And with Max Roach,
Paul West,
and Wynton Kelly,
I'd like to do one of Bessie's
most soulful tunes.
It's called The Backwater Blues.
When it rains five days
and the skies turn black as night
Well, when it rains five days
an d the skies turn black
as night
You know there's trouble in
the lowlands,
an d everything ain't
right.
Oh well, I woke up this morning,
couldn't even get out of my door.
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I woke up this morning,
couldn't even get out of my door,
there was enough trouble
to make a poor girl wonder where
she ought to go.
Then they rowed a little boat
About five miles across the pond
Yes, they rowed a little boat
About five miles across the pond
I packed all my clothes
and throwed them in,
then they rode me right
along.
Well, when it thunders
and lightens,
an d the wind begins to blow,
Can't you hear the thunder,
see the lightning,
and feel the wind beginnin'
to blow?
Lord, it makes you think
about all those people
that ain't got no place
to go.
Then I went and stood
on a high old lonesome hill
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I went and stood,
stood on a high old lonesome hill
I look down with tears in my eyes,
on the house where I used to live.
Ah, that's why the blues
done called me,
called me to pack my clothes
an d go.
Yeah, yeah, the blues
done called me,
called me to pack my
clothes an d go.
Cause my house done fell down,
and I can't live there
no more.
Some body, somebody,
please tell me,
where's it for a poor girl
like me to go?
Can't you see I'm tired,
and I don't feel like moving no more.
But if I ever get my
nerve settled down,
I'll be a mean so -and -so.
Dinah Dinah Washington will return for
One Number with an all -star group
Wynton Kelly,
Max Roche, and Paul West remain on stage.
As we bring up first,
a superb trombonist.
One of his best -known solos
is on the Woody Herman second
recording of Blue Flame.
And recently he was given the job of
leading the Benny Goodman Orchestra
in the absence of Benny
for about three months.
Urbie Green.
Then a man whose talents
encompass the mellophone,
the vibes, the trumpet,
the vocal and compositorial
talents.
He's an all -around entertainer
as well. Don Elliott.
And one of the fast and furious men of jazz,
Terry Gibbs.