The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Dionne sings a great interpretation of her current hit I Say A Little Prayer live on the Ed Sullivan Show telecast on January 7, 1968. Dionne also sang Battle Hymn of the Republic on the same show. This is one of the very few times Ed got Dionne's name right during his introduction. Interesting to note Dionne's look here...very pretty... but if you compare her smile in this clip to her smile in the Ed Sullivan Promises, Promises Clip 10 months later in Oct, 1968 you will note the difference. She had dental work done before in July 1968 before she began filming the movie Slaves in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her overbite is less prominent and her teeth appear straighter in the Promises, Promises clip.

Hey! What can I say? Thank you so much for posting that. Just amazing. You can see that's she was on a bit of a roll. Much more confident. I love her interpretation of that song .. so classy.

Some comments on this clip...
I love that it's in color, and Dionne looks wonderful! She sings it great as well...
I do remember The Promises clip, and didn't they import strings for that one..this here has got that "big band" sound..san strings...(darn it)...you really hear that rhythmic piano part in the first part of the song...I don't know if Burt played on the recording session, but the pianist on the record gave it great care...of course no one can give it that feel like Burt, whether he is at the keyboard or directing someone else "how to
play it"...He was so famous by then, he was not going to be in the orchestra pit playing the piano part lol
the piano fill is replaced with unison saxes....They swing it on the bridge, which is
cool for a live rendition...I enjoyed her grooving to it physically...The finese of the original is not here.. this chart is more "showy and dramatic", more grandiose-but I
guess this is more in keeping with a "live" performance(so I am told)
Ok, I'm sorry about all of my criticisms on the arrangement, but still enjoyed this clip for Dionne's presence, and performance! It's a gas to see her during this era...

Steve, Dionne and Burt's original was actually recorded in June 66. Bacharach did play the piano for the session. Here is what "Dibotis" wrote about the tune on his commentary on You-Tube...the original version below is unedited with Bacharach being heard on the count-off.



Dionne Warwick's 1967 single I Say A Little Prayer was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded at A&R Studios in Manhattan in June 1966. Engineering the recording was the legendary Phil Ramone who would later produce Billy Joel and many others. Bacharach arranged, conducts and is on piano. The tune was released as single in October 1967 after DJs all over the country started playing the album cut from the Windows of the World album. I Say A Little Prayer was certified RIAA Gold selling over 1 million copies and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December 1967. The flip or B side (Theme from Valley of the Dolls), sung by Warwick in the motion picture, was also a million seller and rode the #2 position for 4 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in February 1968 and hit # 1 on the Record World Chart the same month. I Say A Little Prayer/(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls is one of the most successful double sided hits of the Rock era. This is the rare unedited version in which Burt Bacharach can be heard on count off. I Say A Little Prayer was also the first RIAA certified million seller for Bacharach and David. Less than one year later, Aretha Franklin would take her cover of "I Say A Little Prayer" to the #10 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. Writes Nick Tosches, the renowned writer, music journalist, novelist, biographer and poet in the January 7, 1972 issue of the rock magazine FUSION; "...getting into Dionne Warwick is like finding buried treasure. The Bacharach/David repertoire which milady chooses to sing is so fascinatingly cynical / fatalistic / stoical / emotional / happy, simultaneously! It's pure emotion. There is a whole lot more to emotion than some rock punk bursting his dexedrine-staved blood vessels by screaming "Baby I need you baby" into a microphone. Dionne Warwick is not a rock and roll singer. She's not a jazz singer either. Rhythm and blues? Nope. A pop singer? No way. Did you ever tongue-kiss with someone who barfed a Singapore Sling bolus into your mouth, and then four years later you're with someone else and you feel good and you realize how beautiful it all was and then it's all melancholy/happiness, sort of? That's the kind of singer Dionne Warwick is. She's beautiful. Dionne, paired with Bacharach's string/horn/reed arrangements, comes up as a lyric mezzo-sopranoid par-excellence, melodious/expressiveness-wise. If you've never gotten into her, you ought to. Get hep to Dionne Warwick. For your own sake."

Wonderful...ty, Bach!

Awesome BachtoBacharach!

Thanks for posting!

Oh my, it gets better all the time. Thank you for your seriosly interesting input. There is nothing like that distinct sound .. so rarely achieved ..the Hal David lyrics, the very laid back 'Latin American' Bacharach sound .. don't know how to explain it ..sort of chunky samba sound, like the intro to Walk On By .. ..and Dionne's sophisticated double timing interpretations etc Amazing .. all whipped up in that small musically creative area in 60s New York. More please! Reach Out For Me is another that gets me going. Is anything documented on that recording?

Gillanddon,
On Reach Out For Me, only some of the elements that go into it...the dry chinky guitar played by Vinnie Bell....The "concerto styled " piano played on the opening and over the la
la la la la la's and then after that the "triplet" timing (2 sets in a bar, the first being silent)
I don't know..maybe someone has something to add about this cut.
Steveo