Meeropol had been shocked by Lawrence Beitler's 1930 photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith -- not in a Southern State, but in Marion, Indiana. He wrote a poem with the title "Bitter Fruit," and published it in the January 1937 issue of The New York Teacher, a magazine published by the New York City Teacher's Union.
He set the poem to music himself. He and his wife, Anne, first performed it in front of their friends, leading to it gaining some success in and around New York. The Meeropols and black singer Laura Duncan sang it together at a rally at Madison Square Garden.
Barney Josephson, the founder of Café Society, New York's 1st integrated nightclub, heard the song, and introduced it to Billie Holiday. Just 24 years old, and already regarded as the best female vocalist in jazz, she first sang the song at Café Society.
Because of the power of the song, Josephson drew up some rules: Holiday would close with it; the waiters would stop all service in advance; the room would be in darkness, except for a spotlight on Holiday's face; and there would be no encore. During the musical introduction to the song, Holiday stood with her eyes closed, as if she were evoking a prayer.
Holiday's label, Columbia Records, feared reaction by record retailers in the South, and a refusal of CBS' Southern radio affiliates to play it. John Hammond, the Columbia producer who had discovered Holiday -- and other performers, ranging from Benny Goodman and Pete Seeger in the 1930s to Bob Dylan in the 1960s and Bruce Springsteen in the 1970s -- refused to produce it. So the producing duty was given to Milt Gabler -- comedian Billy Crystal's uncle, and later the producer of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock."
Gabler worked out a special arrangement with Vocalion Records to record the song, and Columbia gave Holiday a one-day release. Frankie Newton's 8-piece Café Society Band was used for the session. Because Gabler worried the song was too short, he asked pianist Sonny White to improvise an introduction. It lasts 1 minute and 10 seconds, before Holiday begins to sing.
Later in the year, New York Post writer Samuel Grafton wrote, "If the anger of the exploited ever mounts high enough in the South, it now has its 'Marseillaise.'" In 1999, Time magazine named it as "Best Song of the Century."
In 1945, Abel Meeropol wrote the anti-bigotry song "The House I Live In." It was recorded by Frank Sinatra, as part of what became perhaps the 1st "concept album."
Billie Holiday died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1959. Milt Gabler lived until 2001. Anne Meeropol lived until 1973, Abel Meeropol until 1986. They had adopted the orphan sons of the executed spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Both sons are still alive, and retired from careers as college professors: Michael Meeropol, age 79, economics; Robert Meeropol, 75, anthropology. Each of the brothers has 2 children.
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April 20, 1939 was a Thursday. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The NHL season ended 4 days earlier, when the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games.
There were 5 games played in baseball that day, the Opening Day of a new season:
* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. Red Ruffing outpitched his fellow future Hall-of-Famer, Lefty Grove. It was the major league debut of future Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams, who went 1-for-4 for the Red Sox. I have a separate entry for this event.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, 5-3 at Ebbets Field. Mel Ott hit a home run in defeat for the Giants.
* The Boston Bees beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at National League Park in Boston. Lou Fette pitched a 3-hit shutout. This was the 4th of 5 seasons in which the Boston team of the NL used "Bees" instead of "Braves," and had Braves Field renamed. In 1941, they switched back.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 2-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. George Caster pitched a 4-hit shutout.
* And the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-7 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Dixie Walker and Hank Greenberg hit home runs for the Tigers, Greenberg's being what would now be called a walkoff in the bottom of the 14th.
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