# Dionne Warwick Hated This 1968 Song, Even Though It Became One of Her Biggest Hits

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/dionne-warwick-hated-this-1968-song-even-though-it-became-one-of-her-biggest-hits/
- Published: 2026-07-31T00:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-31T00:13:54+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/dionne-warwick-hated-this-1968-song-even-though-it-became-one-of-her-biggest-hits/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Warwick disliked “Do You Know The Way To San Jose”.
- Hal David persuaded her to record it.
- The 1968 hit won Warwick her first Grammy.

## Summary

Dionne Warwick initially disliked “Do You Know The Way To San Jose”, despite it becoming one of her most successful recordings. Her reaction illustrates how performers can misjudge a song’s potential, while the confidence of its writers, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, ultimately proved justified.

Warwick felt the 1968 song’s repeated “whoa” lyric and subject matter were silly, but recorded it because David strongly supported it. The track appeared on *Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls*, required a return studio session to overdub vocals, and earned Warwick the first Grammy Award of her career.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.