Wishin' and Votin' - the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Poll Results

My #3 and #4 match the consensus but I think that’s where it stops.

in the end, all the songs are winners

Who knew “The Blob” was so popular, but that’s ILX for you.

While I was writing "Walk On By," I was hearing the whole arrangement. I love flugelhorns and they're on there and I heard the piano figure being played by two different pianos. We cut "Walk On By" first that night and I had Paul Griffin and Artie Butler playing the same figure on two pianos at the same time. Because they were never exactly in synch with one another, that gave the song a very different, jagged kind of feeling. I let the rhythm section have a certain kind of freedom and they got it really quick because they all knew me and they could read where I was going.

isaac's version of the poll winner my #9
al green's "say a little prayer" my #3
dorothy's "the look of love" my #10

in the end, all the songs are winners

:)

ty WmC

to show my appreciation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq8sWx1rh0s

Wow never knew Artie Butler was also on that track.

That two-piano thing is cool -- I don't have the ears to hear that sort of stuff but it's clear when he explains it.

i don't have time to catch up with what i missed the last few hours so for now:

THANK YOU WmC, this was wonderful. the images were great and i loved the biographical stuff -- very appreciated.

looking forward to spending the next couple days listening to alt versions and such

Was leaning towards voting for the Isaac Hayes cover at first as it's such a remarkable interpretation but the Dionne Warwick version is just undeniable.

Great work on this poll WmC.

"I hope I never get hit in the REEEEEEAR again," that has serious chart potential!

Thank you to everyone who voted! You made the poll!

Right back atcha - great work WmC.

That two-piano thing is cool -- I don't have the ears to hear that sort of stuff but it's clear when he explains it.

Was leaning towards voting for the Isaac Hayes cover at first as it's such a remarkable interpretation but the Dionne Warwick version is just undeniable.

Great work on this poll WmC.

FULL RESULTS!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v_FblscHY1ticvw2kf8JR12ZMKxMTe-IS320FFBG-78/edit#gid=1651280581

My Mike Patton vote ("She's Gone Away") fell just outside the top 60, damn it.

If "The Last One To Be Loved" doesn't place, I'll be very sorry I didn't vote.

― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Friday, May 17, 2019 8:55 AM (five hours ago)

I hate to break this to you, Eric, but...

I was secretly Wishin’ and Hopin’ for a “Sinner’s Devotion.”

Speaking of which, I didn't know Tammy Montgomery went on to become Tammi Terrell until this poll.

Favorite version of "Walk On By"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEgxqSnHXQ

Thanks WmC, very enjoyable roll out.

The top 10 individual vote-getters would be

1. Dionne - Walk On By - 821
2. Dusty - The Look of Love - 708
3. Dionne - Anyone Who Had a Heart - 654
4. Aretha - I Say a Little Prayer - 618
5. Herb - This Guy's in Love w/You - 595
6. Dusty - I Just Don't Know What to Do w/Myself - 572
7. Dionne - Do You Know the Way to San Jose - 538
8. Jackie D - What the World Needs Now - 524
9. Dionne - Don't Make Me Over - 467
10. Dionne - I'll Never Fall in Love Again

"Baby It's You" and "Make It Easy on Yourself" getting sizeable bumps from the aggregate of good versions. Dionne gets 5 of the top 10 spots for individual performances, not really a surprise.

*wakes up and immediately checks final few tracks.*

Excellent. Very nice work, WmC. Thanks!

Think this was the most fun since the Elvis POLL, perhaps even more fun.

It's hard for me to separate out pure childhood nostalgia from the jazz craft of a lot of these tunes but i assume that the craft is explaining a lot of the permanent love, for me, anyway

― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, May 17, 2019 1:05 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I mean this stuff remains classic and evocative for a bunch of reasons i hadn't thought through until we did this

― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, May 17, 2019 1:07 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

xps -- mmmmmaybe? But I find the songs so amazing I even like "bad" versions, and craft can't explain that for me.

― WmC, Friday, May 17, 2019 1:08 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Although I did get on board with the Rhino Box, come to think of it.

So, I voted for all of the top 5! "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" was the second track I remember vividly from my otherwise seemingly Bacharach-free early childhood. Wish I had that childhood nostalgia for more of them, tbh.

Four of my selections didn't make the top 60. (I apparently had some company with the first two though. Bless.)

Living Together, Growing Together
Paper Mache
Try to See It My Way
The Breaking Point

Ella Fitzgerald cut an album for Reprise in 69 with a bunch of Brit session players covering Motown, Beatles, Randy Newman etc. Her version of ‘The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game’ is particularly suited to her.

― Dan Worsley, Friday, May 17, 2019 2:40 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Cheers Wm! this very much needed done also i can use it to dig into the stuff that i shd've dug into before

Thanks! I'm really happy with how the poll turned out -- could have used more ballots, but everybody who did vote brought a ton of enthusiasm and well-considered choices. I'm going to hang on to that spotify deep-dive playlist, now up to 675 tracks, and keep adding to it as I find things. If nothing else, it's something for other spotify users to drag from to create their own exploration and personal listening lists. Speaking of spotify, thanks Nag! Nag! Nag! for creating the results playlist.

Thank you to everyone who voted! You made the poll!

I haven't opened the spreadsheet, but I'm guessing this doozy didn't get any votes. Have never seen the movie, but I *definitely* know the chorus; am thinking I heard it performed by some children show's ensemble circa 1973. Never knew it was Bacharach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46stUnjT71c

sally kellerman is so dreamy

hat-tip to whoever the other "Three Wheels On My Wagon" voter was

According to the memoir, there are FIVE pianos on “What’s New Pussycat?”

But tbh I can’t hear any piano at all

"I'l Never Fall In Love Again," sung by Jill O'Hara, Jerry Orbach, from the Promises, Promises OCR is great, thanks, and the vibe is totally reminiscent of "Frank Mills," sung by Shelley Plimpton on the Hair OCR.

The replacement cast for the original Broadway PP included Lorna Luft and Tony Roberts.

Interesting.

After Burt had stopped conducting for Marlene, I ran into her in Beverly Hills one day. I chased after her and said, “Marlene!” And then I said, “Burt would love to hear from you,” or “I’m so sorry things aren’t working out.” And she said, “Finita la commedia.”

Ah, just got to the part in the book where Neil Simon wanted Tony Roberts to replace Jerry Orbach in the original cast during rehearsals, but then changed his mind at the last minute.

If this thread has that Geico commercial it should certainly have
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBLMbJnN69c

William, I don’t know why you keep saying this book is so short, my copy is 400 pages long. Don’t think it can just be that the ebook has a different numbering system.

It's short compared to Robert Caro's Bacharach: Master of The Melody (#3 of 5 Volumes)

The hardcover is 280 pp.

It's short compared to Robert Caro's Bacharach: Master of The Melody (#3 of 5 Volumes)

L

Finished the book, which I will also recommend. Now to see if I can find one of the volumes by that fellow from Cairo.