Wednesday was a sad day for the music world, when legendary composer, arranger, conductor, record producer and occasional singer Burt Bacharach died at the age of 94. Mr. Bacharach collaborated with many lyricists over the years, and even wrote some of his own words. But his primary collaborator was Hal David, seven years his senior, whom he met in a music publisher’s office in 1957.
Bacharach won two Academy Awards for best song: for Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, written with Hal David, in 1970, and Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do), written with Peter Allen, Carole Bayer Sager and Christopher Cross, in 1982. His original score for the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which included Raindrops (a #1 hit for B.J. Thomas), won an Oscar for best original score for a nonmusical motion picture.
Bacharach met Dionne Warwick at a recording session for the Drifters that included Mexican Divorce and Please Stay, two songs he wrote with the lyricist Bob Hilliard. Hearing Ms. Warwick, a backup singer at that session, he knew he had found a singer who could work magic with his music.
There is so much I could say in tribute to Mr. Bacharach (and to Mr. David, who died in 2012 at the age of 91), but tonight I will let the music be his tribute, for his music is truly his legacy.
Thank you, Burt Bacharach, for all the beautiful music you and Hal David, along with others, gave this world. You will be missed.
I’m in a rather deep, dark rabbit hole tonight. If you’ve read my morning post, you’ll understand part of it. So, I decided it was time to treat myself to some Stevie Wonder, the man who can ALWAYS make me feel a bit better. And when I was searching the archives for a Stevie song, I came upon this one that has not one, but four of my all-time favourite artists: Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight. And the theme … the lyrics … just the perfect thing to help bring me out of this funk! And just as happened four years ago, it brought a smile, but strangely tears, too. Perhaps that was what I needed …
February 2019 …
As I was rolling cigarettes tonight, a name came to me: Dionne Warwick. A sometimes-overlooked talent, a beautiful lady with a beautiful voice. So, I decided tonight would be a song from Dionne Warwick, and after I finished rolling smokes, finished my Jolly Monday post, and folded a load of laundry, I sat down to decide which song it would be. I picked this one to listen to first, and at the 0:33 point, I felt tears welling behind my eyes. I have no idea why, but I knew then that I had my song.
This version is the 1985 cover version by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. This recording, billed as being by “Dionne & Friends”, was released as a charity single for AIDS research and prevention. It was a massive hit, becoming the number-one single of 1986 in the United States, and winning the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year. It raised over $3 million for its cause.
The song was originally written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager for the 1982 movie Night Shift, where it was recorded by Rod Stewart and played over the closing credits.
Hit the full screen button, turn the volume up, and just … enjoy … feel the love …
That’s What Friends Are For Dionne Warwick
And I never thought I’d feel this way
And as far as I’m concerned
I’m glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe, I love you
And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try
To feel the way we do today
And then if you can remember
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for
Well, you came in loving me
And now there’s so much more I see
And so by the way
I thank you
Oh and then for the times when we’re apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
The words are coming from my heart
And then if you can remember
Keep smiling and keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
In good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
Cause I tell you, that’s what friends are for
Whoa, good times and the bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for
I am a fan of Latin music, and a big fan of Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66, and this is one of my favourites of theirs. I did not even know that Dusty Springfield had recorded it at all, let alone that hers is the more well-known.
According to Burt Bacharach, who wrote this song …
“I had Dusty sing that very sexy. Dusty was very open to suggestions. To listen to the vocal back with her she’d have to go into a control room to hear it. She wanted to hear it alone. She was very tough on herself. But she did a great job.”
The Look Of Love was written by Bacharach for the movie Casino Royale. It was nominated for an Oscar but didn’t win, and Springfield’s version reached only the #22 slot in the U.S. The cover by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, however, did become a #4 hit in the US in 1968 after Mendes performed this on the Academy Awards telecast.
Now, since my favourite version hands down is Sergio’s, I shall play it first, but I will also include Dusty Springfield’s for those who prefer it.
The Look Of Love Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66/Dusty Springfield
The look of love
Is in your eyes
A look your smile can’t
disguise
The look of love
Is saying so much more than
Just words could every say
And what my heart has heard
Well it takes my breath away
I can hardly wait to hold you
Feel my arms around you
How long I have waited
Waited just to love you
Now that I have found you
You’ve got the look of love
It’s on your face
A look that time can’t erase
Baby be mine, tonight
Let this be just the start of
So many nights like this
Let’s take a lovers vow
And seal it with a kiss
I can hardly wait to hold you
Feel my arms around you
How long I have waited
Waited just to love you
Now that I have found you
Don’t ever go
Don’t ever go
I love you so
The look of love
Let this be just the start of
So many nights like this
Let’s take a lover’s vow
And baby we’ll seal it with a kiss
I can hardly wait to hold you
Feel my arms around you
How long I have waited
Waited just to love you
Now that I have found you
This one was written, as were many of Dionne Warwick’s songs, by the prolific songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The upbeat melody belies the melancholy lyrics about giving up on a dream and going back home. The juxtaposition was a common technique with Hal David, who says …
“The idea of doing a lyric that is essentially kind of sad to a very up and optimistic melody is something I’ve done a lot, and I’ve always thought it was an effective way of writing a song. Burt played this melody for me, and music says things to me and should say things to me.
I heard the phrase do you know the way to San Jose, and from that I began to create the storyline that became the person who comes to Los Angeles to make his or her career in the entertainment business and has dreams of being a big star, and for most people it does not turn out to be quite that happy.”
According to Burt Bacharach …
“That was a melody I had started. It was uptempo. We didn’t cut too many things up like that with Dionne. I played it for Hal, he got an idea, then we kind of steamrolled it together. We finished it and played it for Dionne who wasn’t too crazy about the song and when she performed it at the recording session, I think it was the only time during that period we didn’t get a vocal from her that was good enough to use. So we had to bring her back into the studio to have her overdub her vocals.”
Apparently, Dionne wasn’t too thrilled with the song, but, she adapted …
“I thought it was a really silly song. Obviously Hal David had a great affinity for San Jose as I believe he was stationed there during his time in the Navy and he loved the place and he wrote a song about it. I just giggled all the way to the bank, what can I tell you?”
The song peaked at #8 in the UK, Ireland, and Canada. It also charted highly in France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Lebanon, Japan, and many other countries throughout the world. The single was one of the most successful of Warwick’s international hits, selling over 3,500,000 copies worldwide. The flip-side of the single, Let Me Be Lonely, also penned by Bacharach/David, charted in the Billboard Hot 100 as well and became one of many double-sided hits for Warwick.
Do You Know the Way to San Jose Dionne Warwick
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I’ve been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose
L.A. is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas
You can really breathe in San Jose
They’ve got a lot of space. There’ll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose
Fame and fortune is a magnet
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you’re never alone
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You pack your car and ride away
I’ve got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?
L.A. is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas
I’ve got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Can’t wait to get back to San Jose
I had about 40 different songs in my mind to play for you yesterday, but by the time I sat down to actually put fingertips to keyboard, they had all flown from the coop of my mind. Happens a lot these days. So, I pondered at 2:30 a.m. … not what would I like to hear, but who. And the answer came swiftly and without hesitation … the one, the only …
Dionne Warwick!
The songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this. Bacharach came up with the music, and David wrote the lyrics about a woman asking her former lover to leave her alone.
This was released as the B-side to Warwick’s single Any Old Time Of The Day. She’d had several releases that went nowhere, and her latest tune was, in the opinion of her label, her manager, and herself, her last shot at making the Top 40. Murray the K, whose show on radio station WINS was the top-rated program in New York, wouldn’t play it. No matter how many people called and pleaded with him, he played the B-side instead because he knew that was the tune with potential. Warwick’s record company wasn’t happy with this, but listeners agreed with Murray and Walk On By became the hit.
According to Bacharach …
“‘Walk On By’ was the first time that I tried putting two grand pianos on a record in the studio. I can’t remember if I played and Artie Butler played or if Paul Griffin and Artie Butler played but here were two grand pianos going on. I knew the song had something. It was a great date. I walked out of that studio and we had done two tunes in a three-hour session, ‘Walk On By’ and ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’. I felt very good leaving knowing that I had two monster hits on my hands. You never know for sure but you feel a great satisfaction.”
An interesting bit of trivia … On May 12, 2002, Dionne Warwick was arrested at Miami International Airport after baggage screeners found marijuana inside a lipstick container she was carrying. The UK publication The Sun reported the story with the headline: “Walk on high, Dionne.”
Walk On By Dionne Warwick
If you see me walking down the street
And I start to cry each time we meet
Walk on by, walk on by
Make believe
That you don’t see the tears
Just let me grieve
In private ’cause each time I see you
I break down and cry
And walk on by (don’t stop)
And walk on by (don’t stop)
And walk on by
I just can’t get over losing you
And so if I seem broken and blue
Walk on by, walk on by
Foolish pride
Is all that I have left
So let me hide
The tears and the sadness you gave me
When you said goodbye
Walk on by (don’t stop)
Walk on by (don’t stop)
Walk on by (don’t stop)
Walk on
Walk on by
Walk on by
Foolish pride
Is all that I have left
So let me hide
The tears and the sadness you gave me
When you said goodbye
Walk on by (don’t stop)
And walk on by (don’t stop)
Now you really gotta go so walk on by (don’t stop)
If you leave you’ll never see the tears I cry
Now you really gotta go so walk on by (don’t stop)
I have played this song a couple of times, most recently in May 2020, but given everything going on in the world today, I thought it appropriate for a redux. Every time I play it, it seems more relevant even than the last.
This song, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was originally offered to Dionne Warwick in 1965, but at the time, she wasn’t interested, so it was originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon whose version peaked at #7 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada in July of that year. In 1996, Dionne Warwick apparently changed her mind and recorded the song, but hers only reached #87 on the U.S. charts. According to Bacharach …
“Dionne rejected that song. She might have thought it was too preachy and I thought Dionne was probably right. Hal pushed me to play it for Jackie De Shannon who we were gonna record. Otherwise I would have let it be and it would still be in the drawer. Once I heard Jackie sing four bars of it, I thought ‘this is great.’ Jackie had such a great voice. Love her voice. Whether it’s a song she wrote herself or singing ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love,’ she’s special. I wish we could have repeated that success with Jackie but the material we gave her on the next session wasn’t as good.”
Now, my preference is Dionne Warwick’s version, but frankly DeShannon’s is also excellent, so I shall play both and you can choose. I’m particularly struck by the lyrics “No not just for some, but for everyone“.
What the World Needs Now Jackie DeShannon/Dionne Warwick
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
I last played this in May 2019 … long enough ago that you’ve likely forgotten, or for some of you, you weren’t even a member of Filosofa’s community waaaaay back then! This song, for no discernible reason, came into my heart tonight. I listened, then listened again, I think hoping for a different ending! At any rate, I am reduxing this tonight, for once not because I am too tired or lazy to search for original material, but simply because … I want this song tonight.
Released in 1986, this was written by Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, who were married (to each other) at the time. They promised the song to Patti LaBelle, but LaBelle’s producer Richard Perry was less than impressed, and agreed to let Sager and Bacharach produce it instead. They cut their own backing track, which Patti LaBelle recorded on her own (pun unintended) but it wasn’t until Michael McDonald was persuaded to contribute that the song came together.
The duo recorded their parts separately. Patti LaBelle filmed the video in New York and recorded her part in Philadelphia. Michael McDonald did both in LA. The video used a split screen effect to show them each on their own. According to Ms. LaBelle …
“The success of ‘On My Own’ came as a shock. I don’t record for commercial value. With ‘On My Own’ I went into the Studio thinking, I’m gonna record something I love. Usually if I love it, it bubbles under. And I was surprised it made a hit.”
The song became the biggest hit single ever for both McDonald and LaBelle as it reached number one on the Billboard chart for 3 weeks and number two on the UK Singles chart.
On My Own Patti LaBelle, Michael McDonald
So many times
Said it was forever
Said our love would always be true
Something in my heart always knew
I’d be lying here beside you
On my own
On my own
On my own
So many promises never should be spoken
Now I know what loving you cost
Now we’re up to talking divorce
And we weren’t even married
On my own
Once again now
One more time
By myself
No one said it was easy
But it once was so easy
Well I believed, I believed in love
Now here I stand
I wonder why
I’m on my own
Why did it end this way
On my own
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be
On my own
I wish that we could do it all again
So many times
I know I could have told you
Losing you it cut like a knife, hey
You walked out and there went my life
I don’t want to live without you
On my own
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end
On my own
I wish that we could do it all again
On my own
I never dreamed I’d spend one night alone
By myself
On my own, I’ve got to find where I belong again
On my own
I’ve got to learn how to be strong again
On my own
I never dreamed I’d spend one night alone
By myself by myself, by myself
I’ve got to find out what was mine again
On my own
My heart is saying that it’s my time again
On my own
And I have faith that I will shine again
On my own
I (on my own) have faith (on my own) in me
This song originated with a lyric that Peter Allen wrote for a song he was working on with Carole Bayer Sager: “When you get caught between the moon and New York City.” Allen never finished the song, and in 1981, Bayer Sager started working with another top songwriter, Burt Bacharach. When Bacharach got the gig scoring music for the movie Arthur, starring Dudley Moore, he worked on the music for the theme song with Christopher Cross, and asked Bayer Sager to compose the lyrics. She recalled the line Allen came up with years earlier, and secured his permission to use it. (An irrelevant aside: Bacharach and Sager married in 1982 and divorced nine years later)
How do you get “caught between the moon and New York City”? According to Peter Allen, he came up with the line when his plane got stuck in a holding pattern waiting to land at JFK airport in New York. Odd what can trigger an idea for a song, a poem or a story, isn’t it?
This song won the 1982 Oscar for Best Song From A Film and Christopher Cross, whose real name is Christopher Geppert, won five Grammy awards in 1981: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for “Sailing,” Album Of The Year for Christopher Cross, and Best New Artist.
Dudley Moore, who starred in Arthur, was also an accomplished pianist. He and Cross became good friends and performed the song together a few times with Moore on piano and Cross singing. Cross is best known for his song, Sailing, which you’ll probably hear here soon!
Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) Christopher Cross
Once in your life you find her
Someone that turns your heart around
And next thing you know you’re closing down the town
Wake up and it’s still with you
Even though you left her way across town
Wondering to yourself, “Hey, what’ve I found?”
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do
The best that you can do is fall in love
Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he’s mastered choice
Deep in his heart, he’s just, he’s just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do,
The best that you can do is fall in love
When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it’s crazy, but it’s true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do,
The best that you can do is fall in love
As I peruse the headlines, read the news stories from the U.S. and around the globe, I am discouraged, ashamed to be a member of the human species at times. In every ‘corner’ of the globe, hatred is raising its ugly voice: North Korea, Myanmar, Brazil, and others. Here in the U.S., we are seeing a surge in racism, mass shooting sprees, and lawmakers who seek to overturn the Constitution, to take away our rights as citizens. I no longer recognize this world … there are days I no longer wish to be a part of it. I was thinking tonight of a song, Jackie DeShannon’s “What the World Needs Now is Love”, and I recalled this one, a compilation of that song and another. I think we need to keep this song close to our hearts today, tomorrow, and … until we can learn to live together in peace.
I started looking for the right song for tonight … for once there was none stuck in my head … and happened across Jackie Deshannon’s 1965 hit, What the World Needs Now is Love. I thought perhaps, in these times of troubles all over the world, in the Middle-East, the UK, the United States, and many more places, this might be an appropriate song to play.
As I looked for a bit of information, a bit of trivia about the song, I was led to another song and it is this that I play for you tonight. I don’t intend these music posts to be in the least bit political, and my apologies, for this one is, in a sense. But it is also … it speaks to us today, I think, just as it did in 1971. Today, some of the issues are different … Vietnam has ended, but Syria and Yemen have not. And some of the issues are yet the same … racism, prejudice, bigotry.
This is a remix of two songs, the aforementioned What the World Needs Now is Love combined with Abraham, Martin and John, first recorded by Dion in 1968 as a response to the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy earlier that year.
Tom Clay was a disc jockey in 1971, working for radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created this remix. The narrative includes sound bites from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and makes a heartfelt social/political comment.
Again, I apologize for bringing a socio-political statement into my music posts, but when I heard this song … it just … did something to me and I wanted to share it. I promise a more uplifting music selection tomorrow, but I do hope you will take just a few minutes to listen to this one. I have included the lyrics to both of the original songs.
What the World Needs Now Jackie DeShannon
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend John,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Didn’t you love the things they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free,
Someday soon it’s gonna be one day.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.
I have long … and I do mean long, like since I was about 12 or 13, some 50+ years ago … been a fan of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
This Guy’s in Love with You is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arranged by Bacharach.
As documented in an A&E Biography episode featuring Bacharach, the recording originated when Alpert, while visiting at Bacharach’s office, asked, “Say, Burt, do you happen to have any old compositions lying around that you and Hal never recorded; maybe one I might be able to use?” Alpert said he made it his practice to ask songwriters that particular question: often a “lost pearl” was revealed. As it happened, Bacharach recalled one, found the lyrics and score sheet in his office filing cabinet, and offered it to Alpert: “Here, Herb … you might like this one.”
Alpert’s previous material consisted of instrumental songs recorded with The Tijuana Brass Band. This, released in 1968, was his first released on A&M Records that contained vocals.
Alpert sang this to his first wife in a 1968 TV special called The Beat of the Brass; the sequence was taped on the beach in Malibu. The song was not intended to be released, but after it was used in the TV special, thousands of telephone calls to CBS asking about it convinced label owner Alpert to release it as a single two days after the show aired.
The song hit #1 in the U.S. and Canada, and #3 in the UK. In 1969, Dionne Warwick’s version, This Girl’s in Love With You, peaked at #7 in the US.
This Guy’s In Love With You Herb Alpert
You see this guy, this guy’s in love with you
Yes I’m in love who looks at you the way I do
When you smile I can tell it know each other very well
How can I show you I’m glad I got to know you ’cause
I’ve heard some talk they say you think I’m fine
Yes I’m in love and what I’d do to make you mine
Tell me now is it so don’t let me be the last to know
My hands are shakin’ don’t let my heart keep breaking ’cause
I need your love, I want your love
Say you’re in love and you’ll be my girl, if not I’ll just die
Tell me now is it so don’t let me be the last to know
My hands are shakin’ don’t let my heart keep breaking ’cause
I need your love, I want your love
Say you’re in love and you’ll be my girl, if not I’ll just die
Released in 1986, this was written by Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, who were married (to each other) at the time. They promised the song to Patti LaBelle, but LaBelle’s producer Richard Perry was less than impressed, and agreed to let Sager and Bacharach produce it instead. They cut their own backing track, which Patti LaBelle recorded on her own (pun unintended) but it wasn’t until Michael McDonald was persuaded to contribute that the song came together.
Tom Clay was a disc jockey in 1971, working for radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created this remix. The narrative includes sound bites from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and makes a heartfelt social/political comment.
Filosofa's Word 