Dale Warren | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Dale Ossman Warren |
| Born | (1943-09-27)September 27, 1943 Detroit,Michigan,US |
| Died | February 3, 1994(1994-02-03) (aged 50) Gwinnett County, Georgia, US |
| Genres | R&B,soul,classical |
| Occupation(s) | Arranger,songwriter,record producer |
| Instrument | Violin |
| Years active | 1961–1990s |
| Labels | Motown Shrine Stax |
Dale Ossman Warren (September 27, 1943 – February 3, 1994) was anAmerican musician, who was best known for his work as anarranger forMotown Records in the early 1960s, and later for theStax label where he worked withIsaac Hayes among many others. He was also primarily responsible for writing, arranging and producing the influential 1973funkconcept albumGhetto: Misfortune's Wealth by24-Carat Black.
He was born inDetroit,Michigan, United States, and was the nephew ofBerry Gordy's second wife,Raynoma, often known as "Miss Ray". He was an accomplishedconservatory-trainedviolinist, and in 1961 was recruited by his aunt to work as astringsarranger for Motown Records. There, he worked withThe Supremes, among others, and also worked in the early 1960s as a freelance arranger with other Detroitrecord labels.[1][2] He arrangedBettye LaVette's "Let Me Down Easy", released on theCalla label in 1965,[3] and wrote and arranged tracks by Ronnie and Robyn on theSidra label. Also in 1965, he began working inWashington, D.C. as an arranger forShrine Records, a company established by Raynoma Gordy and her then husband, songwriter Eddie Singleton.[2][4]
After the Shrine label folded in the late 1960s, Warren worked as an arranger at Stax Records, composing scores for such musicians asBilly Eckstine,Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes,The Bar-Kays,Albert King andThe Staple Singers.[5] Heorchestrated Isaac Hayes' version of "Walk On By" on his classic 1969 albumHot Buttered Soul, and was also responsible for the arrangements on Hayes' follow-up albums,The Isaac Hayes Movement and...To Be Continued the following year.[1][6] In 1972, Warren was featured as acomposer andconductor at theWattstax concert, leading the "Wattstax '72 Orchestra" and writing the extended instrumental piece that opened the event, "Salvation Symphony".[1][7]
Around this time, Warren met and took under his wing a young soul group fromCincinnati, Ohio, The Ditalians. He persuaded them to change their name to24-Carat Black, and wrote and produced their only original recording, the late 1973concept albumGhetto: Misfortune's Wealth. The album spotlighted the hardships of life in the inner city, and is divided into eight "synopses" each of which focuses on a different aspect of poverty.[1][5][8] Although Warren recorded many other tracks with 24-Carat Black, they went unreleased until 2009. The group's lead singer Princess Hearn married Warren.[9] While preparing for his only film score in 1974,The Klansman, a movie starringRichard Burton,Lee Marvin andO. J. Simpson,[1] Stax Records shuttered and collapsed. 24-Carat Black was stranded waiting for promotion money from Stax. Dale kept the group afloat with his own finances, returning to the group after doing the movie score.
Reportedly, Warren suffered from various personal problems, includingalcoholism, that made him unreliable. He later worked as aclassical musician and instrumentalist inLos Angeles, before moving toAtlanta, Georgia.[10] In the early 1990s, he worked with a band called Rain On Monday, whose recordings went unreleased.[11] He suffered from financial as well as health problems.[6][10] He died in 1994, inGwinnett County, Georgia.[12]
Starting in the early 1990s, Warren's recordings – particularlyGhetto: Misfortune's Wealth – became used as a source ofbreakbeats, byEric B (on "In The Ghetto" in 1990),Dr. Dre (on "Nas Is Coming"),Jay-Z (on "Can I Live Pt 2"),Digable Planets (on "Cool Like Dat"),Naughty by Nature (for "Poverty's Paradise"), and others.[1][6][13][14]
Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth was reissued on CD in 1995.[5] Recordings which Warren had made with 24-Carat Black in 1973–1974, largely comprising orchestrated versions of love songs he had reportedly written in the mid-1960s, were stored by keyboardist, engineer, and protégé to Dale Warren, Bruce Thompson and were released on Vinyl and CD in 2009 under the titleGone: The Promises of Yesterday.[15][16]
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