musicology #474

2LegendsClash II #10

(Dinah Washington – Journey’s End)

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So just leaves Dinah to wrap up this session..beautiful duet with vocal group supreme The Ravens who along with The Mills brothers and The Orioles set the tone for the Doo Wop explosion that followed.

musicology #472

2LegendsClash II #8

(Dinah Washington -The Man That Got Away)

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Today’s appropriate cut from the Legend that we know as Dinah Washington is one for those who know that the only blues is the ‘done lost my wo/man’ blues and no-one sings ‘em better than Ruth Jones….Hold this quote from Pianist Junior Mance, ( 2 year musical companion of Dinah’s), who said;

“When I went to work with Dinah Washington, I learned what the blues were all about”

That’s not to say that the Blues are all about sadness…they’re not. I wrote recently about catharsis and that is what the blues are really all about. No good suppressing your feelings as one day when you are least expecting it they will come back and tear the heart and soul out of you. Another thing to bear in mind is that as sure as the sun shines trouble don’t last always and if you don’t feel pain you won’t recognise joy when it returns into your life.

This one from Dinah is from her Roulette days, (which turned out to be her last), recorded and released in the early 60’s by which time she had been married SEVEN times, (For those who don’t know her story she died at the tender age of 39 on December 19th 1963). Amazingly there are some who felt/feel that Dinah’s voice during this period had “lost it’s lustre” !! If I was there when they said it I would have simply replied;

“you’re talking shit and you don’t have a clue about music”…Job Done.

musicology #470

2LegendsClash II #6

(Dinah Washington – Stairway To The Stars)

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“When you get inside of a tune, the soul in you should just come out. You should just be able to step back and let that soul come right out” -Dinah Washington-

With that in mind..

musicology #468

2LegendsClash II #4

(Dinah Washington – If I Loved You)

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“Dinah was like Judy Garland. She drew all the whores, pimps and losers. Certain entertainers draw a certain element in audiences and in friends. If a singer sings a loser’s love song, the audience identifies. ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ is a loser’s lament. ‘Blue skies’ is another. ‘Look to the rainbow’ is another. Dinah sang those. I’ll win somewhere, she sang. Dinah figured that somewhere over the rainbow she would find a man who loved her”.

-Eddie Chamblee-

Is there ANYONE out there today who can hit, (and hold), the note Dinah hits at the end of this piece? if so I beg you to bring me in…

musicology #466

2LegendsClash II #2

(Dinah Washington – How Deep Is The Ocean)

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Dinah Washington…for themusicologist, the greatest female singer to ever record. Yes there are others such as the sublime Mahalia Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, Randy Crawford and a whole host of magnificent vocalists to consider but for me Dinah wears the crown.

Not sure how much importance it has to anyone else, (but for me it has resonance), Ruth Lee Jones was born August 29th 1925 under a sign I am inextricably drawn to..Virgo…I know and love too many, (more than any other sign), to dismiss it as coincidence. Not sure exactly why but in my experience honesty is a key trait of those born under the sign and for me that alone is magnetic…when Dinah sings I listen.

Her career begun in 1940 but it wasn’t until hooking up with Lionel Hampton, (who had previously been part of Benny Goodman’s trailblazing quartet along with Teddy Wilson), on December 29th 1943 that her star began to rise. Much has been written about Dinah’s battles with various substances as well as her seven husbands !! which considering she died at the tender age of 39 says plenty about her credentials to sing about the Joys and Pains of love with such authenticity and passion.

Quincy Jones, (who knows a thing or two about musicology !!), described Dinah’s style with this eulogy 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.”

Today’s cut is Dinah at her best singing a song written by master songwriter Irving Berlin.

Listen Tune….

musicology #460

TheManWithTheBag #10

(Dinah Washington – Silent Night)

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Have to throw down early today, (didn’t happen !!) as we, (kids and I), are off on a little excursion up to the beautiful Lake District, (Ambleside to be precise), for a few days to kick back before Christmas and I don’t think the internet has reached there yet !! so themusicologist won’t be able to throw down until returning to the big smoke.

STOP PRESS……in fact I’m throwing this down from Ambleside in a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi..i’ll keep it as brief as possible..our daughter is on me like a rash to get on facebook but it’s, (proper), snowing up here and the junior musicologist and I have climbed a mountain today, (look out for the pics…soon come)

Today’s fine cut is courtesy of, (in my subjective opinion of course), one of the greatest singers to have ever graced the mic. A voice overflowing with expression and emotion, drawn from the deep well of existence, (and essence), when Dinah Washington opens her heart and sings even the birds stop to listen and nod in appreciation. Born Ruth Jones, she first came to the attention of Lionel Hampton in 1943 and for the next 19 years waxed some of the most heart wrenching slices of musicology known to wo/man. Personally speaking…it’s her Mercury output that brings me to my knees, trembles my marrow and brings tears to my ‘minces’ but I could never turn Dinah off no matter what the period. (This one is from the Mercury 78)

musicology #183

soulsearching #5

(Dinah Washington - Am I Asking Too Much)

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penultimate cut of the soulsearching which, to be honest feels like it has been a piece disjointed and not quite how I imagined it. still…”The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” to quote a, (much used by me), line from Rabbie Burns’s 1785 poem ‘To A Mouse’

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear

which, apoun reading inspired author John Steinbeck to change the name of his book from ‘Something That Happened’ to ‘Of Mice And Men’

anyway back to the music with a 1947 slice of the downbeat pie. this one shouldnt need any explanation and is as plain as the nose on my face. I’m trying hard to ‘Tame The Bull’ but at the moment it feels like an uphill climb to the bottom. if your ‘companion’ is treating you like dirt on the ground then you know how it feels, if not…then good luck to you.