2000 · Album
Mad About the Boy
Recorded 1959 · Mercury Records · Produced by Details not verified from provided sources
Washington's Ballad Mastery in Full Command
Washington sings these standards with the kind of ease that only comes from complete control of her instrument.
Dinah Washington's Mad About the Boy (1959) finds her doing what she did better than almost anyone else: taking the Great American Songbook and making it feel like a conversation between old friends. This isn't a record where she's showing off technique or chasing novelty. Instead, Washington moves through these ballads with the kind of unhurried confidence that makes the whole thing feel inevitable, like this is simply the right way to sing these songs.
What stands out on the surface is how direct her voice sounds. There's no vibrato artifice here, no oversinging. When she hits the quieter moments—and there are plenty of them—you hear exactly what she's doing with the phrasing and dynamics. The arrangements stay out of her way. A standard like "Mad About the Boy" becomes something you'd expect: a showcase for what makes Washington singular. Her tone is warm without being cloying, her timing impeccable without sounding studied. She bends notes and stretches lines just enough to keep things interesting, but the focus stays on the lyric and the emotional weight underneath it.
If you already know Washington from her uptempo recordings, this record shows the other side of her artistry. She was equally at home with a blues shout as she was with a Rodgers and Hart standard, but Mad About the Boy (1959) is where her ballad work sits most comfortably. It's straightforward, beautifully sung, and built to last. This is a good place to start if you want to understand why people called her one of the finest singers of her era.
Who's playing
Jack Wilsonpiano
Joe Newmantrumpet
Billy Byerstrombone
Brook Bentonperformer
Where next?
More by Dinah Washington
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