Delia Mae Warrick (September 25, 1942 – October 18, 2008), known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick, was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she was the sister of singer Dionne Warwick, the niece of Cissy Houston, and a first cousin of singers Whitney Houston and Leontyne Price.
Early life
Warwick was born in East Orange, New Jersey, to Mancel Warrick (1911–1977), who began his career as a Pullman porter and subsequently became a chef, a gospel record promoter for Chess Records and later a Certified Public Accountant; and Lee Drinkard-Warrick (1920–2005), manager of The Drinkard Singers. Warwick had one sister, Dionne Warwick, and a brother, Mancel Jr, who was killed in an accident in 1968 at the age of 21.. She was of African-American, Native American, and Dutch descent. Warwick graduated from East Orange High School in 1960.
Early career
Dee Dee Warwick sang with her sister Dionne Warwick and their aunt Cissy Houston in the New Hope Baptist Church Choir in Newark, New Jersey: eventually the three women formed the gospel trio the Gospelaires, who often performed with The Drinkard Singers, Warwick being a member of both groups.
At a performance by the Gospelaires with the Drinkard Singers at the Apollo Theater in 1959, the Warwick sisters were recruited by a record producer for session work and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, along with Doris Troy, subsequently became a prolific New York City area session singing team.
Dee Dee Warwick began to dabble in a solo career in 1963 cutting what is reportedly the earliest version of "You're No Good" for Jubilee Records, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who later recorded Warwick on their own Tiger label with the 1964 single "Don't Think My Baby's Coming Back". In 1964 Warwick recorded a version of "I (Who Have Nothing)" for a tiny Buffalo, NY label (Hurd) - although the song's lyric was written by Leiber and Stoller, the duo did not participate in Warwick's recording - and Warwick also recorded as a member of Allison Gary and the Burners (as did Cissy Houston) with a release on Royo entitled "Darling".
Warwick made her network TV debut performing the gospel song "Children, Go Where I Send Thee" with her sister Dionne on NBC's Hullabaloo, which aired on March 30, 1965. Warwick also performed on Shivaree, which aired on July 17, 1965; she sang "We're Doing Fine" and "I Want to Be with You".
Mercury recordings
In 1965, Warwick signed with Mercury Records, where she recorded with producer Ed Townsend for their subsidiary Blue Rock label, reaching the R&B Top 30 with "We're Doing Fine". It was on the Mercury label in 1966, that she had her biggest hit with "I Want to Be with You" from the Broadway show Golden Boy, a number 9 R&B hit, which just missed the pop Top 40 at number 41 (Nancy Wilson had reached number 54 with her version entitled "I Wanna Be with You" in 1964). The follow-up single was the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" which, peaking at number 13 R&B and number 88 Pop, was not Warwick's biggest hit, but became her best known number by virtue of its later success as a duet between Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations.
Warwick was regarded as one of the first openly lesbian performers within the music industry.
Atco recordings
Warwick continued to record for Mercury through the late 1960s. Although her occasional success in the R&B field—notably the 1969 Ed Townsend production of Foolish Fool—was enough for the label to wish to re-sign her in 1970, she signed with Atco at the invitation of Atlantic Records president Jerry Wexler himself, Wexler having admired Warwick's early session work.
Warwick made her first recordings for Atco in February 1970, cutting four tunes with Townsend. In an early indication of the disarray that Warwick's career experienced at Atlantic, these tracks were shelved and she was sent to Criteria Studios in Miami in April to work with producer Dave Crawford and fast-emerging studio band, The Dixie Flyers. The resultant Turning Around album yielded a Top Ten R&B hit with "She Didn't Know", but Warwick never had another album release or single in the R&B Top 20.