holiday tribute album, and Ella Fitzgerald on her eponymous album.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100528124535/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/all_songs.htm#1939 Fine and Mellow recording session]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100702060641/http://www.billieholidaysongs.com/vinyl_discography.htm Billie Holiday discography]
{{Billie Holiday}}
{{authority control}}