Dionne Warwick Do You Know the Way to San Jose 1968 International Smash

Dionne Warwick's 1968 million selling Grammy winning international smash hit the Billboard Top 10 in May 1968, Record World Top 40 at #8 and was also a UK smash at #8. The flip side "Let Me Be Lonely" also written by Bacharach and David also hit the Billboard Hot 100, one of many double sided hits Dionne recorded on Florence Greenberg's Scepter label. Dionne charted an astonishing eight Billboard Top Twenty hits in less than 30 months: Alfie-#15 July 67; I Say A Little Prayer-Nov 67-#4; Theme From Valley of the Dolls-Feb 68-#2 (4 weeks); Do You Know the Way to San Jose-May 68-#10; Promises, Promises-Oct 1968-#19; This Girl's In Love With You-March 1969-#7; You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling-#15-Sept 69; I'll Never Fall In Love Again-Jan 70-#6. In addition, Warwick hit the Top 40 in the same time period with Windows of the World-Sept 67, Who Is Gonna Love Me-July 68, and The April Fools-July 69. In 1969 Dionne was the first African-American Female Vocalist to win in the Grammy category Best Contemporary-Pop Vocal Performance, Female for Do You Know the Way to San Jose. "San Jose" was also used as the theme in Dodge automobile commercials in 1968 and 1969, for the Charger and the Challenger. "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" became "Dodge Is Turning Up the Fever Now"! Another note of trivia: the background vocalists for this session were Valerie Simpson (Ashford & Simpson), Cissy Houston and DeeDee Warwick.

Writes Nick Tosches, the renowned writer, music journalist, novelist, biographer and poet in the January 7, 1972 issue of the rock magazine FUSION; ".getting into Dionne Warwick is like finding buried treasure. The Bacharach/David repertoire which milady chooses to sing is so fascinatingly cynical / fatalistic / stoical / emotional / happy, simultaneously! It's pure emotion. There is a whole lot more to emotion than some rock punk bursting his dexedrine-staved blood vessels by screaming "Baby I need you baby" into a microphone. Dionne Warwick is not a rock and roll singer. She's not a jazz singer either. Rhythm and blues? Nope. A pop singer? No way. Did you ever tongue-kiss with someone who barfed a Singapore Sling bolus into your mouth, and then four years later you're with someone else and you feel good and you realize how beautiful it all was and then it's all melancholy/happiness, sort of? That's the kind of singer Dionne Warwick is. She's beautiful. Dionne, paired with Bacharach's string/horn/reed arrangements, comes up as a lyric mezzo-sopranoid par-excellence, melodious/expressiveness-wise. If you've never gotten into her, you ought to. Get hep to Dionne Warwick. For your own sake."

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[cnote4461]

Does anyone know why Burt Bacharach wrote this song about San Jose?

[dibotis]

@cnote4461 Burt wrote the music; Hal David wrote the lyrics. Hal was stationed in San Jose during his stint in the military and loved the place. He wrote the tune about his time there.

[camflex66]

Put $100 down and buy a car, that would'nt even buy you a bicycle now days.

[joce1596]

WWOOOOWW TENGO 15 AÑOS, Y ME ENCANNTAA

[MrGusmend]

Camflex66, you are so correct. However, it did then when the song was a top-notch seller.

[guymassive]

Chezza Dance. Musik 

[rgaleny]

There is No S in Burt Bacharach or Hal David.

[utubehall]

Doesn't get any better than Dionne and Burt/Hal in the 60s/70s so many great songs

[historyboy08]

Take highway 101 north!

[historyboy08]

The four haters who disliked this must be from LA.

[sweetkees]

I kiss the ground where she was walking!

[jamminjim247]

@GeorgeVreelandHill George, it could not have been said any better than that!