Washington, Dinah - Wake The Town & Tell The People! Hits & Hot Shots 1957-1962 [CD]

Bessie Smith earned the right to bill herself as 'The Empress Of The Blues' in the 1920s - but from the mid-1940s until her untimely death in the early 60s, there is never any doubt as to who 'The Queen' was. From her first recording session onwards, Dinah Washington inspired the next generation of blues and R&B women from Esther Phillips through to her biggest fan Aretha Franklin. It's almost impossible to guess the direction that female R&B might have taken without Dinah at the roots. This new Jasmine collection supplements and complements our previous volume of her early work, picking up Dinah's audio story in 1956 and carrying it through to some of her final sessions in 1962. From pop to R&B to jazz, it shows just how true her oft-quoted statement 'I can sing anything' really was. All of Dinah's bigger later hits are here, including her two Pop and R&B Top 10 hit duets with Brook Benton alongside songs that will forever be 'hers' such as 'This Bitter Earth', 'September In The Rain' and 'What A Difference A Day Made'. The focus here is generally on Dinah's R&B-style material, and may thus hold great appeal for fans of 'early soul' who don't realise just how big an influence she was on those who followed in her wake. A better cross section of repertoire from this period of her long career you would be hard pressed to find anywhere. It shows why, more than 60 years after her passing, people are still 'Mad About The Girl'.