Dionne Warwick

Walk on By: Definitive Collection
$39.99
At first, Dionne Warwicke's recording persona was as vulnerable as a baby bird. In the course of a song -- particularly her great Burt Bacharach/Hal David hits -- she seemed to be transformed by love (or its loss) from a woman-child into a wiser, deeper soul. Combined with Bacharach's sophisticated chord progressions and David's plaintive but articulate lyrics, she projected a mixture of poignance and poise that still makes our hearts go right to her, almost protectively. Even the imperative "Don't Make Me Over", her breakthrough number, is actually a plea for mercy.

This compilation is the obvious go-to option for anyone who wants more than a cursory overview of Warwicke's great period (roughly 1962-68) without investing in every album. (Still, the Sequel twofer "Presenting.../Anyone Who Had a Heart", now out of print, is worth seeking out.) All of the classic hits are here, sparklingly remastered. The only drawback is that in its sweep, the set documents in some detail the creeping divahood that enervated most of Warwicke's '70s output, and would leave her calcified in the '80s (a period the set avoids).

Her near-strident attack on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" is a surprise (though it's arguably wasted effort; the song is as owned by its originators as any in pop), and producer Thom Bell coaxed a truly superb performance from her on the Spinners duet "Then Came You." Or maybe her duet partner, the punchy Phillippe Wynn, provided the spark: Warwicke swoops, she swings, she damn near makes the pro forma song a gospel rave. Elsewhere she's mostly cushioned in arrangements we now tag as "lounge", and lounging. But these caveats are no reason to pass up this set. Buy it, and enjoy the eternal moments that preceded a fine singer's vanishing act.

Dionne Warwick - Greatest Hits (1979-1990)
$7.99
The cd had about four songs that I liked, but the bulk of the songs were unknown to me.

Definitive Collection
$8.99
This is one of the best if not the best albums Dionne released. I love her interpretation of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", it brought tears to my eyes. All the standards that she sung accompanied by Burt Bacharach are just the joint! A very memorable album and the best of Dionne!

The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits
$19.98
OUTSTANDING! Dionne at her best. All the songs
that made her one of the greatest.