SoulMusic Records' top-tier stewardship of
Dionne Warwick's catalog continues with
Sure Thing: The Warner Bros. Recordings 1972-1977, a six-disc package that neatly fits beside the label's likewise comprehensive
Deja Vu: The Arista Recordings 1979-1994.
Warwick was positioned for success with
Warner. With seven masterly Top Ten pop hits spanning seven years to her credit, the singer had left
Scepter Records to sign what Variety reported in 1971 as the most lucrative recording contract signed by a female artist.
Warner rolled out the proverbial red carpet. Despite the involvement of
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David, the songwriting/production team behind all of those
Scepter smashes, 1972's
Dionne got the era off to a slow start. A bad omen of sorts was that its one charting single was neither produced nor written by
Warwick's then-seemingly inseparable partners (who soon split).
Warwick would reunite with
David for one song on 1977's
Love at First Sight, but her stint with
Warner otherwise entailed a carousel of shorter and less fruitful partnerships with the likes of
Holland-Dozier-Holland,
Thom Bell,
Jerry Ragovoy, and
Michael Omartian and
Steve Barri.
Warwick did achieve her first number one pop single with the
Bell-produced
Spinners collaboration "Then Came You," but it appeared on the group's
New and Improved months before
Warner attempted to capitalize by making it the title song of
Warwick's third
Warner LP. That
Then Came You peaked deep in the back half of the Billboard 200 is most symbolic of
Warwick's time with
Warner. Still,
Sure Thing is a trove. There's a bounty of undervalued singles and deep cuts. Scratching the surface are under-heard
Bacharach/
David and
Holland-Dozier-Holland gems, respectively the gorgeous "If You Never Say Goodbye" and buzzing "You're Gonna Need Me," plus
Lesley Duncan's "Love Song" (previously recorded by
Elton John), a folk-soul diversion
Warwick delivers to spine-tingling effect. Each of these and some of the even-deeper curiosities -- scattered across expanded versions of most of the albums and a 16-track extra disc of intriguing non-LP recordings -- outshine most of the charting singles. The accompanying booklet features extensively researched liner notes filled with context and insight, and exhaustive recording details. ~ Andy Kellman
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