The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Dionne or Aretha ?

Discuss....

Personally, although I know Burt prefers Aretha's version
I prefer Dionne's......
He never liked Dionne's version because he couldn't get it the way he wanted it...Burt:"I never wanted that record to come out..." but for me, the smooth glassy strings and the little tack piano figure, and Dionne's
finese....I just prefer it...
Steveo

What about these more recent versions?

Bomb the Bass (Maureen Walsh)


Diana King


And then there is this:

Love both versions although Dionne's was the much bigger hit (DIonne #4, Aretha #10) when it came out in 1967, received more airplay during that time and was the original although in the past 20 years or so, Aretha's version has gotten the most hype. Until about 20 years ago, it was also much more heard on oldies radio than Aretha's version. I did hear Dionne' s version a lot more after "My Best Friend's Wedding" reminded folks of her original version. I do remember one critic who also favored DIonne's version by saying that Dionne took the tune to etherial heights but Aretha wrestled it to the ground. Burt's original recording of Dionne is much more complex and layered. They both stand alone and both are classics but Dionne's version comes from such a different place than Aretha's version if that makes sense. I have noticed that XM Radio's Sixties on 6 channel does not often play Dionne's tunes and belies the fact that she was an absolute staple on radio all through the sixties and hardly an hour would go by when you didn't hear a Dionne/Burt/Hal hit, either current hit or past hit, playing. XM's alleged reproduction on that channel of how Sixties radio sounded is not quite that accurate!

I do like Aretha's version VERY much. I love the energy and guts she puts into it. But when push comes to shove, I prefer Dionne's version. When listening to a Burt piece, I can't separate out the matter of the arrangement. There's rarely been a song by Burt, covered by someone else, where I prefer someone else's arrangement of it to his own. At times I may prefer the cover's vocals, but almost never the arrangement. In this case, I think I prefer Dionne's version both for her contribution and for the arrangement by Burt. Steve

Burt and Dionne's version is very much 60's.....
and perhaps Aretha's is less identifiable with that era, but Steve brought up and interesting point, 2 actually..
Steve is right, Burt's arrangement has many layers...
I love the way the strings "sneak in" at the opening...
and many subtlties....I also identify with all the things that were happening at that time in my life- remember riding the bus in Los Angeles and hearing it played over the vehicles radio..
I thought it was brilliant, and it still is....
The second point is that as it was said on the back
cover of Burt's first Kapp album....I believe it was a statement by Jack Jones...the the 2 elements(song and arrangement) are interwoven....and are part of each other....fused together....(thus helping sell the songs, he said)
Both versions make me smile when I hear them played
on a oldies station...

I TOTALLY agree with Steve Schenk about Burt's unique genius as an orchestrator. Steve's words could have come out of my mouth. 99.99999% of the time, whenever I heard a Burt song orchestrated by someone else, it just never measures up. All the complexities and layers (as mentioned below) just aren't there... as well as the choice of instruments, how they are used, the countermelodies, and Burt's unique touches. His creativity in the orchestration alone is unbelievable to me... and how he can vary his orchestrations, too -- which he also did on his own albums versus the way he orchestrated the songs for Dionne. As one example -- his orchestration of Alfie on his first A&M album.

I think it's insane for Burt to say that he never wanted Dionne's version of "I Say A Little Prayer" to come out -- that he didn't get it right. Trust me on this one: HE GOT IT RIGHT! Perfectionists, like Burt, sometimes are crazy in critiqueing their own work. Burt's version with Dionne was one of the greatest pop songs in history... so how could he have gotten it wrong? He wrote one of the catchiest melodies ever and Hal's lyric is absolutely brilliant. It makes no sense for anyone, including Burt, to say anything negative about that phenomenal song.

I happen to love Aretha's version as well. I think Aretha's version is also orchestrated brilliantly. I think the difference could be stated like this: Burt's version was more "Pop" and Aretha's version is more "Soul." I don't think one version is better than the other. An orange is not better than an apple. One day you might be in the mood for an orange and the next day an apple. It's like "A House Is Not A Home". I don't think that Luther's version is better. It's great, no doubt about it... but Dionne's is great, too.

I think the problem here is that Dionne and Aretha, in this case, came out with brilliant and equal -- but different -- versions of "I Say A Little Prayer". If I had a gun to my head and had to choose one, then, like Steve, I'd pick Dionne's version because it was orchestrated by Burt. Having said that, I do listen to Aretha's version a lot, too.

This happens to be the one song were a discussion like this could ever occur. Because most of the other versions of Burt's song are so obviously inferior to his own that it wouldn't even merit a discussion, IMHO.

Great discussion all.
Perhaps the most important point is that they are both fantastic - which points to the caliber of the song.
I grew up in the UK and my sense is that maybe Dionne's wasn't a hit ? I don't think I ever heard it on the radio whereas Aretha's was a staple.
Maybe that flavors my favoring Aretha's version. There's something magical about that laid back intro that just grabs me and I'm gripped to the end !...and it's one of these rare tracks I NEVER tire of.
Interesting too that Aretha gave Otis Redding's Respect a similar treatment with perhaps even more success ? Are there any better covers than these two ?
Getting back to the caliber of the song, in Mojo magazine's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time (Gotta love a list - and this is a good one) I Say a Little Prayer comes in at # 12 - between God Only Knows and Yesterday.....say no more....

Perhaps it's already been noted in one of the previous posts, but I recall reading in several interviews (and perhaps also in the liner notes to the 3disc "The Look of Love" collection, and in Serene Dominic's "Song by Song" book), that Burt didn't want to release Dionne's version because he thought it was too fast. After it was done, he thought it should have been taken just a bit slower. With all the respect he is due, I disagree. I think it's perfect as is.

I prefer Dionne's by a country mile. No contest.

Chris

Talking about country (but drifting off topic)...

Anne Murray & Glen Campbell - I Say A Little Prayer