CLASSIC ALBUM: HERE WHERE THERE IS LOVE

In theory, Dionne Warwick may be the 60's most influential female vocalist. Although, most people cite Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin for their approach to popular music, more fail to realize the significance of Dionne as a musical force. She never had the press office of Motown Records to boost her image or desire to become someone she was not, or portrayed a "pro-black" image in her music (i.e. Aretha Franklin) either. Of course Dionne was a house hold name, and she had many firsts, but it seems Diana and Aretha managed to take some of her thunder in terms of mass appeal, although Dionne served as a blueprint for them, by musical style and song selection. In other words, she possessed qualities they both lacked, which mattered most. Diana would try to emulate Dionne's cool, MOR facade, and Aretha would look to Dionne's songbook for several Bacharach/David records.

Dionne is often defined as sophisticated when critics or fans try to describe her music. She fused the generes of Pop and Soul like no other, while incorporating jazz, gospel, and R&B into her music as well. "She was the Queen of Easy," and critics were unable to categorized her music. She obviously had a three to four octave voice and drew from her gospel background to give soulful performances, yet she was able to keep them sweet and refined to appeal to a broad audiences. Her voice has been described as a fine wine, peculiar and able to straddle between difficult notes easily, since Dionne had to adapt quick to difficult chord and time changes often present in Burt Bacharach's music.

She was authentically Dionne, where as entertainers like Diana Ross were not. People say Diana wanted to be the "Black Streisand," but Diana really just wanted to be like another Dionne. Yes, Motown incorporated more show tunes into Diana's work than Dionne had ever done, but Dionne recorded and performed standards at the very beginning of her career. And her own hits were created to become standards not hits, which was very anti-Motown. Streisand clearly had to respect Warwick, but she did not respect Diana, and the music-goers alike had the same sentiments. Dionne was the "first" to cross-over with the help of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and be accepted as authentic because her approach was genuine and her songs just had mass appeal to music listeners across all genres.

Dionne's 7th studio album, "Here Where There Is Love," is a masterpiece. It encompassed the essence of her very sound. By this time, she was a bona fide Pop star, a legend of her time. She had several hit records on both the Pop and R&B Charts, bound to win Grammys, had Pop music's most esteemed writing duo producing songs tailored for her voice which would become Pop music classics, and artists clamoring to cover her songs before they were even released, which began early on in her career. Back in 1964, UK singer Cilla Black covered her classic record,"Anyone Who Had A Heart," and released it in Britain before Scepter Records could put the record out overseas. Black's version of "Anyone..." reached number one.

"Here Where There Is Love" boats multiple classics, and the album plays out like a true LP, where no track is undesirable to the ears. The album beings with a pop-soul fused track entitled "Go With Love," that features a waltz sound. The second track is the definitive offering of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David's career defining anthem, "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Although, Dionne was not the first female artist to release this song, which is a rarity, she claims she recorded the demo for the record, which was supposed to be released by a male artist. According to some accounts, claim that Dionne was officially offered the song in 1965, and turned it down, in which it was subsequently offered to Jackie DeShannon. Whatever the case may be, Dionne's rendition is the best. The vocal was clearly written for her voice and singing style. According to reports, DeShannon had extreme difficulty recording the song, and Bacharach made DeShannon record the song so many times her voice began to give out.

The third track "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," was released as a single in 1966. Although, Dionne was not the first artist to release the song, she recorded the demo more than likely, and its certainly a gem. Her vocal performance is impeccable and uses falsetto and a strong head vocal. The title track of the album offers one of the team of Bacharach/David/Warwick's best records. The record is a waltz/bossa nova fusion and just impeccable. It's eclectic yet sophisticated, and Dionne offers a great vocal performance. The single "Trains, Boats, and Planes" is also featured on the album, its arguably one Dionne's most sophisticated records with a subtle social message.

The hit rendition of "Alfie," is featured on the record as well. Burt wanted Dionne to record the song, and arranged it with Dionne's voice in mind. However, record executives explained to Bacharach that he could not have Dionne record the record because she was not affiliated with the the film studio. So, the US version of the film featured Cher, and the UK version of the film featured Cilla Black, which Dionne became infuriated over. Burt wanted Dionne to record the song anyway. After 40 plus recordings from other artists, Dionne finally recorded the song, and it became a hit after Dionne performed it at the 1967 Academy Awards.

Other features on the album include a cool jazz soul record entitled "I Never Knew What You Were Up To," and and standards "As Long As He Needs Me," and "I Wish You Love," in addition to Dionne's take on the Bob Dylan classic "Blowin' In the Wind," which doesn't fit with the rest of the album, in sound, which is a characteristic motif with at least one or two songs on Dionne's previous two albums.

Here is a clip of "Here Where There Is Love":