Dionne's CD set for Sept. 17 release

[Bruce Bernard Williams]

Dionne Warwick's new CD will consist of 12 songs, of which 6 are classics including a duet with her son David Elliott entitled "I Say A Little Prayer" along with two songs from her 1972 Warners' album "Dionne". There will be two brand new Burt/Hal songs. The recordings are currently being mixed and the entire project is being produced by Phil Ramone who will produce the music for the upcoming Gershwin awards to be held at the White House.

[Dionnefan]

Oh boy, another version of I Say A Little Prayer!

At least there will be 6 new songs, and 2 new Bacharach/Davids. I really did enjoy Sunny Weather Lover, so looking forward to these.

The best thing to me is Phil Ramone's involvement. I think he will ensure a certain level of quality. But I really wish Dionne would follow along the path set by her last album. Keep moving in the jazzy vein. There are so many great songbooks to explore.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

When did Burt and Hal write these 2 new songs, does anyone know? Further, did they actually meet in person or did they write them long distance via, say, fax or pdf, or the like?

I'm just wondering if, indeed, they are newly written songs versus two songs that they wrote years ago and that are now being recorded for the first time.

If Burt wrote the music recently, then, obviously, the songs' range had to take into account Dionne's present limitations -- which doesn't necessarily mean that the music can't be stellar. Just sayin'.

I can't wait to hear the new songs either way!

[Blair N. Cummings]

I wasn`t going to butt into this, but a look at the original announcement of this album will show that the B & D songs were written with other collaborators (vintage uknown), not with eachother.
I hope I`m wrong, but I doubt that even Phil can make this thing worthwhile.

[gillanddon]

I agree Dionnefan .. why another version of 'I Say a Little Prayer' .. I remember Back to Bacharach having similar misgivings in this column. I think her son's voice is too strong for her and a lot of the subtleness of the song is lost .. he has one powerful voice when let loose. Also I totally agree about continuing down the road of the Sammy Kahn etc songs ... they need us on the advisory board or rather listen to the diehard fans!!

[ron hertel]

Like Blair - I was hesitant to comment on this TOPIC ... I don't believe we need another interpretation of "I Say A Little Prayer"; however, I can understand why Dionne would like to include her son David in this project. .... With Phil Ramone at the helm - I am not concerned with David's vocals overpowering his Mom's. They recorded a balanced duet (entitled "Seven") on Dionne's 2008 gospel CD "Why We Sing". ........ Looking forward to the 2 "brand new" Bacharach/David collaborations (hope they ARE brand new) ... also ... wondering if the 2 tracks from the 1972 Warner Brothers album 'DIONNE" are newly recorded versions. My best guess is those 2 tracks will be "The Balance Of Nature" and "Be Aware". ...... In terms of future recording projects for Dionne - I agree with Dionnefan - that is hopefully along the lines of her latest release "Only Trust Your Heart" and I will always welcome suitable Bacharach/David material and arrangements.

[GehVorbei]

I can't imagine her pulling off "The Balance of Nature" in her current voice even if it is transcribed to a much lower key. My bet would be on "Love Song" and "Be Aware".

And in the the current state of the industry and with most of Dionne's contemporarys out of recording deals, I think it is pretty likely that this will be Warwick's final release. Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Nancy Wilson, Patti Labelle, Gladys Knight all seem not be able to get backing for new CD projects. Only Aretha just resigned with Clive Davis and of course Streisand is still a big seller.

And the main complaint you keep hearing from those ladies is that it has become almost impossible and incredibly expensive to get decent material these days. So there is probably some clause in Dionne's settlement of the suit against Burt and Hal and their collective early 90s deal with Warner that allows her to rerecord her back catalogue as many times as she wants to with little or no copyright fee and that has given us all of those recycling projects.

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[gillanddon]

Yes, that suddenly makes complete sense .. hence the constant updating of her hits etc. Also the general public only register 'hit' songs by most artists .. hence the same songs being regularly played on most radio stations. Steve Wright for example here on Radio 2, 'Sunday Love Songs' and 'Steve Wright In the Afternoon' who loves Dionne and has interviewed her many times, only ever plays 'Walk On By', 'Heartbreake'r and' No One In the World' on his list for Dionne and has done so for the last 10 years. He never plays anything else from her extensive catalogue of brilliant Bacharach songs and I'm sure it's the same for most artists on most popular radio stations throughout the world. As I have said before .. each artist seems to be recognised by one or two .. three if you are lucky, songs. Depressing isn't it? The recent posting on Dionne's facebook of the brilliant 'No One In The World' illustrates a fabulous song of hers which has never had any airplay and so only the true investigative fans know about it. The same goes for all the greats .. Aretha is always 'Think' and 'I Say A Little Prayer', Anita Baker 'Caught Up In The Rapture', Diana Ross 'Chain Reaction', Streisand 'Evergreen', Whitney 'I Will Always Love You' and so on ..... forgetting even better material by these wonderful artists.

[GehVorbei]

Yesterday Dionne's Facebook page announced that a new single and album were coming soon. But no date was given.

Phil Ramone's official homepage is also saying that there were two brand new Burt/Hal songs on the new album. So that's a fact.