DINAH WASHINGTON (1924-1963): Legendary, iconic, and versatile musician, singer, songwriter, ensemble leader, arranger, and song stylist

SOUND PROJECTIONS

AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE

EDITOR:  KOFI  NATAMBU

FALL, 2015

VOLUME TWO            NUMBER ONE 

JIMI HENDRIX 

Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:

LAURA MVULA
October 10-16

DIZZY GILLESPIE
October 17-23

LESTER YOUNG
October 24-30
 
TIA FULLER
October 31-November 6
 
ROSCOE MITCHELL
November 7-13

MAX ROACH
November 14-20
 
DINAH WASHINGTON
November 21-27

BUDDY GUY
November 28-December 4

JOE HENDERSON
December 5-11

HENRY THREADGILL
December 12-18

MUDDY WATERS
December 19-25

B.B. KING
December 26-January 1



DINAH WASHINGTON
 
Primary Instrument: Vocalist

Born: August 29, 1924 | Died: December 14, 1963

The versatile vocalist Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa Alabama on August 29th 1924. She grew up in Chicago where her family moved in 1928.

Her mother was heavily involved in church community centered around St Luke’s Baptist and Dinah was surrounded by gospel and church music since her early childhood. She exhibited musical talents at an early age and was part of the church choir playing the piano and singing gospel in her early teens. At age 15, enamored by Billie Holiday, she started playing and singing the blues in local clubs and made quite a name for herself. In 1942 Lionel Hampton heard her and hired her for to front his band. Hampton claims that it was he who gave her the name Dinah Washington but other sources disagree.

Some suggest the talent agent Joe Glaser suggested the new name and others cite the manager of the bar where she was performing at the time as the person who recommended it. This was also the year when she married her firs husband; John Young (she would marry 6 more times). She remained with Lionel Hampton from 1943-1946 and during this tenure made her recording debut, a blues session produced by Leonard Feather for Keynote records. She became quite popular both as the band singer for Hampton and as a solo artist. She used her new found financial success to buy a home for her mother and sister. She left Hampton’s orchestra early 1946 while she was living in LA and shortly afterwards recorded blues sides for the small Apollo label. Her big break came very shortly afterwards when she signed with Mercury label on January 14 1946. During her stay with Mercury she recorded a number of top ten hits in a multitude of genres including blues, R&B, pop, standards, novelties, even country. She never was strictly a jazz singer but did record number of jazz sessions with some of the most influential musicians of the day including Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, and Ben Webster. Her most memorable jazz recording is with Clifford Brown; the classic Dinah Jams from 1955.

After the unexpected commercial success of “What a Diff'rence a Day Makes,” in 1959, which marked Washington’s breakthrough into the mainstream pop and won her a Grammy; she stopped recording blues and jazz songs and concentrated on more easy listening tunes characterized by lush orchestrations. The critics decried this shift in her career but it did bring her music more widespread exposure and commercial success. She started having problems with her weight so she became dependant on diet pills and on Dec. 14, 1963 she died of an accidental overdose of alcohol and diet pills in a hotel room in Detroit. She was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Chicago.

Artist Biography:  

DINAH WASHINGTON:  1924-1963

by Richard S. Ginell

 

Dinah Washington was at once one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century -- beloved to her fans, devotees, and fellow singers; controversial to critics who still accuse her of selling out her art to commerce and bad taste. Her principal sin, apparently, was to cultivate a distinctive vocal style that was at home in all kinds of music, be it R&B, blues, jazz, middle of the road pop -- and she probably would have made a fine gospel or country singer had she the time. Hers was a gritty, salty, high-pitched voice, marked by absolute clarity of diction and clipped, bluesy phrasing. Washington's personal life was turbulent, with seven marriages behind her, and her interpretations showed it, for she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental, yet still gripping hold on the universal subject of lost love. She has had a huge influence on R&B and jazz singers who have followed in her wake, notably Nancy Wilson, Esther Phillips, and Diane Schuur, and her music is abundantly available nowadays via the huge seven-volume series The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury. 

Born Ruth Lee Jones, she moved to Chicago at age three and was raised in a world of gospel, playing the piano and directing her church choir. At 15, after winning an amateur contest at the Regal Theatre, she began performing in nightclubs as a pianist and singer, opening at the Garrick Bar in 1942. Talent manager Joe Glaser heard her there and recommended her to Lionel Hampton, who asked her to join his band. Hampton says that it was he who gave Ruth Jones the name Dinah Washington, although other sources claim it was Glaser or the manager of the Garrick Bar. In any case, she stayed with Hampton from 1943 to 1946 and made her recording debut for Keynote at the end of 1943 in a blues session organized by Leonard Feather with a sextet drawn from the Hampton band. With Feather's "Evil Gal Blues" as her first hit, the records took off, and by the time she left Hampton to go solo, Washington was already an R&B headliner. Signing with the young Mercury label, Washington produced an enviable string of Top Ten hits on the R&B charts from 1948 to 1955, singing blues, standards, novelties, pop covers, even Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." She also recorded many straight jazz sessions with big bands and small combos, most memorably with Clifford Brown on Dinah Jams but also with Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Ben Webster, Wynton Kelly, and the young Joe Zawinul (who was her regular accompanist for a couple of years). 

  
In 1959, Washington made a sudden breakthrough into the mainstream pop market with "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," a revival of a Dorsey Brothers hit set to a Latin American bolero tune. For the rest of her career, she would concentrate on singing ballads backed by lush orchestrations for Mercury and Roulette, a formula similar to that of another R&B-based singer at that time, Ray Charles, and one that drew plenty of fire from critics even though her basic vocal approach had not changed one iota. Although her later records could be as banal as any easy listening dross of the period, there are gems to be found, like Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain," which has a beautiful, bluesy Ernie Wilkins chart conducted by Quincy Jones. Struggling with a weight problem, Washington died of an accidental overdose of diet pills mixed with alcohol at the tragically early age of 39, still in peak voice, still singing the blues in an L.A. club only two weeks before the end. 

http://musiced.about.com/od/singersvocalists/p/dinahwashington.htm

Born as Ruth Lee Jones on August 29, 1924

Birthplace:  Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Died: December 14, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan due to accidental prescription drug overdose.

Early Years:

Dinah grew up amidst the sound of church choirs and gospel music. Thus, it is no wonder that at an early age she developed an interest on the piano and a love of singing. She was also influenced by the blues singer Billie Holiday.

During her teens, she decided to try her luck and began performing at nightclubs where she was eventually discovered by Joe Glaser. Glaser referred her to Lionel Hampton who hired her as vocalist for his band. Dinah performed with Hampton's band from 1943 to 1946. She made her recording debut under Keynote Records in 1943.

Rise to Fame:

When Dinah decided to go solo and left Hampton's band in 1946, she had already attracted a loyal following. She recorded several songs under the Apollo label before signing on to Mercury. Under the Mercury label, Dinah recorded a string of songs in various genres including blues, jazz and pop.

Many of her songs became top 10 hits; she also collaborated with other artists and bands, most notably with Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley and duets with Brook Benton. In 1959, the success of her song "What a Diff'rence A Day Makes" (won a Grammy) marked her shift from blues and jazz music to ballads.

Songs:

Her songs include: "Evil Gal Blues," ‘Salty Papa Blues,’ "Cold, Cold Heart," "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," “Baby Get Lost," "Trouble in Mind," “This Bitter Earth," "Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)" and “A Rockin’ Good Way."

Additional Facts:

• Dinah is also referred to as "The Queen of the Blues."
• She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
• She was married 7 times and has 2 sons. Her first husband was John Young.
• The origin of her stage name remains unclear. Some say it was given to her by talent manager Joe Glaser, others say it was Lionel Hampton.
•  

http://blackhistorynow.com/dinah-washington/

Dinah Washington

July 2, 2011

inShare

 

 DINAH WASHINGTON

1924-1963 

Dinah Washington was one of the most beloved, versatile, and popular singers of her generation and, indeed, in all of American popular music history. An artistic descendent of classic Blues Age divas such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, she built on her early gospel roots to master a wide range of genres. These included jazz, blues, R&B, and lushly orchestrated ballads, which earned her critical acclaim, hit record sales, and the billing “Queen of the Blues.”

Washington was born Ruth Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1924. Relocating to the south side of Chicago at the age of three or four, she mastered the piano under the influence of her mother, who played at St. Luke’s Baptist Church. During this early stage, Washington’s focus was on gospel music and spirituals. She began to perform with the acclaimed gospel pioneer Sallie Martin in 1940, with whose choir she toured the gospel circuit as accompanist for a period of time.

But secular music had already had an effect on the young artist. Washington had won first prize at an amateur contest at Chicago’s renowned Regal Theater even before joining Martin. She earned the attention of booking agent Joe Glaser, and that of Joe Sherman who ran the Garrick Stage Bar. She appeared at the Garrick in a featured billing. This brought her to the notice of prominent bandleader Lionel Hampton, who immediately recognized Washington’s talent and signed her to perform with his band in 1943. Hampton claimed to have given her the stage name of Dinah Washington, although other accounts credit either Glaser or Sherman with the inspired choice.

Washington would not mix sacred and secular styles in her performances. Having embarked on a popular music career, she subsequently refused to include gospel music in her repertoire; but her gospel roots could still be heard in her soulful delivery and melismatic touches, imparting emotional depth to any kind of material.

Her Rise to Stardom

Her rise to stardom proceeded quickly. Leonard Feather, a noted jazz critic and composer, heard Washington in Hampton’s band at New York’s famous Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1943. At his urging, Keynote Records produced a debut recording session for her; but so long as she remained part of Hampton’s band, solo recording opportunities would remain scarce. By the end of the year, she resigned from the band, and promptly went on to record three sessions in Los Angeles for the Apollo label. She then moved to the fledgling Mercury label. Her first recording date for Mercury was in January of 1946, and by the summer of 1948, she was gaining fame as a solo singer and recording artist. In just a single year, 1950, she produced five hit recordings including “I Wanna Be Loved” and “It Isn’t Fair.”

Throughout the mid-1950s, Washington recorded with a series of jazz instrumentalists representing some of the reigning talent of the time: drummer Max Roach; saxophonists Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Cannonball Adderly; trumpeters Clifford Brown and Clark Terry; and arranger Quincy Jones. Tenor sax player Eddie Chamblee also performed in her combo, and became one of her many husbands (variously numbered at seven or nine, she also had two children).

Singing the Hits

She ascended to pop superstardom in 1959 with her recording of the ballad “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes,” a Dorsey Brothers hit re-arranged by Belford Hendricks. Several more pop hits followed, including “Unforgettable,” “This Bitter Earth,” “September in the Rain,” and “Where Are You?” assisted by the market-savvy Artists & Repertoire executive Clyde Otis. At Otis’ suggestion, Washington also recorded duets with Brook Benton (featuring “Baby, You Got What It Takes,” a major pop and R&B hit in 1960, and “Rockin’ Good Way”) whose deep voice complemented her high register in an emotionally resonant style. Her other top-ten hits of this period included pop covers, novelty songs, and even a version of Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart,” but she increasingly focused on orchestrated ballads as time went on.

By some accounts, she became known as the best jazz and blues singer of the age. Washington’s exceptionally varied talent and range would make her a “cross-over superstar” in today’s marketplace, and her insistence on singing and recording what she liked, regardless of genre conventions, would make her an icon of personal vision and artistic integrity. Washington’s personal life, however, was turbulent. It showed in her music, and her uncanny ability to convey the subject of lost love and sadness. And it inevitably took its toll. In addition to her multiple marriages, she had struggled for many years with both a weight problem (for which she had taken diet pills) and an alcohol problem. An accidental combination of the two substances caused her untimely death in Detroit, Michigan, on December 14, 1963, at the too-young age of 39. She had sung the blues in a Los Angeles club just two weeks prior to her passing.

She was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1991, which cites the fact that her “…penetrating, high-pitched voice, incredible sense of drama and timing, crystal clear enunciation and equal facility with sad, bawdy, celebratory or rousing material enabled her to sing any and everything with distinction…. Dinah Washington remains the biggest influence on most black female singers who have come to prominence since the mid-‘50s.” A comprehensive set of recordings, “The Complete Dinah Washington,” is available today.

http://www.economist.com/node/3172481

Dinah Washington

None finer

September 9th 2004 

SHE was Queen of the Blues and she brooked no rivals. During a tour of Britain in 1959, Dinah Washington told her audience: “I'm happy to be here, but just remember. There's one heaven, one earth and one queen: Elizabeth is an imposter.” Far from being shocked, her listeners loved it. It was just what they expected from the singer whose first hit had been “Evil Gal Blues”. Throughout her career, Dinah Washington's vocal power was matched by a formidable personality which kept her in the newspaper headlines as much as in the Top 40.

Musically, style was the woman. Like many black American singers, her background was in gospel music: indeed, she was a church soloist at the age of 15. Yet even then, she had her eye on show business, and she translated the ardour of the gospel repertoire into the secular and sexual passion of the blues. Her delivery combined intense feeling with crystal-clear diction so that, as the music poured out, she still seemed in total control. An early critic was struck by her “tart, take-me-or-leave-me sound”, and her vibrant, seductively self-possessed timbre made her a star by the age of 20.

Nadine Cohodas's rich, well-researched biography compellingly charts her subject's rise, and the stormy dramas which attended it. Wilful and volatile, the Queen of the Blues always got what she wanted.

Her determination was a godsend to young musicians she believed in. When she demanded that her record company hire Quincy Jones—then an unknown arranger, now a global entertainment magnate—for her next album, its executives said they preferred “a name”. “Here”, replied the Queen, “is a name for your ass: Dinah Washington, and Quincy Jones is my arranger.” Mr Jones got his break. He also became one of the singer's many lovers, for the Queen got what she wanted romantically as well, at least in the short term. Her string of brief marriages and lovers is a life-long pattern that Ms Cohodas attributes to insecurity and to an inability to be alone. 

Yet the impression from this book is not of vulnerability, but of a salty independence. Even in dealing with her public, Dinah Washington imposed her own terms, once shushing a noisy listener with, “Mister, I hope I don't have to call you motherfucker.” Whatever she called them, her fans were entranced by a style that could put its stamp on any material—blues, jazz or pop. She ranged with relish from the double-entendre rudery of “Long John Blues” to the high romance of “What a Difference a Day Made”. And musicians loved her too, despite the imperious moods. They respected her consummate professionalism and an ear so keen that she could, she said, hear grass grow.

Her talent was projected by sheer force of emotional commitment. As she put it: “I lead with my heart all the time.” To some critics, her full-frontal attack was ideal for rhythm and blues, but was less well suited to the tonal and rhythmic subtleties of jazz. Ms Cohodas acknowledges that the singer lacked the suppleness of such divas as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Yet even jazz listeners praised what one called “that fine, hard Dinah clarity and impact of sound”.

Ms Cohodas's chronicle derives its interest and authority from such first-hand observations. Generally, the author does not overdo speculation, though she does keep the reader apprised of the racism black Americans—including stars—routinely had to endure. She also highlights the social pressure that the cult of beauty exerted on women, and even on Dinah Washington, who always harboured a sense of physical inferiority. Ms Cohodas believes that an obsession with dieting had something to do with the singer's death in 1963 (she was just 39) from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Yet the Dinah Washington who dominates these pages does not seem at all cut out for the role of victim. Whatever the cost, she was every inch the Queen.

Music

Dinah Washington: A Queen in Turmoil

Biography Tells of Singer's Volatile Life and Unforgettable Music

Updated December 12, 2012

Dinah Washington skirted the boundaries of blues, jazz and popular music, becoming the most popular black female recording artist of the Fifties.
Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones on August 29, 1924, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She grew up on Chicago’s Southside, raised by a devoutly religious mother who sang in church and taught piano. Washington learned how to play piano at an early age and became a powerful gospel singer. She and her mother became popular attractions at local churches. Eventually, Washington was drawn to more secular music, and, when she was 15, she entered a talent contest at the Regal Theater. She won the contest and began splitting her time between church performances and club appearances.
In 1943, Washington learned that Billie Holiday would be performing at the Garrick Stage Lounge in Chicago. She landed a gig as a singer in Garrick’s house band and soon found herself working in the same club as her idol. Lionel Hampton caught one of her shows and offered to take her on the road with his big band. By this time she had changed her name from Ruth Jones to Dinah Washington. She received her first national exposure while performing with Hampton’s band.
In 1946, Washington left Hampton’s band and began her own recording career. Washington’s first recordings were released by the independent Keynote label. She moved on to Apollo Records and then signed with Mercury Records, where she reigned for 15 years as R&B royalty. She scored a string of Top 10 R&B hits, including “Baby Get Lost” (1949), “Trouble in Mind” (1952), “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” (1959) and “This Bitter Earth” (1960).
In 1960, Washington also sang two Number One R&B duets with Brook Benton, “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” and “A Rockin’ Good Way.” Both songs also reached the Top 10 on the pop charts. After 18 years with Mercury, Washington signed with Roulette Records in 1961.
Washington’s career ended abruptly on December 14, 1963, when she died after mixing alcohol and weight-reduction pills.
Three of Washington’s songs – “Unforgettable,” “Teach Me Tonight” and “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” – have been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. And in 1993, the U.S. Postal Service honored Washington with a commemorative postage stamp.
- See more at: https://rockhall.com/inductees/dinah-washington/bio/#sthash.5nddp4sv.dpuf

AUDIO:  <iframe src="http://www.npr.org/player/embed/3872390/3877911" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe>

Singer Dinah Washington, the Grammy-winning "Queen of the Jukeboxes," left her turbulent life behind at the tender age of 39. In that short period, a volatile mix of undeniable talent and deep-rooted insecurity took her to the heights of fame and the depths of self-doubt.

CD Cover of 'Queen: The Music of Dinah Washington.'

Courtesy of Verve Records 

 

That was in 1963. Now, as fans mark what would have been Washington's 80th birthday, music historian Nadine Cohodas fills NPR's Liane Hansen in on some of the story. Cohodas has written Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington.

Born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1924, the former Ruth Lee Jones moved with her family to Chicago as a young girl. She considered the Windy City her true home. And it was there in the early 1940s that a local nightclub owner provided her first gig — and a new name that she would make famous. By 1959 she had earned a Grammy for her version of the song "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes."

In his 2001 biography Q, music legend Quincy Jones vividly describes Washington's style, saying she "could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator and you would've still understood every single syllable."

But the singer's musical gifts were offset by a wild and extravagant personal life. Married seven times, Washington battled weight problems and raced through her profits buying shoes, furs and cars in an effort to lift her spirits.

Washington also tried numerous prescription medications, primarily for dieting and insomnia. A mix of the pills she was taking in 1963 caused her death, which was ruled an accident. Her gift lives on through her rich musical legacy.

Related NPR Stories

Celebrating the Difference Dinah Washington Made Aug. 27, 2004

Musician, Producer, Arranger, Composer Quincy Jones March 14, 2003

Etta Jones Obituary Oct. 17, 2001

Web Resources

DinahtheQueen.com

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Dinah Washington

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Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center ready for its debut in downtown Tuscaloosa

Site will be home for arts, artists and art lovers

James Conner unloads his acrylic paintings on Tuesday for an exhibit inside the Arts Council Gallery at the new Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center on Greensboro Avenue. The exhibit will be up through Sept. 27. The arts center is scheduled to officially open tonight.

Michelle Lepianka Carter | The Tuscaloosa News

By Mark Hughes Cobb
Staff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Published: Thursday, August 29, 2013

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center opens with a party tonight on the anniversary of the birthday of its namesake, the legendary blues singer who was born in Tuscaloosa.

Facts

Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center

What: Open house and ribbon-cutting
When: 6:30 p.m. today
Where: 620 Greensboro Ave.
Admission: Free
More info: Call 205-758-5195 or visit the website
cac.tuscarts.org

The center will serve as this area’s newest home for arts, artists and arts lovers.

The converted Allen and Jemison building at Seventh Street and Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa is using 120,000 square feet crafted into a pair of airy exhibit spaces, a black-box theater, grand hall, catering areas and office spaces.

The center is managed by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa, the umbrella organization that also runs the Bama Theatre on the other corner of that Greensboro block. 

The interior of the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center mixes old and new, with the sturdy brick facade of the 1903 building largely intact. Ground floor ceilings soar 18 feet high; heart pine floors were refinished and towering windows replaced. Rotating walls were added to the exhibit areas. Pneumatic tubes were left curving overhead from the days when the old hardware store workers sent money zooming back to the cashier’s office. Those rear spaces have been turned into homes for the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theatre, the Tuscaloosa Community Dancers, the Arts Council’s satellite office and more.

The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center will play host to rotating exhibits from the community and University of Alabama and will host performances of theater and music. The center will be available to rent for weddings, community meetings and rehearsals.

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http://www.alamhof.org/inductees/timeline/1991/dinah-washington/ 

Dinah Washington
(Aug. 29, 1924-Dec. 14, 1963)
1991 Inductee (Lifework Award)

 

Shifting effortlessly from extraordinary work in gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm-and-blues and pop, Tuscaloosa native Dinah Washington became known one of the most versatile female vocalists in the history of American popular music.
 
Born Ruth Lee Jones, her family left Alabama for the north when she was three years old. Washington grew up in Chicago, where she first entered the world of music playing piano and directing her church choir. For a while she divided her time between performing in clubs and singing and playing piano in Salle Martin’s gospel choir. She won an amateur contest at the Regal Theatre when she was fifteen.
 
Stories differ about Ruth Jones’ sudden name change to Dinah Washington. Some say the name was given to her by the manager of the Garrick Stage Bar, while others insist that she was rechristened Dinah Washington once she came to the admiring attention of legendary jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. Once he heard her sing, Hampton hired Washington to perform with his band from 1943 from 1946.
 
Washington’s penetrating, high-pitched voice – along with her incredible sense of drama and timing, her crystal-clear enunciation and equal facility with sad, bawdy, celebratory or rousing material – enabled her to sing anything and everything. The so-called “Queen of the Blues” recorded any style of music she liked, regardless of whether the material was considered suitable for the commercial market. She even recorded a hit cover of Hank Williams’ country standard “Cold, Cold Heart.”

Some of Washington’s biggest rhythm-and-blues hits – including her first, the 1943 “Evil Gal Blues” – were written by Leonard Feather, the distinguished music critic who was also a successful composer in the 1940s. The singer dominated the R&B charts in the late ’40s and ’50s, but she also recorded straight jazz sessions for EmArcy and Mercury, with horn accompaniment by Clifford Brown, Clark Terry and Maynard Ferguson and piano by Wynton Kelly, a young Joe Zawinul and Andrew Hill. Although best known as singer, Washington also wrote two of her Top 10 R&B hits, “Good Daddy Blues” and “I Only Know.”

Washington’s most gripping recordings were released during the first fifteen years of her career, leading up to her biggest hit on the mainstream pop charts, “What a Difference a Day Makes,” a Grammy Award-winning revival of the Dorsey Brothers standard set to a Latin American bolero tune. The following year, Washington recorded two duets with Brook Benton – “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)” and “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)” – that climbed to No. 1 on the R&B charts and rose into the Top 10 on the pop charts.

For the rest of her career, Washington would concentrate on recording ballads backed by lush orchestrations for the Mercury and Roulette labels. Her personal life was turbulent – including seven failed marriages – and her vocal interpretations of sultry, sensual torch songs reflected that emotional complexity. Not no matter what style of music she was singing, she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental grasp of the heartbreaking theme of lost love. Latter-day singers Nancy Wilson, Esther Phillips and Diane Schurr have cited Washington as one of their principal musical influences.

Struggling with a weight problem, Washington was nevertheless still in peak musical form when she died of an accidental overdose of diet pills and alcohol at the age of 39. She was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1986. Washington’s music found a new generation of admirers through the 1988 release of a seven-volume musical retrospective, The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted her as an early influence in 1993.


http://cultureswithvivendi.com/en/inspirations/dinah-washington-2/

Asaf Avidan

Dinah Washington (1924 – 1963)

The jazz diva of Chicago is widely known for her “torch songs” (i.e. melancholy love songs). As a songwriter encompassing a wide range of amorous feelings and their infinite variations, Asaf Avidan drew ample inspiration from Dinah Washington’s discography. 

To discover Dinah Washington

Gold (2007)

Dinah Washington was born on August 29, 1924 in Alabama, but grew up in Chicago where she started singing. She drew attention for her precocious talent from a very early age and joined a Gospel choir, of which she soon became the director, playing the piano in churches and winning contests. Before long, she came to prefer Chicago’s jazz clubs to its churches, turning away from gospel to excel in rhythm 'n' blues, traditional blues and jazz. With her remarkable voice, she quickly made a name for herself as “Queen of the blues”. Dinah Washington, who died prematurely at the age of 39, had a meteoric career as a rising star in Harlem and an icon of the black community, and her recordings met with enormous success. She remains one of the most exceptional artists of the nineteen-fifties.
With her version of “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” she won a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Rhythm & Blues Interpretation and the song immediately became a smash hit.

http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/2004/09/nadine-cohodas-author-of-queen-the-life-and-music-of-dinah-washington/

Washington, Dinah (Ruth Lee Jones), (1924-1963)

Interviews » Biographers

Nadine Cohodas, author of Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington

September 13, 2004 

Nadine Cohodas’s Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington is the landmark biography of the brief, intensely lived life and soulful music of the great Dinah Washington.

A gospel star at fifteen, she was discovered by jazz great Lionel Hampton at eighteen, and for the rest of her life was on the road, playing clubs, or singing in the studio — making music one way or another.

Dinah’s tart and heartfelt voice quickly became her trademark; she was a distinctive stylist, crossing over from the “race” music category to the pop and jazz charts.  Known in her day as Queen of the Blues and Queen of the Juke Boxes, Dinah was regarded as that rare “first take” artist, her studio recordings reflecting the same passionate energy she brought to the stage.  She suffered her share of heartbreak in her personal life, but she thrived on the growing audience response that greeted her signature tunes: “What A Difference A Day Makes,” “Evil Gal Blues,” and “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes),” with Brook Benton.  She made every song she sang her own.

Dinah lives large in Queen, with her seven marriages; her penchant for clothes, cars, furs, and diets; and her famously feisty personality — testy one moment and generous the next.  Cohodas meticulously researched this subject; Queen is the fist book on Dinah to draw on extensive interviews with family members and newly discovered documents.

In a September, 2004 interview with Jerry Jazz Musician publisher Joe Maita, Cohodas talks about the life of Dinah Washington — a complex woman who was born to entertain, and to be loved.

photo © Chuck Stewart

“She had a voice that was like the pipes of life. She could take any melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator, and you would’ve still understood every single syllable of every single word she sang. Every single melody she sang she made hers. Once she put her soulful trademark on a song, she owned it and it was never the same.”

– Quincy Jones

*

Listen to Dinah Washington sing All Of Me

______________________________________________

JJM  How did Dinah Washington’s music affect you to the point that you chose to spend a good deal of your life writing about hers?

NC  I discovered Bessie Smith first and then backtracked a little to Ma Rainey. By the time I bought my first Dinah Washington record, it was after she had languished some following her death, and when Polygram — the successor to Mercury Records and one of Dinah’s labels — began reissuing some of her work. The one I bought was Slick Chick: On the Mellow Side, which had an intriguing cover and wonderful songs. I brought it home and thought that it was pretty wonderful music. I enjoyed the sound of her voice and the sass in it. But this was twenty-two years ago, and I was in Washington, D.C., writing about Congress and the Judiciary committee for Congressional Quarterly, which consumed all of my focus. Listening to music is what one does in those “off moments.” During this time, Dinah remained in my consciousness, albeit somewhat in the background.

The first music adventure for me was through freelance articles, and that is what led me to the Chess Brothers, who I wrote about in Spinning Blues Into Gold. After the book came out, Dinah came charging back to the forefront. I always remembered the sound of her voice and her intriguingly complicated private life. I did some research to determine if a definitive biography already existed, and felt that there was room for a serious treatment of her life. she is a wonderful singer who left an extraordinary music legacy, and in my view she has been under-appreciated and under-recognized.

Ruth Jones, age 15

“‘I wanna be a showgirl,’ Ruth told her mother more than once.  And Sallie Martin could see that her young protegee was drawn more to the secular than the sacred.  ‘Shoot, she’d catch the eye of some man and she’d be out the church before the minister finished off the doxology.'”

– Nadine Cohodas

JJM  When did Dinah — known as Ruth Jones in her youth — first show signs of musical talent?

NC  Almost from the moment she opened her mouth and sang in public, which was in church. When she moved to Chicago at age four, her mother got very involved in Saint Luke Baptist, right in the heart of the city’s black belt.  Ruth started singing. According to the Chicago Defender, by the time she was fifteen she was already a little star, enough to be giving solo recitals. As a result of her success, she hooked up with Sallie Martin, the colleague and one time business partner of the great Thomas Dorsey. So, she possessed this great talent at an early age, but she told her mother that she wanted to be a showgirl.

JJM  As a young singer herself, what singer most intrigued her?

NC  By her own accounts and those of many others, I would have to say Billie Holiday. In the very first publicity picture taken of Dinah when she was with Lionel Hampton, she is wearing a patterned dress slit up the side, high heeled shoes, and her hair is cut in a Paige-boy with a gardenia pinned to it, just like Lady Day.

photo courtesy Berna Dean Brown

Ruth and her first husband, John Young
June 24, 1942
_____

“When it came to men, Dinah was determined to do the leaving, never wanting to risk being left.”

– Nadine Cohodas

JJM Having been married seven times, it’s safe to say that Dinah had her share of troubles with men. Did she exhibit any signs at all of being boy crazy during her youth?

NC  From what I could gather, I would say it was maybe a little bit the opposite of boy crazy. However, having said that, I need to add that the reporting challenge in this biography was as great as anything I have ever done. What you read in the book, for good or ill, is what I was able to dig out. I was very grateful to find people who remembered her from high school who could help me understand Dinah as well as the community in which she lived. I think that Dinah — still Ruth at this time — felt that her talent was her strongest asset, and that she wasn’t a little Lena Horne or a little Dorothy Dandridge.

She very frankly talks about her first husband as a way to get out of the house and be able to be on her own. Then, one encounter led to another. It is important to remember that the entertainer’s life, even to this day, is not easy. It demands a lot of work away from home. A performer is always on the road or in a club, and the work almost exclusively is done at night. While most of us do our work in the daylight hours and when it gets dark we go to bed, it is the opposite for them.

JJM  So, as far as you can tell, even though she seemed to have so many insecurities around men during her adult years, nothing you were able to uncover of her time as a young adult was particularly unusual regarding her relationship with boys…

NC  Nothing beyond amateur psychological analysis, which I am not comfortable with. But there is one thing we can say; in some respects you can make the argument that there is a streak of moralism in her regarding her need to be married to the man she felt close to. When she developed a relationship that felt good to her, she thought she ought to be married instead of just hanging around. I do believe that was important to her. The other thing that I keep coming back to as well is that many of her contemporaries also had very difficult personal lives, among them Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Ruth Brown. They also went through a lot of men. I don’t mean this to be a cheap “out,” but I think failed relationships come with the territory, and it falls with a kind of singular difficulty on women. It is not to say that there weren’t a lot of men out there having similar struggles, but we notice it more when they happen to women.

Lionel Hampton
_____

“‘I knew she was the girl I was looking for,’ Hampton said.  He liked her ‘gutty style.’  It wasn’t that she was brassy.  Her voice was too crisp and clear for that.  But she sang with conviction, direct yet with feeling.  Hampton was certain she could be heard ‘even with my blazing band in the background.'”

– Nadine Cohodas

The Man I Love

JJM  True. When she joined Lionel Hampton’s band, right away she discovered that she had some things going against her…

NC  Yes. Imagine how hurtful it could be to a young woman like Dinah to be around an all male band who enjoyed telling stories in a jocular manner. Hers was a raw talent — raw in the most basic sense of the word. She didn’t come from a wealthy family, and in fact, she barely had a suitcase. When she walked on the band’s bus, the reaction she received from the members was, “Oh my God, this is our new singer?”

JJM  Situations like this drove her on a life long quest to keep her weight down…

NC  Yes, and to look good, not only sound good.  She loved mink, which was a sign of status. As soon as stars of the era could afford one, they would buy a fur, along with beautiful jewelry and fancy cars. But what was so striking to me was that the first thing that Dinah did was buy a house, at age twenty-three, for her mother and siblings. Her sister Clarissa said that from the moment Dinah started making money, their lives improved.

JJM You wrote of her early stage career, “Hampton had plucked her out of the Garrick Stagebar and taken her out on the road without any advance planning. She was ‘raggedy,’ he admitted, and it was true that Dinah didn’t have fancy dresses and the accessories to go with them. Back in Chicago, she confided to friends, she had had to borrow her mother’s nylon stockings every now and then when she was trying to get jobs in the clubs.”  Who helped Dinah develop her on stage image?

NC  Well, the best evidence I have is that it was Gladys Hampton, Lionel’s wife. I believe it was Gladys who helped Dinah get a sense of how to look nice on stage. Because they were similar in size, early on Dinah could borrow some of Gladys’s gowns, before she figured out what she wanted to look like and before she could afford the clothing herself.

Frank Driggs Collection


Dinah Washington and Lionel Hampton, 1945
_____

“If she was going to sing with a big band, and a hot one at that, the plain and pedestrian ‘Ruth Jones’ would not do. Hampton and Glaser claim credit for giving Ruth a new name. But verifiable chronology suggests it was Joe Sherman who came up with ‘Dinah Washington.’  ‘You ought to have something that rolls off people’s tongues, like rich liquor,’ he explained, and to him ‘Dinah Washington’ fit the bill.'”

– Nadine Cohodas

*
Blow Top Blues

JJM Of his wife’s influence on Dinah, Hampton said, “What was interesting after Gladys went to work, the guys in the band started noticing Dinah’s legs and feet, and they nicknamed her ‘Legs.'”

NC  There is a photograph in the book of Dinah standing with Lionel on stage, in which she displays a kind of innocent exuberance. It is hardly a smashingly stylish look. Contrast that with some of the later pictures, for example one of her at the Newport Jazz Festival in a mink stole, and many others in which she is looking pretty great.

JJM  She entered Hampton’s band as Ruth Jones but left it as Dinah Washington….  Correct?

NC  That was one of the great things that I discovered. She herself discredited the notion that it was Hampton who came up with the stage name Dinah Washington.  She credits Chicago club owner Joe Sherman, who gave her her first singing job.  I believe that is true because I found a little clip in Down Beat that talked about Dinah Washington making her South side debut, singing with Lionel Hampton.  So she already was Dinah when Hampton found her and brought her to the city’s Regal Theater.

JJM  So, how did Sherman come up with that name?

NC  As the critic/producer/writer Leonard Feather noted, this was during a time when Ethel Waters — who was a heroine to so many black women in the entertainment world, and justifiably so — had recorded “Dinah,” (“Is there anyone finer?”), and Dinah Shore was making her ascent in mainstream white America. So “Dinah” could resonate in two worlds.   Washington was the name of a president and had something of an aristocratic bearing. When the names are put together –Dinah Washington – the rhythm of her name is the same as those of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Two syllable first names, three syllable last names, all taken together an evocative choice.

photo University of Missouri, Kansas City


Dinah, circa 1947

_____
“…at the end of 1946, when they (Down Beat and Metronome) published their reader polls, one effect of Dinah’s decision to strike out on her own was evident: reduced visibility. She didn’t show up at all in Down Beat‘s contest.  In Metronome she tied for twenty-third with Martha Tilton…These two polls reflected a rather select, mostly white audience, albeit an audience more receptive to black musicians and black culture than the general population.  But if the magazine polls reflected one reality, another gave Dinah palpable evidence that she was on the right course: three records on Apollo, three more on Mercury, new sessions in the works for the next year, and steady work in the clubs.  Beyond that was the creative satisfaction and release, two things Hampton couldn’t give her.”

– Nadine Cohodas
*
I Know How to Do It

JJM  Regarding her departure from Hampton’s band in 1945, Dinah said, “I knew I was going to be the best singer in the business, but wasn’t getting anywhere with Hampton.” How did they part ways?

NC  There is a story that Dinah had a little pistol she pulled on Hampton to get out of the contract, but Dinah herself never said that, nor did Hampton, including in his autobiography. So, while neither of them mentions this story, and I found no evidence that it was true, I felt I had to mention it as a myth. What is more important was getting the reader to understand what it meant to be the girl singer in a big band. Here is Dinah — a kid at the time — brimming with talent, energy, determination, who wants to sing and record, but she only gets to sing two songs a night. Hampton and his band are the stars, and she has to sit by the side of the stage until she is called. By this time, at the end of 1945, Dinah is twenty-one years old and living in Los Angeles, and decides to give it a go on her own. She leaves Hampton and within two weeks she is in a little studio making blues sides for Apollo Records, a New York independent label.

JJM  After she left Hampton, what difficulties did she encounter as a solo artist?

NC  I am tempted to say that Dinah made a pretty smooth transition. She walked out of the job with Hampton, and two weeks later was in the studio recording these sides for Apollo. Not much later, they are released. She goes back to Chicago, and Beryl Adams, who hooked up with Irving Green to start Mercury Records, said he wanted to sign her to his label because he felt she could help his “race” division. On January 14th, 1946, not even two months after she left Hampton, she was in the studio recording for Mercury, and by February, her first Mercury single came out. So, one could argue on that score that she didn’t have too much trouble. On the other hand, she had difficulty getting noticed by those at Down Beat and Metronome, who loved Dinah when she was with Hampton. Initially, her abilities as a solo artist were judged to be those of just another black singer. But in terms of her ability to do what she wanted, it seems to me that she was pretty lucky. Things fell into place with her recordings, and shortly thereafter, Ben Bart, the booking agent, took her on and put her on the road in the South on what can only be described as killer tours. I say “killer” because you can imagine how difficult one-nighters must have been for an African American woman traveling that part of the country during the forties.

THE MUSIC OF DINAH WASHINGTON: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH MS. WASHINGTON:

Dinah Washington - 'The Very Best Of...' CD 3--[Full Album]:

Tracklist:

1. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby? (3:25)
2. You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You (2:46)
3. Red Sails In The Sunset (2:34)
4. Coquette (2:58)
5. There Must Be A Way (4:08)
6. Let Me Be The First To Know (2:42)
7. Drinking Again (3:31)
8. Bill (3:00)
9. Drown In My Own Tears (2:38)
10. A Stranger On Earth (3:09)
11. I Didn't Know About You (3:07)
12. I'll Close My Eyes (2:51)
13. For All We Know (3:14)
14. What's New (3:43)
15. Funny Thing (2:35)
16. That Old Feeling (2:20)
17. He's Gone Again (2:47)
18. It's A Mean Old Man's World (3:13)
19. Make Someone Happy (3:14)
20. Icy Stone (2:32)
21. If I Never Get To Heaven (3:45)
22. Love Is The Sweetest Thing (2:46)
23. The Good Life (2:33)
24. On The Street Of Regret (2:16)


 

Dinah Washington - 'Unforgettable' [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - 'Back to the Blues' [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - 'What A Difference A Day Makes' [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy, The Very Best Of... [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - Complete Roulette Sessions (CD4) [Full Album]:

Tracklist:
1. Just One More Chance (2:33)
2. Blue Gardenia (2:47)
3. He's My Guy (3:30)
4. I Ran Out Of Reasons (3:45)
5. No One Man (2:08)
6. Let Me Be The First To Know (2:42)
7. If I Never Get To Heaven(1St V (3:55)
8. Nobody Knows The Way I Feel (8:42)
9. Don't Say Nothin' At All (2:36)
10. You've Been A Good Old Wagon (3:52)
11. Me And My Gin (4:17)
12. How Long, How Long Blues (5:00)
13. Don't Come Runnin' Back To Me (2:25)
14. Duck Before You Drown (2:13)
15. The Blues Ain't Nothin' But A (3:48)
16. Key To The Highway (2:42)
17. Romance In The Dark (2:14)
18. If I Never Get To Heaven (3:46)
19. Soulville (2:23)

 

Dinah Washington - Newport '58 (Live) [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - Verve Jazz Masters [Full Album]:

 

Dinah Washington - Ultimate [Full Album]:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah_Washington

Dinah Washington

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dinah Washington
Washington in 1962
Background information
Birth name	Ruth Lee Jones
Also known as	Queen of the Blues Queen of the Jukebox Queen of Jam Sessions
Born	August 29, 1924 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 14, 1963 (aged 39) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, traditional pop music
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, piano, vibraphone
Years active	1941–63
Labels	Keynote, Mercury, EmArcy, Roulette
Associated acts	Lionel Hampton, Brook Benton, Nat King Cole

Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963), was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s".^[1] Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music,^[1] and gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues".^[2] She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame,^[3] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Contents

• 1 Life and career
• 2 Death
• 3 Awards
• 4 Discography
  • 4.1 As leader
  • 4.2 As sideman
  • 4.3 Singles
• 5 See also
• 6 Notes
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Life and career

portrait of Dinah Washington, 1952

Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and moved to Chicago as a child. She became deeply involved in gospel and played piano for the choir in St. Luke's Baptist Church while still in elementary school. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and being a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. She sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Ms. Martin, who was co-founder of the Gospel Singers Convention. Her involvement with the gospel choir occurred after she won an amateur contest at Chicago's Regal Theater where she sang "I Can't Face the Music".^[4]

After winning a talent contest at the age of 15, she began performing in clubs. By 1941–42 she was performing in such Chicago clubs as Dave's Rhumboogie and the Downbeat Room of the Sherman Hotel (with Fats Waller). She was playing at the Three Deuces, a jazz club, when a friend took her to hear Billie Holiday at the Garrick Stage Bar. Club owner Joe Sherman was so impressed with her singing of "I Understand", backed by the Cats and the Fiddle, who were appearing in the Garrick's upstairs room, that he hired her. During her year at the Garrick – she sang upstairs while Holiday performed in the downstairs room – she acquired the name by which she became known. She credited Joe Sherman with suggesting the change from Ruth Jones, made before Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah at the Garrick.^[4] Hampton's visit brought an offer, and Washington worked as his female band vocalist after she had sung with the band for its opening at the Chicago Regal Theatre.

She made her recording debut for the Keynote label that December with "Evil Gal Blues", written by Leonard Feather and backed by Hampton and musicians from his band, including Joe Morris (trumpet) and Milt Buckner (piano).^[1][5][6] Both that record and its follow-up, "Salty Papa Blues", made Billboard's "Harlem Hit Parade" in 1944.^[7]

She stayed with Hampton's band until 1946 and, after the Keynote label folded, signed for Mercury Records as a solo singer. Her first record for Mercury, a version of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'", was another hit, starting a long string of success. Between 1948 and 1955, she had 27 R&B top ten hits, making her one of the most popular and successful singers of the period. Both "Am I Asking Too Much" (1948) and "Baby Get Lost" (1949) reached Number 1 on the R&B chart, and her version of "I Wanna Be Loved" (1950) crossed over to reach Number 22 on the US pop chart.^[7] Her hit recordings included blues, standards, novelties, pop covers, and even a version of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" (R&B Number 3, 1951). At the same time as her biggest popular success, she also recorded sessions with many leading jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown and Clark Terry on the album Dinah Jams (1954), and also recorded with Cannonball Adderley and Ben Webster.^[1][6]

In 1959, she had her first top ten pop hit, with a version of "What a Diff'rence a Day Made",^[8] which made Number 4 on the US pop chart. Her band at that time included arranger Belford Hendricks, with Kenny Burrell (guitar), Joe Zawinul (piano), and Panama Francis (drums). She followed it up with a version of Irving Gordon's "Unforgettable", and then two highly successful duets in 1960 with Brook Benton, "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (No. 5 Pop, No. 1 R&B) and "A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)" (No. 7 Pop, No. 1 R&B). Her last big hit was "September in the Rain" in 1961 (No. 23 Pop, No. 5 R&B).^[7]

According to Richard S. Ginell at AllMusic:^[1]

"[Washington] was at once one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century – beloved to her fans, devotees, and fellow singers; controversial to critics who still accuse her of selling out her art to commerce and bad taste. Her principal sin, apparently, was to cultivate a distinctive vocal style that was at home in all kinds of music, be it R&B, blues, jazz, middle of the road pop – and she probably would have made a fine gospel or country singer had she the time. Hers was a gritty, salty, high-pitched voice, marked by absolute clarity of diction and clipped, bluesy phrasing..."

Washington was well known for singing torch songs.^[9] In 1962, Dinah hired a male backing trio called the Allegros, consisting of Jimmy Thomas on drums, Earl Edwards on sax, and Jimmy Sigler on organ. Edwards was eventually replaced on sax by John Payne. A Variety writer praised their vocals as "effective choruses".^[4]

Washington's achievements included appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival (1955–59), the Randalls Island Jazz Festival in New York City (1959), and the International Jazz Festival in Washington D.C. (1962), frequent gigs at Birdland (1958, 1961–62), and performances in 1963 with Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Death

Early on the morning of December 14, 1963, Washington's seventh husband, football great Dick "Night Train" Lane, went to sleep with his wife, and awoke later to find her slumped over and not responsive. Doctor B. C. Ross came to the scene to pronounce her dead.^[4] An autopsy later showed a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital, which contributed to her death at the age of 39. She is buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Awards

Grammy Award

Year	Category	Title	Genre
1959	Best Rhythm & Blues Performance	"What a Difference a Day Makes"	R&B

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings by Dinah Washington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."^[10]

Year	Title	Genre	Label	Year Inducted
1959	"Unforgettable"	pop (single)	Mercury	2001
1954	"Teach Me Tonight"	R&B (single)	Mercury	1999
1959	"What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"	traditional pop (single)	Mercury	1998

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed a song of Dinah Washington as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.^[11]

Year	Title	Genre
1953	"TV Is The Thing (This Year)"	R&B

Honors and Inductions

• Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington is a 1964 album recorded by Aretha Franklin as a tribute.
• In 1993, the U.S. Post Office issued a Dinah Washington 29 cent commemorative postage stamp.
• In 2005, the Board of Commissioners renamed a park, near where Washington had lived in Chicago in the 1950s, Dinah Washington Park in her honor.^[12]
• In 2008, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Washington's birthplace, renamed the section of 30th Avenue between 15th Street and Kaulton Park "Dinah Washington Avenue."^[13] The unveiling ceremony for the new name took place on March 12, 2009, with Washington's son Robert Grayson and three of her grandchildren, Tracy Jones, Tera Jones, and Bobby Hill Jr., in attendance.^[14]
• On August 29, 2013, the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Washington's birthplace, dedicated the old Allen Jemison Hardware building, on the northwest corner of Greensboro Avenue and 7th Street (620 Greensboro Avenue) as the newly renovated Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center."^[15]

Year	Title	Result	Notes
1993	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	Inducted	Early Influences
1984	Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame	Inducted

Discography

As leader

• 1950: Dinah Washington (MG-25060) (compilation of previous 78s)
• 1952: Dynamic Dinah! - The Great Voice of Dinah Washington (compilation of previous 78s)
• 1952: Blazing Ballads (Compilation)
• 1954: After Hours with Miss "D"
• 1954: Dinah Jams
• 1955: For Those in Love
• 1956: Dinah!
• 1956: In the Land of Hi-Fi
• 1957: The Swingin' Miss "D"
• 1957: Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller
• 1957: Music for a First Love
• 1958: Dinah Sings Bessie Smith
• 1958: Newport '58
• 1959: The Queen
• 1959: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!
• 1959: Unforgettable
• 1960: The Two of Us (with Brook Benton)
• 1960: I Concentrate on You
• 1960: For Lonely Lovers
• 1961: September in the Rain
• 1962: Dinah '62
• 1962: In Love
• 1962: Drinking Again
• 1962: Tears and Laughter
• 1962: I Wanna Be Loved
• 1963: Back to the Blues
• 1963: Dinah '63
• 1963: This Is My Story
• 1964: In Tribute
• 1964: Dinah Washington (SR-25269) (Compilation)
• 1967: Dinah Discovered
• 2004: The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury (7 x 3-CDs, PolyGram, 1987–1989)^[16]
• 2004: The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Sessions (5-CDs, Mosaic Records)

As sideman

With Clifford Brown

• Jam Session (EmArcy, 1954) – with Maynard Ferguson and Clark Terry – appears on one track

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions
		US	CB Pop	US R&B	UK
1944	"Salty Papa Blues"			8
	"Evil Gal Blues"			9
1946	"Blow-Top Blues"(with Lionel Hampton)	21		5
1948	"Ain't Misbehavin'"			6
	"West Side Baby"			7
	"Walkin' and Talkin' (And Crying My Blues Away)"			13
	"I Want to Cry"			11
	"Resolution Blues"			15
	"Am I Asking Too Much"			1
	"It's Too Soon To Know"			2
1949	"You Satisfy"			8
	"Baby Get Lost"			1
	"Good Daddy Blues"			9
	"Long John Blues"			3
1950	"I Only Know"			3
	"It Isn't Fair"			5
	"I Wanna Be Loved"	22		5
	"I'll Never Be Free"			3
	"Time Out For Tears"			6
1951	"Harbor Lights"			10
	"My Heart Cries for You"			7
	"I Won't Cry Anymore"			6
	"Cold, Cold Heart"			3
1952	"Wheel of Fortune"			3
	"Tell Me Why"			7
	"Trouble in Mind"			4
	"New Blowtop Blues"			5
1953	"TV Is the Thing (This Year)"			3
	"Fat Daddy"			10
1954	"I Don't Hurt Anymore"			3
	"Dream"			9
	"Teach Me Tonight"	23		4
1955	"I Concentrate on You"			11
	"I Diddle"			14
	"If It's the Last Thing I Do"			13
	"That's All I Want from You"			8
	"You Might Have Told Me"			14
1956	"I'm Lost Without You Tonight"			13
	"Soft Winds"			13
1958	"Make Me a Present of You"			27
	"Never Again"		74
1959	"What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"	8	4	4
	"Unforgettable"	17	8	15
1960	"Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" (with Brook Benton)	5	2	1
	"It Could Happen to You"	53	47
	"A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)" (with Brook Benton)	7	5	1
	"This Bitter Earth"	24	23	1
	"Love Walked In"	30	18	16
	"We Have Love"	76	51
	"Looking Back"		92
1961	"Early Every Morning"	95	75
	"Do You Want It That Way"		121
	"Our Love Is Here To Stay"	89	70
	"September in the Rain"	23*	19	5	35
1962	"Tears and Laughter"	71*	56
	"Dream" (new version of 1954 hit)	92	92
	"Such a Night"		109
	"I Want to Be Loved" (new version of 1950 hit)	76	109
	"Am I Blue"		110
	"Cold, Cold Heart" (new version of 1951 hit)	96	140
	"Where Are You?"	36*	38
	"You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You"	87
	"For All We Know"	88	tag
	"I Wouldn't Know (What To Do)"	93	112
	"You're a Sweetheart"	98
1963	"Soulville"	92	126
1964	"A Stranger On Earth"		136
1992	"Mad About the Boy"				41

• "September In the Rain", "Tears and Laughter" and "Where Are You" also made the AC charts (nos. 5, 17 and 11 respectively)

See also

Book: Dinah Washington

Notes

"Dinah Washington | Music Biography, Credits and". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

Notable Black American Women – Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

Bogdanov et al. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues, p. 373. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-736-6

Nadine Cohodas, Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington, Random House, 2004. ISBN 978-0375421488

"Keynote Records Catalog: 78rpm 500/600, 1300, 100 series". Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"Dinah Washington Biography | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 469.

Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 17 – The Soul Reformation: More on the evolution of rhythm and blues. [Part 3]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.

"Theatre Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-06-27. (subscription required)

"GRAMMY Hall Of Fame". GRAMMY.org. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll | The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum". Rockhall.com. 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"The Board of Commissioners of the Chicago Park District" (PDF). Chicagoparkdistrict.com. February 9, 2005. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"Odetta should be memorialized". TuscaloosaNews.com. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"Tuscaloosa unveils Dinah Washington Avenue". TuscaloosaNews.com. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

"Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center ready for its debut in downtown Tuscaloosa". TuscaloosaNews.com. Retrieved 2014-06-27.

16. Though "1958 – 1960" in the title, it clearly contains only 1959 and 1960 recording sessions.

References

• Queen of the Blues: A Biography of Dinah Washington, Jim Haskins, 1987, William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-04846-3
• Top Pop Records 1955–1972, Joel Whitburn, 1973, Record Research.

External links

• Dinah Washington : Home, Verve Music Group
• Dinah Washington at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Dinah Washington's Gravesite