Make way for Dionne Warwick

[MexicanDivorce]

For me personally this cover of that LP has a very special story. You can see Dionne pictrued in a Supreme-style! My favortie group are the Supremes. But Dionne is the first lady because the music history told that she was the diva who hiting the charts in 1962 with "Don´t make me over", at the same time there were some "No-Hit-Supremes" under a contract on the Motown Label, but the things changed and 1964 The Supremes hiting the charts with "Where did our love go". And Scepter records publishing an album of her best solo singer Dionne Warwick. But the label made a bigger selling for the album to "transfer" Dionne into The "Scepter-Supremes"

What an amazing idea it was !!!!! Dionne Warwick was the supremest lady on the scepter label!

The result: "Make way for..."

[An Enormous BB Fan]

See the cover here:

http://musicangle.com/upload_images/Alb ... akeWay.jpg

[Pablo]

Hi MexicanDivorce

Yes, the Make way for Dionne cover is like a Supremes photo only that with three Dionnes instead of 1 Diana/1 Mary/1 Flo. But the resemblance stop here, because the Sups were singing poppy-teenager songs at that time (signed by the fantastic team Holland/Dozier/Holland), while Dionne sang a different, fabulous adult and sophisticated material provided by Mr Bacharach.

The Supremes-Dionne connection re-emerges when Dionne teamed with HDH in the interesting Just being myself album.

(Hey, we won the WORLD CUP !!!)

[MexicanDivorce]

I totally agree with you pablo, Dionne Warwick sang material for adults, Motown was very commercial and the sound too.

You can´t compare this two different things. Well and I think we can´t compare the "Just being myself album" with the Supremes-Sound. HDH made a development through the years, but it was not enough for a Dionne Warwick. This album is very difficult for me to explain, but in my opinion it is no bad album, it catapults Dionne in some ways back to hear roots. "You´re gonna need me" sounds for me very soulful. But my favorite on this album is an album track "Don´t burn the bridge", it is like HDH trys Dionne put in a Burt Bacharach way. When I hear that track I can´t say if I like it or not. Maybe this album tries to find new ways into new sounds in a new time.....

[ron hertel]

Hi MexicanDivorce!
Hi An Enormous BB Fan!
Hi Pablo!

After nearly 50 years - fans are still Making Way For Dionne Wawick! ...... Despite the changes in her voice over the years she still remains an international favorite and continues to perform all over the world (her published concert itinerary has her booked through mid 2011).

I recall purchasing that album "MAKE WAY FOR DIONNE WARWICK" in 1964 and thinking that it was such an appropriate title for an artist that was on her way to a lasting career. She appeared on one of the variety shows at that time and made her entrance on a stage set that duplicated that famous album cover (3 Dionnes) - stepping out from the middle archway in that same dress and 60's hairstyle singing "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart".
Immediately completed my collection of Dionne Warwick albums after that by acquiring her first two Scepter Records LP's - "Presenting Dionne Warwick" and "Anyone Who Had A Heart". From that point on I looked forward to every single album she released - purchased them on the day of their release - and still have them all!

Looking forward to her 2009 recording project of Sammy Cahn songs which has been delayed for some reason (???)

Ron

[An Enormous BB Fan]

Ron, you and I were buying those albums at the same time (who knows? maybe even on the same day!) and playing them until the grooves wore down. And we couldn't wait until she came out with more songs.... and more songs.... and more songs. Most people knew the hits, but we knew ALL the songs... and we knew how special they were... and still are! And those Burt Bacharach orchestrations! Wow!

[ron hertel]

An Enormous BB Fan:
If you were living in Chicago back then - we may have even been in the same store. Bought most of my LP's at Sears (State Street) and Rose Records (on Wabash) ..... I faithfully checked out Billboard Magazine every week - remember those full page ads announcing new releases?? ........ Still miss the days of going through the record bins and every time I was in New York City - I would spend hours at Colony Records in the Brill Building. ........ More recently - I regret the loss of Tower Records where you could browse through thousands of CD's. ....... It's difficult to make impulse purchases on the internet!

[An Enormous BB Fan]

An Enormous BB Fan:
If you were living in Chicago back then - we may have even been in the same store. Bought most of my LP's at Sears (State Street) and Rose Records (on Wabash) ..... I faithfully checked out Billboard Magazine every week - remember those full page ads announcing new releases?? ........ Still miss the days of going through the record bins and every time I was in New York City - I would spend hours at Colony Records in the Brill Building. ........ More recently - I regret the loss of Tower Records where you could browse through thousands of CD's. ....... It's difficult to make impulse purchases on the internet!

No, Ron, I wasn't in Chicago. I was in Hartford, CT in those days.

You mention Colony Records. I'm a minute walking from there right now. Not to name drop, but, in fact, it was in Colony Records where I ran into Michael Jackson. I don't remember the year. It was late at night--around 1:30 a.m. I do remember that it was right before "Off The Wall" came out. It was before all his surgery. I went in there to go through the sheet music racks. He was going through the record bins and he was wearing a walkman. It was when the walkman's first came out. Of course, the store was all abuzz. Thanks to their sheet music collection, I don't know what I'd do without the Colony.

Yes, Tower Records -- the one that was on Broadway and 67th. I couldn't believe they went out of business. That was such a great store. They had listening stations where you could listen to so many of the new CDs. They had the Rhino Records listening station, too, where you could listen to all the latest releases from Rhino Records. I heard Bette Midler's version of "God Give Me Strength" there also. Of course, the topper was that I saw Burt (and Elvis Costello) there when they had their signing. I mentioned it here at the time. I walked in and there was Burt! With the ever-present sweater around his shoulders. And Elvis -- with that hat he always wore. Vincent went there also that day. What a great store Tower Records was. When it went out of business, I knew that the internet and downloading was the death knell of record stores. Virgin Megastore, in Times Square, also went out of business. That was a great store, too. It also had listening stations. It says a lot about how things have changed when those two great stores couldn't make it. It's a pity, really.

[MexicanDivorce]

Hi MexicanDivorce!
Hi An Enormous BB Fan!
Hi Pablo!

After nearly 50 years - fans are still Making Way For Dionne Wawick! ...... Despite the changes in her voice over the years she still remains an international favorite and continues to perform all over the world (her published concert itinerary has her booked through mid 2011).

I recall purchasing that album "MAKE WAY FOR DIONNE WARWICK" in 1964 and thinking that it was such an appropriate title for an artist that was on her way to a lasting career. She appeared on one of the variety shows at that time and made her entrance on a stage set that duplicated that famous album cover (3 Dionnes) - stepping out from the middle archway in that same dress and 60's hairstyle singing "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart".
Immediately completed my collection of Dionne Warwick albums after that by acquiring her first two Scepter Records LP's - "Presenting Dionne Warwick" and "Anyone Who Had A Heart". From that point on I looked forward to every single album she released - purchased them on the day of their release - and still have them all!

Looking forward to her 2009 recording project of Sammy Cahn songs which has been delayed for some reason (???)

Ron

This perormance is so amazing and fantastic Ron which you mentioned I´m very proud that I have seen it as she came out of herself (The album cover on the stage)

And it´s fablous to hear how many people are connecting with "Make way for Dionne Warwick" in so many diffrent ways. I work in a hotel on a reception, now in Frankfurt but several years in the past I was in switzerland and I met a reservation assistant. She was thirteen when she watched a TV performance of Dionne Warwick, she was so fascinated as Dionne walked through empty chair lines, she told me, she was hypnoticed and never forget this. She came from Berlin and I was happy that I met somebody who knows Dionne. Years later I discover then this wonderful performance........this is a result how Bacharach / David / Warwick "connect" people all over the world










And it´s so very nice to hear so many stories of people aorund the cover and how they bought it and how there

[Pablo]

When I was in New York last year I managed to buy in the (I think) Virgin Megastore of Union Square (it was about to close) and found some interesting Motown and other stuff. Then I was recommended a 2nd hand CD shop in Bleecker Street (Bleecker Records) that was dissapointing. Maybe I didn't know where to go, but I had the feeling that there are more "mainstream" good shops in Paris or London.

I find it sad that lots of big records shops are dissapearing all over Europe and America. A strong culture, a way of finding and purchasing (and listening) to music is lost. I don't want to "download" music, I want to get in a record shop, see what CDs they have and be able to CHOOSE over a vast catalogue of records, as you do in a good book seller (until "they" decide that it's also over for books, which is not far away). Then, I love reading the CD booklet and enjoying the record as an object, keeping and collecting it. I also think you don't listen the same way a whole CD than a couple of downloaded tracks, it's more immediate and less demanding.

Nowadays, record companies only bother in putting in shops records that are going to sell a lot and have a big marketing campaign behind them (ie records from "talent" TV shows, Lady Gaga, Disney Channel, Twilight saga derivations, etc.) I find it upsetting, because they only want is to cross-market those products so that can be bought by teenagers (the only "public" that seems relevant nowadays).

Maybe, we'll become archaeologists in some years to come.

Maybe I'm being to pessimistic?

[grooverider]

Hi Pablo, A great post! and I couldn't agree more. It seems that the only way to physically go into a "record store" is to live in a larger urban area (at least, to go to a variety of record stores). I too, love to go record shopping but the big boxes (Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc.) are just not conducive to that experience. I still love to buy vinyl, (I know I'm considered "old fashioned" but that's ok by me) because of the added thrill of looking at the cover art (another dwindling art form). And actually, vinyl is selling these days, I see more young kids buying vinyl, even 45's!
If you're ever in San Francisco, Berkely (across the bay) or Los Angeles please check out Amoeba Records. I think you might be overwhelmed by how large Ameoba is but it is one of the last great "record stores".

[Pablo]

Thank you very much, if I go there (or if anybody I know does), I will check it.

Yes, I see more and more vinyl in record shops which is nice. In Madrid there are two big places to buy records: a big store called EL Corte Inglés (v. similar to Macys), where you can find surprisingly interesting things, especially in the main central store, and FNAC (the french record/books chain) which is also good, but both of them seem less and less interested in selling records. Then, there are 3 or 4 small shops that import Rhino selections, soul, Motown and then the 2nd hand shops, some of them in the same area.

I agree that vinyl records are special and somehow I miss them. I love the 60s vynils when they had this text in the back cover explaining about the artist. On the other hand, I can imagine the impact of young people buying certain records in the 70s, like Roxy Music or David Bowie...

By the way, the Dionne (Scepter) covers are a bit dull, don't you think? (expect "Make way for..." and "Very Dionne", which I like). It's as if Scepter didn't care (or didn't have the budget, look at the "Promises promises" cover). The only Dionne album I have in vynil is the "sings Cole Porter" which has a good cover.

Cheers, Pablo.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

By the way, the Dionne (Scepter) covers are a bit dull, don't you think? (expect "Make way for..." and "Very Dionne", which I like). It's as if Scepter didn't care (or didn't have the budget, look at the "Promises promises" cover).

Do you think this is a dull cover?

[steveo_1965]

I love that albm cover..its represents one of the great periods in my life...
I was getting heavily into "Burt" and "Dionne", and the marvelous arrangement "I Say A little Prayer" was featured on the album..It was an interesting period socially, and I have many memories of that time. Kudos for showing it...
Steveo

[grooverider]

Was the cover art the same for Dionne Warwick's album covers the same the world over? I haven't seen any import vinyl versions of her Scepter albums to compare with the USA versions.