Dee Dee had gotten her start after she, along with her sister Dionne and Aunt Cissy (Houston) were “discovered” in a gospel show at The Apollo Theater in Harlem. That was in 1960. The girls started singing back-up for just about everybody in NYC! Of the three, Dee Dee was the most soulful, gritty and truly R&B, but she could never really get a break…
One Drifters' session in 1961 brought her sister Dionne together with then-up-and-coming songwriter Burt Bacharach who quickly whisked her away to do demos for him and his new writing partner Hal David: Dionne would sign a contract with Scepter Records and within a year or so, she was on the charts with "Don't Make Me Over," the first of many hit records and a career as an international musical icon.
In 1963, Dee Dee Warwick did a session with chart-hot producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (known for their hits with The Coasters, The Drifters and others) on the song "You're No Good." Released by Jubilee Records
Dee Dee's record was ’snatched' away by Betty Everett who recorded the same song and gained a massive hit with it.
Chicago-based Blue Rock Records signed Dee Dee in late 1964. Teaming her with producer Ed Townsend, an artist in his own right, who had his own hit in 1958 with "For Your Love"
Dee Dee's first session yielded the upbeat "Do It With All Your Heart," "You Don't Know (What You Do To Me)," a song Dee Dee co-wrote ("I wrote it on the spot with Ed...") and "Another Lonely Saturday (Baby I'm Yours)"
It was her second Blue Rock recording date in May of 1965 that would give Dee Dee her first taste of real chart success: "We're Doing Fine," was recorded at Dee Dee’s second Blue Rock session. The tune was written by famed arranger Horace Ott and reached the Top 30 on the R&B charts...
In May of '65, Dee Dee recorded the song "I Want To Be With You," from the Broadway musical "Golden Boy" (starring Sammy Davis Jr.), then Mercury re-released the powerhouse ballad as Dee Dee's debut for the label in August 1966. It reached No. 9 on the U.S. R&B charts and made it to No. 41 on the U.S. pop Hot 100. Her biggest hit ever!
Dee Dee followed up her “I Want To Be With You” success with a December 1966 release of “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” which made it to the Top 20 on the U.S. Charts. OBVIOUSLY, this isn't Dee Dee, but it's all that will come up on YouTube. I need an MP3 of this cut!!!
Only to be over-shadowed by The Supremes/Temptations release of the same tune the following year: So, we'll hear it again...
It took a reunion with original Blue Rock producer Ed Townsend to give Dee Dee another shot at the charts: a November 1968 session resulted in "Foolish Fool"...
The record earned Dee Dee a Grammy nomination and re-ignited a short-lived interest in her career.
Since that time, she'd been essentially inactive as a recording artist. Here's a great one from 1969, though...
In 1999, Dee Dee Warwick finally got long overdue recognition for her many years as a soulful recording artist and performer as a the recipient of the prestigious Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.
Sadly, Dee Dee Warwick died after a long illness on October 19, 2008
R.I.P. Dee Dee
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