Burt Bacharach & Hal David: selected hit songs, 1965 + Here I Am

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warwick-bacharach-getty-1

1965

What the World Needs Now Is Love
What’s New Pussycat?
Trains and Boats and Planes (1966 hit)
Are You There (With Another Girl)
Here I Am
Alfie (1966 hit, separate feature page)
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What the World Needs Now is Love

Adapted from Wikipedia:

“What the World Needs Now is Love” was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon, whose recording was issued on the Imperial label on 15 April 1965, after a release on sister label Liberty records the previous month was canceled. The song reached number 7 on the US charts in May of that year.

The song was originally offered to Dionne Warwick, who turned it down at the time; though she later recorded it for her album Here Where There Is Love. DeShannon’s version was recorded on March 23, 1965, at New York’s Bell Sound studios.

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Jackie DeShannon — produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David, arranged by Burt Bacharach, recorded 17 March 1965, released 15 April 1965 on Imperial single 66110. It entered the Hot 100 singles chart on 22 May ’65 and climbed to #7.

Early performances on music variety television shows:

Shindig!, live performance, 1965

Shindig!, live performance, c. 1965

Shivaree, Season 1, Episode 13 — air date: 24 April 1965

Dionne Warwick — from her 1966 album Here Where There is Love. The LP, which topped the R&B chart, was her seventh for Scepter Records.

Wikipedia says:

The album was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City and was produced in full by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was Warwick’s first Scepter album to make the Top 20, reaching 18th on the pop charts.

What’s New Pussycat? was written for a 1965 comedy film of the same name directed by Clive Donner and starring Peter Sellers, Peter O’Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss and Ursula Andress. It was Woody Allen’s film debut, as well as his first produced script. Tom Jones sang the title song. (Wikipedia)

Tom Jones

Hit single Parrot 45-9765 (and variants of this number on different pressings), backed with “Once Upon a Time,” issued in June 1965; entered the Hot 100 singles chart on 19 June and had a peak position of #3

(below) Title sequence and selected scenes from the film What’s New Pussycat? (1965)

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Trains and Boats and Planes

Burt Bacharach and his Orchestra & Chorus recorded the song first. It was issued as the B-side of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Bacharach & David) Kapp single 657 in May 1965; reissued on the 1969 compilation Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits.

Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas – issued 14 May 1965 on the single (UK) Parlophone R 5285, and in June 1965 on (US) Imperial 66115, backed with “That’s the Way I Feel” in each case — The US single entered the Billboard chart on 26 June 1965 and peaked at #47.

Dionne Warwick — #22 hit in 1966 after debuting on the chart 2 July 1966

Astrud Gilberto — recorded 3 February 1969 and released on her ’69 LP I Haven’t Got Anything Better to Do

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French version:

Quand un bateau passe — French text by Vline Buggy and Claude François

Claude François — 1965 single

Françoise Hardy – 1965

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Are You There (With Another Girl)

Dionne Warwick — issued in December 1965 on Scepter 12122, b/w “If I Ever Make You Cry” (Burt Bacharach & Hal David); the single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 11 December 1965 and peaked at #39

Burt Bacharach — track #4 on his 1967 album Reach Out

The Buckinghams – from their 1969 LP In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow

The Anita Kerr Singers — from the 1969 album The Anita Kerr Singers Reflect on the Hits of Burt Bacharach & Hal David, DOT DLP-25906

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Here I Am (m. Burt Bacharach, w. Hal David)

Dionne Warwick — Scepter single SR 12104, b/w They Long to Be Close to You (Bacharach & David), issued June 1965. It was featured in the comedy film What’s New Pussycat? that year and peaked at #45 on the Hot 100 after reentering the chart. Here I Am later became the title track of Warwick’s fifth album, released 21 December 1965 by Scepter Records.

Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra — from LP The New Limelight, 1965

Gary McFarland — recorded on 2 August 1966; originally released on the 1966 LP The In Sound, Verve Records V6-8632 (Stereo), Verve Records ‎V-8632 (Mono)