Dinah is such a singable melody. It’s happy and dancy, and it makes me smile. I remember hearing it as a boy being sung by my dad, and played on tenor banjo, but since he isn’t at my house today, I’m playing it solo. 😉
By the way, it’s really hard to play fiddle while you are laying on your back.
Dinah according to Wikipedia
“Dinah” is a popular song. The music was written by Harry Akst, and the lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. It was introduced by Eddie Cantor in Kid Boots (1923) in Pittsburgh.[1] The song was published in 1925.
Carolina
Gave me Dinah;
I’m the proudest one
Beneath the Dixie sun.
News is spreadin’
‘Bout our weddin’;
I hear church bells ringin’,
Here’s the song my heart keeps singin’:
Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!
Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin’,
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!
Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!
But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,
I would hop an ocean liner,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!
Dinah,
Is there anyone finer
In the state of Carolina?
If there is and you know her,
Show her!
Dinah,
With her Dixie eyes blazin’,
How I love to sit and gaze in
To the eyes of Dinah Lee!
Yet, every night,
My, how I shake with fright,
Because my Dinah might,
Change her mind about me!
But if Dinah,
Ever wandered to China,
I would hop an ocean!,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!
It was immensely popular with jazz bands and vocalists of the period and beyond, with versions by various artists, including:
- Chet Baker. Recorded at Phil Turetsky’s House, Los Angeles, on July 9, 1952. It was released on the albums The Complete Pacific Jazz and Capitol Recordings of the Original Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Tentette with Chet Baker(Mosaic MR5-102, MD3-102) and The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings Of The Gerry Mulligan Quartet With Chet Baker (Pacific Jazz CDP 7243 8 38263-2).[2]
- Josephine Baker. Recorded in Paris in October 1926. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Odeon Records A 49172 as catalog number 7412.[3]
- The Boswell Sisters. Recorded on December 13, 1934. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Brunswick Records as catalog number 7412.[4]
- Cab Calloway. He recorded the song twice: First time on June 7, 1932. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Banner Records as catalog number 32483. The second time he recorded the song live at The New Café Zanzibar on July 17, 1945. It was released on the album Cab Calloway ’45: Live at the New Cafe Zanzibar by Magnetic Records as catalog number 132 in 1993.
- Bing Crosby & The Mills Brothers. Recorded in New York City on December 16, 1932. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Brunswick Records as catalog number 6240.[5] Cab Calloway ’45: Live at the New Cafe
- Duke Ellington & His Orchestra. Recorded on February 9, 1932. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Victor Records as catalog number 22938A.[6]
- Benny Goodman Quartet. Recorded on August 26, 1936. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Victor Records as catalog number 25398.[7]
- Thelonious Monk. Recorded on November 2, 1964. It was released on the album Solo Monk by Columbia Records as catalog number CS 9149 in 1965.[8]
- Django Reinhardt. Recorded in Paris in December 1934. Released on a 78 rpm record by Ultraphone as catalog number AP 1422.
- The Revelers. Recorded in Camden on September 4, 1925. It was released on a 78 rpm by Victor Records as catalog number 19796.
- The Temperance Seven. Released on the album Those BBC Years by Upbeat Jazz as catalog number URCD 185 in 2009.
- Fats Waller & His Rhythm. Recorded in Camden on June 24, 1935. Released on a 78 rpm record by Victor Records as catalog number 25471A.[9]
- Ethel Waters. Recorded on October 10, 1925. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Columbia Records as catalog number 487D[10]
That’s an interesting concept- playing on your back…I wonder if it wouldn’t help students learn to grip the neck less (which usually results when they don’t use their head weight to support the violin)…the change in gravity might help them let go of the violin with their hand and get the “feel” of supporting (balancing) the neck of the instrument without grabbing it. I’ve tried resting the scroll of the music stand, but it moves around too much.
The hardest thing to learn (and the most difficult to convey to a student) is the small amount of pressure needed to hold the bow and the violin itself…you need to relax “into it” with just enough pressure (weight?) to create a decent sound. That elusive middle ground is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome in learning to play the violin…well.
It definitely changes the way that the instrument feels in your hands, and where the weight is. You might be right. I haven’t ever used it as a teaching tool for students who are gripping the neck too much, but I might give it a try next time I have a student suffering from that malady. 🙂 Hold don’t grip is good language that I have used for it.
I gave it a try…maybe “not so much”. Someone needs to come up with a teaching violin that has sensors on the neck and bow that light up when you squeeze too hard….I also envision these adjustable, mechanical sleeve braces that you can slip your bow arm into and it will trace the perfect bow stoke for you so you can learn the feel of a straight bow stroke in your arm….hook up the kids to that for an hour or so and see what happens.
You really shouldn’t be squeezing your hand at all. The violin should sit in between your thumb and index finger. Your fingers should press down, but you shouldn’t be gripping the neck of the fiddle at all. The trouble with a mechanical sleeve is 2 fold. 1. Every body is shaped differently, and 2, a good bow stroke isn’t mechanically straight. The bow stays generally perpendicular to the strings, and your shoulder and wrist are in alignment, but it involves movement with your shoulder and clavicle as well as your upper arm, forearm, wrist, and hand. A good bow stroke really has to be fluid.
The problem is that a good bow stroke isn’t perfectly straight. It’s fluid, and smooth, and all of our joints are moving together in sync. There should never be squeezing of the neck, only holding the neck, and pressing the strings down gently with the fingers. On the right hand, there is the weight of the bow, the hand, and the right arm, that create the weight in the string, but you shouldn’t ever think about creating pressure, because tension is the opposite of what you want. 🙂 Fiddle on!
Lovely musical performance !
Thanks.