Dionne Warwick ...... "NOW"

[ron hertel]

Title for the upcoming release has apparently been selected: "Dionne Warwick NOW" ....... To the best of our knowledge - only two songs will have not been previously recorded by her. It's pure speculation as to whether these were recently composed by Burt & Hal, songs we know that were recorded by others or perhaps some leftovers from the recording sessions for the 1972 Warner Brothers "Dionne" album. It's also been reported that two of the tracks will either be from that album or taken from that album and re-recorded. ...... Only other info is the duet with her son David on "I Say A Little Prayer" and "Are You There With Another Girl" (which Burt has been featuring in his concerts for the past 2 years).

Recognizing this is in the hands of Phil Ramone - I'm hoping for the best; however, I agree with most who say we do not need another package of updated versions of BB/HD/DW classics. There were a couple of commendable efforts on the 2 "Dionne Sings Dionne" projects in the late 90's ("If I Want To" from the first and "In Between The Heartaches" from the rare Japanese release: "Dionne Sings Dionne II"). The 2006 release "My Friends and Me" is unlistenable; however, her recent "Only Trust Your Heart" contains material suitable for her present vocal capabilities and I personally like it. ....... Her 2004 Christmas project "My Favorite Time of the Year" was also a very good effort although not commercially successful.

Some have speculated that "NOW" could be her final album. ......... I think another - along the lines of "Only Trust Your Heart" - could still be in her recording future.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[gillanddon]

Couldn't have said it better myself! Thank you Ron and keep fingers crossed. I will buy her new CD as I always have done in the past .. and 'one for a friend'. Did you see the recent posting on Dionne's facebook site or rather 'the official Dionne facebook site' of a concert with DeeDee, Darlene Love and Eunice Peterson (in Edmonton?) .. amazing .. it would be about the time of her concerts etc with Isaac Hayes. Cheers! Donald

[ron hertel]

Donald:
More along the lines of Dionne Warwick "THEN" ...... are you aware of the fact that the Edmonton Concert is available on DVD? .... Check out Amazon or similar sites! ....... I too will purchase Dionne's upcoming CD and hope it's worthy of playing again and again!
Ron

[gillanddon]

Thank you Ron for that info! I have always been passionate about Dionne and her effortless and extraordinary interpretations of songs. I will seek out the Edmonton DVD for sure. I always read your reviews here and appreciate them. all the best. Donald

[GehVorbei]

This is the cover art...The "new" songs are definitely not recent Bacharach/David collaborations but hidden gems from their respective catalogues that DW hadn't recorded before. Among them Burt's ‘Love Is Still The Answer’ and ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’. The latter will be Dionne's new single.

[GehVorbei]

The cover (you have to scroll down the pic to see the whole thing):

[gillanddon]

Wow!! Fabulous ... many thanks for posting that!! Stunning photo. Also will be listening to BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning and I think BBC Radio 2 on Tuesday morning when Dionne will be being interviewed.

[blueonblue]

Really looking forward to the new/old Bacharach and David songs !
And thank you for posting Geh Verbei........Dionne's still a very beautiful lady !

"blue"

[gillanddon]

God Bless hal David!

[ron hertel]

How coincidental - that on this day of Hal David's passing - the cover art and promo lines for Dionne's Celebratory 50th Anniversary album are released and posted" ....... " THE LEGENDS COME TOGETHER AS DIONNE REUNITES WITH BURT BACHARACH, HAL DAVID AND PHIL RAMONE ......"

[gillanddon]

Hi Ron ... yes painful but true but Hal would have liked that and the fact that there are some of his songs on the new album.. I liked the sound of the new song on BBC Radio 2 but LOVED the interview on BBC Radio 4 the day before!! She is really funny saying with excellent humour how she flew into Paris as a young girl and that Marlene Dietrich met her, under Burt's instruction, and she was transformed from her 'modern' polyester suits into haute couture! And how angry she was toward Cilla Black 'she pinched my song'!! Love it!

[GehVorbei]

Hi Gillanddon I'm glad you liked the new single, I was extremely disappointed.

[BachtoBacharach]

I just listened to a clip of Dionne's new single and was disappointed as well. The tune sounded as though it was some of the mediocrity Burt churned out in the 1980s. Dionne's performance on the single was as to be expected for her diminished vocal abilities; whispery, wispy and weak...her performance was not on par with the good vocal performances on her Cahn album. All in all, not anything to recommend in the tune other than Hal David's lyrics. Dionne should hang it up in my opinion.

[nymusicalsguy]

Hi there B2B, the lyrics to "Is There Anybody Out There" aren't Hal's. Rather, Burt penned the tune in 1995 (originally recorded by singer Mari Ijima) with John Bettis, James Ingram and "Puff" Johnson. Burt's other "new" song is "Love is Still the Answer," also recorded by Ornella Vanoni and Ron Isley, with lyrics by Tonio K. Hal's two "new" contributions to NOW are contributing the oft-recorded "99 Miles from LA," co-written with Albert Hammond, and "It Was Almost Like a Song," co-written with Archie Jordan and a 1977 hit for Ronnie Milsap.

[BachtoBacharach]

I stand corrected. John Bettis has worked with Burt on a couple of other tunes if I remember correctly. This project has been hyped as a "reunion" of sorts and that's what has left such a bad taste in my mouth. It's very, very obvious Burt, Hal and Phil did not reunite for this project and Burt and Hal certainly didn't write anything new for Dionne although we had been led to believe otherwise. I believe this is just another one of Dionne's projects to exploit her back catalog and wring every last ounce of any commerciality out of her relationship with Burt and Hal thus the complete and utter silence from the Burt camp. I suspected such when I heard that Dionne's son engineered and mixed the project (he did a poor job producing, arranging, mixing and engineering My Friends and Me). I am wondering if any of these "hidden gems" are left overs from those past failed remake projects with Damon Elliott? It's obvious that Burt and Hal had minimum if any involvement (did Burt do any of the arranging?) and Phil's involvement was rather limited as well to four tunes. Those who worked themselves up (myself included) into believing that this was a long awaited reunion with some newly written material when this project was initially announced are once again snookered by yet another lame remake project. What a sad commentary this project is for the legacy of Burt, Hal and Dionne. This does nothing to honor them and certainly doesn't honor Dionne. Why does this legend keep shooting herself in the foot with these sad, lackluster remake recordings that only, only serve to demonstrate the brilliance of the originals? Beats me.