Wishin' and Votin' - the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Poll Results

xxp My #1 too but it was the Hayes version on my ballot

That Shelby Lynne version seems to be off a Dusty tribute album.

The Casino Royale version is also the only Burt-produced for Dusty version.

Cilla's version of AWHAH was #1 in UK, Ireland and NZ, selling 950k copies in the UK. Warwick's version didn't break the top 40 here, but was huge everywhere else.

Catching up on this thread (and the playlist, thanks Nag! Nag! Nag!), wish I'd had more time these past few days but not sure I've got much more to add other than to say that so many of these songs are just perfect. Bacharach was someone I never really investigated properly until my mid-20s and even then not that deeply so there's been a lot of stuff that's new to me.

Also want to echo Noodle Vague's comment about the biography excerpts, definitely want to read up more!

not even "LoL" could make that Peter Sellers-Ursula Andress love scene sexy

Xxp Don’t think Dionne Warwick ever forgave Cilla for that.

Cilla Blecch

yooooou! hooooo!

https://i.imgur.com/0BQjtxe.jpg

2. I Say a Little Prayer — 1027 Points, 17 Votes, 2 first-place votes
Lyric: Hal David
Aretha Franklin, 1968 single, 708 points — https://youtu.be/KtBbyglq37E
Dionne Warwick, 1967 single, 244 points — https://youtu.be/kafVkPxjLYg
Gene, from To See the Lights (1996), 88 points — https://youtu.be/G7CxOtEqOmQ
Al Green, from Truth N' Time (1978), 77 points — https://youtu.be/ZeQQGjoFdI0

Even after we had cut "I Say a Little Prayer," I still thought I had blown it because the tempo was too fast, so I fought to keep it from coming out as a single. One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne.

Aretha fine I guess, but I prefer the lead to handle the full chorus too

Wow, very heavily associated w/another singer.

So, that makes it pretty obvious what the top spot goes to.

https://i.imgur.com/VqilTvJ.jpg

1. The Blob — 1243 Points, 17 Votes, 3 first-place votes
lyric: Mack David
The Five Blobs, 1959 single, 1243 points — https://youtu.be/OG2-ccAEcWs

"it glides and slides across the floor..."

No, wait, I think I misread something...

https://i.imgur.com/vwwWOWH.jpg

1. Walk On By — 1181 Points, 17 Votes, 3 first-place votes
Lyric: Hal David
Dionne Warwick, 1964 single, 821 points — https://youtu.be/ijhL9Y7skQs
Isaac Hayes, 1969 single, 260 points — https://youtu.be/iqR4CZj0mJQ
Aretha Franklin, from Runnin' Out of Fools (1964), 100 points — https://youtu.be/Z51s22JR9HI

My #5 but undeniable really.

My #3 and #4 match the consensus but I think that’s where it stops.

in the end, all the songs are winners

Who knew “The Blob” was so popular, but that’s ILX for you.

While I was writing "Walk On By," I was hearing the whole arrangement. I love flugelhorns and they're on there and I heard the piano figure being played by two different pianos. We cut "Walk On By" first that night and I had Paul Griffin and Artie Butler playing the same figure on two pianos at the same time. Because they were never exactly in synch with one another, that gave the song a very different, jagged kind of feeling. I let the rhythm section have a certain kind of freedom and they got it really quick because they all knew me and they could read where I was going.

isaac's version of the poll winner my #9
al green's "say a little prayer" my #3
dorothy's "the look of love" my #10

in the end, all the songs are winners

:)

ty WmC

to show my appreciation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq8sWx1rh0s

Wow never knew Artie Butler was also on that track.

That two-piano thing is cool -- I don't have the ears to hear that sort of stuff but it's clear when he explains it.

i don't have time to catch up with what i missed the last few hours so for now:

THANK YOU WmC, this was wonderful. the images were great and i loved the biographical stuff -- very appreciated.

looking forward to spending the next couple days listening to alt versions and such

Was leaning towards voting for the Isaac Hayes cover at first as it's such a remarkable interpretation but the Dionne Warwick version is just undeniable.

Great work on this poll WmC.

"I hope I never get hit in the REEEEEEAR again," that has serious chart potential!

Thank you to everyone who voted! You made the poll!

Right back atcha - great work WmC.

That two-piano thing is cool -- I don't have the ears to hear that sort of stuff but it's clear when he explains it.

Was leaning towards voting for the Isaac Hayes cover at first as it's such a remarkable interpretation but the Dionne Warwick version is just undeniable.

Great work on this poll WmC.

FULL RESULTS!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v_FblscHY1ticvw2kf8JR12ZMKxMTe-IS320FFBG-78/edit#gid=1651280581

My Mike Patton vote ("She's Gone Away") fell just outside the top 60, damn it.

If "The Last One To Be Loved" doesn't place, I'll be very sorry I didn't vote.

― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Friday, May 17, 2019 8:55 AM (five hours ago)

I hate to break this to you, Eric, but...

I was secretly Wishin’ and Hopin’ for a “Sinner’s Devotion.”

Speaking of which, I didn't know Tammy Montgomery went on to become Tammi Terrell until this poll.

Favorite version of "Walk On By"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmEgxqSnHXQ

Thanks WmC, very enjoyable roll out.

The top 10 individual vote-getters would be

1. Dionne - Walk On By - 821
2. Dusty - The Look of Love - 708
3. Dionne - Anyone Who Had a Heart - 654
4. Aretha - I Say a Little Prayer - 618
5. Herb - This Guy's in Love w/You - 595
6. Dusty - I Just Don't Know What to Do w/Myself - 572
7. Dionne - Do You Know the Way to San Jose - 538
8. Jackie D - What the World Needs Now - 524
9. Dionne - Don't Make Me Over - 467
10. Dionne - I'll Never Fall in Love Again

"Baby It's You" and "Make It Easy on Yourself" getting sizeable bumps from the aggregate of good versions. Dionne gets 5 of the top 10 spots for individual performances, not really a surprise.

*wakes up and immediately checks final few tracks.*

Excellent. Very nice work, WmC. Thanks!

Think this was the most fun since the Elvis POLL, perhaps even more fun.

It's hard for me to separate out pure childhood nostalgia from the jazz craft of a lot of these tunes but i assume that the craft is explaining a lot of the permanent love, for me, anyway

― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, May 17, 2019 1:05 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I mean this stuff remains classic and evocative for a bunch of reasons i hadn't thought through until we did this

― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, May 17, 2019 1:07 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

xps -- mmmmmaybe? But I find the songs so amazing I even like "bad" versions, and craft can't explain that for me.

― WmC, Friday, May 17, 2019 1:08 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Although I did get on board with the Rhino Box, come to think of it.

So, I voted for all of the top 5! "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" was the second track I remember vividly from my otherwise seemingly Bacharach-free early childhood. Wish I had that childhood nostalgia for more of them, tbh.

Four of my selections didn't make the top 60. (I apparently had some company with the first two though. Bless.)

Living Together, Growing Together
Paper Mache
Try to See It My Way
The Breaking Point

Ella Fitzgerald cut an album for Reprise in 69 with a bunch of Brit session players covering Motown, Beatles, Randy Newman etc. Her version of ‘The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game’ is particularly suited to her.

― Dan Worsley, Friday, May 17, 2019 2:40 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Cheers Wm! this very much needed done also i can use it to dig into the stuff that i shd've dug into before