"What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a song that was initially rejected by Dionne Warwick. Herb Alpert finally released his recording in 2005 on the Tijuana Brass album Lost Treasures 1963-1974. Richard Carpenter initially expected Herb Alpert to play the flugelhorn part in the Carpenters arrangement, but studio musician Chuck Findley played it instead. The Carpenters earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance By a Duo, Group or Chorus. It also topped the adult contemporary chart and hit the pop top 10 in the UK. Richard Carpenter said he was reluctant to record the song at first, but the result was a #1 pop hit in 1970 and a breakthrough for the duo. Burt Bacharach recorded and released his Herb Alpert planned to record the song as a follow up to "This Guy's in Love With You." However, he was not pleased with his recording and gave the song to a newly signed act on his A&M label, the Carpenters. "(They Long to Be) Close to You" was released as a single B-side in 1965 in a version recorded by Dionne Warwick. The B-side "Blue Guitar" became a minor hit. It was first recorded by actor and singer Richard Chamberlain but failed to chart. The song "(They Long to Be) Close to You" dates back to 1963. One of the most notable was Dionne Warwick's gender reversal "This Girl's in Love With You" which reached #7 on the pop chart in 1969. "This Guy's in Love With You" was recorded in cover versions by a wide range of artists. "This Guy's in Love With You" is notable for its huge crescendos with cascading piano and a horn break common in Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs. Herb Alpert later became the first artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 with both vocal performance and an instrumental performance when his disco instrumental "Rise" reached #1 in 1979. It spent a phenomenal ten weeks at the top of the adult contemporary chart. The result was not only Herb Alpert's first #1 pop hit, climbing to the top in 1968, but also the first #1 pop hit for his record label A&M. Viewer response was so positive that he decided to release it as a single. He first sang it on the 1968 television special The Beat of the Brass. The song they gave to him was a simple, straightforward song in a range easy for Herb Alpert himself to sing. Herb Alpert's recording of "This Guy's in Love With You" came about when Herb Alpert asked Burt Bacharach if he had any songs lying around that were never recorded. Glen Campbell and Anne Murray recorded "I Say a Little Prayer" as a duet in 1971. "I Say a Little Prayer" hit the pop top 10 again in 1968 in a recording by Aretha Franklin. The performance is energetic as she glides through dynamic changes amid the elegant instrumental arrangement. Radio stations preferred "I Say a Little Prayer," and it became Dionne Warwick's fourth top 10 pop hit in 1967 and earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Female Solo Vocal. She disliked the recording, and it languished for over a year before release as the B-side of "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls." Dionne Warwick recorded the original version of the song, and Burt Bacharach and Hal David produced it. Lyricist Hal David intended the song to convey a woman's concern for her man serving in the Vietnam War. One of the most poignant of Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs, "I Say a Little Prayer" depicts a devotion to love so thorough that thoughts and deeds are focused on the lover nearly every moment of the day. Thomas' recording of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. pop singles chart with his interpretation. French singer Sacha Distel reached the top 10 on the U.K. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" includes a horn solo, a common element of Burt Bacharach and Hal David productions, in the gently loping arrangement. Thomas recording as well as writing the song. Burt Bacharach and Hal David produced the B.J. Ray Stevens, known for his straightforward hit "Everything Is Beautiful" and the novelty classic "The Streak," and Bob Dylan were both given the option to record the song but declined. It also spent seven weeks at #1 on the adult contemporary chart. Thomas recorded the version of the song used in the film, and it became the first #1 pop song of the 1970s. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" won the Academy Award for Best Song From a Motion Picture. It includes an extended instrumental section that accompanied actor Paul Newman performing stunts on his bicycle.
#The story of my life song 1957 movie#
The recording played in the movie is slightly different than the one released for radio airplay. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote the positive minded "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the soundtrack of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.