"Austin City Limits" presents, celebrating the music of Billie Holiday on her 100th birthday, Cassandra Wilson.

♪ Strange fruit ♪ Hanging ♪ From the poplar trees ♪ ♪ My life's yours, dear ♪ Don't explain ♪ ♪ Recorded live from the Moody Theater, it's "Austin City Limits."

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Now here's leading jazz innovator Cassandra Wilson.

♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Cheers and applause continue ] [ "The Way You Look Tonight" plays ] ♪ Someday ♪ When I'm awfully low ♪ When the world is cold ♪ I will feel a glow ♪ Just thinking of you ♪ And the way ♪ You look tonight ♪ ♪ Oh, but you're lovely ♪ With your cheeks so soft ♪ And your smile so warm ♪ There is nothing for me ♪ But to love you ♪ And the way ♪ You look tonight ♪ ♪ With each word ♪ Your tenderness grows ♪ Tearing ♪ My fear apart ♪ ♪ And that laugh ♪ That wrinkles your nose ♪ Touches ♪ My foolish heart ♪ Lovely ♪ Never, never change ♪ Keep that breathless charm ♪ Won't you please arrange it?

♪ For I love you ♪ Just the way ♪ You look tonight ♪ ♪ ♪ With each word ♪ Your tenderness grows ♪ Tearing my fear apart ♪ And that laugh ♪ That laugh that wrinkles your nose ♪ ♪ Touches ♪ My foolish heart ♪ Oh, lovely ♪ Never, never change ♪ Keep that breathless charm ♪ Won't you please arrange it?

♪ For I love you ♪ Just the way you look tonight ♪ ♪ ♪ Just the way ♪ You look [ Sighs ] ♪ Tonight ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Good evening.

We're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Billie Holiday with this music.

[ Cheers and applause ] It's a great honor.

It's a great joy.

It's, like, one of -- [Sighs] Oh, wow, it's a dream come true to be here.

I have always loved this place and always wanted to come here, and I've always wanted to perform here.

So thank you so much for having us.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Guitar playing ] ♪ [ Distorted music playing ] ♪ [ "Don't Explain" plays ] ♪ Hush, now ♪ Don't explain ♪ What is there to gain?

♪ I'm glad ♪ I'm back ♪ Don't explain ♪ Mm, quiet ♪ Don't explain ♪ I said, what is there to gain?

♪ ♪ I see ♪ Lipstick ♪ Don't explain ♪ You know that I love you ♪ And what love endures ♪ All my thoughts are of you ♪ For I'm so completely yours ♪ I don't want to hear folks chatter ♪ ♪ About you trying to cheat ♪ Right or wrong, it matters ♪ If you want my sweets ♪ Hush, now ♪ Don't explain ♪ You're my joy and pain ♪ My life's yours, dear ♪ Don't explain Yeah!

♪ [ Shouts ] ♪ ♪ You know that I love you ♪ And what love endures ♪ All my thoughts are of you ♪ For I'm so completely yours ♪ I don't want to hear folks chatter ♪ ♪ About you trying to cheat ♪ Right or wrong, it matters ♪ If ♪ If you want my sweets ♪ Hush, now ♪ Don't explain ♪ You're my joy and pain ♪ My life's yours, dear ♪ Don't explain ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you.

♪ ♪ [ "You Go to My Head" plays ] ♪ You go to my head ♪ And you linger like a haunting refrain ♪ ♪ And I find you spinning 'round in my brain ♪ ♪ Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne ♪ ♪ You go to my head ♪ Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew ♪ ♪ And I find the very mention of you ♪ ♪ Just like the kicker in a julep or two ♪ ♪ The thrill of the thought ♪ That you might give a thought to my plea ♪ ♪ Casts a spell over me ♪ Still, I say to myself ♪ Get ahold of yourself ♪ Can't you see ♪ That it never can be ♪ You go to my head ♪ With a smile that makes my temperature rise ♪ ♪ Like a summer with a thousand Julys ♪ ♪ You intoxicate my soul with your eyes ♪ ♪ And I'm certain ♪ That this heart of mine ♪ Hasn't a ghost of a chance ♪ In this crazy romance ♪ You go to my head ♪ ♪ And I'm certain ♪ That this heart of mine ♪ Hasn't a ghost of a chance ♪ In this crazy romance ♪ You go to my head ♪ ♪ You go to my head ♪ [ Guitar solo ] ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you.

Thank you.

Is it all right?

Y'all all right?

You okay?

[ Cheers and applause ] I know it's getting a little loud in here.

It's gonna get louder.

[ Cheers and applause ] This next song was actually made popular again in the movie "Lady Sings the Blues," and -- which was a fabulous movie.

Diana Ross.

[ Cheers and applause ] It's called "Good Morning Heartache."

♪ ♪ [ Distorted music playing ] ♪ [ "Good Morning Heartache" plays ] ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ You old, gloomy sight ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ Thought we said goodbye last night ♪ ♪ I tossed and turned until it seemed you were gone ♪ ♪ Now here you are with the dawn ♪ ♪ ♪ Wish I'd forget you ♪ But you're here to stay ♪ It seems I met you ♪ When my love went away ♪ Now every day, I start by saying to you ♪ ♪ "Good morning, heartache ♪ What's new?"

♪ ♪ Stop haunting me now ♪ Can't shake you nohow ♪ Just leave me alone ♪ I've got those Monday blues ♪ Those straight-through-Sunday blues ♪ ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ Well, here we go again ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ You're the one ♪ Who knew me when ♪ I might as well get used to you hanging around ♪ ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ Sit down ♪ Sit down!

♪ [ Distorted violin playing ] ♪ Sit down!

♪ ♪ Stop haunting me now [ Cheers and applause ] ♪ I can't shake you nohow ♪ Please, leave me alone ♪ Ooh, I've got those Monday blues ♪ ♪ Those straight-through-Sunday blues ♪ ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ Well, here we go again ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ You're the one ♪ Who knew me when ♪ I might as well get used to you hanging around ♪ ♪ Good morning, heartache ♪ ♪ Sit down ♪ ♪ [ Distorted music playing ] ♪ [ Music stops ] [ Cheers and applause ] This next song is a song that's written for Lester Young, who, as you may know -- or may not know -- was Billie Holiday's soul mate, musical soul mate, and she wasn't allowed to sing at his funeral, so -- for one reason or another.

So we wrote this song for her to sing to him now.

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ [ "Last Song (For Lester)" plays ] ♪ I flew from far away ♪ They said the last notes ♪ Of your tenor played ♪ You faded fast ♪ Now I have one regret ♪ I couldn't hold those hands ♪ That I loved the best ♪ You are my morning star ♪ Forever rising ♪ Forever breaking my heart ♪ But I'd do it ♪ I'd do it all again ♪ If they would only let me sing ♪ ♪ The last song for you ♪ My last note to you ♪ My last song for you ♪ This is the ♪ Last song for you ♪ ♪ I could not help but cry ♪ It cuts so deeply ♪ To say ♪ Goodbye ♪ So cold ♪ It was the fatal blow ♪ But I'll meet you on the other side ♪ ♪ Again anew ♪ ♪ I'm flying far away ♪ I can still hear the sound of your tenor play ♪ ♪ They would not let me sing ♪ But now we're all alone ♪ Facing the west ♪ I know I'll always sing a last song for you ♪ ♪ My last note to you ♪ A song for you ♪ This is my last song for you ♪ Last song ♪ For you ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Thank you.

We'd like to finish this set with a Billie Holiday original.

♪ [ Distorted music playing ] ♪ [ "Billie's Blues" plays ] [ Chuckles ] ♪ I love my man ♪ I'm a liar if I say I don't [ Laughs ] ♪ I love my man ♪ I'm a liar if I say I don't ♪ But I'll quit my man ♪ I'm a liar if I say I won't ♪ I've been your slave ♪ Ever since I was been your babe ♪ ♪ I've been your slave ♪ Ever since I was been your babe ♪ ♪ But before I'll be your dog [ Chuckles ] ♪ I'll see you in your grave [ Cheers and applause ] ♪ My man wouldn't give me no breakfast ♪ ♪ Wouldn't give me no dinner ♪ Squawked about my supper, then he put me outdoors ♪ ♪ He had the nerve ♪ To lay a matchbox on my clothes ♪ ♪ I didn't have so many ♪ But I know had a long, long way to go ♪ Yeah!

♪ ♪ I ain't good-looking ♪ And my hair ain't curled ♪ No, I ain't good-looking ♪ And my hair ain't curled ♪ But my mother, she gave me something ♪ ♪ That'll carry me through this world ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ Some men like me 'cause I'm happy ♪ ♪ Some 'cause I'm snappy ♪ Some call me honey ♪ Others think I got some money ♪ ♪ They say, "Baby, you're built for speed" ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ And if you put it all together ♪ ♪ It makes me everything a good man needs ♪ ♪ [ Laughs ] ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ Some men like me 'cause I'm happy ♪ ♪ Some 'cause I'm snappy ♪ Some call me honey ♪ And others think I got some money ♪ ♪ They say, "Cassandra, girl, you built for speed" ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪ And if you put it all together ♪ ♪ It makes me everything a good man needs ♪ ♪ If you put it all together ♪ It makes me everything ♪ Everything ♪ Everything ♪ A good man [ Chuckles ] ♪ Needs Thank you very much.

Thank you, "Austin City Limits."

We love you.

Goodnight!

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Drums playing ] ♪ ♪ [ "Strange Fruit" plays ] ♪ Southern trees [ Cheers and applause ] ♪ Bear a strange fruit ♪ Blood on the leaves ♪ And blood at the root ♪ Black bodies swinging ♪ In the southern breeze ♪ Strange fruit ♪ Hanging ♪ From the poplar trees ♪ ♪ Pastoral scene ♪ Of the gallant south ♪ The bulging eyes ♪ And the twisted mouth ♪ Scent of magnolia ♪ So sweet and fresh ♪ Then the sudden smell [ Chuckles ] ♪ Of burning flesh ♪ Here is fruit ♪ For the crows to pluck ♪ For the rain to gather ♪ For the wind to suck [ Laughs ] ♪ For the sun to rot ♪ For the tree to drop ♪ Here is a strange ♪ And bitter ♪ Bitter [ Chuckles ] ♪ Crop [ Electric guitar plays ] ♪ ♪ [ Feedback ] ♪ Goodnight!

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Our intention was to revisit the spirit of Billie Holiday, to celebrate the spirit of Billie Holiday, and that means you don't have to imitate her.

Just be yourself.

And that's what we were doing.

I think she started that whole style of singing that was very conversational and very in tune with what the musicians were doing.

She was... very close to the musicians.

You know, singers tend to be a separate breed, but Billie Holiday hung out with musicians.

They all adored her, and she had a very special way of communicating with them.

Anybody who sings a song like "Strange Fruit" in 1939 is a rebel with a cause.

Yeah, she was very controversial.

I think she was the very first rock star, you know, because she was living that kind of a life, and she didn't really -- she didn't care what people thought about her, you know.

She did herself.

She was Billie all the time.

When she went onstage, she was Billie Holiday, and no regrets, no compromises.

The music helps you to get there.

I think it's very important to have the music and to know what you're doing musically as a vocalist.

You have to be able to communicate with the musicians, but once that's done, once you've got that under your belt, what are you gonna say to the heart?

Because music is always about the heart, and it's about healing the heart.

It's about communicating ideas through the heart, not the head.

I'm from Mississippi.

So, you know, my mother listened to country music.

She used to love -- oh, God, what's his name?

♪ Down in the west -- east -- ♪ West Texas town of El Paso Marty Robbins.

She loved Marty Robbins, and she loved Hank Williams.

And she also loved Motown, and my father was a jazz musician.

So I heard all of this music, and on the radio at that time, in the '70s, FM radio was a broader, much broader spectrum of music.

So that's all in there.

That's all in my head, and I refuse to let it go.

That's me.

That's who I am.

Tune in to Peabody Award-winning "Austin City Limits" to experience the best in original music.

♪ 4,000 years ago ♪ I came back to my senses ♪ Jumped on a laser ray and flew into a new dimension ♪ ♪ This vertical line, I watch it go by ♪ ♪ I can feel it ♪ Overheating ♪ A burning heart unstuck in time ♪ To view full "ACL" episodes, go to... Connect with your world and the music you love.

Dell technology solutions.

Proud to bring you "Austin City Limits."

Austin is... ♪ ...the live-music capital of the world.

And the Austin Convention Center, proud sponsors of Austin City Limits.

♪ MAN: Ah.

♪ In a HomeAway vacation rental, you can make memories not just where you go, but where you stay.

HomeAway.com.

Let's stay together.

♪ And my hair ain't curled ♪ But my mother, she gave me something ♪ ♪ That'll carry me through this world ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ Some men like me 'cause I'm happy ♪ ♪ Some 'cause I'm snappy ♪ Some call me honey ♪ Others think I got some money ♪ ♪ They say, "Baby, you're built for speed" ♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪ And if you put it all together ♪ ♪ It makes me everything a good man needs ♪ [ Laughs ] ♪