Heaven's choir getting better, indeed: now they will have one of the great, if unsung, punchy soul singers of the 60's: Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne's younger sister, died today at age 63.



If you are a fan of 1960's Soul, Pop and R&B, you will know some of her records... If not, I hope you'll get to know them.



She can be audibly heard on most of the great Dionne/Bacharach hits of the 60's, singing in the background. While Dionne had a high, lilting voice and jazz-influenced sound, Dee Dee was a contralto soul belter, in the tradition of Aretha Franklin.



Dee Dee's solo records mostly came from the year 1968. While the songs themselves are wonderful powerhouses of soul, the production values of her solo records are really lousy... They sound like they were recorded in a high school gymnasium with just an L&R mic aimed at the band. A shame, as sister Dionne's records were recorded with the best recording values money could buy at the time. Still they are great records.



Dee Dee, RIP.

Why didn't she get to be a big star like her sister?

Good question.

Some ideas:

* Her voice was dark and soulful, not light and pop-py, thus she didn't have Dionne's exposure on Pop and Easy Listening radio (read: white audiences)
* When it came to soul belting, Aretha Franklin pretty much stole every black female artist's thunder in the 60's.
* I don't think she had Dionne's college-level music education
* I frankly think Dionne had a more burning ambition from the get-go.
* Dee Dee did very well as a session (backup) musician (That's her you hear in the background of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds")
* Burt Bacharach personally took Dionne under his wing with the express idea of having her be his "vehicle" for his songwriting, He groomed her as a star from 1962 on. Dee Dee never had such a "svengali".
* In the 60's, Dionne was possibly more traditionally beautiful physically and had that visual aspect going for her... Dionne was a smash hit, for example, at the Olympia in Paris in 1964, at the Italian San Remo Festival; she looked statuesque, svelte and fashionable on SHINDIG!, HULLABALOO, READY, STEADY, GO!, ED SULLIVAN, etc.
* Pop music is unfair, no two ways about it. For every Britney, Gwen Stefani, Jessica Simpson and J-Lo I've ever heard, I have personally known some "unknown" ebony goddesses who can sing CIRCLES around them, I mean, put them to absolute shame. Naomi Campbell, for one, has always maintained that show business is still racist... Think she's right?

Thank you, Dave. Those are all good and thought provoking answers. Especially about the Svengali. I watched a movie about the Jackson family once on VH1 and it showed how Diana Ross really helped Michael, although he is the most talented of the Jackson family, no question about it.

Looks make a huge difference, at least nowadays. I don't think Mama Cass would be such a success today. She would have to be a Michelle Phillips.
I watched a VH1 special on Meat Loaf and they talked about the the video "I Won't Do That". (I Would Do Anything for You) (I think that's the title.) Anyway his current backup singer, (not the one from the seventies who sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights") is a very attractive woman, BUT they used a stunning model to lip sync her part in the video "I Would Do Anything for You". The record executives did not know the model was lip syncing and they offered her a record deal. When they found out the truth, guess who didn't get the deal. The real singer.

I have heard the modeling industry is racist.
Naomi is physically perfect and has probably worked hard for her success but I can also picture her long stilettos gouching the fingers of any sisters that tried to climb up the ladder of success with her.