A four-CD box set containing 107 tracks, The Fabulous Miss D! The Keynote, Decca and Mercury Singles 1943-1953 traces the first decade of Dinah Washington's recording career on 78s and 45s with a song on either side, starting with her stint with Lionel Hampton and continuing through the early years of her solo career. The album title implies an equivalence among the three labels for which Washington recorded in this period, but that is just a way of assuring the potential customer that those early Hampton sides -- the Keynote singles "Evil Gal Blues"/"Homeward Bound" and "Salty Papa Blues"/"I Know How to Do It" featuring a Hampton sextet, and Hampton's Decca single "Blow Top Blues" are included.
In fact, most of this material comes from Mercury, and that means her string of solo R&B hits starting with 1948's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and running through 1953's double-sided "TV Is the Thing (This Year)"/"Fat Daddy," with the chart toppers "Am I Asking Too Much" and "Baby Get Lost" in between, along with all the B-sides (some of which also charted) and plenty of non-chart items, all in chronological order. That sequencing allows an appreciation of Washington's development from the bluesy jazz and big-band efforts of the early recordings through jump blues to a mixture of ‘50s R&B and lush pop efforts. It's clear that Mercury hoped to cross Washington over to the pop charts, and every now and then, strings and a hearty backup chorus signal an attempt to push her toward the sound of Patti Page. But only "I Wanna Be Loved" made an impression on the pop chart in this period, and the poppier efforts tended to miss the R&B charts, where Washington otherwise scored consistently in the Top Ten. Sometimes, she did so by going gutbucket and gritty, such as on "Long John Blues," perhaps the most salacious song ever written about dentistry ("You thrill me when you drill me") and a number three hit in 1949. But Washington got to the same chart peak with her version of Hank Williams' "Cold Cold Heart," which suggests both her versatility and the range of Mercury's demands on her. Indeed, she was frequently called upon to cover pop hits for the R&B market during this period, and succeeded with such reverse crossover hits as "Harbor Lights," "My Heart Cries for You," "Wheel of Fortune," and "Tell Me Why," which, just earlier, had been pop chart entries for Sammy Kaye, Guy Mitchell, Kay Starr, and the Four Aces, respectively. And she occasionally undertook pop standards, such as "Embraceable You" and "How Deep Is the Ocean," or dipped into the Bing Crosby ("Just One More Chance") or Frank Sinatra ("I'm a Fool to Want You") catalogs, always with satisfying results. ~William Ruhlmann
Album:
The Fabulous Miss 'D' (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:16
Size: 172.3 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, R&B
Year: 2010
[2:51] 1. Evil Gal Blues
[2:46] 2. Homeward Bound
[3:01] 3. Salty Papa Blues
[3:09] 4. I Know How To Do It
[3:17] 5. Blow Top Blues
[2:43] 6. I Can't Get Started
[2:45] 7. Joy Juice
[2:52] 8. Embraceable You
[2:53] 9. When A Woman Loves A Man
[2:39] 10. Oo Wee Walkie Talkie
[2:38] 11. A Slick Chick (On The Mellow Side)
[2:51] 12. Postman Blues
[2:50] 13. That's Why A Woman Loves A Heel
[2:50] 14. I Wanna Be Loved
[2:58] 15. Stairway To The Stars
[2:46] 16. Mean And Evil Blues
[2:30] 17. Fool That I Am
[2:37] 18. Since I Fell For You
[2:40] 19. You Can Depend On Me
[2:32] 20. There's Got To Be A Change
[2:32] 21. Early In The Morning
[2:35] 22. I Love You, Yes I Do
[2:51] 23. Don't Come Knocking At My Door
[2:46] 24. Ain't Misbehavin'
[2:45] 25. No More Lonely Gal Blues
[2:55] 26. West Side Baby
[2:31] 27. Walkin' And Talkin'
Album:
The Fabulous Miss 'D' (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:26
Size: 165.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, R&B
Year: 2010
[3:08] 1. I Want to Cry
[3:14] 2. Resolution Blues
[2:36] 3. Tell Me So
[2:52] 4. In the Rain
[2:47] 5. Am I Asking Too Much
[3:05] 6. I Sold My Heart to the Junkman
[2:40] 7. It's Too Soon to Know
[3:01] 8. I'll Wait
[2:47] 9. Why Can't You Behave
[2:34] 10. It's Funny
[2:46] 11. You Satisfy
[2:29] 12. Laughing Boy
[2:35] 13. (What Can I Say) After I Say I'm Sorry
[2:20] 14. Pete
[2:48] 15. Baby Get Lost
[3:07] 16. Long John Blues
[2:53] 17. Am I Really Sorry
[3:11] 18. I Challenge Your Kiss
[2:22] 19. Good Daddy Blues
[2:50] 20. Richest Guy in the Graveyard
[2:24] 21. I Only Know
[1:55] 22. New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles
[3:01] 23. It Isn't Fair
[3:07] 24. Journey's End
[2:47] 25. I Wanna Be Loved
[2:52] 26. Love (Me) With Misery
The Fabulous Miss 'D'(Disc 1) (Disc 2)
Album:
The Fabulous Miss 'D' (Disc 3)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:54
Size: 171.5 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, R&B
Year: 2010
[2:42] 1. I'll Never Be Free
[2:39] 2. Big Deal
[2:59] 3. How Deep Is the Ocean
[2:28] 4. Why Don't You Think Things Over
[3:00] 5. Harbor Lights
[2:57] 6. I Cross My Fingers
[3:17] 7. Time Out for Tears
[2:54] 8. Only a Moment Ago
[3:21] 9. My Kind of Man
[2:24] 10. If I Loved You
[2:11] 11. Fast Movin' Mama
[2:40] 12. Juice Head Man of Mine
[2:43] 13. My Heart Cries for You
[3:19] 14. I Apologize
[3:20] 15. I Won't Cry Anymore
[3:13] 16. Don't Say You're Sorry Again
[3:01] 17. Please Send Me Someone to Love
[3:04] 18. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do
[2:29] 19. Fine Fine Daddy
[3:08] 20. I'm So Lonely I Could Cry
[2:40] 21. If You Don't Believe I'm Leaving (Count the Days I'm Gone)
[2:37] 22. I'm a Fool to Want You
[3:18] 23. Cold, Cold Heart
[2:56] 24. Mixed Emotions
[2:54] 25. Be Fair to Me
[2:25] 26. Saturday Night
Album:
The Fabulous Miss 'D' (Disc 4)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:25
Size: 172.7 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals, R&B
Year: 2010
Art: Front
[3:09] 1. Out in the Cold Again
[2:41] 2. Hey, Good Looking
[2:50] 3. Just One More Chance
[3:02] 4. Baby Did You Hear
[2:15] 5. Wheel of Fortune
[2:56] 6. Tell Me Why
[2:48] 7. Trouble in Mind
[2:37] 8. New Blowtop Blues
[2:57] 9. Mad About the Boy
[2:45] 10. I Can't Face the Music (Without Singing the Blues)
[2:54] 11. Pillow Blues
[2:44] 12. Double Dealing Daddy
[2:54] 13. My Song
[2:31] 14. Half as Much
[3:00] 15. Stormy Weather
[2:56] 16. Make Believe Dreams
[2:25] 17. I Cried for You
[3:13] 18. Gambler's Blues
[2:54] 19. You Let My Love Grow Cold
[2:53] 20. Ain't Nothin' Good
[2:15] 21. Lean Baby
[2:13] 22. Never, Never
[2:24] 23. TV Is the Thing This Year
[2:25] 24. Fat Daddy
[2:20] 25. Silent Night
[2:40] 26. The Lord's Prayer
[2:30] 27. My Man's an Undertaker
[2:02] 28. Since My Man Has Gone and Went
The Fabulous Miss 'D'(Disc 3) (Disc 4)
