I was reading a bit about the strange history of this song a few days ago. Burt Bacharach and Hal David having been commissioned to write the song for the film, wrote it with Dionne Warwick in mind, but the British film company insisted that a Brit sing it. So, after many requests, CiIla Black reluctantly did the film version of the song. But…
When the film became a hit and US distributors picked it up, they wanted an American singer, and so they chose Cher, who did it for the US release of the film. But…
A year or two later after many had already covered the song, Dionne Warwick was in the recording studio putting together a new album of songs. She finished recording with some time to spare, and had studio time left over. So a producer suggested she use the extra time to record “Alfie.” She did it in one take and didn’t think further about it. But…
She released a single from the album, where “Alfie” was the “B” side, and the “A” side was “The Beginning of Loneliness.” Of course as anyone who has played a 45 RPM single on an old phonograph remembers, the “A” side was always the intended hit, and most never even turned the record over to play the “B” side. But…
For some reason, radio DJs began playing the “B” side on the air (DJs in those days had much more discretion about what music they played), and “Alfie” became a hit for the woman whom it was originally intended for!
Cher sings it on the soundtrack of the movie Alfie with Michael Caine
I was reading a bit about the strange history of this song a few days ago. Burt Bacharach and Hal David having been commissioned to write the song for the film, wrote it with Dionne Warwick in mind, but the British film company insisted that a Brit sing it. So, after many requests, CiIla Black reluctantly did the film version of the song. But…
When the film became a hit and US distributors picked it up, they wanted an American singer, and so they chose Cher, who did it for the US release of the film. But…
A year or two later after many had already covered the song, Dionne Warwick was in the recording studio putting together a new album of songs. She finished recording with some time to spare, and had studio time left over. So a producer suggested she use the extra time to record “Alfie.” She did it in one take and didn’t think further about it. But…
She released a single from the album, where “Alfie” was the “B” side, and the “A” side was “The Beginning of Loneliness.” Of course as anyone who has played a 45 RPM single on an old phonograph remembers, the “A” side was always the intended hit, and most never even turned the record over to play the “B” side. But…
For some reason, radio DJs began playing the “B” side on the air (DJs in those days had much more discretion about what music they played), and “Alfie” became a hit for the woman whom it was originally intended for!
thanks for the back story! Any idea why Cilla Black was reluctant to record it at first?
She wasn’t confident that she could sing the difficult melody. There’s a bunch of info on it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfie_(Burt_Bacharach_song)
Thanks for the info.