Strange Fruit; Fine and Mellow: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Billy Holiday and her Orchestra. side 1: Strange Fruit; side 2: Fine and Mellow (Commodore 526) 78 rpm

Billie Holiday (1915–1959,) an African American jazz singer nicknamed Lady Day, emerged on the jazz scene after a difficult and impoverished upbringing. Known for her light, rhythmic singing, Holiday performed with some of the most famous American jazz musicians throughout the 1930s and 1940s. She first performed “Strange Fruit,” a song written by a Jewish poet about the lynching of African Americans, at the Café Society club in 1939. Her performances of the song were filled with emotion, and the recording reached number 16 on the charts. Holiday went on to release a number of other hits, but “Strange Fruit” remained the best-selling record of her career.

Materials, dates and provenance

• recording date: 1939
• recording artist: Billie Holiday and her Orchestra
• composer: Allan, Lewis
• manufacturer: Commodore
• Object Name: sound recording
• Physical Description: shellac (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in; x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: 1996.3034.11383
• nonaccession number: 1996.3034
• catalog number: 1996.3034.11383
• label number: 526
• Credit Line: Gift of Robert B. Campbell in memory of Dorothy and William Campbell
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.