This Bitter Earth
"This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by rhythm and blues singer Dinah Washington.[1] Written and produced by Clyde Otis,[2][3] it peaked to #1 on the U.S. R&B charts for the week of July 25, 1960, and also reached #24 on the U.S. pop charts.[4]
| "This Bitter Earth" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Dinah Washington | ||||
| from the album Unforgettable | ||||
| A-side | "I Understand" | |||
| Released | 1960 | |||
| Recorded | 1959 | |||
| Genre | jazz, soul | |||
| Length | 2:30 | |||
| Label | Mercury Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Clyde Otis | |||
| Producer(s) | Clyde Otis | |||
| Dinah Washington singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Charts
| Chart (1960) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Top Pop Songs | 24 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Songs | 1 |
Other recordings
- In 1964, Aretha Franklin released a cover on her album Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington for Columbia Records.
- In May 1970, The Satisfactions released a version, reaching #36 on the U.S. R&B charts.[4]
- In 1992, R&B/soul singer Miki Howard recorded a version that appears on her 1992 album, Femme Fatale.
- In 2004, break-core musician Venetian Snares used vocals from this song in his own composition with the same title on his mini-album Moonglow / This Bitter Earth.[5]
- In 2006, Gladys Knight released her début album for the Verve Records label, Before Me, including this song as the sixth track.
- In 2007, R&B/Dance singer Deborah Cox made a remake of this song on her album Destination Moon.
- On June 10, 2010, this was danced to on So You Think You Can Dance, in a routine choreographed by Mia Michaels.
- In February 2010, this song was featured on the soundtrack for the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island, in the form of a mash-up with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight".[6]
- In 2012 the Max Richter mashup was featured as the accompanying track to the launch trailer of The Secret World, an MMORPG from developer Funcom, published by Electronic Arts.
- Also in 2012, the Richter mashup was used in the Christopher Wheeldon's dance Five Movements, Three Repeats.[7] The pas de deux set to the mashup was added to New York City Ballet's repertory the later that year.[8]
- In July 2016, Erykah Badu and Nas released 'This Bitter Land' featured on the soundtrack of Steven Caple Jr.'s The Land (2016)
Popular Culture
- The song is a key piece in the 1978 film Killer of Sheep by director Charles Burnett.[9]
Notes and references
- The Essential Dinah Washington - The Great Songs Archived 2013-01-29 at Archive.today
- Clyde Otis Music Group Beginnings Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- BMI entry from This Bitter Earth
- The Marvels Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine By Marv Goldberg, Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks, 2007
- Venetian Snares "This Bitter Earth".bandcamp
- Bradley Bambarger (March 12, 2010). "Shutter Island soundtrack casts eerie spell". New Jersey On-Line.
- Macaulay, Alastair (September 28, 2012). "Old Favorite Returns, Freshness Still In Its Step". New York Times.
- Macaulay, Alastair (September 21, 2012). "All This in the Name of Fashion". New York Times.
- Killer of Sheep by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2007.
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