The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

http://www.bbcfactual.co.uk/walk_on_by.htm

hello everybody

can anyone tell the name of the lady, who sings the begintune of this documentary ? it's the lady on the photo you can see at the upper right side of the first page on the web mentionned above.

greetz

erik

23 views and nobody.... ?

Looks to me like Billie Holliday but it`s my understanding that she was never offered the song.

the woman in picture definitely ist billie holiday...but lady day died in 1959, a couple of years before "walk on by" was written...if i remember correctly the bbc show used dionne´s version...

Before I read the responses - I was going to say Billie as well; However, if you block out the nose & mouth it really resembles Dionne.

I think the picture is that of Big Maybelle who was a Scepter recording artist in the 60's. She was known for her version of "Oh Lord What Are You Doing To Me?" Dionne also had a version of the song (circa 1962).

brucewms wrote:I think the picture is that of Big Maybelle who was a Scepter recording artist in the 60's. She was known for her version of "Oh Lord What Are You Doing To Me?" Dionne also had a version of the song (circa 1962).

no no; it is really Billie Holliday (if I may believe her fanclub here).
but sang by Dionne Warwick, I don't think so...
tomorrow I'm going on a holiday 'till the 15th of August.
I sincerely hope that I shall know the answer by then.
greetz
erik

From the IMDB site:
"Told through countless archive clips, numerous celebrity interviews and a narrator, the eight-episode BBC series tells the story of one hundred years of popular song. Starting with the thesis of popular song developing through the joining of the musical traditions European jews and African blacks in USA in early 20th century, the series continues to cover the jazz era singers, the birth of rock'n'roll, the new-found role of the pop producer, the multiple style developments from Britain and America in the 1960's, the country music blossom period, the use of popular music on stage and on screen, and the background of the modern-day manufactured pop artist."

Might be Billie Holiday and likely so-the picture is promoting the documentary "Walk On By" which is not specifically about the tune but about 100 years of popular music. Many believe that "Walk On By" represents the zenith of popular music and I truly believe that it may be the best popular tune ever written. It is certainly the best tune-bar none-that Bacharach and David ever wrote and Dionne Warwick ever recorded (Anyone Who Had A Heart and Do You Know the Way to San Jose would probably be candidates for inclusion in a list of the best popular tunes of the 20th century. Many tout ""The Look of Love" as one of the greatest Bacharach tunes ever written, and I like the tune, but Bacharach wrote many better tunes. Walk on By is generally cited as the most critically acclaimed and respected tune associated with Bacharach/Warwick/David. Blair, Billie could never have been offered the tune because she was dead (July 1959) when Bacharach wrote it!! Bacharach wrote the tune for Dionne Warwick in 1963 and legend has it that it was cut in a session with Anyone Who Had A Heart.

You`d think I`d have learned by know that irony doesn`t always play well; I of course know that BH died in `59.

I love the song "Walk On By" as much as anyone, but I can't understand why that particular song would be singled out as Burt (and Hal's) greatest song. I don't even think it's a better song than "The Last One To Be Loved", for instance. And that's a song never even mentioned as one of their great ones.