Don't Make Me Over (song)
Encyclopedia
"Don't Make Me Over" is a song
written
by Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
which marked the recording debut of Dionne Warwick
in 1962.
on The Drifters
' "Mexican Divorce" in February 1962 and subsequently Warwick had regularly vocalized on demo
s of compositions by that Bacharach/David team, beginning with the song "Make It Easy on Yourself
". Florence Greenberg, owner of the Scepter Records
label, had signed Warwick after hearing her voice on the demo for "It's Love that Really Counts" although Greenberg did not wish to release that song as a single by Warwick ("It's Love That Really Counts" was given to the Shirelles
to serve as a B-side
); Greenberg also rejected "Make It Easy on Yourself" which was subsequently placed with Jerry Butler
, which would become a charted hit recording. Warwick had hoped "Make It Easy on Yourself" would serve as her recording debut.
Upon learning from Bacharach and David the label didn't think her style was correct for their new song, and that Jerry Butler was selected for recording it, a keenly disappointed Warwick felt used, manipulated and exploited, and dismissed the team's assurance of writing her an equally viable song in her own style. According to a Biography
cable television episode on Burt Bacharach, Warwick responded by shouting, in nearly in crying rant, at the songwriters as she left the recording studio: "Don't make me over, man . . . (you have to) accept me for what I am". Bacharach and David looked at each other in the moment, in stunned disbelief, at her youthful outburst at them. David said to Bacharach: "Burt, I think we just heard the title of a new song". David, never to waste life's circumstances and moments as inspiration for a song, in fact went to work on lyrics and utilized Warwick's authentic energetic outburst as the title and sentiment for "Don't Make Me Over", shifting the meaning of the phrase to "Accept me as I am".
With the song composition completed, "Don't Make Me Over" was recorded under Bacharach and David's guidance by Warwick at Bell Studios in August 1962. The recording, at the time, was a recording industry departure and represented a new, powerful, often-soaring orchestral-choir framing of Bacharach's melodies with David's either forceful or tender lyrics around the bold, fresh soulful female voice of the young Dionne Warwick -- an original sound -- the new Bacharach-David style of recording had been coined for the listening public. Florence Greenberg initially disliked the unconventional new sound - The witty Bacharach recalls Greenberg "cried upon hearing it, and not because she loved the recording" - and another track from the same recording session: "I Smiled Yesterday", was the official A-side
of Warwick's debut single with "Don't Make Me Over" relegated to the B-side. However, it was "Don't Make Me Over" that would be the hit single that broke initially in heavy rotation on San Francisco radio upon record's October 1962 release, and under this title Warwick's single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
dated 8 December 1962 to rise as high as #21 - #5 R&B
- in January 1962. (The single misspelled Dionne Warwick's true surname, Warrick, as Warwick; from this point the singer, previously known personally and professionally as "Dionne Warrick", went by the name "Dionne Warwick".)
The first of over 56 charted singles Warwick placed on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart between 1962 and 1998, the original recording of "Don't Make Me Over" was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000. That same year Warwick recorded and released a revamped and updated version of "Don't Make Me Over" on her album Dionne Sings Dionne II, roughly thirty-eight years after recording the original version.
made the first bid for a UK hit with "Don't Make Me Over" with an unsuccessful single release in April 1964 and in 1965 a single by the Dowlands - produced by Joe Meek
- also failed to chart. The song finally reached the UK charts via a version by the Swinging Blue Jeans
which reached #31 in February 1966; this version received enough regional attention in the US to reach the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart in Billboard
.
"T'en Vas Pas Comme Ça", a rendering of "Don't Make Me Over" with lyrics by Pierre Delanoë
, would give Nancy Holloway a #11 hit in France in 1963, with a rival version by Les Surfs reaching #71 (the Dionne Warwick original would have a 1964 release in France reaching #69). "Don't Make Me Over" was also rendered in Italian by Ornella Vanoni
as "Non Dirmi Niente"; this 1964 single reached #21 in Italy.
In 1970 Brenda & the Tabulations
reached #15 on the R&B charts with a remake of "Don't Make Me Over" recorded at Regent Sound Studio in Philadelphia with producer Van McCoy
; this version of the song was a minor Pop crossover reaching #77 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jennifer Warnes
remade "Don't Make Me Over" for her 1979 Shot Through the Heart
album; issued as a single, the track reached #67 in January 1980.
In 1989 a new jack swing
style remake of "Don't Make Me Over" by Sybil
reached #20 Hot 100 - besting the #21 peak of the Warwick original - and #2 R&B; the single also became a UK hit at #19. A prominent sample of Sybil's version of the song became the basis for Caron Wheeler
's 1992 hit single "I Adore You" from the soundtrack of the motion picture Mo' Money
starring Damon Wayans
.
"Don't Make Me Over" has also been recorded by Petula Clark
, Neil Diamond
, Connie Francis
and Thelma Houston
.
On the television program Glee
Amber Riley
performed "Don't Make Me Over"; this version is featured on Glee: The Music, Volume 2
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
which marked the recording debut of Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
in 1962.
Dionne Warwick version
The songwriting/production team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David had been struck by Dionne Warwick's work as a session singerSession musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
on The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
' "Mexican Divorce" in February 1962 and subsequently Warwick had regularly vocalized on demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
s of compositions by that Bacharach/David team, beginning with the song "Make It Easy on Yourself
Make It Easy On Yourself
"Make It Easy On Yourself" is a popular song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was first a hit for Jerry Butler in 1962 and has since been a Top 40 single for the Walker Brothers - for whom it was a #1 UK hit - and Dionne Warwick.-Jerry Butler:...
". Florence Greenberg, owner of the Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
label, had signed Warwick after hearing her voice on the demo for "It's Love that Really Counts" although Greenberg did not wish to release that song as a single by Warwick ("It's Love That Really Counts" was given to the Shirelles
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
to serve as a B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
); Greenberg also rejected "Make It Easy on Yourself" which was subsequently placed with Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
, which would become a charted hit recording. Warwick had hoped "Make It Easy on Yourself" would serve as her recording debut.
Upon learning from Bacharach and David the label didn't think her style was correct for their new song, and that Jerry Butler was selected for recording it, a keenly disappointed Warwick felt used, manipulated and exploited, and dismissed the team's assurance of writing her an equally viable song in her own style. According to a Biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
cable television episode on Burt Bacharach, Warwick responded by shouting, in nearly in crying rant, at the songwriters as she left the recording studio: "Don't make me over, man . . . (you have to) accept me for what I am". Bacharach and David looked at each other in the moment, in stunned disbelief, at her youthful outburst at them. David said to Bacharach: "Burt, I think we just heard the title of a new song". David, never to waste life's circumstances and moments as inspiration for a song, in fact went to work on lyrics and utilized Warwick's authentic energetic outburst as the title and sentiment for "Don't Make Me Over", shifting the meaning of the phrase to "Accept me as I am".
With the song composition completed, "Don't Make Me Over" was recorded under Bacharach and David's guidance by Warwick at Bell Studios in August 1962. The recording, at the time, was a recording industry departure and represented a new, powerful, often-soaring orchestral-choir framing of Bacharach's melodies with David's either forceful or tender lyrics around the bold, fresh soulful female voice of the young Dionne Warwick -- an original sound -- the new Bacharach-David style of recording had been coined for the listening public. Florence Greenberg initially disliked the unconventional new sound - The witty Bacharach recalls Greenberg "cried upon hearing it, and not because she loved the recording" - and another track from the same recording session: "I Smiled Yesterday", was the official A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of Warwick's debut single with "Don't Make Me Over" relegated to the B-side. However, it was "Don't Make Me Over" that would be the hit single that broke initially in heavy rotation on San Francisco radio upon record's October 1962 release, and under this title Warwick's single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
dated 8 December 1962 to rise as high as #21 - #5 R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
- in January 1962. (The single misspelled Dionne Warwick's true surname, Warrick, as Warwick; from this point the singer, previously known personally and professionally as "Dionne Warrick", went by the name "Dionne Warwick".)
The first of over 56 charted singles Warwick placed on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart between 1962 and 1998, the original recording of "Don't Make Me Over" was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000. That same year Warwick recorded and released a revamped and updated version of "Don't Make Me Over" on her album Dionne Sings Dionne II, roughly thirty-eight years after recording the original version.
Other versions
Warwick's version of "Don't Make Me Over" did not have a concurrent release in the UK, her first UK release being her third single "Make the Music Play". (Pye UK did release "Don't Make Me Over" on a four track single in 1964.) Louise CordetLouise Cordet
Louise Cordet was an English pop singer who also sang in French, best known as a one-hit wonder for her 1962 single, "I'm Just a Baby".-Early life:...
made the first bid for a UK hit with "Don't Make Me Over" with an unsuccessful single release in April 1964 and in 1965 a single by the Dowlands - produced by Joe Meek
Joe Meek
Robert George "Joe" Meek was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter....
- also failed to chart. The song finally reached the UK charts via a version by the Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans were a four piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label; "Hippy Hippy Shake", the follow-up, Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly", and "You're No Good", a Clint Ballard song that provided a change of pace and furnished the...
which reached #31 in February 1966; this version received enough regional attention in the US to reach the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
.
"T'en Vas Pas Comme Ça", a rendering of "Don't Make Me Over" with lyrics by Pierre Delanoë
Pierre Delanoë
Pierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
, would give Nancy Holloway a #11 hit in France in 1963, with a rival version by Les Surfs reaching #71 (the Dionne Warwick original would have a 1964 release in France reaching #69). "Don't Make Me Over" was also rendered in Italian by Ornella Vanoni
Ornella Vanoni
Ornella Vanoni, OMRI is one of the most credited pop singers of Italy. She is known for her sophisticated pop style.-Artistic career:...
as "Non Dirmi Niente"; this 1964 single reached #21 in Italy.
In 1970 Brenda & the Tabulations
Brenda & the Tabulations
Brenda & the Tabulations were an American R&B group formed in 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally composed of Brenda Payton, Eddie L. Jackson, Maurice Coates and Jerry Jones.-History:...
reached #15 on the R&B charts with a remake of "Don't Make Me Over" recorded at Regent Sound Studio in Philadelphia with producer Van McCoy
Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an accomplished musician, music producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor. He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song "The Hustle", which is still played in dance halls and on radio to this day more than thirty years since his death...
; this version of the song was a minor Pop crossover reaching #77 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
remade "Don't Make Me Over" for her 1979 Shot Through the Heart
Shot Through the Heart (album)
Shot Through the Heart is the title of a recording by Jennifer Warnes, released on the Arista Records label in 1979. It peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and No. 94 on the Pop Albums chart....
album; issued as a single, the track reached #67 in January 1980.
In 1989 a new jack swing
New jack swing
New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...
style remake of "Don't Make Me Over" by Sybil
Sybil Lynch
Sybil Lynch is an American R&B/pop singer, more popularly known as Sybil.-Career:Sybil has been recording since 1986 and is best known for her covers of Dionne Warwick's hits "Don't Make Me Over" and "Walk On By," which were released in 1989 and 1990, respectively...
reached #20 Hot 100 - besting the #21 peak of the Warwick original - and #2 R&B; the single also became a UK hit at #19. A prominent sample of Sybil's version of the song became the basis for Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and singing the lead vocals on the two biggest hits for Soul II Soul Caron Wheeler (19 January 1963) is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and...
's 1992 hit single "I Adore You" from the soundtrack of the motion picture Mo' Money
Mo' Money
Mo' Money is a 1992 romantic-crime-dramedy film, starring Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Stacey Dash, and directed by Peter MacDonald. The screenplay was also written by Damon Wayans.-Synopsis:...
starring Damon Wayans
Damon Wayans
Damon Kyle Wayans is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, one of the Wayans brothers.-Early life:Wayans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager...
.
"Don't Make Me Over" has also been recorded by Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
and Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She scored a number-one hit in 1976 with her cover version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.-Early life & career:Houston is the daughter of a cotton picking mother...
.
On the television program Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
Amber Riley
Amber Riley
Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress and singer best known for her role on the series Glee as Mercedes Jones.-Early life and career:...
performed "Don't Make Me Over"; this version is featured on Glee: The Music, Volume 2
Glee: The Music, Volume 2
Glee: The Music, Volume 2 is the second soundtrack album by the cast of the American musical television series Glee, featuring songs from episodes nine to thirteen of the show's first season. It was first released on December 4, 2009 in Australia by Columbia Records...