Dee Dee Warwick
Encyclopedia
Dee Dee Warwick was an American
soul
singer. Born in Newark
, New Jersey
as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick
, niece of Cissy Houston
and cousin of Whitney Houston
.
and their aunt Cissy Houston
in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir in Newark, NJ: eventually the three women formed the gospel trio the Gospelaires who often performed with the Drinkard Singers
, Houston being a member of both groups.
At a performance by the Gospelaires with the Drinkard Singers at the Apollo Theater
in 1959, the Warwick sisters were recruited by a record producer for session work and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Doris Troy
, subsequently became a prolific New York City area session singing team
.
Dee Dee Warwick began to dabble in a solo career in 1963 cutting what is reportedly the earliest version of "You're No Good
" for Jubilee Records
, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
, who later recorded Warwick on their own Tiger label with the 1964 single "Don't Think My Baby's Coming Back". In 1964 Warwick recorded a version of "I (Who Have Nothing)
" for a tiny Buffalo, NY label (Hurd) - although the song's lyric was written by Leiber and Stoller the duo did not participate in Warwick's recording - and Warwick also recorded as a member of Allison Gary and the Burners (as did Cissy Houston) with a release on Royo entitled "Darling".
Warwick performed on Shivaree
which aired July 17, 1965, she sang "We're Doing Fine" and "I Want to Be with You".
In 1965 Warwick signed with Mercury Records
where she recorded with producer Ed Townsend
for their subsidiary Blue Rock
label, reaching the R&B Top 30 with "We're Doing Fine". It was on the Mercury label in 1966 that she had her biggest hit with "I Want to Be with You" from the Broadway show Golden Boy
, a #9 R&B hit which just missed the pop Top 40 at #41 (Nancy Wilson
had reached #54 with her version entitled "I Wanna Be with You" in 1964). The follow-up single was the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
" which, peaking at #13 R&B and #88 Pop, was not Warwick's biggest hit but became her best known number by virtue of its later success as a duet between Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations
at the invitation of Atlantic Records
president Jerry Wexler
himself, Wexler having admired Warwick's early session work.
Warwick made her first recordings for Atco in February 1970, cutting four tunes with Townsend. In an early indication of the disarray that Warwick's career would experience at Atlantic, these tracks were shelved and she was sent to Criteria Studios
in Miami in April to work with producer Dave Crawford and fast-emerging studio band, The Dixie Flyers. The resultant Turning Around album yielded a Top Ten R&B hit with "She Didn't Know", but Warwick would never have another album release or single in the R&B Top 20.
In October, she cut 10 tracks at Muscle Shoals
, again with Crawford producing (along with Brad Shapiro). Only three singles were released with one, a remake of "Suspicious Minds
", becoming Warwick's final R&B hit in 1971. That summer, Crawford and Shapiro produced an eight-track session for Warwick at the Pac-Three studios in Detroit. One track, "Everybody's Got to Believe in Something" was issued as a single - Warwick's last release on Atco despite two final sessions for the label in early 1972. Reflecting on her unrewarding Atco tenure, Warwick opined: "The problem was simply that the company had a lot of other big female acts - like Aretha [Franklin
] and Roberta [Flack
] - and you get into a situation where you don't get the right kind of material or production or promotion..."
where the 1975 single "Get Out of My Life" became her final charting (#73 R&B) song. That same year, Warwick recorded for RCA Victor as DeDe Schwartz. After several years away from the recording studio, Dee Dee Warwick made her final recordings in the mid-80s: in 1984 her album Dee Dee Warwick, Call Me was released on Sutra Records (a small independent label, not "Kama Sutra" as it was previously described) and she subsequently recorded for Heritage
. After living in Los Angeles
for a number of years, Warwick became a resident of Georgia
in 1994.http://www.soulmusic.com/deedeewashed.html
Dee Dee Warwick received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm And Blues Foundation in 1999. Recordings of both her Mercury
years and Atco
years are available on CD
. In late 2006, Dee Dee returned to success singing background
for Dionne in concert
, and also was part of the "Family First" song
in the Tyler Perry
movie
and soundtrack
for Daddy's Little Girls.
In January 2008, Dee Dee was featured in the title song from Dionne's gospel
album
, Why We Sing. In February 2008, she continued her background vocals
for Dionne's one woman show 'My Music and Me' in Europe
.
in Essex County, New Jersey
, aged 66.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer. Born in Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
as Delia Mae Warrick, she was the sister of Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
, niece of Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
and cousin of Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
.
Early career/Mercury recordings
Dee Dee Warwick sang with her sister Dionne WarwickDionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
and their aunt Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir in Newark, NJ: eventually the three women formed the gospel trio the Gospelaires who often performed with the Drinkard Singers
The Drinkard Singers
The Drinkard Singers were an American gospel singing group, most successful in the late 1950s and important in the careers of singers Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, Dee Dee Warwick, and Judy Clay.-Musical career:...
, Houston being a member of both groups.
At a performance by the Gospelaires with the Drinkard Singers at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in 1959, the Warwick sisters were recruited by a record producer for session work and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Doris Troy
Doris Troy
Doris Troy was an American R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".She was born as Doris Higginson in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir...
, subsequently became a prolific New York City area session singing team
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
.
Dee Dee Warwick began to dabble in a solo career in 1963 cutting what is reportedly the earliest version of "You're No Good
You're No Good
"You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard, Jr. which first charted for Betty Everett in 1963 and in 1975 was a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt....
" for Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records was a record label specializing in rhythm and blues along with novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. Jerry Blaine became Abramson's partner. Blaine bought out Abramson's half of the company in 1947. The company name was Jay-Gee Recording...
, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerome "Jerry" Leiber and Mike Stoller were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City", "Stand By Me" Jerome "Jerry" Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)...
, who later recorded Warwick on their own Tiger label with the 1964 single "Don't Think My Baby's Coming Back". In 1964 Warwick recorded a version of "I (Who Have Nothing)
I (Who Have Nothing)
"I " is a song originally released in English by Ben E. King in 1963."I " is based on the Italian song "Uno Dei Tanti," with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. "Uno Dei Tanti" was released by Joe Sentieri in 1961...
" for a tiny Buffalo, NY label (Hurd) - although the song's lyric was written by Leiber and Stoller the duo did not participate in Warwick's recording - and Warwick also recorded as a member of Allison Gary and the Burners (as did Cissy Houston) with a release on Royo entitled "Darling".
Warwick performed on Shivaree
Shivaree
Shivaree may refer to:* Shivaree , a clamorous salutation made to a newlywed couple* Shivaree , an American band formed in 1997* Shivaree , a play by William Mastrosimone...
which aired July 17, 1965, she sang "We're Doing Fine" and "I Want to Be with You".
In 1965 Warwick signed with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
where she recorded with producer Ed Townsend
Ed Townsend
Edward Benjamin 'Ed' Townsend was an American attorney, songwriter, and producer. He was best known for performing his composition, "For Your Love," a rhythm and blues doo wop classic, and as the co-writer of "Let's Get It On" with Marvin Gaye.-Biography:Although he was born in Fayetteville,...
for their subsidiary Blue Rock
Blue Rock Records
Blue Rock Records was a subsidiary of Mercury Records, and like their parent, based in Chicago between 1964 and 1969.Despite their name, they didn't release blues or rock, concentrating almost exclusively on soul music, with a fair number of the singles echoing Chi-town styles popularized by Curtis...
label, reaching the R&B Top 30 with "We're Doing Fine". It was on the Mercury label in 1966 that she had her biggest hit with "I Want to Be with You" from the Broadway show Golden Boy
Golden Boy (musical)
Golden Boy is a musical with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse.Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means...
, a #9 R&B hit which just missed the pop Top 40 at #41 (Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
had reached #54 with her version entitled "I Wanna Be with You" in 1964). The follow-up single was the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations for the Motown label...
" which, peaking at #13 R&B and #88 Pop, was not Warwick's biggest hit but became her best known number by virtue of its later success as a duet between Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
Atco
Warwick continued to record for Mercury through the late 60s. Although her occasional success in the R&B field - notably the 1969 Ed Townsend production of Foolish Fool - was enough for the label wishing to re-sign her in 1970, she signed with AtcoAtco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
at the invitation of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
president Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
himself, Wexler having admired Warwick's early session work.
Warwick made her first recordings for Atco in February 1970, cutting four tunes with Townsend. In an early indication of the disarray that Warwick's career would experience at Atlantic, these tracks were shelved and she was sent to Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios is a music-recording studio in Miami, Florida, started in 1958 by Mack Emerman.In 1999, The Hit Factory purchased Criteria Studios, revamping and reopening the studios under the new name The Hit Factory Criteria Miami.-Notable artists:...
in Miami in April to work with producer Dave Crawford and fast-emerging studio band, The Dixie Flyers. The resultant Turning Around album yielded a Top Ten R&B hit with "She Didn't Know", but Warwick would never have another album release or single in the R&B Top 20.
In October, she cut 10 tracks at Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, again with Crawford producing (along with Brad Shapiro). Only three singles were released with one, a remake of "Suspicious Minds
Suspicious Minds
"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...
", becoming Warwick's final R&B hit in 1971. That summer, Crawford and Shapiro produced an eight-track session for Warwick at the Pac-Three studios in Detroit. One track, "Everybody's Got to Believe in Something" was issued as a single - Warwick's last release on Atco despite two final sessions for the label in early 1972. Reflecting on her unrewarding Atco tenure, Warwick opined: "The problem was simply that the company had a lot of other big female acts - like Aretha [Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
] and Roberta [Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
] - and you get into a situation where you don't get the right kind of material or production or promotion..."
Later career
In 1973, Warwick returned to Mercury but in 1974, she moved to Private StockPrivate Stock Records
Private Stock Records was a record label which was started in 1974 by Larry Uttal after he was ousted from Bell Records. The label had hit records with singles by David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame , Starbuck , Austin Roberts , Samantha Sang , Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band , and Frankie...
where the 1975 single "Get Out of My Life" became her final charting (#73 R&B) song. That same year, Warwick recorded for RCA Victor as DeDe Schwartz. After several years away from the recording studio, Dee Dee Warwick made her final recordings in the mid-80s: in 1984 her album Dee Dee Warwick, Call Me was released on Sutra Records (a small independent label, not "Kama Sutra" as it was previously described) and she subsequently recorded for Heritage
Heritage Records
Heritage Records can refer to:* Heritage Records , a 1960s label from Jerry Ross Productions* Heritage Records , 1960s Blues and early Jazz label founded by Tony Standish...
. After living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for a number of years, Warwick became a resident of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
in 1994.http://www.soulmusic.com/deedeewashed.html
Dee Dee Warwick received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm And Blues Foundation in 1999. Recordings of both her Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
years and Atco
Atco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
years are available on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. In late 2006, Dee Dee returned to success singing background
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for Dionne in concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, and also was part of the "Family First" song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
in the Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for Daddy's Little Girls.
In January 2008, Dee Dee was featured in the title song from Dionne's gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Why We Sing. In February 2008, she continued her background vocals
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
for Dionne's one woman show 'My Music and Me' in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Death
Dee Dee Warwick struggled with narcotics addiction for many years and was in failing health for some time. Her sister was with her when she died on October 18, 2008 in a nursing homeNursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...
, aged 66.
Chart singles
- 1963: "You're No GoodYou're No Good"You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard, Jr. which first charted for Betty Everett in 1963 and in 1975 was a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt....
" (Jubilee) (#117 US) - 1965: "Do It With All Your Heart" (Blue Rock) (#124 US)
- 1965: "We're Doing Fine" (Blue Rock) (#96 US, #28 R&B)
- 1966: "I Want To Be With You" (Mercury) (#41 US, #9 R&B)
- 1966: "I'm Gonna Make You Love MeI'm Gonna Make You Love Me"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations for the Motown label...
" (Mercury) (#88 US, #13 R&B) - 1967: "When Love Slips Away" (Mercury) (#92 US, #43 R&B)
- 1969: "That's Not Love" (Mercury) (#106 US, #42 R&B)
- 1969: "Ring of Bright Water" (Mercury) (#113 US)
- 1969: "Foolish Fool" (Mercury) (#57 US, #14 R&B)
- 1970: "She Didn't Know (She Kept On Talking)" (Atco) (#70 US, #9 R&B)
- 1970: "Cold Night In Georgia" (Atco) (#44 R&B)
- 1971: "Suspicious MindsSuspicious Minds"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...
" (Atco) (#80 US, #24 R&B) - 1975: "Get Out Of My Life" (Private Stock) (#73 R&B)