Fall of '48 post #6
Dinah Washington
Born August 29, 1924
Died December 14, 1963
Ruth Lee Jones was born in August of 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Soon after her birth, her family relocated to Chicago, so the majority of her upbringing took place in the windy city.
Even as a child she had an ear and talent for music. She was a very gifted pianist, and played for many church and school functions while she was still in elementary school. By the time she reached high school she was running the show and directing her church choir. In 1940, the famous Mother of Gospel Music, Sallie Martin, formed the first female gospel group known as the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers, and Ruth Jones was one of it's lead singers.
At the young age of 15, Ruth felt she had gotten enough encouraging feedback on her talent that she began to sing in night clubs, then she progressed to jazz clubs and even hotels. In 1942, a friend took her to hear the legendary Billie Holiday perform at the Garrick Stage Bar. She could hear instrumentalists upstairs playing I Understand and she began to sing along. Staff heard her and were so impressed that she was offered a job. She spent a year working at the Garrick Stage Bar, and it was during this time that she fully transformed and developed her stage name, Dinah Washington. In 1943, jazz instrumentalist Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah sing, and he liked what he heard enough to present her with an offer. She began to work as his female vocalist later that year.
Two years later she began working for Keynote Records, and she had much promise, but the company was shut down in 1946. But Dinah wasn't about to give up--she went and won herself a record deal with Mercury Records as a solo artist. She started off with a bang, her first single to be released being Ain't Misbehavin'. Between the year of 1948 and 1955, Dinah released 27 top ten hits. She had made it big, and she was one of the most popular artists of the time period. Her 1948 single Am I Asking Too Much? even made it to #1 on the R&B chart. She continued to crank out what would be come some of the most popular songs of the day, like What A Difference A Day Makes, Manhattan, and Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby? She had a style all her own and a very distinct voice--salty, gritty, yet more high pitched than one might expect. She became known for her versions of torch songs, one of her most popular being Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
To go along with her hectic career which seemed to have blossomed overnight, her home and personal life also lacked stability. She was married seven times, her last marriage was to pro football player Dick "Night Train" Lane, and she had two sons. She struggled with weight gain on and off for many years, feeling self conscious when performing in front of people. She even went through bouts of depression. In 1963, at the age of 39, Dinah Washington apparently accidentally overdosed with a lethal combination of drugs used for sedatives and to combat insomnia.
Here are some of her more famous ballads, for your enjoyment:
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