What was Burt Bacharach and Hal David‘s first number one?
Boasting one of the most abundant discographies in popular music history, Burt Bacharach’s portfolio overflows with decades’ worth of classics, many of which were composed with lyricist Hal David.
Together, they spawned hits across pop, R&B and country, writing for voices including Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, the Carpenters and Tom Jones.
Their mutual genius expanded into the film world, where the two composed the title themes for ‘What’s New Pussycat?’ and ‘Alfie’, as well as ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’ for Butchy Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and ‘The Look of Love’ for Casino Royale, all winning the pair respective Academy Awards.
These, among numerous other instantly recognisable classics, display Bacharach and David’s mutual defining of American music.
The two came from diverse musical beginnings: David had begun writing music in the 1940s, writing for bandleaders, film soundtracks and even holiday songs, penning the Christmas classic ‘I Believe In Santa Claus’ with musician Morty Nevins. At the same time, Bacharach had been drafted into the US Army, stationed in Germany. Here, he met singer Vic Damone and, when they were both discharged, became Damone’s conductor and pianist. In 1956, he became the arranger and conductor for Marlene Dietrich’s nightclub shows, spending years touring together worldwide. That same year, Bacharach and David would meet, beginning their musical partnership.
Both working at Famous Music in New York City, Bacharach and David would prove to become a prolific songwriting duo from their first year working together. The duo would achieve number one hits in the UK in 1958, with Perry Como’s ‘Magic Moments’. But it would not be until a decade later, in 1968, that they would achieve the same success in the US, climbing to the top of the charts with their song, ‘This Guy’s in Love with You’, performed by Herb Alpert.
Alpert, a trumpet player who had a slew of instrumental hits in the 1960s, provided rare vocals on the song. In his book Bacharach, Michael Brocken writes that Alpert’s backing band, The Tijuana Brass, were offered a TV special called The Beat of the Brass. The director suggested that Alpert sing, to which the musician asked Bacharach to provide a song. ‘This Guy’s in Love with You’ had been written and published by Bacharach and David in 1967, but was not released commercially. When the song was sent Alpert’s way, he requested some modifications from the songwriting duo, and later song arrangements were to be made by Bacharach.
The original song, then titled ‘That Guy’s in Love’, told of an unfaithful lover. As David recalls, “[Alpert] wanted to do that song on a TV special he was doing…It was a song he was going to sing to his wife. And [the original lyric] was not quite appropriate for what he wanted to say. He asked us whether we could change [the lyric] so it would fit what he needed. And I did; and he did it on the show and got a terrific reaction and recorded it. And it turned out to be a stunning hit!” The updated version places Alpert in the role of “this guy”, rather than an unnamed “other man”, turning the story from one of scorn into one of yearning.
In contrast, Alpert recalls David’s original title as being ‘This Girl’s in Love With You’. Quoted in Bacharach’s 2013 memoir Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alpert explained: “There’s a question I always ask great writers that I asked Burt that day over the phone. ‘Is there a song you have tucked away in your drawer or someplace or a song that didn’t get the right recording that you find yourself whistling in the shower?’ And he sent me ‘This Girl’s in Love with You.’ I called Hal David in New York and asked him if he wouldn’t mind changing the gender.”
The song would eventually have a second life as ‘This Girl’s in Love with You’ when, after Alpert’s version’s instantaneous success, several covers by Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and more were released, to their own success. But its beginnings with Alpert’s vocals proved to be somewhat of an accidental hit. Airing as intended on Alpert’s TV special in a previously-taped sequence, ‘This Guy’s in Love with You’ was not intended for official release. But, upon airing, thousands of telephone calls to CBS asking about the song convinced Alpert to release it as a single on his label, A&M Records, two days later. The song went on to spend four weeks at number one.
“If you asked me when I got in my car leaving Gold Star Studios that night and thought [‘This Guy’s in Love with You’] was ever gonna be a hit I would have said no way,” Bacharach told Record Collector. What began as a favour from him and David became an overnight success, setting the two on a path towards international recognition and a decades-long career writing and composing together.
