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Dionne Warwick

It is easier to define Dionne Warwick by what she isn't rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe her musical approach and the music she sings, but she is not a singer of standards such as Lena Horne or Nancy Wilson. What is she, then? She is a pop singer of a sort that perhaps could only have emerged out of the Brill Building environment of post-Elvis Presley, pre-Beatles urban pop in the early '60s. That's when she hooked up with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, songwriters and producers who wrote their unusually complicated songs for her aching yet detached alto voice. Warwick is inescapably associated with those songs, even though she managed to build a career after leaving Bacharach and David that drew upon their style for other memorable recordings, such that she remains a unique figure in popular music.

Marie Dionne Warrick was born into a gospel-music family. Her father was a gospel record promoter for Chess Records and her mother managed the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group consisting of her relatives. She first raised her voice in song at age six at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, and soon after was a member of the choir. As a teenager, she formed a singing group called the Gospelaires with her sister Dee Dee and her aunt Cissy Houston (later the mother of Whitney Houston). After graduating from high school in 1959, she earned a music scholarship to the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, CT, but she also spent time with her group recording background vocals on sessions in New York. The Gospelaires are said to be present on such well-known recordings as Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem" and "Stand By Me." They were at a Drifters session working on a song called "Mexican Divorce" composed by Burt Bacharach when Bacharach, attending the session, suggested Warwick might do some demos for him. She did, singing songs he had written with lyricist Hal David. Bacharach and David pitched one of the songs to Florence Greenberg, head of the small independent Scepter Records label, and Greenberg liked the demo singer enough to sign her as a recording artist. Bacharach and David wrote and produced her first single, "Don't Make Me Over," in 1962. When the record was released, the performer credit contained a typo; it read "Dionne Warwick" instead of "Dionne Warrick," and she kept the new name. (Her sister Dee Dee eventually became Dee Dee Warwick as well.)

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3
Album Review

Dionne Warwick: Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994)

Read "Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994)" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


Every artist, even great ones, experiences peaks and valleys. When Dionne Warwick signed with Arista Records in 1979, she had nothing to prove, but her glory also seemed like a thing of the past. She was already a part of pop history with an unparalleled string of hits penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. In fact, when she signed with Warner Brothers in 1971, the plan was that history would continue and she would still be singing hits by ...

3
Live Review

Dionne Warwick with Special Guest Darlene Love at NYCB Theatre at Westbury

Read "Dionne Warwick with Special Guest Darlene Love at NYCB Theatre at Westbury" reviewed by Christine Connallon


Dionne Warwick with Special Guest Darlene Love NYCB Theatre at Westbury Westbury, NY June 27, 2019 Darlene Love, born Darlene Wright, is an American singer and actress who discovered her voice while singing in her church at the age of 10 in Los Angeles, CA. Gospel gave her a foundation and her musical interests quickly spread to include rock and soul when she joined a local girl group called the Blossoms. The band worked with ...

163
Album Review

Dionne Warwick: My Friends and Me

Read "My Friends and Me" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Primarily known as the soft, supple voice in front of so many classics written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick here enters the popular “Duets arena by revisiting most of that catalog in the company of other female artists. It took more than “Wishin' and Hopin' to transform this concept into a worthwhile listen (though that song bubbles with Olivia Newton-John's still-adorable voice); some solid singing from some surprising, distant corners of the pop realm did.

It ...

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3

Recording

Granddaughter Of Legendary Dionne Warwick, Cheyenne Elliott To Release Narada Michael Walden Produced Singles And An Ep In 2015

Granddaughter Of Legendary Dionne Warwick, Cheyenne Elliott To Release Narada Michael Walden Produced Singles And An Ep In 2015

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James

New York, NY – A brand new star has appeared on the US music scene; her name is Cheyenne Elliott. Cheyenne is the granddaughter of iconic singer Dionne Warwick, and a cousin of the late superstar Whitney Houston. In early 2014, producer Narada Michael Walden discovered her exemplary vocal talent and invited her out to Tarpan Studios in San Rafael, California, where Whitney, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey and many other artists recorded some of their biggest hits. The young New ...

56

Interview

Interview: Dionne Warwick

Interview: Dionne Warwick

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Two weeks ago, the phone rang and the voice on the other end said, “Hi, this is Dionne Warwick." Though the call was expected (we were due to talk for my Wall Street Journal profile that appears today here), I was still taken aback. There, on the phone, was that signature husky voice that had racked up 56 hits on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. In a strange way, I felt as though Dionne was calling me from 1966. Dionne Warwick ...

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Event

Dionne Warwick and Sinbad to Headline the First Annual Applause for the Cause Benefit Concert at the Oakland Convention Center

Dionne Warwick and Sinbad to Headline the First Annual Applause for the Cause Benefit Concert at the Oakland Convention Center

Source: PRThatRocks.com

Alta Bates Summit Foundation, in cooperation with Comcast and KBLX-FM 102.9, is proud to announce tickets have gone on sale for the First Annual Applause for the Cause Charity Concert featuring Dionne Warwick and Sinbad, June 6, 2009 at the Oakland Convention Center. Proceeds will benefit the new Carol Ann Read Breast Health Center at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland. The 2009 Applause for the Cause Dionne Warwick and Sinbad concert joins an ever-growing list of unique and ...

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Recording

Dionne Warwick's Scepter, Warner LPS Reissued on Collectors' Choice

Dionne Warwick's Scepter, Warner LPS Reissued on Collectors' Choice

Source: conqueroo

DIONNE WARWICK'S SCEPTER AND WARNER BROS. CATALOGS ARE REMASTERED AND REISSUED BY COLLECTORS' CHOICE MUSIC

All titles are available on CD for the first time and contain extensive liner notes

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Collectors' Choice is set to reissue ten classic Dionne Warwick albums from the Scepter and Warner Bros. years, all remastered from the original tapes and all with extensive liner notes by Ritchie Unterberger. Featured are the multi-Grammy Award-winning artist's first six albums and nine out of ...

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Award / Grant

TVIFF / Dionne Warwick - Lifetime Career Achievement Award

TVIFF / Dionne Warwick - Lifetime Career Achievement Award

Source: All About Jazz

Ledendary Music Icon Dionne Warwick to be Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at 12th Annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival

2006 Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival Set to Roll September 13-17

Temecula, CA July 26, 2006 - The Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival (TVIFF) is proud to announce legendary music icon Dionne Warwick as the 2006 Lifetime Career Achievement Award recipient. Warwick will accept the award at a black tie gala on the festival's ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Déjà Vu: The Arista...

Soulmusic Records
2020

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The Best Of Dionne...

Arista Records
2008

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My Friends and Me

Concord Music Group
2007

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My Friends & Me

Arista Records
2006

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The Definitive...

Arista Records
1999

buy

Friends In Love

Arista Records
1993

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