Dinah (song)

Mills Brothers, 1932

"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. The song was published in 1925.

Lyrics

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 liner,
Just to be with Dinah Lee!

Recorded versions

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).
• 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.
• The Boswell Sisters. Recorded on December 13, 1934. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Brunswick Records as catalog number 7412.
• Cab Calloway. He recorded the song twice: First time on June 7, 1932. It was released on a 78 rpm record by ARC and was issued on Banner Records 32483, Melotone M-12489, Oriole 2495, Perfect 15623, Romeo 1868, and Vocalion 15872. 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. 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. (Ellington wrote an improvised extension of the popular tune heard on a recorded radio broadcast in 1935 and spawned a separate recording of "Dinah's In A Jam" in 1938.)
• Benny Goodman Quartet. Recorded on August 26, 1936. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Victor Records as catalog number 25398.
• The Hot Sardines recorded a version on their album Shanghai'd released by Decca/Universal on July 25, 2011
• 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.
• 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.
• Ethel Waters. Recorded on October 10, 1925. It was released on a 78 rpm record by Columbia Records as catalog number 487D

Japanese versions

In Japan, it was released by Teichiku Records; it was Dick Mine(ディック・ミネ)'s debut song in December, 1934.

Tokuichi Mine (Mine Tokuichi (三根徳一)) had previously been an unknown band singer. He referred to himself as Dick Mine, translated the lyrics of "Dinah" into Japanese by himself, and sang the song. He called himself Kōich Mine (Mine Kōich (三根耕一)), a pen name, as the translator. "Dinah", sung by Dick Mine, became the first hit song for Teichiku Records, with "Dark Eyes" on the flip side.

"Dinah" was also covered by, among others, Tadaharu Nakano (Nakano Tadaharu (中野忠晴)) as "Dinah", Akira Kishii (Kishii Akira (岸井明)) as "Dinah", Kenichi Enomoto (Enomoto Ken'ichi (榎本健一)) as "Enoken No Dinah" (エノケンのダイナ), meaning "Enoken's Dinah", Isao Hayashi (Hayashi Isao (林伊佐緒)) as "Dinah", and Yoshio Kawada (Kawada Yoshio (川田義雄) as "Rōkyoku Dinah" (浪曲ダイナ).

See also

• List of 1920s jazz standards