A unique concert album from Dionne Warwick – proof that her talents weren't always restricted to Burt Bacharach arrangements in the studio! The setting is the classy Olympia Theater in Paris, and the style is a bit more open than on Dionne's studio albums – with less material by Bacharach & David than before, and a wider range of tunes that not only includes a few songs sung in French, but also a duet with Parisian popper Sacha Distel! The audience is oddly mic'ed up very high in the mix at times – crashing into the start of most tunes with the ferocity of radio static or a swarm of bees – but Warwick quickly takes over with her own vocals once the songs get going. Titles include "I Love Paris", "C'Est Si Bon", "Walk On By", "You'll Never Get To Heaven", "O Yeah Yeah Yeah", "The Good Life", "La Vie En Rose", and "What'd I Say". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet 80s soul from Dionne Warwick – an album that features a fair bit of production work from Barry Gibb – and a sometime sound that definitely shows his presence! The style here is smoother than Dionne in earlier years – with a nice undercurrent of jazz in the instrumentation, one that helps keep things hipper than you might expect – and which avoids a lot of the cliches of early 80s pop soul that might muck things up. Gibb's touch helps things glide nicely at times – a bit of that soulful Bee Gees flourish – and tracks include "Heartbreaker", "It Makes No Difference", "Take The Short Way Home", "Just One More Night", "You Are My Love", and "Our Day Will Come". CD

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A wonderful album from Dionne Warwick – probably her greatest record after the early years! The session was recorded with production by Thom Bell at Sigma Sound in Philly – and the style is a sweet blend of Philly modes, from fragile ballads to midtempo groovers, all done in a warm and intimate style that's never cloying, and which really gets at the depth of Dionne's soulful style. The record's one of those that you might have passed by for years, but which if you heard it playing at someone's house, you'd say "Dang! What the heck is that?" Great all the way through, and with tracks that include "Track Of The Cat", "His House & Me", "Once You Hit The Road", "This Is Love", and "Love Me One More Time". LP, Vinyl record album

Dionne Warwick's making a bit of a break from formula for this album – by singing a batch of tunes from films and shows, none of which were written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David! Yet despite this change from earlier records, the album's still got a sound that's strongly in keeping with Warwick's 60s years at Scepter Records – thanks to arrangements by Burt that help transform these older tunes, and update them with a new sense of maturity for Dionne's singing style. The real appeal of the record is the way that Bacharach changes things up with some of these overdone numbers – finding new corners to explore, and creating a sense of surprise that's quite different than other albums of this nature. Titles include "Something Wonderful", "Summertime", "My Favorite Things", "I Believe In You", "My Ship", "Anything You Can Do", and "He Loves Me". LP, Vinyl record album

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Quite an unusual album for Dionne Warwick – a late 60s effort that has her returning to her gospel roots, and singing with backing from The Drinkard Sisters – a group originally founded by Dionne's mother, and which featured a young Cissy Houston! The sound here isn't as strictly gospel as you might expect – and in a way, it's almost an exploration of some of the more spiritual themes that echoed on some of Dionne's earlier hits written by Burt Bacharach – those slow-building and soulful moments that were themselves a reflection of Warwick's earlier roots. The arrangements aren't credited here, but they're also not as "churchy" as you might expect – and still have some of the sophistication of Bacharach backings from previous albums. Titles include "Somebody Bigger Than You & I", "The Magic Of Believing", "Steal Away", "Grace", and "In The Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Great early 80s work from Dionne Warwick – mostly recorded live, with a slightly looser feel than some of her studio sets of the time! The double-length set features three sides live, and an additional set of studio material – and the live tracks are possibly the greatest in the bunch – as they show the aging Warwick really sparkling wonderfully in front of an enthusiastic crowd, stretching out naturally without too much studio adjustment to her voice. The set includes a 19 minute medley of older hits – 13 in all, packed in a very tight space – but even better are some of the more contemporary soul tunes, which are great when handled with Dionne's smoother tones. Titles include "What You Won't Do For Love/In The Stone", "Don't Make Me Over", "Deja Vu", "Easy Love", "There's A Long Road Ahead Of Us", "Some Changes Are For Good", and "Now We're Starting Over Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from Dee Dee Warwick – Dionne's more soulful sister, and a heck of a singer! The record's got a mix of uptown soul production and deeper soul styles, with a sophisticated style that reminds us of Chicago work by singers like Joann Garrett, Marlena Shaw, or Ruby Andrews – totally tight and sophisticated up top, but with a nice kick on the bottom that really deepens up the groove! The sound is really wide-ranging – similar to what you might find on Shaw's Cadet albums from the time – and production is by some top shelf talents throughout – including Lou Courtney to Ed Townsend to Jerry Ross to Gamble & Huff – all of whom leave their own impressions on the record. Titles include "Foolish Fool", "You Taught Me To Love", "Thank God", "That's Not Love", "Thank You Love", and "When Love Slips Away". Great bonus tracks from singles, too – including "Ring Of Bright Water", "Next Time You Fall In Love", "All The Love That Went To Waste", "I Who Have Nothing", and "I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do". CD

Dionne Warwick makes the spirits bright here – in a great album of holiday duets with a host of unlikely guest stars! Warwick's vocals have aged a bit in recent years, but in a way that brings down her range and makes her a surprisingly good fit for this really unusual mix of vocalists – a shift that the lady might not have been able to make as well during her classic years. The whole thing is maybe more of a straight Christmas album than a Dionne affair – but we meant that in a good way – and titles include "Frosty The Snowman" with Eric Paslay, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" with Dianne Reeves, "White Christmas" with Johnny Mathis, "This Christmas" with Aloe Blacc, "The Christmas Song" with Wayna Morris, "Silver Bells" with Chloe X Halle, "Jingle Bell Rock" with Michael McDonald, and "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" with Andra Day. CD

An obscure set of work from the Warwick label – some of their hard-edged R&B material, which the label did almost as strongly as King Records in the 50s! Titles include "Shake A Hand" by Faye Adams, "Let The Good Times Roll" by Shirley & Lee, "Bless Your Heard" by Roy Milton, "I Feel Like I Wanna Cry" by Little Esther, and "I Love You, Yes I Do" by Bullmoose Jackson. LP, Vinyl record album

Forget Dionne Warwick, and think Burt Bacharach – because on this sublime little set, The Dells are singing some of Burt's greatest tunes ever – all set to impeccable arrangements by the legendary Charles Stepney! The album's more wonderful than you might even expect – a true high point in the career of all parties involved – and a tremendous recasting of Bacharach's original brilliance – taking his key compositions into the most sophisticated styles of the Chicago soul scene in the 70s! There's a sense of timing and phrasing here that's quite unique – hardly simple covers of Dionne Warwick's approach to these hits – and Stepney's backings feature his own Fender Rhodes, guitar from Phil Upchurch, percussion from members of The Pharoahs, and some fuller horns, harp, and strings. The Dells are equally great too – and serve up some of the best vocals of their career – really magnificent harmonies, and soaring solo parts that seem to even go beyond their best-known hits. Titles include "Walk On By", "Trains & Boats & Planes", "I Say A Little Prayer", "Wives & Lovers", "Close To You", "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself", "This Guy's In Love With You", "Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head", and "A House Is Not A Home". LP, Vinyl record album

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Early soul from The Clickettes, The Fashions, and a few other groups that boasted similar lineups at the start of the 60s – nearly all of them featuring lead vocals from 70s soul diva Barbara Jean English! Given the names of the groups, you might be tempted to think of the work as being in the girl group mode – but thanks to English and some strong backup support, there's much more of a soul-based sound here – a great style that comes at the end of 50s group soul, and dovetails nicely with changes in the music during the 60s. CD features 26 tracks originally issued on the Dice, Guyden, Roulette, and Warwick labels – with titles that include "We Need Them", "Dearest One", "All I Want", and "Please Let It Be Me" by The Fashions; "But Not For Me", "Because Of My Best Friend", "To Be A Part Of You", "Why Oh Why", "That's The Way It Is", "Warm Soft & Lovely", and "Grateful" by The Clickettes; "Hiding My Tears" and "There Goes Sputnik" by The Teen Clefs; and "You Broke Our Hearts" and "Louella" by The Avalons. CD

A pair of early sessions from Herbie Hancock – both very different than his Blue Note work of the 60s! The set features 11 tracks from material that Herbie recorded for the Warwick label earlier in the decade – material issued with a title makes it seem like the cuts are from Herbie's score to the film Blow Up – although we're guessing that they're not, although they've always been issued without much in the way of session details! That hardly matters, though – as Herbie is great on piano – younger and rawer, more soul jazz than modern – on titles that include "Smoochie", "Far Out", "Afro Boogie", "Rock Your Soul", "Jammin With Herbie", "Herbie's Blues", and "Night Walker". Next is a record that wasn't actually first issued under Herbie's name – a super-hip batch of spiritual jazz tracks by Albert Toodie Heath of the Heath Brothers – working here on a rare session as a leader, with a sound that's right up there with the Heath Brothers' early work for Strata East!! The lineup is incredible – as Heath is joined by players that include Don Cherry, Buster Williams, Mtume, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, and Ed Blackwell – all coming together for a session that's nearly lost to the history books, but which is one of the strongest spiritual jazz sessions of the late 60s! Herbie plays all acoustic piano throughout, and the tracks are long, leaping, and loping – with stretched-out spiritual solos from Jimmy Heath and Don Cherry – and a proud and righteous sound that's extremely free-spirited without going too far out! Titles include "Baraka", "Maulana", "Dunia", and "Kamili". CD

A fairly sincere collection of instrumental versions of tracks from Sgt Pepper's, performed by the great Brit Easy bandleader Peter Knight, who worked with Scott Walker, Dusty Springfield, and Dee Dee Warwick. The album's a lot less camp than you'd expect, and Knight does a good job of coming up with weird orchestral readings of tracks like "Within You Without You", "Lovely Rita", and "Day In The Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A deep deep look at the New York soul powerhouse trio of labels Scepter, Wand, & Musicor – maybe best known for their big 60s recordings by Dionne Warwick and Chuck Jackson – but a trilogy of labels with a much deeper commitment to soul overall! This excellent package brings together 28 tracks in all, most of them obscure singles from some of the lesser-known artists to record for the family of labels – but still done with that rich production style that was known as uptown soul – full arrangements, and a strong mix of strings with rhythms – but in a way that still lets the deeper currents of the singers come to the forefront of the mix! The approach is very different than music from Detroit and Chicago at the time, and was really maybe the greatest calling card for New York soul during the time – served up beautifully here, in a collection that features 14 tracks that appear on CD for the first time ever. Titles include "Two Stupid Feet" by The Tabs, "Cry Me A River" by Marie Knight, "Brother Where Are You" by The Demotrons, "Dearly Beloved" by Jack Montgomery, "Accept Me" by The Diplomats, "Turn Back The Time" by Judy Clay, "Hey Child I Love You" by JJ Barnes, "A Thousand Rivers" by Roscoe Robinson, "My Only Prayer" by Lois Lane, "Through A Long & Sleepless Night (alt)" by Jimmy Radcliffe, "In Between Tears" by Lenny Miles, and "She's Gone" by Tony Drake. CD

A treasure trove of wonderful tunes – all written by the legendary southern soul team of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham! The pair rarely entered the spotlight themselves, but contributed countless compositions that helped forge the sound of southern soul in the 60s – classic tunes that made the music of Memphis and Muscle Shoals even more mighty than anyone might have expected – thanks to a depth of feeling, sensitivity of emotion, and a trademark undercurrent of sadness that really helped the music set a new level at the time! This collection is the first to really do justice to the full range of the Penn/Oldham catalog – a beautiful batch of soul singles from a variety of different 60s labels – laid out back to back, in a breathtaking tapestry of soulful music. Titles include "Feed The Flame" by Ted Taylor, "Take Me" by Solomon Burke, "I'm Your Puppet" by Dionne Warwick, "Out Of Left Field" by Percy Sledge, "Cry Like A Baby" by Arthur Alexander, "It Tears Me Up" by Jeanne Newman, "I Met Her In Church" by Tony Borders, "I Need Someone" by The Wallace Brothers, "In The Same Old Way" by Arthur Conley, "Let It Happen" by James Carr, "Are You Never Coming Home" by Sandy Posey, and "I Worship The Ground You Walk On" by Etta James. CD

70's issue of one of the Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams sessions for the Warwick label, from the early 60's. The groove is nice and hard, with a very tight, very in-the-pocket sort of sound. A young Herbie Hancock plays piano, and he lays down solos that are a lot more daring, and with a lot more fire, than anything he did on his early Blue Note recordings. With the cuts "Out Of This World", "Day Dreams", "Bird House", and a stellar cover of "Mr. Lucky". LP, Vinyl record album

A Donald Byrd treasure – and an album that was almost left in the vaults by Blue Note, until they briefly released it at the end of the 70s! The cover and title are a bit unfamiliar, but the music is right up there with Byrd's classic sessions with baritonist Pepper Adams – a great player here, with a deftness on his horn that's incredible – matching all the sharp changes and soulful undercurrents of Byrd's sparkling trumpet! There's a nice hard sound to the whole thing – almost the raw power of the pair's albums for the Warwick label – and as with those, Herbie Hancock is on piano – giving the whole thing an excellent soul jazz groove that really kicks the main soloists into action! Titles include "Great God", "I'm An Old Cowhand", "That's All", "You're Next", and "Chant". LP, Vinyl record album

Sublime soul from the great Thom Bell – one of our favorite arranger, producer, songwriters of all time – and a talent who really helped push the Philly soul scene much farther than most during the 70s! Bell was trained as a classical pianist as a kid – which might explain part of his ear for a special sort of tune – but by the time of this work, he was neck-deep in the soul scene – and working with a fantastic track record for bringing the best out of a very wide variety of artists! Bell was especially great with groups – he helped more than a few really stretch out their wings and grow – but as you'll hear here, Thom also handled a fantastic range of music in Philly studios – all with magnificent touches that really set the tunes apart from the rest – French horns, harpsichord, and especially that twangy sitar sound that worked so well with a harmony ballad. The set's got 23 tracks in all, and a massive set of notes on the man and his music – with titles that include "What I See" by Three Degrees, "Here I Go Again" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "You've Been Untrue" by The Delfonics, "Moody Woman" by Jerry Butler, "Something For Nothing" by MFSB, "One Man Band" by Ronnie Dyson, "Close The Door" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Life Is A Song Worth Singing" by Johnny Mathis, "Look The Other Way" by Lesley Gore, "What Kind Of Lady" by Dee Dee Sharp, "It's The Same Old Love" by The Courtship, "Do You Remember Yesterday" by The Intruders, "Track Of The Cat" by Dionne Warwick, and "I Wanna Be A Free Girl" by Dusty Springfield. CD