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

Did not know all that and just read more about it, thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/ymV4Mco.jpg

9. I'll Never Fall in Love Again — 601 Points, 14 Votes, 1 first-place vote
lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1970 single, 445 points — https://youtu.be/FzQBOBoPg04
Bobbie Gentry, 1969 single, 60 points — https://youtu.be/S-g2RCdk8nI
Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello, from The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack (1999), 60 points — https://youtu.be/yNJLrLS6VG0
Ella Fitzgerald, 1969 single, 24 points — https://youtu.be/dxfMIAZw1RY
Jill O'Hara & Jerry Orbach, from the Promises, Promises Broadway cast recording (1968), 12 points — https://youtu.be/1xp_-mHR8gY

Voted for Dionne but the Elvis Costello version has grown on me.

dionne's vocal is lovely but this song just doesn't have hook imo, it's just continually unresolved in a way that i find mildly unpleasant

probably the germs to catch pneumonia

it's great

Even though I voted for it, this song has always seemed lyrically a little undercooked, a little rushed -- which makes sense since they had one whole day to write it. "Out of those chains, those chains that bind you" -- repeating the phrase feels like placeholder text, "I'll come up with something better later" but he never did.

But anyway, I love the spareness of the Jill & Jerry version, just acoustic guitar and a little bass.

i always though the Warwick version was released as a single in '69, to ensure that the show had a hit before it opened?

the b-side of that ella fitzgerald 45 is "savoy truffle" ??

Both "Close to You" and to a lesser extent "W & H" have too much treacle for me to embrace

Nope, Dionne rode the coattails for once. xp

budo jeru, yes! I keep meaning to listen to it...

Ella version of “Savoy Truffle” not bad, yet another side benefit of this thread.

But anyway, I love the spareness of the Jill & Jerry version, just acoustic guitar and a little bass.

Yeah, I think that was the one.

https://i.imgur.com/O8oNEQa.jpg

8. Make It Easy On Yourself — 611 Points, 10 Votes, 1 first-place vote
Lyric: Hal David
The Walker Brothers, 1965 single, 306 points — https://youtu.be/bZTS9H-l5qQ
Jackie Trent, from Once More With Feeling (1967), 155 points — https://youtu.be/y_FN9-mthXA
Jerry Butler, 1962 single, 150 points — https://youtu.be/eKERP-GocsI

In early 1962 after the "Mexican Divorce" recording session, Burt and Hal started using Dionne Warwick as vocalist on their demos. Here's the demo of "Make It Easy On Yourself" - https://youtu.be/PCtVWYsnzNA

Had Jerry Butler version at #8. Believe that was Burt’s first (uncredited) session as producer and not just as arranger.

That was my #1. Opted for the Jackie Trent version, largely for the big orchestral arrangement tbh.

Dionne thought she was actually cutting "MIEOY" not as a demo, but as her debut single, and when Jerry Butler's version was released, she confronted Burt & Hal and told them, "Don't Make Me Over"...and the rest is history.

Also: I was the #1 for "I'll Never..." Such a cheerful mix of the melancholy and optimism, Bacharach & David at a fine-tuned peak.

I thought that demo sounded awfully close to a release-ready track.

Make It Easy was my number 3, it's my favourote Walker Bros track bit i couldn't make it my favourite BB track but that version is carved in granite, it's immense

The first song on their first album, huge right out of the gate.

Has anything ever suited Scott's delivery more? I don't think so

https://i.imgur.com/3hE8Le6.jpg

7. Baby It's You — 642 Points, 14 Votes
Lyric: Mack David, "Barney Williams" (Luther Dixon)
The Shirelles, 1961 single, 439 points — https://youtu.be/CRrxjk3qgRc
The Beatles, from Please Please Me (1963), 179 points — https://youtu.be/WEvrCiQ0doQ
Smith, 1969 single, 24 points — https://youtu.be/IuWsRkF5SIo

Fun fact: the Smith version (#5) outperformed the Shirelles (#8) and the Beatles (1995 reissue, #67) on the Billboard Hot 100.

too low

Burt:

Luther Dixon loved the song but he wanted Mack to rewrite the lyrics to make it darker. Luther came up with the "cheat, cheat" part and took a co-songwriting credit for himself under the name Barney Williams. I think he was the one who changed the title to "Baby, It's You."

When we recorded the song, Luther had Shirley Owens, the lead singer of the Shirelles, come into the studio by herself to put a new lead vocal on the track. In every other way, the finished record is exactly the same as my demo, with everything I put on it still there. If you listen carefully right before she starts her lead vocal on the intro and the "sha-la-la-las" come up in the background, you can hear me shouting them out and sounding so bad and really loud.

Has anything ever suited Scott's delivery more? I don't think so

hal david's nickname was mack ? lol

No, Mack David was Hal's brother!

intriguing

mack's writing credits go back to the '30s,like chick webb and stuff

[Mack] David had a varied interest in musical composition. In 1975, according to the New York Times in David's obituary: "Mr. David was granted a patent for inventing an electronic system for composing songs from fractional recordings. The system, which included playback units, stored records of lyrics and melodies. The operator selected words and music that fit together and recorded the combination."[1]

Dang!

I had forgotten about Mack, despite having read and reread The Beatles: An Illustrated Record dozens of times.

the "sha-la-la-las" come up in the background, you can hear me shouting them out and sounding so bad and really loud./

^ lol yup

xp also the original lyrics to "la vie en rose" -- which are in english and were translated into french for edith piaf. i never knew this.

I never noticed it before until I listened for it specifically -- pretty funny. xp

my post about "la vie en rose" was wrong nvm

I thought maybe that “sha-la-la” was The Beatles leaking into the track through a short time travel hop.

I even like the John Sayles film of the same name, which features the Shirelles version of the song, even though he disowned it, I believe. Although I think they monkeyed with the soundtrack after the original release because of rights, substituting “Shout” with “Surfin’ Bird,” for example.

actually i can’t figure out the truth about “la vie en rose” but i will stop talking about it.

“Smith”? Is the artist name really just Smith? Weird.

Not a fan of this song tbh but the Elvis Costello version is OK

https://i.imgur.com/Fz1U6zH.jpg

6. Anyone Who Had a Heart — 654 Points, 12 Votes, 1 first-place vote
Lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1963 single, 654 points — https://youtu.be/qMsiGMKHJ8k

"baby it's you" would have been my #1, if i knew enough bacharach songs to vote. (but then again, if i knew more songs, maybe it wouldn't be...nm. love this song so much)

actually i can’t figure out the truth about “la vie en rose” but i will stop talking about it.

Okay here is the later version, missing “Shout” and “A Lover’s Concerto” and I can’t remember what else:
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0085208/soundtrack?ref_=ho_web

#6 my #1

“Smith”? Is the artist name really just Smith? Weird.

Yup. They were a California bar band made good. Their debut album was titled A Group Called Smith. My parents saw them live in 70-71, with an up and coming combo called ZZ Top opening.

You sure that opening act wasn’t called The Zombies?

A funny thing about clips of Smith is that their guitar player is almost a dead ringer for Noddy Holder, down to the big hat.

XP Naw, this was the Top. Dad claimed he bought their first album at the merch stand.

The Smith vote was from me, a nostalgic vote from my Orange County days. Gayle McCormick really delivers on that one.

did Warwick's sister record any BB tunes?

Didn't vote Anyone Who Had a Heart cos of Cilla ambivalence, but then nobody voted for hwr version so