Phantom Dancer :: 12:00pm 6th Sep 2022

Dinah Washington, The Queen of the Blues, the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature.

As an artist, she was one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century.

  • Beloved, because she had a great voice.
  • Controversial, because she didn’t seek approval from ‘the gatekeepers’. And as you’ll hear in her Birdland radio broadcast on this week’s Phantom Dancer, she didn’t hold back from telling radio announcers to shut up or stop being corny.

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 6 September at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/. This episode is a Phantom Dancer Classic which first went to air on 30 March 2021.

DINAH

Dinah Washington was the stage name of Ruth Lee Jones.

She was a jazz singer but also sang blues, R&B, and pop music.

As a child she sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and sang lead with the first female gospel singers formed by Sallie Martin, co-founder of the Gospel Singers Convention. She joined the gospel choir after she won an amateur contest at Chicago’s Regal Theater, singing, ‘I Can’t Face the Music’.

HAMPTON

At 15, she started singing in clubs. By 1941–42 she was performing at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago 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 downstairs room. Sherman gave her her stage name.

Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah at the Garrick and invited her to join his orchestra

She made her recording debut singing Evil Gal Blues, written by Leonard Feather (who wrote Blow Top Blues you’ll hear Dinah sing in this week’s show, live on 1952 radio) and backed by Hampton and musicians from his band. Both that record and its follow-up, ‘Salty Papa Blues’, made the Billboard “Harlem Hit Parade” in 1944.

In December 1945 she made a series of twelve recordings for Apollo Records, 10 of which were issued, featuring the Lucky Thompson All Stars.

She stayed with Lionel Hampton’s orchestra until 1946.

SOLO

Her first solo recording, Fats Waller’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin”, was another hit. Between 1948 and 1955, she had 27 R&B top-10 hits, making her one of the most popular and successful singers of the period.

‘Am I Asking Too Much?’ (1948) and ‘Baby Get Lost’ (1949) reached Number 1 on the R&B chart. Her version of Johnny Green’s 1930s hit, ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ (1950) crossed over to reach Number 22 on the US pop chart.

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 last week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist, Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Cannonball Adderley and Ben Webster.

In 1950, Dinah Washington performed at the sixth avalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Also featured on the same day were Lionel Hampton, PeeWee Crayton’s Orchestra, Roy Milton and his Orchestra plus Tiny Davis and Her Hell Divers. 16,000 were reported to be in attendance and the concert ended early because of a fracas while Lionel Hampton played ‘Flying High’.

Washington returned to perform at the twelfth Cavalcade of Jazz also at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles in 1956. Performing that day were Little Richard, The Mel Williams Dots, Julie Stevens, Chuck Higgin’s Orchestra, Bo Rhambo, Willie Hayden & Five Black Birds, The Premiers, Gerald Wilson and His 20-Piece Recording Orchestra and Jerry Gray and his Orchestra.

In 1959, she had her first top ten pop hit, with a version of ‘What a Diff’rence a Day Makes’. 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)’, which you’ll hear on this week’s show from a 1960 aircheck and ‘A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)’. Her last big hit was ‘September in the Rain’, in 1961.

She won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance, 1959, for ‘What a Diff’rence a Day Makes’.

6 SEPTEMBER PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer
107.3 2SER-FM Sydney
LISTEN ONLINE

Community Radio Network Show CRN #562

107.3 2SER Tuesday 6 September 2022
12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm
National Program
5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am
3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am
4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am
2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am
2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am
2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am
2YYY Young Monday 3 – 4am
3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm
7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm
6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am
2SEA Eden Tuesday 6 – 7pm
2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am
2RDJ Burwood Wednesday 12 – 1pm
1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am
2RRR Ryde Friday 11am -12 noon
2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm
5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm
Denmark FM (West Australia) Saturdays 10 – 11am
Repeat: Wednesdays 10 – 11pm
7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am
3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am
3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm

Set 1
One Night Stand Radio  
Artistry in Rhythm (theme) + I Know That You Know
Stan Kenton Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Pennsylvania NYC
AFRS Re-broadcast
27 Sep 1945
I’m In Love With Someone
Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) Glagys Tell
‘One Night Stand’
Panther Room
Hotel Sherman
Chicago
AFRS Re-broadcast
Mar 1944
Poinciana
Jan Savitt Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Palladium Ballroom Hollywood
AFRS Re-broadcast
4 Oct 1945
Set 2
Jimmy Grier  
Music in the Moonlight (theme) + Just Friends
Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Dick Webster
Cocoanut Grove
Ambassador Hotel
TRANSCO
Radio Transcription
1932
Save The Last Dance For Me
Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Donald Novis
Cocoanut Grove
Ambassador Hotel
TRANSCO
Radio Transcription
1932
The More You Hurt Me The More You Make Me Care + Music in the Moonlight (theme)
Jimmy Grier Orchestra (voc) Margaret Lawrence
Cocoanut Grove
Ambassador Hotel
TRANSCO
Radio Transcription
1932
Set 3
1950s Jazz Radio  
Open + Without a Word of Warning
Arnett Cobb
‘Stars in Jazz’
Birdland
WNBC NBC NY
2 Jul 1952
Open + Small Hotel / All The Things You Are / Rose Room
Larry Green
Starlight Roof
Hotel Chase
KMOX CBS St Louis
1958
Open + Too Marvelous
Erroll Garner
Basin Street
WCBS CBS NYC
6 May 1956
Set 4
Dinah Washington  
No Love, No Nothin’
Dinah Washington (voc) Lionel Hampton Orchestra
‘One Night Stand’
Traianon Ballroom
Southgate Ca
AFRS Re-broadcast
16 Jun 1944
Mixed Emotions + Blow Top Blues
Dinah Washington
‘The Birdland Show’
WJZ ABC NYC
21 Jun 1952
You’ve Got What It Takes
Dinah Washington and Brook Benton
Aircheck
WKBW Buffalo NY
1960
Set 5
Erskine Hawkins Commercial Discs  
Rockin’ Rollers’ Jubilee
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra
Comm Rec
New York City
12 Sep 1938
No Soap
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra
Comm Rec
New York City
14 May 1939
A Study in Brown
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra
Comm Rec
New York City
20 Oct 1938
I Hadn’t Anyone Till You
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra (voc) Dolores Brown
Comm Rec
New York City
20 Dec 1939
Set 6
1930s Swing Radio  
Dixieland Band
Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Helen Ward
Palomar Ballroom
KFI NBC Red
22 Aug 1935
You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth
Bunny Berrigan Orchestra
Paradise Restaurant
WABC CBS NY
10 Apr 1938
Kiss Me Again
Bunny Berrigan Orchestra (voc) Gail Reese
Paradise Restaurant
WABC CBS NY
10 Apr 1938
You Do The Darndest Things, Baby
Count Basie Orchestra (voc) Jimmy Rushing
Chatterbox
Hotel William Penn
WCAE NBC Red Pittsburgh
10 Jan 1937
Set 7
Dorsey Brothers Orchestra 1956  
Intro + Song of India
Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler
WRCA NBC NY
1956
Ridin’ Around in the Rain
Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Dolly Houston
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler
WRCA NBC NY
1956
Sunny Side of the Street
Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra (voc) Lynn Roberts
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler
WRCA NBC NY
1956
Just For Taking Bows
Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra
Cafe Rouge
Hotel Statler
WRCA NBC NY
1956
Set 8
Carson Robinson Buckaroos  
Careless Love (theme) + Home on the Range
Carson Robinson Buckaroos
‘Ford RandG Used Cars’
Radio Transcription
1939
Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie + Down on the Levee
Carson Robinson Buckaroos
‘Ford RandG Used Cars’
Radio Transcription
1939
Goin’ Back to my Good Ol’ Texas Home + Golden Slippers
Carson Robinson Buckaroos
‘Ford RandG Used Cars’
Radio Transcription
1939
Wabash Moon + Boots and Saddles + Close
Carson Robinson Buckaroos
‘Ford RandG Used Cars’
Radio Transcription
1939

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