''Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls'' is the title of

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

's ninth album for the

Scepter A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was'' and other ...

label. It was recorded during the summer and fall of 1967 and was released early the next year on March 23, 1968. It was recorded at A&R and

Bell Sound Studios Bell Sound Studios was an independent recording studio in New York City from 1950 to 1976. At its height, the studio was the largest independent recording studio in the United States, and the site of recording sessions that produced seminal hits by ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was produced by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

and

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

History

The album's lead single was the title track, "

(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" is a 1967 song by André and Dory Previn, composed for the film version of the Jacqueline Susann novel '' Valley of the Dolls'', and recorded by Dionne Warwick. Actress Barbara Parkins, who starred in the moti ...

", from the film of the same name. The song was written by

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

and

Dory Previn Dorothy "Dory" Veronica Previn ( Langan; October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Previn was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her t ...

, and had initially been intended for

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

before she was fired from the film. At the urging of one of the film's stars,

Barbara Parkins Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942) is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer. Early life Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

version included in the film. This was because Warwick was signed to Scepter, and the soundtrack was released on

20th Century Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three dis ...

. Warwick was only permitted to appear on the film's actual soundtrack and not the soundtrack album recording. The Dionne Warwick single peaked at #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for four weeks in February 1968, at #2 on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

and #1 on the Record World charts during the spring of 1968. The LP was issued as number 568 in the Scepter Catalog. The cover art for this LP features Warwick on a black background, in an evening gown next to a director’s chair. The LP would then yield Warwick's next big hit and first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

winner, "

Do You Know the Way to San Jose "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" is a 1968 popular song written and composed for singer Dionne Warwick by Burt Bacharach. Hal David wrote the lyrics. The song was Warwick's biggest international hit to that point, selling several million copies ...

". The song, (which Warwick didn't initially like, according to

Robin Platts Robin Platts (born c. 1949 in Leicester, England) is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He began his jockey career at age 16 and went on to become the winner of the 1979 Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey, a record f ...

in the book, ''Burt Bacharach & Hal David''

, ''Burt Bacharach & Hal David: What the World Needs Now'' ) would peak at #10 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and become one of Warwick's signature songs. "

" also became one of Warwick's biggest international hits, selling over 3,500,000 copies. Other notable songs on the LP were "Silent Voices" (which under its original Italian title, "La Voce Del Silenzio", had been Warwick's entry into the 1968 San Remo Song Festival), "Walking Backwards Down the Road", " Up, Up, and Away", and "

You're My World "You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il mio mondo" ("My World") by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian version with Gino Paoli. Subsequently, an English version was commissioned, and the lyrics were written by Carl S ...

" — another Italian song (written by

Umberto Bindi Umberto Bindi (12 May 1932 – 23 May 2002) was an Italian singer-songwriter. He is especially known for the popular song he co-wrote with Gino Paoli, ''Il Mio Mondo'' ("You're My World"), which he recorded in Italian in 1963. It was later perfor ...

, famous Genoa's songwriter) the latter having been a British #1 hit for

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

, and "Let Me Be Lonely", the B side of the single "Do You Know the Way to San Jose", which charted on Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, becoming one of several double sided hits for Warwick during the 1960s. The album became an RIAA-certified gold record and peaked at #6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, #2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B Albums chart and #10 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

; the album would remain on the ''Billboard'' 200 for over a year and remains her highest-charting album on the chart. Rhino Records reissued the album on compact disc in 2004, combined with ''Windows of the World''.

Track listing

Personnel

Manny Albam Manny Albam (June 24, 1922 – October 2, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, record producer, and educator. Early life A native of the Dominican Republic, Albam grew up in New York City. He was attracted to jazz at an ea ...

– arranger, conductor *Burt Bacharach – arranger, conductor, producer *Hal David – arranger, producer *

Peter Matz Peter Matz (November 6, 1928 – August 9, 2002) was an American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent ...

– arranger *

Phil Ramone Philip Ramone (né Rabinowitz, January 5, 1934March 30, 2013) was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, who in 1958 co-founded A & R Recording, Inc., a recording studio with business par ...

– engineer *

Garry Sherman Garry Sherman (born December 28, 1933) is an American musician, arranger, composer and orchestrator, who was involved from the 1960s in many hit records as well as Broadway shows, film soundtracks and advertising campaigns. He has also maintained ...

– arranger, conductor *Ed Smith – engineer *Dionne Warwick – vocals *Pat Williams – arranger

References

External links

*
Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control 1968 albums Dionne Warwick albums Albums produced by Burt Bacharach Albums produced by Hal David Scepter Records albums Albums conducted by Manny Albam Albums conducted by Burt Bacharach Albums arranged by Manny Albam Albums arranged by Burt Bacharach Albums arranged by Hal David Albums arranged by Peter Matz Albums arranged by Patrick Williams (composer)