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Music : The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits |
- Bacharach / David and WarwickFirst of all I brought this album about four years ago.Every now and then when I"m feeling a bit nostalgic I"ll give it a play.So the other day when I was feeling a bit nostalgic I put the album in my CD player.And while I was listening to it I decided to put a few words about it down on paper.Very few musical collaborations have been as successful as the team of Bacharach,David and Warwick.The music that these three people produced had such a strong impact on the music of the 60"s.And the impact is stillcontinuing to some degree to this day.Hardly a day goes by that you don"t hear at least one of these songs on tv or on the radio.Mr Burt Bacharach the brilliant composer seem to be able to pick beautiful melodies out of thin air.Mr Hal David the lyrical genius,he just had a way with words.And last but not least the golded voice of Ms Dionnie Warwick.What a great team.The great songs on this album are just to numerous to mention one by one.So I"m just going to name a few of my favorites.They are 'The April Fools","Walk On By","Reach Out For Me","Promises Promises","I Say A Little Prayer" and "Anyone Who Had A Heart".The arrangements of these songs still sound great.But over the years Mr Bacharach as redone some of them,on his own and with other people.And given them a more modern sound.And Ms Warwick still sings some of them as part of her stage show.And who can blame her,these songs are masterpieces.What I like most about this album is,you get the full version of each song.No song is cut short.So if you like the music of the 60"s this is the album for you.It has all the hits on it.And it"s just great music to listen to.Here"s to the good old days.
Rating:
- I bought it...and I'd buy it againThis is a comprehensive double-CD collection of Ms. Warwick's AM radio hits from the 1960's, and a sampling of the Burt Bachrach/Hal David songwriting team at their creative peak.
Reviewer David Bertrand Wilson writes: "Warwick's flexible, subtle, always convincing voice made Bacharach/David's songs seem better than they were, while Bacharach's tricky, elegant melodies made Warwick seem like a better singer than she was." Without inferring backhandedness, I agree and recommend Dionne as the foremost interpreter of Bachrach's music.
The sound quality is great. Rhino Records did a nice job obtaining high quality tapes of the recording sessions, and the liner notes are comprehensive. Dionne's performances are flawless. She has great range and feeling, as well as subtlety and restraint. "Windows of the World," for example, sends a shiver up your spine. The hasty "San Jose'" is also a treat. The quantity of music presented is more than enough; you won't hear any 60's Warwick song on the radio not presented here, although this results in some unevenness. Burt Bachrach's composition is super.
I couldn't give it 5 stars because some of the musical arrangements don't hold up well, and probably sounded schlocky when they came out, even over the tinny radio speaker of a 1966 Ford Fairlane on its way to San Jose. But you know that going in. Lyricist Hal David was most effective when he kept it spare and light ("Walk On By"), not when he tried to communicate socially "relevant" ideas (e.g. - "Message to Michael" - mobile society; "Windows of the World" - Vietnam). Not every song on the collection will be to your taste. It is difficult to find enough great material to fill a double greatest hits album for anyone, but most of this is quite good. (Adapted from my review of 12/20/1999.)
Rating:
- great songs, great singerThese are the hits she had in the sixties and early seventies, mostly Bacharach-David tunes, all original recordings. Excellent compilation, another one my wife has borrowed, passing the wife test. Don't "Walk On By" this collection, if you enjoy good music, and all her big hits of that era.
Rating:
- IT IS OKAYTHIS CD HAD MORE SONGS THAT I HAD NOT HEARD THAN THE ONES I WAS FAMILIAR WITH. IT'S A GOOD CD FOR DIE HARD DIONNE FANS, NOT JUST ONES THAT LIKE A FEW OF HER SONGS.
Rating:
- Pop PerfectionWhoever it was that pointed out, "Man cannot live by bread alone," certainly had a nice flair for aphorisms. Even the most demented audiophile, subsisting on a diet of Blue Cheer, Albert Ayler, Vanilla Fudge, and Sun Ra; occasionally feels a strange desire to be soothed by something that is, for want of a better word, nice. The demented audiophile must be careful at such moments, lest the pendulum swing horribly far to the opposite extreme. For example, many demented audiophiles have been banned from the best jazz clubs for life simply because they let it slip that, in moments of weakness, they played something by Barbra Streisand and actually enjoyed it.
The horror!
Fortunately for the demented audiophile, this Greatest Hits of Dionne Warwick is readily available. This CD is pop perfection, the synergy of Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Dionne Warwick is breathtaking. If you're lucky enough to have been raised on these classics cranking out of car radios, you'll be thrilled to hear them in their full acoustic glory - the sound quality is crystalline. Most noticeable is how good the arrangements are, and how disciplined. These songs were composed and recorded in an era when it was fashionable to goop up good music with massive banks of intrusive strings, pouring down like waterfalls of molten Velveeta cheese and smothering the quality. Considering this is pop fare - aimed squarely at the Top 40 - (remember that?) - the arrangements are wonderfully subdued, they actually enhance the beauty.
As to Ms. Warwick; a very soulful, emotional singer able to evoke feeling from the smallest lilt and a nicely turned phrase. A subtle, brilliant talent. I don't think I could ever hear Walk On By or You'll Never Get To Heaven too many times. Although, being a card-carrying demented audiophile, I must admit that there's something about hearing Roland Kirk play You'll Never Get To Heaven. Maybe Ellington was right, there are really only two kinds of music - good music and bad music. This CD is good music, real good.
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