"Walk on By" by Dionne Warwick is Today's Track Du Jour

amazing sound recorded at Phil Ramone's A&R Studios

Magic happened when Hal David and Burt Bacharach hooked up with Dionne Warwick. She was the perfect vocal vessel for their music and lyrics. Though Make Way for Dionne Warwick, released August 31st, 1964 included two tracks on her previous album for the Bacharach and David team, it was such a strong set, in part because it included the Top Ten single hit "Walk on By", it went up the r&b album chart as well.

It's also one of the first albums to include "(They Long to Be) Close to You" later made very popular by The Carpenters. Recorded at Phil Ramone's A&R studios, the sound is remarkable as you'll hear! So make way for Dionne Warwick!

Comments

2026-05-29 08:47:24 AM

Heidi E. wrote:

I bought a sealed mono copy of Here I Am for $10 on Discogs last year. Bell Sound in the dead wax, it also sounds great. There's a wonderful video of Dionne, Burt and Hal working on I Say a Little Prayer, all three happily smoking away. I'm curious how you decide which tonearm to use for a particular track. Do you audition both for each song you post? If you have a UK copy of John and Beverly Martyn's The Road to Ruin, I would love to hear the title track on your rig. Or just keep surprising me. Thanks!
- 2026-05-29 09:48:13 AM
  
  Heidi E. wrote:
  
  Or perhaps Walk on By by the Stranglers?
  - 2026-05-29 11:31:08 PM
    
    Willie Luncheonette wrote:
    
    Good one. The Stranglers are one of the greatest punk/new wave bands of all time, always reinventing themselves. Wonder what Hal, Burt and Dionne thought about the Stranglers' over 6 minute rave up version of the wonderful song. I bet Jean-Jacques Burnel's incredible bottom heavy bass sounds amazing on Mikey's rig.
2026-05-29 09:04:06 AM

JackG wrote:

Sounds amazing, of course. I saw her once many years ago at a Hallmark store in the Livingston Mall. Didn't want to bother her so I just, well...
2026-05-29 05:18:12 PM

Wally The Cat wrote:

Just as great as it gets. Dionne's fabulous vocals on top of Bacharach/David's composition equals pure magic. Just one of many, many Warwicke-B/D masterpieces which have dominated my music collection for more years than I care to remember.
2026-06-09 12:47:49 PM

tony a wrote:

Holy schmokes what a massive discography Ms. Warwick has amassed ! "Walk on By" is timeless 60's sunshine pop at its best and prompts me to do some exploration, thank you for the mention. "Valley of the Dolls" is on my short list as are some others. I have become my father!