Year Age Major Events
1940 25 Billie performed for nine months at Café Society. She was supposed to sing again on 1 October 1940 but she did not turn up. So Barney Josephson cancelled her contract. She was replaced by Hazel Scott who sang there for the next seven years.
In December 1940, ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Performers) went on strike.
1941 26 On 25 August 1941, Billie married Jimmy Monroe, a never do well, an ex-trombonist and a former pimp. She had been engaged to Sonny White before her marriage. Monroe influenced Billie to take opium by mainlining or injecting it into their bloodstream. They also took cocaine. Billie had already taken heroin during the 1930s. She had smoked tobacco since she was about 15. She was reportedly smoking …show more content…
The era of the Big Bands would soon be over. Pop music was beginning and audiences identified with the singers rather than the instrumental players of a Big Band.
This trend should have benefitted Billie who was, after all, a singer with small bands. But the audiences were mostly white who could not identify with Afro-American singers. At that time, the records were also marketed in such a way that they generally did not reach the white buyers. So the sales of her records began to decline. She was having fewer hits.
Some of her songs of this period were “Some other Spring”, “Them There Eyes”,
“Night and Day.” Her song “Love me or Leave me” had been written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson in 1929. Her last hit was “God Bless the Child”, recorded on 9 May 1941. On 12 June 1941, she also recorded for Capitol Records, partly owned by Johnny Mercer. She was paid $75.
1942 27 A strike by the American Federation of Musicians ended her recording with Columbia by 1 August 1942. The strike failed because big names such as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were not allowed to join the union. So they were free to continue recording. Billie would not record again for the next two
1940 25 Billie performed for nine months at Café Society. She was supposed to sing again on 1 October 1940 but she did not turn up. So Barney Josephson cancelled her contract. She was replaced by Hazel Scott who sang there for the next seven years.
In December 1940, ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Performers) went on strike.
1941 26 On 25 August 1941, Billie married Jimmy Monroe, a never do well, an ex-trombonist and a former pimp. She had been engaged to Sonny White before her marriage. Monroe influenced Billie to take opium by mainlining or injecting it into their bloodstream. They also took cocaine. Billie had already taken heroin during the 1930s. She had smoked tobacco since she was about 15. She was reportedly smoking …show more content…
The era of the Big Bands would soon be over. Pop music was beginning and audiences identified with the singers rather than the instrumental players of a Big Band.
This trend should have benefitted Billie who was, after all, a singer with small bands. But the audiences were mostly white who could not identify with Afro-American singers. At that time, the records were also marketed in such a way that they generally did not reach the white buyers. So the sales of her records began to decline. She was having fewer hits.
Some of her songs of this period were “Some other Spring”, “Them There Eyes”,
“Night and Day.” Her song “Love me or Leave me” had been written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson in 1929. Her last hit was “God Bless the Child”, recorded on 9 May 1941. On 12 June 1941, she also recorded for Capitol Records, partly owned by Johnny Mercer. She was paid $75.
1942 27 A strike by the American Federation of Musicians ended her recording with Columbia by 1 August 1942. The strike failed because big names such as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were not allowed to join the union. So they were free to continue recording. Billie would not record again for the next two