Between 1962 and 1971, Dionne Warwick put New York's Scepter Records on the map with over fifteen original albums and forty chart hits, more than twenty of which reached the top 40.  Seven hit the top ten.  Dionne earned her first two Grammy Awards during this period for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" - just two of the timeless songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David which she brought to stunning life. (Those hits can soon be heard on an upcoming collection, The Complete Scepter Singles 1962-1973, from Real Gone Music).  In 1971, though, Warwick made the move to Burbank, California-based Warner Bros. Records.  As she remembered in her 2010 memoir My Life, As I See It, "[Scepter founder Florence Greenberg] would soon be closing [the label's] doors, and I felt like I was being forced to leave my mother and sent to live with an uncle I did not know."  Nonetheless, she felt supported by WB Chairman Mo Ostin and President Joe Smith: "I was promised the world: the same care that was given me at Scepter.  They said I would be well-promoted, produced at the same high level, and given the full support of concerts."  She remained at Warner Bros. through 1977, recording five very different albums, not to mention a host of non-LP singles and over two dozen unreleased masters.  Tomorrow, February 17, 2023, SoulMusic Records and Cherry Red will bring together every one of those richly varied recordings on a new 6-CD, 85-track box set, Sure Thing: The Warner Bros. Recordings (1972-1977).

This was a period of creative exploration for the superstar singer in which she brought her trademark elegant sound into the realms of Detroit and Philadelphia soul, gleaming SoCal pop, and deep soul.  (She also briefly added an "e" to her surname during this time.)  Amid all this activity, her duet with Warner Bros. sister label Atlantic's top vocal group, The (Detroit) Spinners, yielded her very first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, the irresistible Thom Bell-produced "Then Came You."  Though frequently overlooked, Dionne's Warner period bridges the storied Scepter period and her return to chart glory at Clive Davis' Arista label.  (That period was chronicled in 2020 on SoulMusic Records' 12-CD box set Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings (1979-1994).)

Sure Thing: The Warner Bros. Recordings (1972-1977) includes the following albums:

• Dionne (1972, produced by Burt Bacharach and Hal David);
• Just Being Myself (1973, produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland) plus 6 bonus tracks;
• You Are a Song: The 1973-1974 Sessions (2023, 16-song compilation);
• Then Came You (1975, produced by Jerry Ragovoy and Thom Bell) plus 2 bonus tracks;
• Track of the Cat (1975, produced by Thom Bell) plus 7 bonus tracks; and
• Love at First Sight (1977, produced by Steve Barri and Michael Omartian) plus 9 bonus tracks.

This adds up to the most comprehensive chronicle of Warwick's Warner Bros. period ever, with 40 additional recordings supplementing the five original albums.  You Are a Song: The 1973-1974 Sessions presents the artist's collaborations with Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson (including the previously unreleased, full-length version of "We Need to Go Back" which clocks in at over seven minutes), Randy Edelman, and Tony Camillo (whose seven productions for Dionne, previously released by the late producer on various European CDs, are making their official debut here as licensed from Warner Music Group) as well as the 1974 reunion session with composer-conductor-producer Burt Bacharach which yielded three extraordinary and musically expansive songs with lyrics by Neil Simon and Bobby Russell.

All of the album outtakes which premiered on Real Gone Music's remarkable 2013 compilation We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters have been appended to their proper LPs, including stellar material helmed by Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jerry Ragovoy, Thom Bell, and the team of Steve Barri and Michael Omartian.  All seven productions recorded by Dionne with Joe Porter in 1976, only two of which were released at the time, are also included on the Love at First Sight disc and compiled together for the first time.  Finally, numerous unique single edits/mixes (including the extended version of "Track of the Cat") and "Just As Long as We Have Love," the B-side of the chart-topping "Then Came You," are part of this deluxe package.

Sure Thing has been co-produced by SoulMusic Records founder David Nathan and The Second Disc's Joe Marchese.  Its six discs are housed in a clamshell case alongside a thick 40-page, full-color booklet with rare color photos and a new, near-10,000-word essay by Joe Marchese drawing on previously unpublished quotes from Dionne Warwick, Brian Holland, and the late Burt Bacharach and Thom Bell.  A full Warner-era sessionography by David Nathan is also included.  John Sellards has contributed the artwork in the SoulMusic style and Nick Robbins has newly remastered the audio from digital sources provided by Warner Music Group.

Sure Thing: The Warner Bros. Recordings (1972-1977) promises to be the definitive chronicle of Dionne Warwick's years at the label, placing her five albums and 40 bonus tracks in full, illuminating context for the first time.  It's due tomorrow from Cherry Red and SoulMusic Records and is currently available for pre-order!

Dionne Warwick, Sure Thing: The Warner Bros. Recordings (1972-1977) (Cherry Red/SoulMusic QSMCR5207BX, 2023) (Cherry Red / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Dionne (Warner Bros. LP BS 2585, 1972)

1. I Just Have To Breathe
2. The Balance Of Nature
3. If You Never Say Goodbye
4. Close To You
5. My First Night Alone Without You
6. Be Aware
7. Love Song
8. One Less Bell To Answer
9. If We Only Have Love
10. Hasbrook Heights

CD 2: Just Being Myself: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros. LP BS 2658, 1973)

1. You're Gonna Need Me
2. I Think You Need Love
3. You Are The Heart Of Me
4. I Always Get Caught In The Rain
5. Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You
6. (I'm) Just Being Myself
7. Come Back
8. Don't Burn The Bridge (That Took You Across)

Bonus Tracks

9. Too Far Out Of Reach (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)
10. It Hurts Me So (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)
11. I Think You Need Love (Single Edit) (Warner Bros. single WB 7669-A, 1973)
12. Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You (Single Edit) (Warner Bros. single WB 7669-B, 1973)
13. (I'm) Just Being Myself (Single Edit) (Warner Bros. single 7693-A, 1973)
14. You're Gonna Need Me (Single Edit) (Warner Bros. single 7693-B, 1973)

CD 3: You Are a Song: The 1973-1974 Sessions

1. We Need To Go Back (Extended Version)
2. Someone Else Gets The Prize
3. We Need To Go Back
4. You Are The Sunlight, I Am The Moon
5. The Laughter And The Tears
6. Give A Little Laughter
7. Seeing You Again
8. Loving You Is Just An Old Habit
9. Best Thing That Ever Happened
10. You Are A Song
11. The Need To Be
12. In Between The Heartaches
13. Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So
14. And Then You Know What He Did
15. And Then He Walked Right Through The Door
16. Plastic City

Track 1 previously unreleased

Tracks 2-6, 14-16 first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013

Tracks 7-13 previously unreleased officially; first issued on Divas of Soul, Venture Music Group 50163392, 1999

CD 4: Then Came You: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros. LP BS 2846, 1975)

1. Take It From Me
2. We'll Burn Our Bridges Behind Us
3. Sure Thing
4. Then Came You (Dionne Warwick & The Spinners)
5. How Can I Tell Him
6. Move Me No Mountain
7. I Can't Wait To See My Baby's Face
8. It's Magic
9. Who Knows
10. Getting In My Way

Bonus Tracks

11. Meant To Be (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)
12. Just As Long As We Have Love (Dionne Warwick & The Spinners) (Atlantic single 45-3202, 1974)

CD 5: Track of the Cat: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros. LP BS 2893, 1975)

1. Track Of The Cat
2. His House And Me
3. Ronnie Lee
4. World Of My Dreams
5. Jealousy
6. This Is Love
7. Love Me One More Time
8. Once You Hit The Road

Bonus Tracks

9. One Last Memory (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)
10. I Found Someone Else (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)
11. Once You Hit The Road (12" Special Disco Mix) (Warner Bros. promotional single PRO 614, 1976)
12. World Of My Dreams (Edit) (Warner Bros. single WBS 8154-B, 1975)
13. Once You Hit The Road (Edit) (Warner Bros. single WBS 8154-A, 1975)
14. His House And Me (Edit) (Warner Bros. single WBS 8183-A, 1976)
15. I Didn't Mean To Love You (Stereo Version Edit) (Warner Bros. promotional single WBS 8280, 1976)

CD 6: The 1976 Sessions / Love at First Sight: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros. LP BS 3119, 1977)

The 1976 Sessions (Tracks 3-7 first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)

1. He's Not For You (Warner Bros. single WBS 8280-B, 1976)
2. I Didn't Mean To Love You (Warner Bros. single WBS 8280-A, 1976)
3. I'll Never Make It Easy
4. Am I Too Late
5. Rest Your Love On Me
6. Make A Little Love To Me
7. Keep Me Warm

Love at First Sight

8. Keepin' My Head Above Water
9. Love In The Afternoon
10. A Long Way To Go
11. Do I Have To Cry
12. Don't Ever Take Your Love Away
13. One Thing On My Mind
14. Early Morning Strangers
15. Livin' It Up Is Starting To Get Me Down
16. Since You Stayed Here
17. Do You Believe In Love At First Sight

Bonus Tracks

18. Don't Ever Take Your Love Away (Edit) (Warner Bros. single WBS 8530, 1978)
19. Room Enough (first released on We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters, Real Gone Music CD RGM-0170, 2013)​​