Dinah Washington A Rockin' Good Way - Juke Box Pearls (CD)

Press Archive - Dinah Washington A Rockin' Good Way - Juke Box Pearls - Keys and Chords In her short life, she was born on 29 August 1924 and already died on 14 December 1963, Dinah Washington became 'The Queen' as she was often called. In the late forties and early fifties she was one of many jazz-inspired rhythm & blues singers, then she later turned out to be a top singer. With her powerful and flexible voice she sang jazz standards and pop songs with sublime arrangements into eternity. Her 'A Rockin' Good Way' in the 'Juke Box Pearls' series is a hit. All her great successes are on this. From the start she has been a hit with the title track, which she canned together with Brook Benton. Also 'Baby, You've Got What It Takes' that the duo recorded, is on this album. By the way, 'A Rockin' Good Way' was covered in the 60's by Shakin' Stevens together with Bonnie Tyler. Also 'Mad About The Boy' that was used in a TV commercial for Levi's jeans can be found on this collector, as well as all the great successes of this monumental artist. What A Diff'rence A Day Makes', 'September In The Rain', 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes', 'Such A Night' and 'Unforgettable' are all part of this album. You will also find some extremely rare and hard to find recordings of Dinah. This certainly applies to her Mercury single 'Honky Tonky' from 1959, which she recorded as The Queen.

Press Archive - Dinah Washington A Rockin' Good Way - Juke Box Pearls - Now Dig This Dinah Washington was one of those divas of the '50s who made her reputation with her treat-ments of standards from the songbooks of giants of an earlier age. Like Ella Fitzgerald and Helen Humes, she had a high voice and could tackle anything from salty blues through to string-laden plush pop in front of massive orchestras. Quite rightly. NDT readers will eschew those pop / "classy" numbers and seek out the more bluesy, more r&b (i.e. better) tracks, and there are some here. This CD includes recordings from 1947 through to 1961. and all come from her time at Mercury Records.

Press Archive - Dinah Washington A Rockin' Good Way - Juke Box Pearls - Blues News Dinah Washington Juke Box Pearls — A Rockin' Good Way (Bear Family, 76:43) An sich müsste man dieser CD zwei Sternewertungen geben —zwei für reine Bluesfans und volle sechs für Hörer, die R&B, Jazz und Pop gleichermaßen schätzen. Wie im Artikel weiter vorne im Heft beschrieben, entwickelte sich Dinah Washington stilistisch von ihren R&B-Anfängen zu einer Jazz-. Pop- und Balladensängerin, deren exquisiter Gesang zumeist von einem großen Orchester inklusive Streichern begleitet wurde. Diese CD in Bear Familys ,,Juke Box Pearls"-Serie enthält zwar nur Mercury-Material, aber da Washington von 1946 bis 1961 bei diesem Label war, werden alle ihre Facetten abgedeckt. Sechs Titel aus ihrer frühen R&B-Phase sind vertreten und auch später nahm Washington noch bluesige Sachen auf (darunter mit ,,Honky Tonky` einen Titel, der 1957 unter dem Pseu-donym „The Queen" erschien), aber der Fokus liegt auf ihren großen Erfolgen wie „What A Diff'rence A Day Makes", „Unfor-gettable" und den beiden Duetten mit Brook Benton. Sound und Aufmachung (Digipak mit 35-seitigem Booklet mit vielen Fotos und ausführlichem Text von Bill Dahl) sind exzellent, sodass dies sicher der beste Überblick über die vielschichtige Karriere der großen Diva ist. (kk)