God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)
| "God Bless the Child" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Billie Holiday | ||||
| B-side | "Solitude" | |||
| Released | 1942 | |||
| Format | 78 rpm | |||
| Recorded | Friday, May 9, 1941 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 2:57 | |||
| Label | Okeh | |||
| Writer(s) | Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr. | |||
| Producer(s) | Edward B. Marks Music Corporation | |||
| Billie Holiday singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939. It was first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.
Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1976.[1] It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Recording session
Session #44: 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, May 9, 1941, Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jimmy Powell and Lester Boone (alto saxophone), Ernie Powell (trumpet), Eddie Heywood (piano), Johan Robins (guitar), Paul Chapman (guitar), Grachan Moncur II (bass), Herbert Cowans (drums), Billie Holiday (vocal)[2]
Origin and interpretation
In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues[3] Holiday indicated an argument with her mother over money led to the song. She states that during the argument her mother said "God bless the child that's got his own." The anger over the incident led her to turn that line into a starting point for a song, which she worked out in conjunction with Herzog.
In his 1990 book Jazz Singing, Will Friedwald[4] indicates it as "sacred and profane" as it references the Bible while indicating that religion seems to have no effect in making people treat each other better.[5] The lyrics refer to an unspecified Biblical verse: "Them that's got shall have, them that's not shall lose, so the Bible says, and it still is news. . . . " This likely refers to Matthew 25:29 or Luke 8:18 and Luke 19:26.
Notable cover versions
- Frankie Laine (1949)
- Gene Ammons (1958)
- Harry Belafonte (1958 for the album Belafonte Sings the Blues)
- Stanley Turrentine (1960)
- Eric Dolphy (1960)
- Carmen McRae (1961)
- Anita O'Day (1961)
- Lou Rawls (recorded: February 5, 1962 for the album Stormy Monday)
- Aretha Franklin (1962 for her album The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin)
- Judy Henske (1963)
- Karen Dalton (1966)
- Stevie Wonder (1968)
- Fifty Foot Hose (1968)
- Jimmie Rodgers (1968)
- Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)[6]
- Billy Eckstine and Linda Ronstadt, duet (1969)
- Liza Minnelli (1969 live version, 1971 studio version)
- Richie Havens (1972)
- Diana Ross (1972)
- Tom Browne (1981)
- Dave Van Ronk (1982)
- Ella Fitzgerald (1982)
- Keith Jarrett (1983)
- Billy MacKenzie (Associates (duo))(1984)
- Crystal Gayle (1985)
- Steve Miller (1988)
- David Peaston (1989)
- The Simpsons (Lisa Simpson/voice actor Yeardley Smith) The Simpsons Sing the Blues (1990)
- Freddie Hubbard (1991) as heard on Bolivia
- Barbra Streisand (1991)
- Diane Schuur (1992)
- Eva Cassidy (1992)
- Tony Bennett (1995)
- Jamie Cullum (1999)
- Michael Bolton (2003)
- Ruthie Foster (2004)
- Mikalah Gordon (2005)
- Theresa Sokyrka (2005)
- Nnenna Freelon (2005)
- Gladys Knight (2006)
- Eva Avila (2006)
- George Benson, Al Jarreau and Jill Scott (2006)
- LaKisha Jones (2007)
- Moby (2007)
- Marcia Hines (2007) from her album Life
- Laura White (2008)
- Dee Dee Bridgewater (2010)
- Haley Reinhart (2011)
- Gregory Porter (sung a cappella on his 2012 album Be Good)
- Annie Lennox (2014)
- Jose James (2015)
Special cover versions and samples
| "God Bless the Child" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Simpsons | ||||
| from the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues | ||||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1990 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Writer(s) | Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr. | |||
| Producer(s) | John Boylan, Bryan Loren, DJ Jazzy Jeff | |||
| The Simpsons singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
It was included on the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues, performed by Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith); this version was released as a single, the third from the album.
Tony Bennett recorded the song as an overdubbed "duet" with Holiday for his 1997 album Tony Bennett on Holiday.
Tricky released a version of the song on Angels with Dirty Faces (1998), retitled as "Carriage for Two". Frequent Tricky collaborator Martina Topley Bird provided the female vocals and Tricky added his own lyrics.
In 1999, House producer Alex Gopher sampled parts of the first verse for his track "the Child".
In other media
It also inspired a children's picture book.[7]
In popular culture
Film
- All The Fine Young Cannibals
- Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
- Two Weeks Notice
- Schindler's List
- August Rush
Television
- The Judy Garland Show (1963): Sung by Judy Henske. Air date November 10, 1963.[8]
- Liza with a 'Z' (1972): Sung by Liza Minnelli in this Emmy Award-winning television concert directed by Bob Fosse. Liza continues to sing this song at many of her concerts.
- Theme song for the first two seasons of Roc (1991–1992), sung by Jerry Lawson
- Grey's Anatomy (2006): Sung by Chandra Wilson in "Staring at the Sun"[9]
- American Idol: Sung by Mikalah Gordon for the top 20, Katharine McPhee in her 2006 audition in San Francisco, LaKisha Jones on March 13, 2007, and Jacob Lusk and Haley Reinhart in 2011 in Hollywood.
- The title of the 11th episode of season 4 of The Wire comes from the lyrics ("That's Got His Own").
- Once and Again (2002): Sung by Evan Rachel Wood in Season 3, Episode 12, "Gardenia".
- Laura White sings live on The X Factor 5 on Week 3.
- Diana Ross performed the song on her 1978 The Boss" tour, later recorded by HBO for a television special, "Diana Ross:In Concert", in 1992 during her Showtime-aired special, Stolen Moments: The Lady Sings... Jazz and Blues" & in 1993 for a televised special, filmed at New York City's famed Apollo Theater.
- Whitney Houston performed the song during her 1997 HBO Concert special, "Classic Whitney Live from Washington, D.C." at the famed DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. The song was performed as a tribute to Diana Ross who had performed the song portraying Billie Holiday in the acclaimed 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues (film)."
- Annie Lennox performed it live on The Meridith Vieira Show on October 28, 2014.
- Gladys Knight performed it on The Muppet Show Season 5 Episode 16 2 May 1981. (IMDB)
Music
- J. Cole alludes to "God Bless the Child" on his track "In the Morning" from his 2010 mixtape, "Friday Night Lights" and his debut studio album "Cole World: The Sideline Story".
- 2Pac references Billie Holiday and "God Bless the Child" on the song "Hold On, Be Strong" as well as "Hold Ya Head".
Literature
- Biyi Bandele references the song in his novel The Street.
- Kristin Hunter took the title of the song for her first novel God Bless the Child.
Video Games
- BioShock soundtrack: The three remixed tracks on the CD include "Beyond the Sea", "God Bless the Child" and "Wild Little Sisters"; the original recordings of these songs are in the game.
Notes
- ↑ Grammy Hall of Fame Award list
- ↑ Billie Holiday's God Bless the Child
- ↑ Holiday, Billie. Lady Sings the Blues, Hal Leonard Corporation, (1985) – ISBN 0-7935-2445-8
- ↑ Friedwald, Will. Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond, Da Capo, (1996) – ISBN 0-306-80712-2
- ↑ Liner notes pages 6 and 7 in Billie Holiday's Greatest Hits
- ↑ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 52 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 8] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
- ↑ Holiday, Billie. God Bless the Child, Harper Collins, (2004) – ISBN 0-06-028797-7
- ↑ Judy Henske performing God Bless the Child, on The Judy Garland Show, 1963 on YouTube
- ↑ Music on Grey's Anatomy: God Bless the Child
