Herb Alpert on "This Girl's in Love With You"
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:55 am
HA: You know, certainly, I feel good about things that have happened in my life, and with respect to music, I think the thing I'm most proud of from an ego point of view is that I'm the only artist to have a number one record as a vocalist and as an instrumentalist.
MR: Oh, can we also go into that story? Can we go into "This Guy's in Love with You" and what prompted you to do the vocal?
HA: Well, I was doing a television show for NBC and the director, Jack Haley Jr. suggested I sing a song. I said, "Well if I can find the right song I might give it a shot. So I called a friend of mine by the name of Burt Bacharach, have you heard of him?
MR: Yeah, sort of. (laughs)
HA: So I asked him, "Burt is there a song that you think I might be able to handle? Maybe one that you find yourself whistling in the shower, or tucked away in the drawer some place, or you recorded but you didn't like the blah blah blah?" He sent me a demo of "This Girl's in Love with You," which was recorded by Dionne Warwick, and I liked the melody. I felt I could handle it, and I called Hal David to see if he would change the gender for the show, and he was amenable to that. I flew to New York and he changed it and as I was leaving Hal's place, I asked him the same question I asked Burt: "Is there a song you find yourself whistling in the shower," and three days later, he sends me "Close to You" and that was the door opener for The Carpenters.
MR: Oh, can we also go into that story? Can we go into "This Guy's in Love with You" and what prompted you to do the vocal?
HA: Well, I was doing a television show for NBC and the director, Jack Haley Jr. suggested I sing a song. I said, "Well if I can find the right song I might give it a shot. So I called a friend of mine by the name of Burt Bacharach, have you heard of him?
MR: Yeah, sort of. (laughs)
HA: So I asked him, "Burt is there a song that you think I might be able to handle? Maybe one that you find yourself whistling in the shower, or tucked away in the drawer some place, or you recorded but you didn't like the blah blah blah?" He sent me a demo of "This Girl's in Love with You," which was recorded by Dionne Warwick, and I liked the melody. I felt I could handle it, and I called Hal David to see if he would change the gender for the show, and he was amenable to that. I flew to New York and he changed it and as I was leaving Hal's place, I asked him the same question I asked Burt: "Is there a song you find yourself whistling in the shower," and three days later, he sends me "Close to You" and that was the door opener for The Carpenters.