If there were better American pop singers in the '60s than
Dionne Warwick, there certainly weren't very many of them.
Warwick was blessed with a splendid voice as well as the knowledge of what to do with its nuances; there were lots of great singers who were more demonstrative, but the understated warmth
Warwick brought to her performances made her hits uniquely effective. And her work with songwriters and producers
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David was one of the most inspired teamings of the era; they gave her smart, beautifully crafted material, and she delivered it with heart, soul, and style. From 1962 to 1971,
Warwick recorded for the scrappy independent label Scepter Records, and her hits for the label have been repackaged multiple times;
Odds & Ends: Scepter Records Rarities goes another route, bringing together 25 rare and unusual tracks cut during her tenure with the label, ten of which see commercial release here for the first time. Most of the previously unheard material here consists of alternate versions of songs
Warwick had recorded for Scepter, while nine find her delivering phonetically translated versions of some of her better-known tunes in French, Italian, or German. Casual listeners are still best off with the outstanding Rhino anthology
The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits, a definitive sampling of the cream of the Scepter years. But for hardcore fans interested in
Warwick's lesser-known work of the era,
Odds & Ends: Scepter Records Rarities will reveal some welcome surprises. ~ Mark Deming