Dinah Washington – Swing Era
Picture: C-
Sound: C+ Extras: D Shorts: B
As a fine companion to the Sarah Vaughan set in the Swing
Era series (reviewed elsewhere on this site), Idem Home Video has issued a
sister set headlined under the Dinah Washington name. The “Friends” moniker has been dropped, but
the following 22 tracks hare featured here by ten more female vocal greats of
the early 20th Century:
Dinah Washington:
1) Only A
Moment Ago
2) Such A
Night
3) I Don’t
Hurt Anymore
4) My Lean
Baby
Martha Davis:
5) Martha’s
Boogie
6) We Just
Couldn’t Say Goodbye
7) Vipity
Vip
8) Goodbye
Ruth Brown:
9) Oh What
A Dream/Raining Teardrops From My Eyes
10) Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
11) Have A Good Time
Faye Adams:
12) Everyday
13) Somebody Somewhere
Dorothy Dandridge:
14) Zoot Suit
15) A Jig In The Jungle
Sister Rosetta Tharpe:
16) Lonesome Road
Mabel Lee:
17) Chicken Shack Shuffle
18) The Cat Can’t Dance
June Richmond:
19) Hey Lawdy Mama
20) Mr. Jackson From Jacksonville
Vanita Smythe:
21) They Raided the Joint
22) Taint No Good
Certainly more diverse than the companion set noted,
Washington was an unbelievable vocalist, up there with Aretha Franklin and
Patti LaBelle. Davis, like Franklin,
was quite the pianist and had strong vocal talents too match. Long before great albums like Tell Mama
or classic singles like At Last, Ruth Brown was a serious up front
singer and this was filmed just as she was about to get signed to Atlantic
Records and become their best selling act of the 1950s. This is followed by more forgotten singing
greats and Dorothy Dandridge, interest of whom has happened thanks to the
Martha Coolidge cable film with Halle Berry in the title role, a Janet Jackson
Music Video and other interest.
Adams had an R&B career that ran from hits in 1953 to
1957, when she retired from the genre for her faith and because of the young
new generation of Rock and newer R&B audiences. Too bad no one convinced her to try some new material to fit her
great voice. Sister Rosetta Tharpe (aka
Rosetta Nubin) was a major guitarist, though the clip here does not offer her
playing. She cut her first record in
1938 and married Ink Spots manager Russell Morrison by 1951. The more obscure singers are saved for last,
but are no less than those preceding them on this set.
The full
frame image is again varied, with the picture is often degraded form barely
surviving, but give Idem credit once again for doing their best to show these
as clearly as possible these landmark works.
All are black & white in this case. The PCM 2.0 Mono is better than Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono from the
previous DVD, but it also varies, with background hiss most noticed. There are no extras, but it is another
winner in the Swing Era series worth your time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
