Dinah Washington Back to the Blues ( HQ 180g vinyl LP )

Release date: 11-08-2016(originally released in 1963)

2016 UK reissue HQ 180g vinyl LP

An astonishing collection and piece of blues history, this 1963 album caresses your ears with some of the finest tunes by the Queen Of Blues who managed to impose her trademark vocal style on generations of blues makers.

Tracks:
A1 The Blues Ain't Nothin' But A Woman Cryin' For Her Man
A2 Romance In The Dark
A3 You've Been A Good Old Wagon
A4 Let Me Be The First To Know
A5 How Long, How Long Blues
A6 Don't Come Running Back To Me

B1 It's A Mean Old Man's World
B2 Key To The Highway
B3 If I Never Get To Heaven
B4 Duck Before You Drown
B5 No Hard Feelings
B6 Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning

Prior to her 1959 hit "What a Difference a Day Makes," nearly every Dinah Washington recording (no matter what the style) was of interest to jazz listeners. However, after her unexpected success on the pop charts, most of Washington's sessions for Mercury and Roulette during the last four years of her life were quite commercial, with string arrangements better suited to country singers and Washington nearly parodying herself with exaggerated gestures. Fortunately, this 1963 LP is an exception, a blues-oriented collection that features Washington returning to her roots, backed by a jazz-oriented big band (with occasional strings and background voices). Eddie Chamblee and Illinois Jacquet have some tenor solos, guitarist Billy Butler is heard from, and the trumpet soloist is probably Joe Newman. In general, this is a more successful date than Washington's earlier investigation of Bessie Smith material, since the backup band is more sympathetic and the talented singer is heard in prime form. Dinah Washington clearly had a real feeling for this bluesy material.