# Dale Warren

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{{short description|American musician}}
{{for|the American conductor|W. Dale Warren}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Dale Warren
| image           =
| caption         =
| birth_name      = Dale Ossman Warren
| alias           =
| birth_date      = {{birth date |1943|9|27}}
| birth_place     = [Detroit](/source/Detroit), [Michigan](/source/Michigan), US
| origin          =
| death_place     = [Gwinnett County, Georgia](/source/Gwinnett_County%2C_Georgia), US
| death_date      = {{death date and age |1994|2|3 |1943|9|27 |mf=yes}}
| genre           = [R&B](/source/Rhythm_and_blues), [soul](/source/Soul_music), [classical](/source/Classical_music)
| instrument      = [Violin](/source/Violin)
| occupation      = [Arranger](/source/Arrangement), [songwriter](/source/songwriter), [record producer](/source/record_producer)
| years_active    = 1961–1990s
| label           = [Motown](/source/Motown)<br/>[Shrine](/source/Shrine_Records)<br/>[Stax](/source/Stax_Records)
}}
'''Dale Ossman Warren''' (September 27, 1943{{spaced ndash}}February 3, 1994) was an [American](/source/Americans) musician, who was best known for his work as an [arranger](/source/arranger) for [Motown Records](/source/Motown_Records) in the early 1960s, and later for the [Stax](/source/Stax_Records) label where he worked with [Isaac Hayes](/source/Isaac_Hayes) among many others.  He was also primarily responsible for writing, arranging and producing the influential 1973 [funk](/source/funk) [concept album](/source/concept_album) ''Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth'' by [24-Carat Black](/source/24-Carat_Black).

==Life and career==
He was born in [Detroit](/source/Detroit), [Michigan](/source/Michigan), United States, and was the nephew of [Berry Gordy](/source/Berry_Gordy)'s second wife, [Raynoma](/source/Ray_Singleton), often known as "Miss Ray". He was an accomplished [conservatory](/source/College_or_university_school_of_music)-trained [violin](/source/violin)ist, and in 1961 was recruited by his aunt to work as a [strings](/source/String_section) [arranger](/source/Arrangement) for Motown Records. There, he worked with [The Supremes](/source/The_Supremes), among others, and also worked in the early 1960s as a freelance arranger with other Detroit [record label](/source/record_label)s.<ref name=allmusic>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dale-warren-mn0002291960/biography|title=Dale Warren &#124; Biography & History|website=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref><ref name=soulfuldetroit>{{Cite web|url=https://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/5259/6110.html?1034188120|title=Discuss Detroit|website=Soulfuldetroit.com|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref> He arranged [Bettye LaVette](/source/Bettye_LaVette)'s "[Let Me Down Easy](/source/Let_Me_Down_Easy_(Bettye_LaVette_song))", released on the [Calla](/source/Calla_Records) label in 1965,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bettyelavette.com/biography.html |title=The Biography of Bettye LaVette |access-date=August 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629182418/http://www.bettyelavette.com/biography.html |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and wrote and arranged tracks by Ronnie and Robyn on the [Sidra](/source/Sidra_Records) label. Also in 1965, he began working in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) as an arranger for [Shrine Records](/source/Shrine_Records), a company established by Raynoma Gordy and her then husband, songwriter Eddie Singleton.<ref name=soulfuldetroit/><ref name=shrine>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/soul-articles/shrine-the-full-and-first-issue-story-by-andy-rix-r309/|title=Shrine -The full and first issue story by Andy Rix|website=Soul-source.co.uk|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref>

After the Shrine label folded in the late 1960s, Warren worked as an arranger at Stax Records, composing scores for such musicians as [Billy Eckstine](/source/Billy_Eckstine), [Eddie Floyd](/source/Eddie_Floyd), Isaac Hayes, [The Bar-Kays](/source/The_Bar-Kays), [Albert King](/source/Albert_King) and [The Staple Singers](/source/The_Staple_Singers).<ref name=funkmysoul>{{Cite web|url=https://www.funkmysoul.gr/24-carat-black-1973-ghetto-misfortunes-wealth/|title=24 Carat Black - 1973 - Ghetto : Misfortune's Wealth Free Download|website=Funkmysoul.gr|date=April 24, 2008}}</ref> He [orchestrated](/source/orchestrated) Isaac Hayes' version of "[Walk On By](/source/Walk_On_By_(song))" on his classic 1969 album ''[Hot Buttered Soul](/source/Hot_Buttered_Soul)'', and was also responsible for the arrangements on Hayes' follow-up albums, ''[The Isaac Hayes Movement](/source/The_Isaac_Hayes_Movement_(album))'' and ''[...To Be Continued](/source/...To_Be_Continued_(Isaac_Hayes_album))'' the following year.<ref name=allmusic/><ref name=nerdtorious>{{Cite web|url=https://nerdtorious.com/2009/07/01/oh-i-believe-in-yesterday/|title=oh yesterday came suddenly|website=Nerdtorious.com|date=July 1, 2009}}</ref> In 1972, Warren was featured as a [composer](/source/composer) and [conductor](/source/conducting) at the [Wattstax](/source/Wattstax) concert, leading the "Wattstax '72 Orchestra" and writing the extended instrumental piece that opened the event, "Salvation Symphony".<ref name=allmusic/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLdsRwpZ9oYC&q=%22dale+warren%22+wattstax&pg=PA293|title=Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records|first=Rob|last=Bowman|date=October 29, 1997|page=293|publisher=Schirmer Books|isbn=9780825672842|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Around this time, Warren met and took under his wing a young soul group from [Cincinnati, Ohio](/source/Cincinnati%2C_Ohio), The Ditalians. He persuaded them to change their name to [24-Carat Black](/source/24-Carat_Black), and wrote and produced their only original recording, the late 1973 [concept album](/source/concept_album) ''Ghetto: 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.<ref name=allmusic/><ref name="funkmysoul"/><ref name=emusic>{{Cite web |url=http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/282_200503.html |title=Manifesto Destiny - eMusic Spotlight |access-date=August 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613045344/http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/282_200503.html |archive-date=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although Warren recorded many other tracks with 24-Carat Black, they went unreleased until 2009. The group's lead singer Princess Hearn married Warren.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://numerogroup.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/24ct-black-tablet-debacle/|title=24CT Black Tablet Debacle|website=Numerogroup.wordpress.com|date=April 21, 2009}}</ref> While preparing for his only film score in 1974,''[The Klansman](/source/The_Klansman)'', a movie starring [Richard Burton](/source/Richard_Burton), [Lee Marvin](/source/Lee_Marvin) and [O. J. Simpson](/source/O._J._Simpson),<ref name=allmusic/> 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, including [alcoholism](/source/alcoholism), that made him unreliable. He later worked as a [classical music](/source/classical_music)ian and instrumentalist in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), before moving to [Atlanta, Georgia](/source/Atlanta%2C_Georgia).<ref name=binkis>{{Cite web|url=https://binkis.wordpress.com/2009/12/24/|title=December 24, 2009|website=Binkis.wordpress.com|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref> In the early 1990s, he worked with a band called Rain On Monday, whose recordings went unreleased.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://atlantapromusicians.ning.com/profile/robalex|title=Atlanta Professional Musicians: Rob Alex|website=Atlantapromusicians.ning.com}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He suffered from financial as well as health problems.<ref name=nerdtorious/><ref name=binkis/> He died in 1994, in [Gwinnett County, Georgia](/source/Gwinnett_County%2C_Georgia).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=dale+ossman&gsln=warren&msbdy=1940&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=jq5&msbdp=5&cp=12&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=2916014&recoff=9+10+11&db=gadeath&indiv=1&requr=2555265023246336&ur=0&gsfn=dale+ossman&gsln=warren&h=2916014|title=Join Ancestry®|website=Ancestry.co.uk|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Starting in the early 1990s, Warren's recordings – particularly ''Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth'' – became used as a source of [breakbeats](/source/breakbeats), by [Eric B](/source/Eric_B) (on "[In The Ghetto](/source/Let_the_Rhythm_Hit_'Em)" in 1990), [Dr. Dre](/source/Dr._Dre) (on "[Nas Is Coming](/source/It_Was_Written)"), [Jay-Z](/source/Jay-Z) (on "[Can I Live](/source/Reasonable_Doubt_(album)) Pt 2"), [Digable Planets](/source/Digable_Planets) (on "[Cool Like Dat](/source/Reachin'_(A_New_Refutation_of_Time_and_Space))"), [Naughty by Nature](/source/Naughty_by_Nature) (for "[Poverty's Paradise](/source/Poverty's_Paradise)"), and others.<ref name=allmusic/><ref name=nerdtorious/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hiphopisread.com/2010/02/24-carat-black-ghetto-misfortunes.html|title=The 24-Carat Black – Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth &#124; Soul Sample Sunday|first=Ivan|last=Rott|website=Hiphopisread.com}}</ref><ref name=milkcrate>{{Cite web|url=https://milkcratebreaks.blogspot.com/2007/12/24-carat-black-ghetto-misfortunes.html|title=24-Carat Black |website=Milkcratebreaks.blogspot.com}}</ref>

''Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth'' was reissued on CD in 1995.<ref name=funkmysoul/>  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 title ''Gone: The Promises of Yesterday''.<ref name=aquarius>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aquariusrecords.org/cat/soulfunk.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917165344/http://aquariusrecords.org/cat/soulfunk.html|url-status=dead|title=''Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday'' at Aquarius Records|archivedate=September 17, 2010}}</ref><ref name=discogs>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/24-Carat-Black-Gone-The-Promises-Of-Yesterday/release/1896210|title=24-Carat Black* - Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday|website=Discogs.com|accessdate=October 29, 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Dale+Warren Dale Warren at Discogs.com]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Dale}}
Category:American music arrangers
Category:Musicians from Detroit
Category:1994 deaths
Category:1940 births

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dale Warren](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Warren) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Warren?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.