Best of the Roulette Years

Dinah Washington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 1993)
• Original Release Date: January 26, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Roulette/Blue Note
• ASIN: B000002V1R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,963 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You

2. Take Your Shoes Off, Baby

3. Call Me Irresponsible

4. You've Been a Good Old Wagon

5. He's My Guy

6. Where Are You?

7. For All We Know

8. Red Sails in the Sunset

9. Me and My Gin

10. It's a Mean Old Man's World

11. Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?

12. That Sunday, That Summer

13. Something's Gotta Give

14. Let Me Be the First to Know

15. You're a Sweetheart

16. Fly Me to the Moon

17. I'll Close My Eyes

18. Why Was I Born?

19. Baby Won't You Please Come Home

20. Drinking Again

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars give that gal a spotlight !!!, April 3, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Best of the Roulette Years (Audio CD)

The Best of Dinah Washington is a solid assortment of Dinah's work on Roulette Records and wow, is Dinah's voice ever in great form! Sure, the musical arrangements are rather similar; but I'm not sure Dinah had complete power over that. The sound quality is very good and I like the artwork, too.

"You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" has a fine big band style arrangement; and when Dinah comes in this number really takes flight! Dinah swings brightly and her voice is like silk. Dinah's excellent diction and her fine sense of timing enhance her performance even further! "Call Me Irresponsible" features Dinah squarely front and center; she sings this ballad with panache. Dinah also injects a certain romantic quality into this number using her finely tuned voice. Wonderful! Moreover, there's also "He's My Guy" uses the strings and brass to great advantage while Dinah sings her heart out.

"For All We Know" gives us yet another romantic tune that Dinah aces easily; her voice is rich, warm and vibrant. The music that accompanies her is beautiful but it is definitely Dinah that owns the spotlight. "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" starts with a musical flourish; and Dinah comes in to take this number straight out of the ballpark! Dinah sings "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" beautifully; the background chorus wasn't really necessary. Dinah could have handled this all by herself; she certainly was good enough to do that.

"That Sunday (That Summer)" is a number former President Kennedy always enjoyed; and it's always been one of my favorites, too. "That Sunday (That Summer)" gets a fine interpretation from Dinah who delivers this somewhat more slowly than I'm used to--but it still holds its own very well. "Fly Me To The Moon" has a backup chorus to bolster Dinah's performance--and she sings this sweetly to make this an especially pretty number. I love it!

"Baby Won't You Please Come Home" shines when Dinah sings it to perfection--and beyond! Dinah sings this with heart and soul; and she never misses a beat, either! "Destination Moon" is equally brilliant in Dinah's capable hands; the brass sounds great and Dinah just couldn't have done this any better--it's all THAT good.

The CD ends with Dinah singing "Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning." The music starts--and Dinah comes in to make this number very memorable. Nobody could have sung this quite as beautifully as Dinah did!

Dinah Washington fans will want this CD for their collections. People who enjoy classic pop vocals will also like this album.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Best of Roulette Is Not Very Best, February 1, 2001

By 

Peter (East of Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best of the Roulette Years (Audio CD)

I wondered why during Dinah's contract to Roulette Records they didn't saw fit to record her in something besides an orchestra or violin strings? I own many of Dinah's stuff (on both CDs and records), and to say the least, this woman is TALENTED. But it's frustrating to hear her in nothing short of constant repetition on this "Best of" collection. Roulette is generous including a whopping 23 tracks on this set, but most of them are the same arrangement and accompaniment. Couldn't they be more creative in the arrangements for Dinah? The best tracks here are taken from her outstanding "Back to the Blues" CD when she sang in a bluesy, gospel-inflected manner, the style that got her the most attention when she started out as a singer. Unfortunately with the pop success that came to Dinah, she repeated the same formula, and most of that is reflected here, track after track of endless strings and unimaginative big band charts. I would recommend bypassing this collection and getting the outstanding "Back to the Blues" set that is also available on Amazon. Dinah's singing there is inspired and blues-singing at its best.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best recordings of Dinah Washington you'll hear., July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Best of the Roulette Years (Audio CD)

This CD has great sound. This is Dinah Washington at her best, with the best backup band and recording session she ever had. When you listen to Dinah Washington sing on this album you'll believe that she was as equally talented as Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.