What’s it’s all about, Alfie.
Alfie is an excellent film from 1966 starring Michael Caine as a super cool cockney womanizer. Burt Bacharach insisted on writing and recording the theme song. He chose Cilla Black to sing it and organised a mammoth session at legendary Abbey Road studio in West London. He used the largest room to pack an entire philharmonic as well as backing vocalists and a full rhythm section with drum kit, bass, percussion etc… the works !
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It took 32 takes to complete the song. Legend goes that it is Sir George Martin, who was behind the desk engineering the session, who decided that enough was enough and sent everybody home. The track was used to promote the film on radio as well as in the final tittle sequence. In the US the song was entirely rerecorded with Cher, but was not part of the film and was a minor hit. Since then the track was covered hundreds of times. My preferred cover being by Eivets Rednow, whose version I’ll feature soon.
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JAZZINHO
thanks Guida, I like your new blog ,very interesting., you ve got a talent as well for storytelling. Ah, Bacharach the definitive songwriter. Alfie is a great song but not my favorite one , maybe too much strings. My BB top 3: the amazing cover of "Raindrops " by Dione Warwick,"This guy is in love with you" by Herp Halpert, and "god give me strengh" , by Elvis Costello, his last great song.
Thanks Pascal Layan. Keep posted for more behind the scene stories.
I heard that BB hated Cilla's voice-true or not true? I thought she was angelic!