Been listenin' to excessive amounts of Burt Bacharach, in particular, this marvellous song - the result being that every time I go to type the word 'research', 'researach' keeps wheedling its way out through the keypad. (I can think of no other likely causation for that sneaky, superfluous 'a').
The story behind the track goes a little something like this:
One fateful day, Alpert asked Bacharach, 'Say, Burt, do you happen to have any old compositions lying around that you & Hal never recorded; maybe one I might use?' (Alpert said he made it his practice to ask songwriters that particular question; in attempt to reveal a 'lost pearl'). As it happened, Bacharach recalled one, found the lyrics & score sheet, and offered it to Alpert: 'Here, Herb, you might like this one.', and so a #1 single was born. Alpert would later become the first (& only) artist to reach the top of the 'Hot 100' chart with both vocal & instrumental performances.
I hadn't realised it previously, but one of my favourite groups of jazz cover-vampers subsequently recorded a version.
