favorite version of "Alfie"?

[Steve Schenck]

What's your favorite version of this classic? I know it's hard to prefer anyone's interpretation over Dionne's for most of Burt's music that she has recorded. Still, 2 versions that I like at least as much, perhaps even more, are Burt's own instrumental version, with those calling-and-answering-trumpets; and I really like Ron Isely's version. I'm not sure if it's so much his singing that I prefer, or the new orchestration Burt provided for it. I'm just listening to that album again right now, after some months of not hearing it, and it's stunning!

[rein53]

I am with you on both counts. I love Burt's instrumental and his own voice singing Alfie on stage. But I never understood the words until I heard Ron Isley's version. I love that whole CD of Mr. Isley.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Maybe because I was so inundated with versions of this song by everyone and his dog back in the day, I never really warmed to it and rapidly became sick of it. It wasn`t until I first heard Burt himself sing it that it moved me. I think it was the version preserved on the otherwise forgettable "One Special Night" (correct title?).
Slightly off topic: The Sonny Rollins composition, "Alfie`s Theme" and, indeed, the entire score by him with Oliver Nelson`s arrangements are must-haves for anyone whose taste extends to jazz. Marketed by Impulse as the movie`s soundtrack, it really isn`t. It`s a studio re-creation of the score.

[ron hertel]

Steve:
Both Burt's and Dionne's recordings of this classic remain the definitive versions for me; however, Dionne's sister Dee Dee did an admirable interpretation as well (included on the " Dee Dee Warwick - the collection" CD released in 2005). ...... Haven't been able to connect with many of Ron Isley's recordings of the 13 Bacharach songs contained in the 2003 CD "ISLEY meets Bacharach". ....... Maybe I should listen to it a few more times!

[steveo_1965]

This question has been asked before, some years back. and it got almost like an early concert of Stravinksy's... where people were fighting and throwing chairs(well not really,lol, but it got a little heated...)
As I have stated before, I prefer the orchestration used on Cilla's and then subsequently
used with Dionne, (with some ever so slight changes)...Some retaliated by saying that the
arrangment was too "clublike"...but Dionne's 1967 version is my favorite...I think Ray Brown
may have been on bass....

Steveo

[BachtoBacharach]

Steveo, the Bacharach arrangement on Dionne's version follows the arrangement almost identically that was used on DeeDee Warrick's earlier version. Although I like the arrangement on Cilla Black's version, I feel that Dionne's haunting interpretation of the tune is incredible and the arrangment Burt did for Dionne never gets in the way of the vocals...Dionne's voice is the main instrument there showcasing the incredible lyrics of Hal. I think that was intentional...Hal wrote those lyrics first and then Burt set them to music and I believe Burt was very cognizant of the tune being holistic...the perfect marriage of music, lyric and performance. That's why the instrumental versions of Alfie, though beautiful, are not as satisfying to me. Some have argued that Cilla's rather strident vocal matched the Alfie charactor but interestingly, it was never used in the movie so I think that's a moot point. I am not a Cilla Black fan but her version of Alfie is good. Out of the context of the movie, Dionne's version is, IMHO, the best so I agree with you. The US public obviously agreed and sent Dionne's version into the top five of the R & B charts and the Top 15 of the pop charts (and scoring in the Canadian top 10) while virtually ignoring Cher's and Cilla's recordings. Dionne's recording ended up in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Cher's version was played over the end credits in the US release of the film and neither the arrangement or the interpretation has ever moved me at all.

[steveo_1965]

Bach,
Hi! You are correct and think like I do : )

Steveo

[An Enormous BB Fan]

In Dionne's book, she said that she was the [I forgot the exact number but I think it was in the 20's] to record the song. Could that be true? Could at least 20 people have recorded it before she did?

Well, be that as it may, Dionne's version is, for me, THE ultimate version. That version was just another song that proved that Burt and Hal were true songwriting geniuses and belonged in their own class. Talk about raising the bar! It seemed like Burt and Hal raised the bar every week in those days!

And I absolutely was stunned by Burt's version of "Alfie" in his "Reach Out" album. It's an orchestration to die for! But this what makes Burt Burt!

[steveo_1965]

Ill admit the instrumental version is great, but Dionnes version tears me up inside...
(emotions)...it has many "dynamics", especially at the end....(without true love,etc)
What a masterpiece!

[BachtoBacharach]

Dionne was the 43rd person to record Alfie...according to the story she tells in concert and her book. Alfie was one of the most covered tunes in 1966 and she is probably not far off the mark. Cher's version hit # 33 in the US, Cilla Black's version hit around # 91...Dionne's version, recorded in 1966 and included in her "Here Where There is Love" album released in late 1966 was receiving airplay off the album as early as December 1966 and once the tune was released as the B side of The Beginning of Loneliness, it was flipped and Alfie became a huge hit for her. It rode the Hot 100 for over four months peaking at #15 and # 5 on the R & B charts. Of all the countless versions of Alfie, Dionne was the only singer to place a version in the top 20 in the US; the US and Canadian public chose her version as the definitive one. Her phrasing on the recording is incredibly nuanced and she packs so much emotion and meaning into the tune. IMHO, all other versions pale in comparison.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

Wow! The 43rd version. I do remember reading some huge number in the book. And now I remember thinking to myself, "Could that be true?" I guess it is true. Improbable but true. I mean "improbable" on the part of Burt and Hal. How on earth did they allow 43 people to get to that song before Dionne? At any rate, I do agree that other versions pale next to Dionne's. On youtube, I have noticed that many jazz pianists have given their version of Alfie. It does suit itself to be played by a jazz pianist or any jazz instrumentalist (or singer, of course). The great Bill Evans recorded it, too.

[Pablo]

We can count a new version of Alfie... by Rumer (there was a post recently in the forum about this british singer). Her version is more than decent (it will be available in a 7" in a few days with a new Bacharach Christmas song).

Here's Alfie



and here some info on the new release - 'Rumer sings Bacharach at Christmas"

http://www.rumer.co.uk/

[scotsgreg]

Without question, one of my very favorite versions is this rare recording of Warwick performing the song on a television talk show in the early-1970s:



Truly stunning.