SOUL PIONEER: DEE DEE WARWICK

Dee Dee Warwick is arguably one of the best soul singers there ever was, but not many people know about her. She comes from a highly gifted, musical family, and god definitely gave her an impressionable voice. She began singing in church, and eventually joined her family's legendary gospel group the Drinkard Singers featuring her older sister Dionne, and their aunt Emily (later known as Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney Houston). In 1958, Dee Dee joined the Goseplaires, a group created by Dionne and her friends Myrna Utley and Carol Slade, which would eventually include Cissy, Judy Clay, and Doris Troy (who had a self-penned the smash, "Just One Look" in 1963 - The Goseplaires performed background vocals on this record, and Dionne can distinctly be heard above the group). The group got their big break while performing during amateur night at the Apollo theater in New York. While backstage a man looking for background singers for a session offered anyone the gig, and Dionne gladly accepted the gig on behalf of the group. As a result, the group soon appeared on the records of R&B greats such as The Drifters, Solomon Burke, and Dinah Washington, and remained in demand throughout much of the late 50's and 60's.

By 1963, Dionne, Doris, and Judy had released solo records, so Dee Dee took the opportunity to embark on solo stardom by releasing her first record, entitled "You're No Good,' that same year. The record did not perform too well on the charts until other artists covered the gem, so Dee Dee continued performing background vocals, most prominently for her sister Dionne. She can prominently be heard along with her aunt Cissy on Dionne's classic album "Anyone Who Had a Heart." Those two, would perform most of Dionne's backing vocals throughout the 60's, and had such a unique blend and technique. In addition, it is said that Dee Dee performed background vocals for other artists such as Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley since Cissy eventually took over the Gospelaires, changed the name to the Sweet Inspirations, and even scored a deal for them with Atlantic Records, but I believe Dee Dee officially left the group before all of Cissy's radical actions because she is not heard in the background of Aretha's classics nor other famous "Sweet Inspiration" background work.

While still performing on all of Dionne's albums throughout the 60's, Dee Dee recorded many records on her own. In 1965, she released the moderate R&B hits "I Want To Be With You," and, "We're Doing Fine," and managed to land a performance on American Bandstand. In 1966, she released the Philly crafted record "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," which featured production by Philly soul visionaries Gamble & Huff. The record was also a moderate R&B hit. A cover version by UK session singer Madeline Bell was released a year later and performed better on the pop charts, but the most successful rendition of the song was released by the Supremes and the Temptations in 1968. Regardless of others success, Dee Dee's version is the most soulful and hard-hitting. In later years to come, Dee Dee's sound became more hard-hitting with the Grammy nominated track "Foolish Fool,"and rare gems such as "Thank God," and "That's Not Love." "... Fool" lost to Aretha Franklin's "Share Your Love With Me," at the 1969 ceremony, but it was impressive to see Dee Dee receive a nomination in light of standing in the shadow of her sister's trailblazing career. In 1970, Dee Dee received another Grammy nomination for her stab at 70's adult/southern-tinged, quiet storm with "She Didn't Know (She Kept On Talking). Once again, Dee Dee lost to Aretha Franklin. Throughout the rest of the 70's Dee Dee still recorded, but none of her records created much buzz. She took a hiatus from recording in 1975, toured singing background vocals for Dionne, and did not release a new album until 1984. Her new album did not see much success, and Dee Dee continued to tour with Dionne for different periods throughout the rest of her life. On October 18, 2008, Dee Dee passed away due to chronic health problems. That previous year, Dee Dee had recorded a duet with Dionne, on the gospel album,"Why We Sing," and completed one last tour singing backgrounds for her sister.



Although Dee Dee is no longer here, she should still be recognized for her contributions to music world. If you look at her voice in context with the rest of her famous family members, she has similar vocal abilities, the same vocal prowess, and same phrasings as her aunt Cissy except Dee Dee's voice is much deeper giving way for a very rich tone. She has a pretty huge range as well because she can sing tenor, alto, and mezzo soprano notes. In comparison to anyone else in the family who has released music, she has the most soulful voice, and arguably the most powerful, hard-hitting voice. Some critics have questioned why Dee Dee has always stood in the shadows of Dionne, and why Dionne was selected by Burt Bacharach to record solo material. Dionne and Dee Dee say its because Dionne was the only Gospelaire member who could read music, and Burt says it is because Dionne had the look, sophistication, and unique voice and delivery (which explains Dionne's music with Burt in the context of 60's music). I think it is a combination of those two reasons, and I honestly feel like no one paid attention to Dee Dee because her voice was not unique enough, even in terms of soul because she enunciated too perfectly, maybe too much in part to sound more sophisticated.

Anyways, peep Dee Dee performing on 60's television beginning at 3:05 on this clip: