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[Blair N. Cummings]

I`ve been pimping Roger Nichols` music for decades. While obviously a Bacharach disciple, Nichols was responsible for the melodies of innumerable hits and obscurities. No one who loves Burt or Jimmy Webb should be unaware of his work.
Here`s a beautiful non-hit from Steve Lawrence: (Note that the video doesn`t even pretend to match the audio; just turn off your screen for the duration).
This is the first collaboration of Nichols with lyricist Paul Williams (who later went solo - in both respects):

[grooverider]

Blair, here's a beauty, written by Williams and Nichols, from the late Eydie Gorme, "Somebody Waiting":



Steve Lawrence also recorded the Williams/Nichols collaboration, "The Drifter":

[Blair N. Cummings]

Paul Williams` first album - Someday Mam - features ten early gems.
(I couldn`t get a link for the whole album but it`s easy to find and play in its entirety on YouTube).

[Sara D]

'Whoever You are, I Love You'. Now there's a great title! I've had a personal love affair with Burt's recording of this song since I first got hold of the 'Make it Easy on Yourself' album all those years ago. Those deep and rich chords, that stunning orchestration and the Dionne sound-alike at the end, all add up to make for a very moving track:

[blueonblue]

'Whoever You are, I Love You'. Now there's a great title! I've had a personal love affair with Burt's recording of this song since I first got hold of the 'Make it Easy on Yourself' album all those years ago. Those deep and rich chords, that stunning orchestration and the Dionne sound-alike at the end, all add up to make for a very moving track:

Sara,
Thank you for posting that utterly Magnificent track !
I remember buying the LP from a local Record Shop in 1970 ( remember those ? )

"blue"

[Martin Johnson]

In 1970, Blue, I was working in a record shop during the school summer holidays and it was there that I got to hear Bacharach's first two A&M albums, including the magic track posted by Sara. When I heard 'Whoever you are I Love you' in a London Fringe production of 'Promises, Promises' in 1996 the song's raw emotion took me aback. Here's Dionne's terrific recording of the song.

[blueonblue]

In 1970, Blue, I was working in a record shop during the school summer holidays and it was there that I got to hear Bacharach's first two A&M albums, including the magic track posted by Sara. When I heard 'Whoever you are I Love you' in a London Fringe production of 'Promises, Promises' in 1996 the song's raw emotion took me aback. Here's Dionne's terrific recording of the song.

Thank you Martin, happy days.
Here's Tony Bennett's rarely heard version.


"sometimes your eyes look blue to me..."

"blue"

[Martin Johnson]

Out of all the acknowledged great singers, Blue, Tony Bennett was probably the best
at interpreting Bacharach and his 'Whoever you are I love You' is excellent. Singing
Bacharach certainly didn't come naturally to Frank, Ella, Sarah or Barbra and as for
the so called King of Rock 'n' Roll, he sounds decidedly uncomfortable on this Chuck Jackson hit:

[blueonblue]

Out of all the acknowledged great singers, Blue, Tony Bennett was probably the best
at interpreting Bacharach and his 'Whoever you are I love You' is excellent. Singing
Bacharach certainly didn't come naturally to Frank, Ella, Sarah or Barbra and as for
the so called King of Rock 'n' Roll, he sounds decidedly uncomfortable on this Chuck Jackson hit:

Martin,
I fully agree with you.

"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

Sorry; I couldn`t disagree more about Tony`s version of "Whoever..." and I love the guy. It just seems as if he, his orchestrator and producer went far out of their way to disguise the fact that this was a Bacharach song and tried to pass it off as an obscure Kern number. It`s a nice vocal performance but one meant for another song.
Here`s a co-eval who COULD handle Bacharach effortlessly. It`s been posted before but never more relevantly:

[pljms]

The Tony Bennett recording of the 'Promises, Promises' song is something I'd not heard in years and I was reminded how much I like it. I personally don't mind how far an arranger may stray from Bacharach's original template as long as the arrangement serves the song and ultimately does it justice, something that can't be said, in my opinion, for the Andy Williams version of 'If I Could Go Back'. Besides, speaking rather than singing the opening lines meant that, for me at least, the record was doomed from the start and I can just imagine Bacharach saying to Andy Williams after hearing his recording, “Hey Andy, when anyone tells you that you’re a better narrator than a singer, ‘Don’t You Believe It' ".

This is a bit more like it and I think the arrangement on AW's recording of 'Wives and Lovers' is stunning.

[blueonblue]

The Tony Bennett recording of the 'Promises, Promises' song is something I'd not heard in years and I was reminded how much I like it. I personally don't mind how far an arranger may stray from Bacharach's original template as long as the arrangement serves the song and ultimately does it justice, something that can't be said, in my opinion, for the Andy Williams version of 'If I Could Go Back'. Besides, speaking rather than singing the opening lines meant that, for me at least, the record was doomed from the start and I can just imagine Bacharach saying to Andy Williams after hearing his recording, “Hey Andy, when anyone tells you that you’re a better narrator than a singer, ‘Don’t You Believe It' ".

This is a bit more like it and I think the arrangement on AW's recording of 'Wives and Lovers' is stunning.

pljms,
Thank you, I really enjoyed Andy's rendition of "Wives and Lovers"....superb !

Here's Tony's version of "If I Could Go Back"......


"blue"

[Martin Johnson]

Yes, 'dazzling' is the only word to do justice to the arrangement on the Andy Williams recording of 'Wives and Lovers'

Returning to the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, the one and only revelation of Bacharach’s Festival Hall interview with Michael Grade was that the only time he and Elvis Presley met was when the two of them found themselves standing next to each other at a Las Vagas night club urinal. Grade got a huge laugh from the audience when he responded with, “I won’t ask the obvious question”. This exchange followed on from Bacharach’s admission to how often he’s disappointed with the result when a major singing star covers his material, mentioning Elvis’s ‘Any Day Now’ as an example.

[Martin Johnson]

I recently got hold of a 2 CD compilation of 4 DW albums from the early 70s.
Among the many bonus tracks is this duet with BJ Thomas, something I'd not
heard before. It features the traditional Bacharach ending of fading on a
repeated motif:

[musedeva]

Woo Hoo! Robert Plant just "liked" my song and posted it on his Facebook

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAnGqy ... aKrCkcmaqg