What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Dinah Washington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00004RD63
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,969 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dinah Washington had already enjoyed a career as a jazz and R&B singer when her 1959 recording of "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" catapulted her to a new kind of popularity. Henceforth she would devote herself to singing ballads with orchestral backing. Though purists might object, the very gifts that distinguished her R&B singing remain in the later pop phase. Hers is one of the great sounds, a voice at once strong and breathy, with a focus that turns every note and every word into a richly nuanced event, uniquely shaped and loaded with meaning. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN ALBUM OF BALLADS, December 21, 2000

By 

ALAIN ROBERT (ST-HUBERT,QUEBEC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! (Audio CD)

While FINEST HOUR or ULTIMATE collection are representative of DINAH at her best,WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES shows the many ways she can tackle a ballad.MANHATTAN is sung in a much slower tempo than usual;I REMEMBER YOU it seems was written for her.DINAH indeed has her own ways-like all great singers have- to dissect a song and made it her own.She even dare change the lyric to the title track and it works.Her singing is often poignant,but we got to admit that her own life was somekind of inspiration.DINAH certainly knew what the word lonelyness meant.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, but not because of the music!, January 21, 2000

By 

Sasha "lampic" (at sea...sailing somewhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! (Audio CD)

Although I am great admirer of work of Dinah Washington, at first I wasnt sure what to think about this album.After years in bussines and simply faboulous blues records she made a name with (check out her tribute to Bessie smith!), she turned to pop audience with this album and obviously made lots of money.It sounds very much like "The Platters" of their best-selling records, which could be soft and easy at their best or annoyingly and calculatedly sweet at their worst.Lost in the sea of strings, backed by anonymous female choir, this great voice swims through 12 beautiful ballads just a bit too easy for comfort.If anybody else sings this, I would dismiss it as pop trash of the period but because great Dinah has put so much affections and feelings into material (and because she died soon afterwards, so all her records are precious) I love it.Title song has still power to make me cry after all these years and the sole beauty of Dinah's voice could be the reason for purchasing this album.The influence of Billie Holiday, Dinah's favourite singer, is very obvious in almost every song.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A DIFF'RENCE DINAH MAKES!, April 5, 2000

By 

Giovanni Marra (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! (Audio CD)

The irony of the change of lyrics on the title track is just one of many fables that surround the exciting and too short career of one Miss Dinah Washington. (what a diff'rence a day "MAKES" was written "MADE" by Stanley Adams, while transposing this song from its original Spanish form) Dinah is teamed here with Belford Hendricks, who also arranged for Sarah Vaughan and Nat King Cole, among others, and beautifully, just as on these sides) His lazy chorus and strings might take true "old-school" Dinah fans by surprise, but upon further listening, you find them framing the great Dinah sound snugly, if not perfectly. This collection of great ballads, complete with three bonus tracks, contains highlights like the Rodgers & Hart evergreen, "MANHATTAN", Johnny Mercer's classic "I REMEMBER YOU" (complete with oft-skipped lyric), and the newly written (at the time) "NOTHING IN THE WORLD", co-penned by arranger Hendricks, and one Clyde Otis, who also wrote Dinah's hit, the unforgettably beautiful and haunting "THIS BITTER EARTH". Excellent packaging and reproduction of original liner notes earn this fantastic package extra points. In my opinion, this album is in a very hot race for the "must have" variety, with Dinah's "UNFORGETTABLE" disc, (which includes the aforementioned "THIS BITTER EARTH" among other greats, and is also arranged by Hendricks) As a fellow Chicagoan, I'm glad Ruth Jones became Dinah Washington, and recorded this fantastic album of standards!