Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the
pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead
wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep
with the record.
— Paul, Vinyl Curator
Dinah Washington
What A Diff'rence A Day Makes!
1959 · Mercury MG-20479 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM
Pressing details
| Label | Mercury |
|---|
| Catalogue number | MG-20479 |
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| Year | 1959 |
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| Mono / Stereo | Mono |
|---|
| Country | US |
|---|
| Format | LP |
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| Speed | 33 1/3 RPM |
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| Genre | Jazz/Pop - Vocal |
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| Producer | Clyde Otis |
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| Conductor | Belford Hendricks |
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| Performer / Orchestra | Belford Hendricks' Orchestra |
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| Musicians | Dinah Washington (vocals), Joe Zawinul (piano), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), David "Panama" Francis (drums), Charles Davis (baritone saxophone), Jerome Richardson (flute/saxophone), Belford Hendricks (arranger/conductor), unidentified orchestra; jacket gives no track-by-track credits |
|---|
Matrix / Runout
Side A: MG 20479A MS1
Side B: MG 20479B MS2
Condition
- Cover
- NM
- Vinyl
- VG+
Variant chronology
1959 - US mono original, black/silver A2 deep-groove label, MS1/MS1 lacquers
1959 - US mono original, black/silver A2 deep-groove label, MG 20479A MS1/MG 20479B MS2 <- this copy
1959 - US DJ promo with NOT FOR SALE marking
1959 - US stereo original SR-60158, black/silver deep-groove label
1959 - Canadian Quality Records mono MG 20479
1959 - UK Mercury mono MMC 14030
c. 1960-62 - US later black/silver labels, including three-stroke A3 and oval-logo variants
1969 - US Mercury stereo reissue
c. mid/late 1960s - US red-label mono or stereo reissue
2018 - French 180-gram reissue
2026 - Verve Vault 180-gram all-analog reissue, Ryan K. Smith/Optimal
This Pressing
Original US mono issue (1959) - black/silver Mercury A2 deep-groove labels; MG 20479A MS1/MG 20479B MS2 Richmond-style matrices.
The Album
Recorded at Fine Recording in New York between February and August 1959, this album was built around Dinah Washington's breakthrough crossover single, a dramatically retitled reworking of María Grever's 'Cuando vuelva a tu lado' with English lyrics by Stanley Adams. Producer Clyde Otis and arranger-conductor Belford Hendricks framed Washington's blues-rooted phrasing and gospel-tinged diction within lush, pop-oriented string and rhythm settings, a deliberate step away from her earlier straight blues and jazz sides. The title performance climbed into the pop Top 5 and won Best Rhythm & Blues Performance at the second Grammy Awards, later entering the Grammy Hall of Fame. Surrounding the hit are standards like 'I Remember You,' 'Cry Me a River,' 'Manhattan,' and 'A Sunday Kind of Love,' showcasing Washington's equal command of torch balladry and up-tempo swing. Arriving after fifteen years as a top blues and R&B star billed as 'Queen of the Blues,' the record marked the pivotal pop crossover of her career, paving the way for 'Unforgettable' and her celebrated duets with Brook Benton. Critics and historians regard it as a landmark of late-1950s vocal jazz/pop-R&B fusion and among the definitive statements of Washington's artistry.
Tracklist
Side 1
1. I Remember You
2. I Thought About You
3. That's All There Is To That
4. I Won't Cry Anymore
5. I'm Thru With Love
6. Cry Me A River
Side 2
1. What A Diff'rence A Day Makes
2. Nothing In The World (Could Make Me Love You More Than I Do)
3. Manhattan
4. Time After Time
5. It's Magic
6. A Sunday Kind Of Love
The Label
This copy carries Mercury's early black/silver mono 'A2' label design: arched MERCURY logo, LONG PLAYING/MICROGROOVE rim text, catalog number and 'Side' at left, 'A Custom High Fidelity Recording' at right, no oval logo above the spindle hole, and a pronounced deep groove on both sides. This plain-arch, no-oval-logo A2 style is the earliest Mercury mono MG-20000 configuration, used circa 1958-59, before the label added the three-stroke 'A3' variant and later the oval-logo 'B' design used into the early 1960s, and well before the red 'Mercury head in black banner' reissue label used by the mid-1960s. The runouts read MG 20479A MS1 (side 1) and MG 20479B MS2 (side 2), sitting within Mercury's original Richmond-era mono matrix run - a distinct, slightly later-lacquered stamper pairing for side 2 within the same first-issue label design, rather than the earliest-possible both-sides-MS1 stamper combination. This places the copy solidly in the 1959 original mono first-issue window, just not the earliest-possible both-sides-MS1 stamper combination.
Fidelity
George Piros engineered the New York sessions at Fine Recording, with separate mono and stereo masters cut; this disc carries the original mono tape via an MS1/MS2 Richmond-style lacquer pairing. No cutting-engineer initial appears in the matrix, so it cannot be credited as a Fine Recording 'FF' cut. Deep-groove manufacture ties it to Mercury's late-1950s National Record Pressing-era plants, generally a step above routine 1960s black-label and later red-label reissues. Collectors often prize the companion stereo SR-60158 for its wide, if unusually hard-panned, soundstage, while this mono pressing gives the more centered, focused vocal image typical of era mono cuts. The 2026 Verve Vault all-analog reissue (Ryan K. Smith, Optimal) is the modern benchmark for clean transfer quality, but this original mono pressing remains the reference vintage mono listening choice.
Notes
1959 Mercury MG-20479 mono - original US first-issue pressing. The black/silver A2 label design (no oval logo, arched MERCURY, deep groove) matches Mercury's earliest MG-20000 mono configuration, predating the A3 and oval-logo B designs. The runouts MG 20479A MS1/MG 20479B MS2 place it in the original Richmond-era mono matrix sequence, with side 2's MS2 indicating a second lacquer rather than the earliest-possible both-sides-MS1 stamper pairing found on some copies. The pressing plant is not identified beyond the likely Mercury/National Record Pressing operation.
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