It’s not
easy being a singer and the younger sister of music legend Dionne Warwick, but
Dee Dee Warwick contributed a rich body of soulful recordings from the early
‘60s all the way into the mid-‘80s. While she didn’t attain the same
international recognition afforded her sibling, the two-time Grammy-nominated
Warwick more than earned her place in the soul music pantheon. Indeed, as Dionne herself put it succinctly
in a note for a 1996 compilation of some of Dee Dee’s Atco work, “Dee Dee is
the singer in the family…”
Sharing
the same gospel background as her sister and other members of her family (the
renowned Drinkard Singers whose line-up included famed aunt, Emily “Cissy”
Houston), Dee Dee’s career in secular music began in 1961 when she and Dionne
(as part of The Gospelaires, a group they had formed as teenagers) were invited
to sing backgrounds for a recording by saxophonist Sam “The Man” Taylor. Dee Dee became a consistent and well-known
New York session singer during the early ‘60s, and could be heard on recordings
by Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin (at Columbia Records at the time), Nina
Simone and a bevvy of soul stars including Garnet Mimms, Maxine Brown, Chuck
Jackson, Esther Phillips, The Drifters, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke and her
sister’s hits for Scepter Records among others.
Dee
Dee’s solo career began in 1963 with the original version of the now-classic
“You’re No Good”; in 1965, she signed with Blue Rock Records, a division of
Mercury Records before switching to the main Mercury label. Over the next five
years, she cut two albums and released over a dozen singles including the 1966
Top 10 R&B and Top 50 pop hit, “I Want to Be with You,” the original of
“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” (covered by The Supremes & The Temptations)
and the Grammy-nominated “Foolish Fool,” a 1969 Top 20 R&B and Top 60 pop
hit.
In 1970, Dee Dee signed with Atco Records;
during her two years with the label, she recorded prolifically, cutting a total
of 35 tracks, all of which are included in this two-disc 2014 Real Gone
Music/SoulMusic Records anthology, The Complete Atco Recordings. This unprecedented collection features her
entire 1970 Atco album Turning Around (with the Grammy-nominated Top 10 R&B
hit “She Didn’t Know (She Kept On Talking)”); three non-album singles (both “A”
and “B” sides); eight tracks previously released on various compilations; and a
treasure trove of twelve previously unissued tracks from Atlantic’s vaults, all
remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision. The photo-festooned liner notes by
reissue producer David Nathan include quotes from Dee Dee, who passed away in
October 2008, leaving behind a great legacy of some of the best soul music ever
recorded.
DISC 1
1. WHAT MANNER OF MAN (Previously Unreleased)
2. YOU TORE MY WALL DOWN (Previously
Unreleased)
3. ONLY THE ONE YOU LOVE
4. THE WAY WE USED TO DO
5. SHE DIDN'T KNOW (SHE KEPT ON TALKING)
6. MORE TODAY THAN YESTERDAY
7. MAKE LOVE TO ME
8. I AIN'T GOT TO LOVE NOBODY ELSE
9. WHO WILL THE NEXT FOOL BE
10. I'M
ONLY HUMAN
11. DOWN
SO LOW
12. IF
THIS WAS THE LAST SONG
13. A
GIRL WHO'LL SATSIFY HER MAN
14. I'M
GLAD I'M A WOMAN
15. NOW
THAT THERE'S YOU (Previously Unreleased)
16. SEARCHIN'
17.
CAN'T WE BEGIN AGAIN (Previously Unreleased)
DISC 2
1. COLD NIGHT IN GEORGIA
2. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I SEE MY BABY'S FACE
3. LOVE I FOUND (IN YOU)
4. RESCUE ME
5. POOKY (Previously Unreleased)
6. SUSPICIOUS MINDS
7. MAKE IT WITH YOU (Previously Unreleased)
8. TURN AROUND AND LOVE YOU
9. SWEET DREAMS (Previously Unreleased)
10.
CAN'T IT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW (Previously Unreleased)
11.
EVERYBODY'S GOT TO BELIEVE IN SOMEBODY
12. IN
THE LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE (Previously Unreleased)
13.
SIGNED DEDE
14.
SWEET DREAMS (ALTERNATE TAKE) (Previously Unreleased)
15. THE
WAY WE USED TO DO (ALTERNATE TAKE) (Previously Unreleased)
16. TAKE
YOUR TIME AND LOVE ME
17.
BEAUTY, DUTY, CHARM AND SEX (Previously Unreleased)
18.
WORLDS APART
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