WRFG’s Route 66 celebrates a time when blues, jazz, and R&B blended
together, often in the same song. The focus is on the the Jump Blues and
Early Rock’n’Roll Eras (1940s to mid-1950s) and on how those styles
and artists have evolved over the years.
Sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 A.M. Eastern (U.S.) on Atlanta’s
WRFG 89.3FM. Your independent community radio station is streaming
worldwide over our free mobile app and WRFG.ORG.
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Contact: john.askins@wrfg.org
Dinah Washington is today’s featured artist. Born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscalosa,
Alabama on August 29, 1924 and raised in Chicago, she became on of the most
popular black female recording artists of the 1950s and gave herself the title of
“Queen of the Blues.”
DINAH WASHINGTON RESOURCES
Biography @ wikipedia.org
Discography @ discogs.com
ALABAMA JAZZ HALL OF FAME
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME
WRFG ROUTE 66 PLAYLIST FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2023
Song
Artist
Original Album or Label & Date
Airmail Boogie Freddie Mitchell Derby Records 1950
Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Liggins Specialty Records 1950
Blue Turning Grey Roy Milton & his Solid Senders Specialty Records 1953
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Dinah Washington Mercury Records 1946
After winning a talent contest at the age of 15, Washington began
performing in clubs. By the early 1940s she was performing on the same bill
as Fats Waller. Washington performed many Fats Waller songs in addtion to
her hit version of “Ain’t Misbehavin'” and recorded an album length tribute to
her mentor in the late 1950s.
Laziest Gal In Town Helen Humes Modern Records 1951
Somebody Done Stole My Cherry Red
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson
King Records 1949
Cherry Smash Big Jay McNeely Savoy Records 1949
Taxi Blues Little Richard RCA Victor 1950
Strange Things Happening Every Day
Valerie June
I Am Everything (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 2023
Two Little Fishes & Five Loaves Of Bread
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Decca Records 1944
When I Grow Too Old to Dream Arnett Cobb Apollo Records 1947
Unchain My Heart Nancy Wilson Today, Tomorrow, Forever 1964
Cry Baby Percy Mayfield Specialty Records 1951
Failing By Degrees Jimmy Witherspoon Modern Records 1950
Mad Lad Sir Charles & HIs All Stars Apollo Records 1947
Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You
Johnny Big Stone & the Blues Workers
DOWNBEAT RECORDS PRESENTS… Plays T-Bone Walker 2020
Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby Taj Mahal Savoy 2023
Walkin’ & Talkin’ Dinah Washington Mercury Records 1946
Washington signed with Mercury Records in 1946 and remained
with the label until the early 1960s.
Blow Top Blues Lionel Hampton w/ Dinah Washington Decca Records 1945
Bandleader and composer Lionel Hampton hired Washington to be his
female band voalist after she had sung with the band for it’s opening at
Chicago’s Regal Theater.
She made her reording debut in December of 1945 with “Eval Gal Blues”,
written by Leonard Feather 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”
I Know What You’re Puttin’ Down Louis Jordan Decca Records 1947
I’m Going To Tell My Mama Amos Milburn Aladdin Records 1950
Let’s Love In The Moonlight Bloodest Saxophone Good Morning 2023
My Playful Baby’s Gone Wynonie Harris King Records 1952
Bangin’ The Boogie Camille Howard Speciality Records 1951
I Can’t Wait Roomful Of Blues In A Roomful Of Blues 2020
Rebecca Big Joe Turner Decca Records 1944
Shine On Ruth Brown Atlantic Records 1951
Leave My Women Alone Ray Charles Atlantic Records 1957
Life’s Too Short The Cats & The Fiddle Manor Records 1946
Lonesome Woman Blues T-Bone Walker Comet Records 1948
Drinking Again
Aretha Franklin
Unforgettable. A Tribute to Dinah Washington 1964
“Drinking Again” was the title track of Washington’s 13th
studio album. It was released in 1962.
Baby Get Lost B.B. King Blues Is King
Washington’s recording of “Baby Get Lost” was
a number one hit in 1949.
Long John Blues Dinah Washington Mercury Records 1949
I Only Know Dinah Washington Mercury Records 1950
Between 1948 and 1955, Dinah Washinton had
27 R&B top-10 hits, making her one of the
most popular and successful singers of the period.
(sign off)
Tag (You’re It) Little Charlie & The Nightcats Nine Lives 2005
WRFG Route 66 