Search - Dionne Warwick :: Here i Am/Here Where There Is Love

HERE...HERE

Gregor von Kallahann | 04/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the mid-60s, the young Dionne Warwick was the epitome of vocal elegance. The way she danced around her upper register could just about take your breath away. That range is often dangerous territory for singers, yet Dionne seldom faltered. Only rarely, in fact, did she exhibit the trademark little crackle that was to become characteristic of her LOWER register and that--in my book anyway--made her all the more interesting stylistically.



I remember once back in high school reading an article on Brit rockers the Yardbirds and being struck when a couple of them named Dionne as their favorite "chick singer". The stylistic gulf between Warwick's sophisticated pop (with its subtle gospel roots) and the relatively thrash-bang blues-cum-psychedelia of the Yardbirds was enormous. The fact that THEY (like so many other young Britons of the day, as I later learned) championed Warwick was telling. Her appeal easily crossed genre distinctions, as well as international borders.



For years, I contented myself with a few "Best Of" collections of Dionne's work in my collection. But deep down, I always suspected that she was more than just a singles artist and that her individual albums must be--at the very least--interesting. A "twofer" like this one was well worth investigating. And it turns out, that HERE I AM/HERE WHERE THERE IS LOVE proved my suspicions right. Even if these (mostly Bacharach/David numbers) are not ALL classics, there is nothing throwaway about any of the tracks here.



Some of the songs included on HERE...HERE make for lighter fare than others, but Dionne's interpretations are always interesting. In her hands, a piece of fluff like "Window Wishing" becomes a study in effortless vocal technique. "This Little Light" gives the listener a hint of her gospel roots and proves that she could easily hold her own against that genre's more overt shouters. About the only downright oddity is her decidedly uptempo take on "Blowin' In the Wind." It has a certain goofy charm, but it is definitely a peculiar selection to close the album(s).



A number of genuine hits crop up over the two albums' worth of material (including "What the World Needs Now," "Are You There With Another Girl," "Trains and Boats and Planes" and "Alfie"). Alongside them are any number of tracks that are just as good, if not better, but may have actually been too subtle for Top 40 radio. In fact, the majority of the opening tracks (originally from HERE I AM) will likely be unfamiliar to new listeners, whereas the second half of this CD (the more hit-laden HERE WHERE THERE IS LOVE) will likely seem like Old Home Week to anyone who remembers 60s radio.



This sequencing actually works in Warwick's favor. There is so much in the first half that will be "new" to many listeners, that they will HAVE to listen to Dionne's music with new ears. Byt the time the actual chart toppers roll out, you're convinced that there was always much, much more to Dionne Warwick than any greatest hits package could ever suggest.



Which is why I am sad to say that I do have to agree with the reviewer below who bemoans the poor sound quality of this package. It got him a few "unhelpful" votes, which isn't quite fair. He's telling the truth and letting the buyer beware. It's a tradeoff, I suppose. Do you want two albums worth of immaculate pop with less than immaculate sound. Or do you want to hold out for the 20-pt. remastered version that may arrive, oh, sometime within the next decade or so. I'm not the world's biggest audiophile myself: I just want pretty good sound. But this one gets pretty darn muddy and distorted in places (especially when the choruses start to swell, as in "If I Ever Make You Cry"). So it's a tradeoff. OK, OK, I'll take it--for now. But I sure wouldn't mind hearing these tracks spruced up a bit.



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