Ed Sullivan Show-Promises Promises, Dionne Warwick 1968

[BachtoBacharach]

In this rare clip, Dionne looks lovely singing her latest single release Promises, Promises on the Ed Sullivan Show telecast on Sunday, October 6, 1968. By the way, Dionne was pregnant at the time this performance was taped and would deliver her first son, Damon Leland Elliott on January 18, 1969.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

Wow! Thanks for posting this rarity!

Three things:

One: you say ".... at the time this performance was taped". Obviously it was taped, otherwise we wouldn't have it. And I'm sure you know this -- But, just to let the younger people know: the Ed Sullivan Show went on the air LIVE. If you goofed, there was no re-doing it. If it hadn't been live, then the Jim Morrison incident wouldn't have happened. Morrison was told not to sing "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" (from their hit song "Light My Fire") (he was asked to change "much higher" to "much better", but he sang "much higher" right into the camera anyhow [this famous incident is in the movie "The Doors", too). And the Jackie Mason incident would have been edited out. Sullivan thought that Mason gave him the middle finger when Sullivan cut his act short because President Johnson was making a speech to the nation and was going to be aired live on CBS.

And the second thing: It seems as if at the end of "Promises, Promises", during the phrase "promises, promises, my kind of promises", the band was not in synch with her at all. The arrangement was very much pared down also. My guess is that Ed Sullivan's orchestra, The Ray Bloch Orchestra, simply couldn't handle Burt's music. Seems to me that Dionne was not backed up properly here by the musicians and arrangement.

And lastly: Sullivan did it again. Ed Sullivan was very famous for screwing up people's names. Here you will notice how he screws Dionne's name up by introducing her as "Die ON Warwick" (with the accent on "ON"). If you're a famous host, then get the name right, for heaven sakes! Sullivan was known to be a real bastard, too, at times.

But seeing Dionne in that clip is really something! Thanks again!

(And just one other little piece of trivia: When Dionne was on stage there singing "Promises, Promises", she was on the same city square block as Scepter Records, where it all began. In fact, if she exited stage left, then Scepter Records was basically on the other side of the wall.)

[steveo_1965]

Thanks for all of those tidbits....enjoyed reading about it...gonna take a look at this video
Steveo

[BachtoBacharach]

Yes, I know the Sullivan Show was live in the eastern and central time zones...but taped for play on the West Coast...which is why all the shows were taped for posterity. Dionne screwed up the intro a little but the Sullivan Band obviously couldn't handle Promises, Promises...and couldn't keep up with Dionne...this truncated performance was still a gem...you are right that they weren't in sync. Dionne was unusual in that she just about always performed on these variety shows live (and she must have made at least 50 or more appearances on a multitude of variety shows in the US during the 1960s from specials to Carol Burnett, Dean Martin, Kraft Music Hall, Phyllis Diller, Red Skelton, Glen Campbell, Ed Sullivan, Engelbert Humperdink, American Bandstand, Hullabaloo, Danny Thomas, Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffen, Mike Douglas, Joey Bishop, David Frost, her own special, etc...she was one of the most "seen" female singers of her generation on TV )....she seldom lip-synced. This is not one of the best performances of Promises, Promises I've ever heard but even with an out of sync band backing her, Dionne charisma always came through.

And really, how hard is Dee-ahn to say???? Ed never got it right, I don't believe.

[blueonblue]

Reminds me of the 1970 British Academy Awards where one of the presenters, an old actress
(who's name fails me)....did an "Ed"
"and the award for best musical score (Butch Cassidy) goes to Burt Bark-A-Rar.........

"blue"

[BachtoBacharach]

CBS Television City was in NYC at the time and was in the same building as Scepter. The building's address was 254 W. 54th Street and was later the home of the infamous "Studio 54". I can't remember what floor the Scepter offices were on but the 8th floor sticks in my mind for some reason. Inga Freed was Florence Greenberg's secretary there...she was the wife of Alan Freed, the infamous DJ who was caught up in the payola scandal in the late 50s and early 60s. Florence hired Inga after Alan's death and was a loyal friend. Dionne was known to present the Scepter staff with extremely extravagant gifts...fur coats and diamond jewelery for Florence and rings and such for Inga and the staff. Dionne was also extremely generous to Paul Cantor, her longtime manager and Marie Byers, who was her PA and dresser for years. Many of the appearances Dionne made on variety shows were taped in the area and it was not unusual to see Dionne return from a session around the corner at A & R studios with Marie, who would have a hanging zip bag over her shoulder with a Dior or a Valenciaga or some other designer gown along with a pair of shoes and a make up bag for Dionne to make up and dress at the Scepter offices for an appearance on Ed Sullivan or other shows. Because Dionne was generous to a fault, she attracted, especially in later years, many hangers-on and users. One of the most notorious was Guy Draper who worked for Scepter in the late 1960s and helped found Dionne's failed label, Sonday Records. Draper would later surface in many of the business ventures in a less than savory way. Draper was intimately involved in the Warwick Foundation fiasco which brought Dionne bad press and a beginning reputation as a poor business woman and a poor judge of character. He was also involved in the scandal surrounding the American Music Ball which Warwick fronted. Warwick stated to Geraldo Rivera when the financial scandal erupted over the Warwick foundation that had she known of Draper's past failed business ventures, she would have never associated herself with him...yet in 2008, she allowed Draper to use the Warwick Foundation, then defunct, as a front for collecting money for the ball tickets and most of the poor folks who purchased the $500 tickets never saw their money refunded when the ball was cancelled at the last minute. Dionne, who sometimes seems to suffer from a tremendous lack of self-awareness, appeared as a reporter for Entertainment Tonight and reported on the "legitimate" balls going on. The Hotel where Dionne was to host the ball was stiffed for thousands in catering bills as well. Love Dionne's music, but it's things like this that have ruined her credibility with many. She seems to have sold herself out many times over...glad that she can't taint her work with Bacharach-David althought I think it's sad that many will dismiss this great music for years to come because of things like the scandals, the tax problems, the PFN, and Celebrity Apprentice...she has lost so much credbility at her own hand. Sorry for the rant but it's a shame that she has disrespected herself so much for a quick buck.

[gillanddon]

Hi bachtobacharach .. once again thank you for all your amazing insight. It is sad to hear your story about Dionne especially in the light of her generous nature. Maybe the music industry is not the place for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. Sadly many artists and people with talent don't have sophisticated managerial or marketing skills and are often left to the mercy of unscrupulous individuals who will exploit all their talent to their own advantage. It saddens me to think that she has spoiled her reputation but then I think the general public is worse than the artists themselves and I think they are very arrogant when they stand in judgement of pure talent. They are fickle too and can't be trusted. It's the same for anyone in the arts and always has been whether painter, actor, singer etc The combination of the press and bad mouthing public is enough to destroy any artist but pure talent needn't worry about that too much or they would give up. I think Dionne's songs along with hundreds of artists in the 60's.70's and 80's will stand the test if time. You can hear it already on countless radio staions etc. My argument is how you get more exposure of the great forgotten songs recorded by these great artists.

[steveo_1965]

as I write this , I am in the process of watching this clip...It's exactly what I wanted to see...She looks wonderful, and I love her demeanor...The whole thing is magnificent!
Ty for posting this!
Steveo

[steveo_1965]

Just finished watching this...what a joy! I love the way Ed Sullivan lorded over the
performers like "big daddy" giving his approval at the end....very cool!
Dionne was "magnetic"

Steveo

[BachtoBacharach]

Steveo, this shows perfectly how much polished charm and charisma Dionne had...she was such a strikingly lovely woman and television captured the "it" she had perfectly...her appearances on Ed Sullivan for I Say A Little Prayer and This Girl's In Love With You are available as video clips on ITunes. You can see snippets of those performances on the ITunes site.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/ ... d386328560

http://itunes.apple.com/us/music-video/ ... d415583154

Hoping to see her Ed appearances for Alfie, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, and Who Get's the Guy soon on ITunes as well. She introduced " Prayer " to national television audiences on the Red Skelton Show in November 1967. She also sang "Prayer" on the Carol Burnett Show in January 1968. She also performed "Prayer" and Promises, Promises on the The Phyllis Diller Show in 1968 as well. I recently saw the full color clip of herperforming Alfie on the Academy Awards telecast in June 1967 and she was stunning. The archived clip is not available on YouTube but there was a snippet of it from a production number which showed past best song nominees but it was yanked a couple of years ago. Dionne literally was all over television in the 60s.

[steveo_1965]

thanks for all of the information....Sure love that Sullivan/Promises performance!