Combining tracks from the set of four Edsel-release Dionne Warwick album compilations (9 discs, 16 albums, plus all bonus tracks), and one track from a Rhino anthology, I was able to compile a playlist of 60 tracks penned by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The bulk are from her Scepter albums, with the remaining few from the 1972 Warner Dionne album. Her follow-up to that Warner album was Just Being Myself, which was the album that signaled the lawsuit and falling-out of Dionne, Burt and Hal, who all went their separate ways for many years. Burt and Hal were both so frustrated and disgusted with the Lost Horizon soundtrack that they found they couldn't work with each other anymore. And Dionne, spurred on by Warner, sued them for breach of contract--she signed with Warner under the guise of bringing them more Bacharach/David hits. Somehow Burt and Hal reconvened briefly for a Motown Stephanie Mills album in the mid 70s, but otherwise they remained split for many years.
So, including the Scepter albums and singles, and the lone Warner album, here is a playlist featuring the Bacharach/David Songbook, spanning about 4½ hours. There are many familiar tunes here, some unique to Dionne, others cover versions of hits originally performed by others, along with some album track obscurities that are not quite as strong as the well-known tunes. There is only one tune that is not fully a Bacharach/David composition--Dionne made a medley out of the Bacharach/David tune "All Kinds of People" with the Nick Ashford/Valerie Simpson classic "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," which was Diana Ross's first solo single after leaving The Supremes. The order is roughly chronological, based on the order in which the albums are chronologically presented in these multi-disc sets.
As best as possible, I assembled this playlist on YouTube.
My notes for the YouTube anthology:
Unfortunately, as digital releases go, the four Edsel sets are no longer in print on CD. I purchased all four from Amazon UK for £35.28, including shipping. These days, you'd be lucky to find just one of these sets for that price. However, all sixteen of these albums appear to be available via streaming and download sources, and many are possibly in print on CD also. (I will list the 15 Bacharach/David albums below.) As for anthologies, my first two purchases of her tunes were via these two sets below. And the third is a recent release.
Her All-Time Greatest Hits, which covers the obvious well-known tunes:
Amazon product ASIN B0000032WJ
Hidden Gems, which explores some of the deeper cuts:
Amazon product ASIN B0000032EO
For completists only--the Odds & Ends: Scepter Records Rarities offers some alternate recordings and foreign language versions of her hits, along with a few other curiosities. Can't say I recommend this one to anyone but the purely rabid fans--nothing except the non-album single "Odds & Ends" (which is not an alternate version)
Buyer beware: There are many compilations of Dionne's recordings out there. Many are of very poor quality, and others are not the original hit recordings. Any official release should clearly be labeled "Rhino" on the rear, which is the legacy division of the old Warner Music Group. For instance, there is a CD entitled Sings the Bacharach & David Songbook issued by Music Club Records, with reviews complaining about the poor sound quality and re-recordings.
When in doubt, ask here in the forum and we'll gladly help you sort things out!
And as noted above, here is the list of the fourteen original albums on Scepter, and one on Warner Bros., that largely feature Bacharach/David compositions; only one, On Stage and In the Movies, features no Bacharach/David tunes, but is included for completeness. These albums cover the years from 1962 to 1970.
So, including the Scepter albums and singles, and the lone Warner album, here is a playlist featuring the Bacharach/David Songbook, spanning about 4½ hours. There are many familiar tunes here, some unique to Dionne, others cover versions of hits originally performed by others, along with some album track obscurities that are not quite as strong as the well-known tunes. There is only one tune that is not fully a Bacharach/David composition--Dionne made a medley out of the Bacharach/David tune "All Kinds of People" with the Nick Ashford/Valerie Simpson classic "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," which was Diana Ross's first solo single after leaving The Supremes. The order is roughly chronological, based on the order in which the albums are chronologically presented in these multi-disc sets.
1 | This Empty Place |
2 | Don't Make Me Over |
3 | I Cry Alone |
4 | Wishin' And Hopin' |
5 | I Smiled Yesterday |
6 | Make The Music Play |
7 | It's Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run) |
8 | Make It Easy On Yourself |
9 | The Love Of A Boy |
10 | Anyone Who Had A Heart |
11 | Any Old Time Of The Day |
12 | I Could Make You Mine |
13 | Please Make Him Love Me |
14 | A House Is Not A Home |
15 | (They Long To Be) Close To You |
16 | The Last One To Be Loved |
17 | In The Land Of Make Believe |
18 | Reach Out For Me |
19 | You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) |
20 | Walk On By |
21 | How Many Days Of Sadness |
22 | Is There Another Way To Love You? |
23 | Wives And Lovers |
24 | Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So |
25 | Ony The Strong |
26 | Forever My Love |
27 | That's Not The Answer |
28 | In Between Heartaches |
29 | Here I Am |
30 | If Ever I Make You Cry |
31 | (Here I Go Again) Looking With My Eyes (Seeing With My Heart) |
32 | Don't Go Breaking My Heart |
33 | Window Wishing |
34 | Long Day |
35 | Are You There (With Another Girl) |
36 | How Can I Hurt You? |
37 | Message To Michael |
38 | A House is Not a Home [French Version] |
39 | Walk On By |
40 | You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) [French Version] |
41 | Go With Love |
42 | What the World Needs Now is Love |
43 | I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself |
44 | Here Where There is Love |
45 | Trains and Boats and Planes |
46 | Alfie |
47 | I Say a Little Prayer |
48 | Walk Little Dolly |
49 | The Beginning of Loneliness |
50 | Another Night |
51 | The Windows of the World |
52 | (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me |
53 | As Long As There's an Apple Tree |
54 | Do You Know the Way to San Jose? |
55 | Let Me Be Lonely |
56 | Where Would I Go |
57 | Walking Backwards Down the Road |
58 | Promises |
59 | This Girl's In Love With You |
60 | Who is Gonna Love Me? |
61 | Whoever You Are |
62 | Wanting Things |
63 | Dream Sweet Dreamer |
64 | The April Fools |
65 | Odds and Ends |
66 | Medley: Reach Out and Touch/All Kinds of People |
67 | The Wine Is Young |
68 | I'll Never Fall in Love Again [From Promises |
69 | Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head |
70 | Loneliness Remembers |
71 | Paper Mache |
72 | Knowing When to Leave |
73 | Let Me Go to Him |
74 | Check Out Time |
75 | The Green Grass Starts to Grow |
76 | They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes) |
77 | The Look of Love |
78 | Walk the Way You Talk |
79 | Who Gets the Guy |
80 | California |
81 | Only Love Can Break a Heart |
82 | Make it Easy on Yourself |
83 | They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes) |
84 | I Just Have to Breathe |
85 | The Balance of Nature |
86 | If You Never Say Goodbye |
87 | (They Long to Be) Close to You [1972 Version] |
88 | Be Aware |
89 | One Less Bell to Answer |
90 | Hasbrook Heights |
91 | On My Way |
92 | The Book Tour (On My Way - Reprised) |
As best as possible, I assembled this playlist on YouTube.
My notes for the YouTube anthology:
As YouTube goes, this is the best playlist I could assemble of the (hopefully) complete Burt Bacharach/Hal David songbook. I omitted a couple due to being unable to find the correct versions of tunes from her "Dionne Warwick in Paris" album--essentially, live and/or foreign language versions of tunes already included in the list.
In just about all cases, I used the versions of the tunes as provided to YouTube by Rhino Records (or other official record label) to provide authenticity and maximum fidelity. There are instances where Rhino did not post a full album but instead, pulled tracks from an anthology instead. For one track ("Reach Out and Touch/All Kinds of People"), I could not find the official Rhino source. Aside from "Odds and Ends" (which is claimed to be an alternate version in the ID tag--it is actually the single version), I did not include any of the tracks from the Scepter rarities set.
As bonus tracks, I included three tunes at the end of the playlist penned by Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager.
Unfortunately, as digital releases go, the four Edsel sets are no longer in print on CD. I purchased all four from Amazon UK for £35.28, including shipping. These days, you'd be lucky to find just one of these sets for that price. However, all sixteen of these albums appear to be available via streaming and download sources, and many are possibly in print on CD also. (I will list the 15 Bacharach/David albums below.) As for anthologies, my first two purchases of her tunes were via these two sets below. And the third is a recent release.
Her All-Time Greatest Hits, which covers the obvious well-known tunes:
Amazon product ASIN B0000032WJ
Hidden Gems, which explores some of the deeper cuts:
Amazon product ASIN B0000032EO
For completists only--the Odds & Ends: Scepter Records Rarities offers some alternate recordings and foreign language versions of her hits, along with a few other curiosities. Can't say I recommend this one to anyone but the purely rabid fans--nothing except the non-album single "Odds & Ends" (which is not an alternate version)
Buyer beware: There are many compilations of Dionne's recordings out there. Many are of very poor quality, and others are not the original hit recordings. Any official release should clearly be labeled "Rhino" on the rear, which is the legacy division of the old Warner Music Group. For instance, there is a CD entitled Sings the Bacharach & David Songbook issued by Music Club Records, with reviews complaining about the poor sound quality and re-recordings.
When in doubt, ask here in the forum and we'll gladly help you sort things out!
And as noted above, here is the list of the fourteen original albums on Scepter, and one on Warner Bros., that largely feature Bacharach/David compositions; only one, On Stage and In the Movies, features no Bacharach/David tunes, but is included for completeness. These albums cover the years from 1962 to 1970.
- Presenting Dionne Warwick (℗1962)
- Anyone Who Had a Heart (℗1963)
- Make Way for Dionne Warwick (℗1964)
- The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick (℗1965)
- Here I Am (℗1965)
- Dionne Warwick in Paris (℗1966)
- Here Where There is Love (℗1966)
- On Stage and In the Movies (℗1967)
- The Windows of the World (℗1967)
- In the Valley of the Dolls (℗1968)
- Promises, Promises (℗1968)
- Soulful (℗1969)
- I'll Never Fall in Love Again (℗1970)
- Very Dionne (℗1970)
- Dionne (℗1972 - Warner Bros.)
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But I still double-check any new posts here to see if I missed anything. I'm familiar with most of Dionne's tracks on the listed Scepter albums, but I still have a feeling there might be one or two I've missed.
