“Even White Girls Get the Blues” is a look at three late-1950s blues-concept LPs by white female vocalists. Selections are included from Lee Wiley’s 1957 RCA album A Touch of the Blues (backed by Billy Butterfield and His Orchestra), Julie London’s 1957 “blues noir” LP About the Blues, and Jo Stafford’s 1959 concept record Ballad of the Blues, featuring traditionals arranged by her husband Paul Weston and original linking music written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who would go on to win several Academy Awards and Grammys. There’s also music from Dinah Shore’s 1960 Capitol album Dinah Sings Some Blues With Red (as in Norvo).
Music Heard On This Episode
Miss D.D.
Mary Lou Williams — Black Christ of the Andes (Smithsonian Folkways, 1964)
