Article about Dionne from Wall Street Journal

[BachtoBacharach]

By Marc Myers
When Dionne Warwick finished recording "Don't Make Me Over" in August 1962, Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg hated it. Released anyway that fall as the B-side of a 45-rpm record, the song soared to No. 21 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart—launching the hit-making careers of Ms. Warwick and songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

On Friday, Ms. Warwick, 69, will perform a selection of her 56 hits spanning four decades at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill. "Florence was great and she knew talent, but her ability to pick hits was suspect," Ms. Warwick said with a laugh last week. "Eventually we hoped she'd hate whatever I recorded, since those songs always became hits."

Ms. Warwick remains one of the most influential pop-soul voices of the rock era. With her husky sound and impressive multioctave range, she appealed to early '60s radio listeners weary of teen stars and girl groups. Her powerful delivery also spawned a copycat school of female belters such as Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield. Between 1963 and 1970, Ms. Warwick sent more than 30 Bacharach-David songs up the Hot 100 chart, including "Walk on By," "Message to Michael" and "I Say a Little Prayer."

"Those songs by Burt and Hal were difficult to sing," she said. "Every recording session was like taking an exam—impossible time changes and tricky melodies. Most of my peers thought I was insane for singing them."

In the late '70s and '80s, Ms. Warwick reinvented herself, landing 15 hits on the Hot 100, including "I'll Never Love This Way Again," "Déjà Vu" and "That's What Friends Are For." The first two won Grammy Awards in 1979—the first time a female artist had clinched Best Pop Vocal Performance and Best R&B Vocal Performance in the same year.

Born Marie Dionne Warrick (she changed her last name to Warwick after it was misspelled on the "Don't Make Me Over" label), the singer grew up in East Orange, N.J. When she was 6, her grandfather began taking her to his Methodist church to sing gospel. Piano lessons started at age 9.

"My grandfather told me, 'If you can think it, you can do it,'" she said. "That became my mantra. He gave me enormous encouragement and confidence at a very young age."

Growing up in a musical family didn't hurt, either. Ms. Warwick often joined her mother and aunts in a popular gospel group, the Drinkard Sisters. In 1958, a teenage Ms. Warwick, her sister Dee Dee, and two cousins formed the Gospelaires, winning an Apollo Theater talent contest.

Discovered in 1961 by Mr. Bacharach in a New York recording studio, Ms. Warwick cut a demo of his "It's Love That Really Counts." Scepter's Ms. Greenberg passed on the song but loved the voice.

Quickly signed to Blue-Jac Productions, Messrs. Bacharach and David's production company, Ms. Warwick made a demo of "Make It Easy on Yourself." But the song wound up being recorded by Jerry Butler. After she heard Mr. Butler's single, Ms. Warwick warned Messrs. Bacharach and David: "You can't change me, so don't try to make me over."

Within days, the songwriting team returned with "Don't Make Me Over." Her next two singles were moderate hits. After "Anyone Who Had a Heart" reached No. 8 in 1964, Messrs. Bacharach and David began writing specifically for her.

Years of piano lessons and a handful of semesters at Connecticut's Hartt College of Music enabled Ms. Warwick to read music. "You had to with Burt," she said. "He was a perfectionist. We recorded each of those songs 20 or 25 times."

Which hit was the most daunting to sing? "Probably 'Promises, Promises,'" she said. "Try singing along with the record and see how you do."

In the '60s, a feud erupted between Ms. Warwick and British singers Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield and Sandie Shaw. All recorded near-replica versions of her hits. "If I had coughed on 'Anyone Who Had a Heart,' Cilla would have coughed, too," she said. "I never forgave her for that."

In 1972 Ms. Warwick signed with Warner Bros., but little came of that union. In 1977, she joined Clive Davis's Arista Records, and 14 hits for the label followed.

And then came the 1990s—a comparatively dry period when she appeared in infomercials for the Psychic Friends Network. "Recordings weren't happening, and I had a family to feed," Ms. Warwick said.

Despite five Grammy Awards and more charted hits than any other female artist in the past 52 years except Aretha Franklin, why hasn't Ms. Warwick been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? "That's a really good question," she said. "Why don't you ask them—and be sure to tell them all the numbers you told me."

—Mr. Myers writes daily on jazz, R&B and rock at JazzWax.com.

[steveo_1965]

jolly good article...thanks for posting it!

Steveo

[Peter Greenhill]

I enjoyed reading the article. Thanks for posting.

[steveo_1965]

The first few singles from Burt, Dionne and Hal were electrifying...
As Dame Cilla Black said, when she first heard Anyone Who Had A Heart,
she called it "dead posh"..."dramatic, like opera!"

[GehVorbei]

"Dame Cilla"? What a bad joke! Probably the tackiest and most talentfree "entertainer" on the planet. All she got is a third class OBE.

[steveo_1965]

Geh Vorbi,
Nevertheless, thats the title bestowed upon MBe's...
and I do like her early records...I dont know much about what Cilla does today, but I did enjoy her records in the 60's!And so did Burt!

Steveo

[blueonblue]

Hi Steveo,
Cilla's wonderful !!!


"blue"

[steveo_1965]

Hey Blue,
Hi to you! and Thanks for the link! yeah, she had some good records..

Steveo

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[Peter Greenhill]

"Dame Cilla"? What a bad joke! Probably the tackiest and most talentfree "entertainer" on the planet. All she got is a third class OBE.

Burt Bacharach himself has said that Cilla Black's version of 'Alfie' is the best. In particular, he highlighted her rendition of the line, 'I believe in love, Alfie'.

The line is 1.32 on this youtube video of the recording session held at Abbey Road studio 2 in London in 1965.



'Anyone' who had a Heart' is also a great version. Post 60's her singing career dived but I don't think we should rubbish her achievements.

Pete