This is the grave of Dinah Washington.

Born in 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Ruth Lee Jones grew up in Chicago. Her family was part of the Great Migration, getting out of the South for better opportunities in northern cities. Her family was also a deeply churchgoing family and she grew up in the church. From the time she was small, her singing ability was lauded and became one of the leading singers at St. Luke’s Baptist Church, while also playing the piano, before she reached her teens.

It also didn’t take long for Jones to see that music was much more her future than school. She dropped out of high school to join up with the Mother of Gospel herself, Sallie Martin, and join the Sallie Martin Singers. By 1941, she was performing on her own in Chicago clubs, often with Fats Waller. One night, she went to see Billie Holiday and there was some kind of place in the show where audience members could sing, I guess either before the show or between sets. Well, Jones was hardly shy about this. She went up there and blew everyone away. The club owner offered her a gig. The club had two floors. The real action was upstairs, where Holiday had a residency. Jones was hired to sing downstairs. It was at this time that she changed her named to more glamorous (I suppose) Dinah Washington. That doesn’t sound like an exotic name really, but I guess compared to Ruth Jones it kind of is.

While Washington was working there, Lionel Hampton came to town. He had heard about his hot new singer and so he stopped by. He was impressed enough to offer her a job singing in his band. Obviously, she accepted that gig. She began to record under her own name too, with Hampton and his band backing, in 1944 for Keynote. That label didn’t last much longer but she signed with Mercury in 1946 and had fifteen years of sustained success. That started with a cover of Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” She had two songs hit #1 on the R&B charts, in 1948 with “Am I Asking Too Much” and in 1949 with “Baby Get Lost.” Her version of Hank Williams’ “Cold Cold Heart” reached #3 on the R&B charts in 1951 and should again remind us that the divisions between country and R&B make no sense for musicians in either genre, or at least did not back then. Songs about love, loss, and working class folks could be adapted to the musical styles of the other since the topics spoke to people across race. Since the postwar pop charts were dominated by incredibly lame white acts, it was hard for any Black artist to chart too high there in these years, but “I Wanna Be Loved” from 1950 did hit #22.

Washington performed with many of these greatest jazz musicians of the era too. Who wouldn’t want to play on a Dinah Washington album? Among those she played with include Cannonball Adderley, Clifford Brown, and Clark Terry. She could do just about everything too. Sure, she came from the gospel tradition and could sing the heck out of those songs, but she moved secular pretty quickly. Love songs and loss songs were of course her bread and butter. But she could sing about sex too, including “Long John Blues,” theoretically about a dentist. Among the lyrics include “He took out his trusty drill. Told me to open wide. He said he wouldn’t hurt me, but he filled my whole inside.” Help me out here, I am confused. What could that possibly mean? Another of her songs was 1954’s Big Long Slidin’ Thing, about a…..trombonist. Sure, the trombone. Quincy Jones arranged that one. The song was actually about her boyfriend in her version, who was a trombonist. She didn’t write it, but still. Also, it was written for her and she recorded the first version.

Unfortunately, Washington’s choice in men was not always very good and said trombonist hit her over the head with a music stand three months later, injuring her. In fact, she was married at least seven times and some have suggested up to nine marriages. I’ve known a couple of people in my life like this over the years. I knew a woman once who was married I think 4 or 5 times by the time she was 30. You know, at some point, just don’t get married? Just live with the person? I don’t understand this lack of self control in humans. Not everyone has to be as rigid about things as I am, but my god, have some pride and self-respect. Hell, maybe that’s actually the problem.

Washington continued to have big hits as the 50s turned into the 60s. She had her biggest ever pop hit with 1959’s “What a Difference a Day Made,” which went all the way to #4. Probably didn’t hurt her that rock and roll had knocked a lot of the Welkish postwar music out of fashion. The band she worked with here was pretty insane, including Kenny Burrell on guitar and Joe Zawinul on piano. She had some very successful duets with Brook Benton, who was briefly a master of combining rock and roll, jazz, and R&B, including with “Baby (You’ve Got With It Takes)” that hit #5 pop and “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around With Love)” that hit #7 pop, both in 1960. To say the least, both of these charted the R&B charts. Also, this truly was the great era of the parenthetical addition to song titles, which you really never see anymore.

Interestingly, Washington was seen as something of a sellout because of adjusting her sound to keep having hits. Imagine that! Says her AllMusic biography:

[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.

Wouldn’t want any of that!

We can only wonder how Washington would have done deeper into the 60s. Maybe quite well–she had already lasted fifteen solid years of awesome. Her sound had already evolved so much. At the very least, she might have become a senior figure to the next generation of great R&B vocalists. She continued to chart in 1961. “September in the Rain” was #5 R&B and #23 pop, so pretty good. She hired a new trio in 1962 that were to go deeper into the groove, including Jimmy Sigler on organ. Would have been interesting to see this all develop.

Alas, this was a great age of pharmaceuticals. In 1963, she was married to Dick “Night Train” Lane, the great football player with the Detroit Lions. They went to bed one night. She did not wake up. It was a combination of Seconal and Amobarbital. That’ll do it. She was 39 years old. Aretha Franklin immediately into the studio and recorded a tribute album.

Let’s listen to some Dinah Washington.

Dinah Washington is buried in Burr Oak Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois.

Washington won the Best R&B Performance Grammy in 1960 for “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes.” If you would like this series to visit other winners of Grammys in 1960, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. No one ever does anymore though, so we will see how long this series continues. Percy Faith, who won Record of the Year for “Theme from A Summer Place” is in Culver City, California and the great Bob Newhart, who won Album of the Year for The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, is in Hollywood. Now that would be a fun grave post! Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.

The post Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 1,812 appeared first on Lawyers, Guns & Money.

Source: View source