DINAH

Music: Harry Akst- Lyrics: Sam M. Lewis, Joseph Young

Year: 1925

 

Origin of the song

Eddie Cantor was the star in the musical Kid Boots, which was released on 31 December 1923 in the Earl Carroll Theatre of New York and performed four hundred and eighty nine times. The song ‘Dinah’ was added to the original score, which Cantor performed at the end of the show and delighted the public.

In October 1925, Ethel Waters, who was standing in for the actress Florence Mills during Summer in the Plantation Club of Broadway, recorded the song and, surprisingly, the disc entered the top charts and reached the second position. Some years later, in 1932, Bing Crosby and The Mills Brothers lead the song to the top of the charts.

Apart from ‘Dinah’, Harry Akst composed the music of the songs ‘Home Again Blues’ (1921), ‘Baby Face’ (1926), and ‘Am I Blue?’ (1929).

Sam M. Lewis and Joseph Young wrote together the lyrics of ‘Rock-a-bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody’ (1918), ‘I’m Sitting on Top of the World’ (1924), and ‘In a Little Spanish Town’ (1930). The first one alone, ‘Street of Dreams’ (1931), ‘Just Friends’ (1931), ‘For All We Know’ (1934), and ‘Gloomy Sunday’ (1936), and the latest, ‘You’re My Everything’ (1931), ‘In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town’ (1932), ‘Lullaby of the Leaves’ (1932), and ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter’ (1935).


Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

DAY OF ENTRANCE

PERMANENCE WEEKS

HIGH POSITION REACHED

 

The Revelers

1925.09.04

1926.01.16

6

4

Lewis James, Franklyn Baur, Elliott Shaw, Wilfred Glenn (voc), Ed Smalle (p)

Ethel Waters

1925.10.20

1926.01.23

8

2

(two weeks)

Ethel Waters (voc), Plantation Orchestra, Ralph James (dir)

Cliff Edwards

1925.12.??

1926.03.06

3

5

Cliff Edwards (voc, uke)

Fletcher Henderson Orchestra

1926.01.06

1926.04.24

1

13

Instrumental

Ted Lewis Orchestra

1930.01.24

1930.05.10

7

13

Ted Lewis, Four Dusty Travelers (voc)

Bing Crosby & The Mills Brothers

1931.12.16

1932.01.09

9

1

(two weeks)

Bing Crosby, The Mills Brothers (voc), Brunswick Studio Orchestra, Bernie Krueger (dir)

The Boswell Sisters

1934.12.13

1935.04.20

6

3

Connee & Helvetia Boswell (voc), Martha Boswell (voc, p), Bobby Sherwood (g)

Fats Waller & His Rhythm

1935.06.24

1936.12.12

4

7

Fats Waller (p, voc)

Sam Donohue Orchestra

1946.04.03

1946.07.13

6

9

Instrumental

Jazz. Outstanding performances

  Instrumental

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Clarence Williams Stompers

1926.01.04

Bubber Miley (tp), Charlie Irvis (tb), Otto Hardwick (as), Coleman Hawkins or Prince Robinson (ts), Clarence Williams (p), Buddy Christian o Leroy Harris (bjo), Henry Edwards (b)

Fletcher Henderson Orchestra

1926.01.06

Fletcher Henderson (p, dir), Russell Smith (tp), Joe Smith (cnt), Charlie Green (tb), Buster Bailey (cl, ss, as), Don Redman (cl, as), Coleman Hawkins (cl, ts, bars), Charlie Dixon (bjo), Ralph Escudero (b), Kaiser Marshall (d)

Joe Venuti's Blue Four

1928.03.28

Joe Venuti (vn), Don Murray (bars), Rube Bloom (p), Eddie Lang (g)

Django Reinhardt- Quintette du Hot Club de France

1934.12.28

Django Reinhardt (g), Stéphane Grappelli (vn), Joseph Reinhardt, Roger Chaput (g),

Louis Vola (b)

Benny Goodman Quartet

1936.08.26

Benny Goodman (cl), Teddy Wilson (p), Lionel Hampton (vib), Gene Krupa (d)

Pee Wee Russell Rhythmakers

1938.08.31

Max Kaminsky (tp), Dicky Wells (tb), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Al Gold (ts), James P. Johnson (p), Freddie Green (g), Wellman Braud (b), Zutty Singleton (d)

Lionel Hampton Orchestra

1939.12.21

Benny Carter (tp), Edmond Hall (cl), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Joe Sullivan (p), Freddy Greene (g), Artie Bernstein (b), Zutty Singleton (d), Lionel Hampton (vib)

Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra

1940.02.28

Jimmie Lunceford (dir), Eugene E. Young, Gerald Wilson, Paul Webster (tp), Elmer Crumbley, Russell Bowles, Trummy Young (tb), Ted Buckner, Dan Grissom (as), Earl Caruthers (cl, as, bars), Eddie Wilcox (p), Al Norris (g), Moses Allen (b), Jimmy Crawford (d)

Gerry Mulligan Quartet

1952.07.09

Chet Baker (tp), Gerry Mulligan (bars), Jimmie Rowles (p), Joe Mondragon (b)

Erroll Garner Trio

1954.03.26

Erroll Garner (p), Wyatt Ruther (b), Eugene Heard (d)

Bud Shank- Bob Cooper Quintet

1958.02.18

Bud Shank (fl, as), Bob Cooper (ob, ts), Claude Williamson (p), Don Prell (b), Chuck Flores (d)

Thelonious Monk

1964.11.02

Thelonious Monk (p)

Ralph Sutton Quartet

1968.02.29

Ralph Sutton (p), Ruby Braff (cnt), Milt Hinton (b), Mousie Alexander (d)

Ruby Braff & Scott Hamilton

1985.??.??

Ruby Braff (cnt), Scott Hamilton (ts), John Bunch (p), Chris Flory (g), Phil Flanigan (b),

Chuck Riggs (d)

Dick Hyman & Ralph Sutton

1993.11.12

Dick Hyman, Ralph Sutton (p)

Nicholas Payton & Doc Cheatham

1996.10.09

Nicholas Payton, Doc Cheatham (tp), Butch Thompson (p), Les Muscutt (g),

Bill Huntington (b), Ernie Elly (d)

  Vocal

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Ethel Waters

1925.10.20

Ethel Waters (voc), Plantation Orchestra, Ralph James (dir)

Louis Armstrong Orchestra

1930.05.04

Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Ed Anderson (tp), Henry Hicks (tb), Bobby Holmes (cl, as), Theodore McCord (as), Castor McCord (cl, ts), Joe Turner (p), Bernhard Addison (g), Lavert Hutchinson (b), Willie Lynch (d)

Bing Crosby & The Mills Brothers

1931.12.16

Bing Crosby, Herbert, Harry & Donald Mills (voc), John Mills (voc, g), Frank Guarente (tp), Will Bradley (tb), Les Dreyer (as), Max Farley (ts), Joe Meresco (p), Eddie Lang, Hank Stern (g), Larry Gomar (d), Fred Glickman, Max Solowsky (vn), Bernie Krueger (dir)

Duke Ellington Orchestra

1932.02.09

Duke Ellington (p, dir), Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel (tp), Cootie Williams (tp, voc), Joe Nanton (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Barney Bigard (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (as, ss, cl), Harry Carney (bars, cl, as), Fred Guy (bjo, g), Wellman Braud (b), Sonny Greer (d, voc)

The Boswell Sisters

1934.12.13

Connee, Helvetia & Martha Boswell (voc), Bobby Sherwood (g), unidentified (p)

Fats Waller & His Rhythm

1935.06.24

Fats Waller (p, voc), Herman Autrey (tp), Rudy Powell (cl, as), James Smith (g), Charles Turner (b), Arnold Boling (d)

Jimmy Rushing

1957.03.05

Jimmy Rushing (voc), Emmett Berry (tp), Vic Dickenson (tb), Buddy Tate (ts), Marlowe Morris (org), Clarence Johnson (p), Roy Gaines (g), Aaron Ball (b), Jo Jones (d)

On cinemas

 The song 'Dinah' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

 

ORIGINAL TITLE

TITLE IN SPAIN

YEAR OF PRODUCTION

PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM

Night Nurse

Enfermeras de noche

1931

 

Roman Scandals

Escándalos romanos

1933

Eddie Cantor (a capella)

Chained

Encadenada

1934

 

Rose-Marie

Rose Marie

1936

Jeanette MacDonald

Show Business

Su majestad la farsa

1944

Eddie Cantor, George Murphy, Constance Moore and Joan Davis

Big Fish

Big Fish

2003

Bing Crosby

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