Soul Music: Strange Fruit
Soul Music hears the harrowing stories of some of those who lost relatives to the lynch mobs of the American South.
Soul Music hears the harrowing stories of some of those who lost relatives to the lynch mobs of the American South.
"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root..." Billie Holiday's famous song expresses the horror and anguish of those communities subjected to a campaign of lynching in the American South. Soul Music hears the stories of people whose relatives were lynched by white racists and of the various forms of grief, anger and reconciliation that have followed. These include the cousin of teenager Emmett Till, whose killing in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, added powerful impetus to the civil rights movement.
Despite its association with the deep south, the song was actually composed in 1930's New York by a Jewish schoolteacher, Abel Meeropol. Meeropol adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after they were executed in 1953 as Soviet spies. One of those children, Robert, talks of his adopted father's humanity and his belief that the Rosenbergs were killed in a 'state sanctioned lynching by the American government'. For him, Strange Fruit is a comforting reminder of his adopted father's passionate belief in justice and compassion.
Last on
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Songs, playlists and videos.
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:05Jeff Buckley
Strange Fruit
- Live At Sin-E.
- Columbia.
- 7.
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00:11Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit
- Billie Holiday Story Vol 1.
- Polygram Records.
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00:12Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit
- The Complete 1951 Storyville Club Sessions Featuring Stan Getz.
- Fresh Sound.
- 8.
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00:18John Martyn
Strange Fruit
- The Church with One Bell.
- Thirsty Ear Records.
- 6.
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00:26Abel Meeropol
Strange Fruit
Performer: Nina Simone.- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.
- Mercury.
April Shipp's quilt
Her quilt, 'Strange Fruit: A Century of Lynching from 1865-1965', has the names of thousands of lynching victims embroidered onto it.
Broadcasts
- Fri 13 Nov 2015 19:00麻豆官网首页入口 Music Jazz
- Sun 13 Nov 2016 19:00麻豆官网首页入口 Music Jazz
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