CNN is running a documentary on Dionne Warwick that I highly recommend.
"Don't Make Me Over" is 100 minutes of excellent musical footage, with talking heads like Elton John, Cissy Houston, Snoop Dogg (a fantastic segment about gangsta rap), Alicia Keys, Barry Gibb (another terrific segment) and Bill Clinton. A present day Warwick guides us through it all from her days as a young girl singing gospel in East Orange, New Jersey, the sad reality of southern racism, to her ongoing charity work. And if you don't blink, there's a minute and a half about the Psychic Network.
But of course, the meat and potatoes is all about Warwick's relationship with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which produced one of the most staggering string of hits in recorded music. I've always been a fan. Those Scepter singles are some of my favorite records of all time, but even later hits like "I"ll Never Love This Way Again" and "Heartbreaker" were radio gold.
There is one stretch where Bacharach and David are showing Dionne the melody to "I Say A Little Prayer" as they are composing it. It was right at that moment that the film changed for me. We know all of these songs, "Promises, Promises," "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?," "Alfie," "Anyone Who Had A Heart." We take them for granted, these big pop tunes of the 60's. But until seeing these songs on paper, with their complicated time signatures and unconventional structures and melodies, what I thought were just great records now feel like mini masterpieces. Every last one of them.
"Don't Make Me Over" is on demand, so catch it if you can.
10 comments:
My wife and I loved this special. Dionne Warwick's voice and her life are so inspiring. Her music is still in regular rotation at our house. Funny, I don't think she made the RS list for greatest singers of all time.
One thing I wondered was whether she has a good relationship with Burt Bacharach. She gives praise to Hal David, but I don't recall her comments about BB. She was shown in the same room with Clive Davis, but not BB. Irrespective, I learned a lot about her with this special and I am glad that I did. Great show.
Joe,
About two years ago, I watched a Zoom interview with Bacharach, by that WaPo reporter, whose name escapes me at the moment. He was incredibly frail then, so it could just be he was unable to participate with a current clip. He's 94. Clive Davis is only 90!
I meant to watch this, but now I definitely will. Thanks for the heads up, Sal.
Those Burt Bacharach and Hal David tunes that she sang are some of my favorite tunes of all time. Their intricacies are unique in pop music. Can't wait to dig in on this one. Thanks for letting us know. I didn't know about it.
It is excellent.
It isn’t in the doc, but “Message to Michael” has been stuck in my brain for a long, long time. Happily so.
(I’m guessing Sal can get behind any song that begins with “Spread your wings for New Orleans….”)
Interesting (to me anyway) backstory on her version, initial resistance from B&D, etc. on the wiki.
I like to think that every time white Americans fell in love with the incredible music of black artists, many of them/us got just a little bit less racist. We have so very far to go (and we’ve lost some ground over the last 7 years) but I think people like Dionne Warwick (and many others) indirectly helped us get the progress that we have made. If you were alive in the mid to late 60’s perhaps you know what I mean?
In any case Happy ‘23, all.
JB
BTW, I’m Steve Simels. For some reason I can’t log in as me.
STEEEEEVE!!
Welcome back!
I'd love to see this. All of those songs are in regular rotation for me. Always
Happy new year!
I watched a few parts of it and they were excellent. I should have DVR'd it, but I'll be On Demand-ing it.
If that's actually Steve Simels- I hope he's doing well and can log in on his own blog soon.
Thx for the heads-up. A friend gave me the great Rhino comp of Dionne Warwick because he was surprised my pretty extensive CD collection didn't include it. That was my first extended exposure to her string of hits w Bacharach & David and they are indeed masterpieces, each and every one. Her singing is so good that -- like Joni Mitchell on her own tunes -- Warwick makes those fiendishly complex melodies sound easy...until you sing along.
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