The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Martin Johnson wrote:Perhaps the most surprising choice of song for Rumer's forthcoming B&D album is The Last One To Be Loved, apparently requested by Bacharach himself. I've always liked Lou Johnson's recording of the song, a single release in '64 and it's bluesy B-side It Ain't No Use, which although not a Bacharach composition features his brilliant and original arrangement. Here they both are:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r6PflaMu6Xg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=swAM2Jl4Vkg

I can't imagine the arrangement for Rumer's version of 'The Last One to be Loved' will be as melodramatic as it is on both the Lou Johnson and Dionne Warwick recordings of the song with all those pounding pianos. The first record I heard of the song was by Madeline Bell which is much more subtle and perhaps Rumer's version will run along similar lines.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nF3Uqms6Jnw

I think The Last One to be Loved along with the likes of Fool Killer, Looking With My Eyes and Love Was Here Before the Stars are songs that Bacharach aficionados tend to love but are perhaps just a little too 'different' ever to catch on with the general public. This has been posted on the forum before but here's the latter song sung by Danny Williams:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KluUE_X9v40

Featured a few minutes ago on BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 60s in a section of the show entitled 'Bubbling Under USA' was Babs Tino's 45 of Bacharach and David's 'Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)' which in '62 peaked at 117 in the US charts. I wonder if Burt remembers it now?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LD6TNjsqAPw

"I cry alone" by Ruby and the Romantics: I noticed that this record has the writer's credit of "David-Bacharach".

That's the first time I've seen the credits this way round, as opposed to "Bacharach-David". I suspect however that if I trawled through all the recordings of their work I would find other instances like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9KXATQgoE

The only other instance I know of this "reversal" is on the Stephanie Mills album. Bacharach was allegedly not even in the studio for its recording and Hal was the de facto producer.
The circumstances of this project remain a mystery to me and I wish that someone would resolve it.

The Breakaways were a trio of English female vocalists from the 1960s who concentrated more on studio session work for other artists than their own recording career. While they famously sang background on hits like Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe' and Petula Clark's 'Downtown', they were upfront for Bacharach's UK hit recording of 'Trains and Boats and Planes' and 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. Here they are performing the latter song on a TV show from the 60s:

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

I've always thought that Bacharach missed a trick by not putting more emphasis on the absurdly catchy "Call Me and I'll be there just waiting for you" refrain heard only at the beginning and end of Dionne Warwick's 'Any Old Time of the Day', something that Stan Getz puts right in his version which completely overlooks the bridge to make it the main hook of the song. Earl Klugh's acoustic guitar version also allows more room for the refrain:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k4kzsF4t3Po

Yes, I think the "Call Me" refrain in 'Any Old Time Of The Day' must have inspired renowned Bacharach-watcher Tony Hatch to pen his now standard 'Call Me' a year or so later. The original recording of the song wasn't by Chris Montez who had the hit but by Petula Clark which Hatch also arranged and produced.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pchw3L-8ZbE

Nice interview with Petula Clark and Tony Hatch......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4tSbPUlmcA

'blue'

Talking of songwriters who have at some point in their careers been influenced by Bacharach, Sounds of the 60s played a version of MacArthur Park last Saturday I'd never heard before. Hugo Montenegro's Moog dominated recording of the Jim Webb classic (it's never 'Jimmy' on Sounds of the 60s) enlivened what was otherwise a mediocre show:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eNM6187cznE

Considering that this was played before and after the ads in UK cinemas from the 70s right through to the 90s it must have earned Webb a pretty penny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCo1Ffn9_u8

"Asteroid" - the Pearl and Dean theme was composed by Pete Moore - not sure where you got the Webb connection from! Catchy tune though.

Alistair wrote:"Asteroid" - the Pearl and Dean theme was composed by Pete Moore - not sure where you got the Webb connection from! Catchy tune though.

I think that "Composed by Pete Moore" must be a euphemism for borrowed from or at best 'influenced by' Jimmy Webb and the up-tempo instrumental section of Macarthur Park, anyone familiar with the Richard Harris hit record should be able to hear that.

Yes - it certainly is from Macarthur Park. I can remember that instrumental theme (the longer version from Macarthur Park) was used as a promo theme by a TV station here in Australia back around 1970. At exactly the same time, another station was using an instrumental version of part of "Promises Promises" for the same purpose.

Here is the Macarthur Park one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBdssq_WkU

And Promises Promises - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_h23_z0WD0

Dave

Martin Johnson wrote:

Alistair wrote:"Asteroid" - the Pearl and Dean theme was composed by Pete Moore - not sure where you got the Webb connection from! Catchy tune though.

I think that "Composed by Pete Moore" must be a euphemism for borrowed from or at best 'influenced by' Jimmy Webb and the up-tempo instrumental section of Macarthur Park, anyone familiar with the Richard Harris hit record should be able to hear that.

David_Noble wrote:Yes - it certainly is from Macarthur Park. I can remember that instrumental theme (the longer version from Macarthur Park) was used as a promo theme by a TV station here in Australia back around 1970. At exactly the same time, another station was using an instrumental version of part of "Promises Promises" for the same purpose.

Here is the Macarthur Park one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBdssq_WkU

And Promises Promises - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_h23_z0WD0

Dave

Martin and David, I personally think that the Pearl & Dean, shall we say, adaptation of the instrumental section of MacArthur Park and its constant repetition in UK cinemas for the ads inevitably cheapened it and dented its reputation. From being considered an original and groundbreaking pop classic in the 60s, it later started to be regarded as something of a joke and I don't think it's ever fully recovered its former status. No wonder Jimmy Webb tends to be very defensive about it in interviews.