As many of us know, thrift vinyl prices have gotten absurd, generally speaking (with the local Volunteers of America demanding $5.99 a pop (!), though at least one Goodwill in the nearest big city still sells at .99 each) However, if it's a good buy and the condition is good, I'll fork out $2.99, which I have done so far on (I think) three occasions. I did so with a near-mint copy of the Harmony label reissue of "The Grand Canyon Suite"--in monaural. The first and only mono copy I've ever come across. And $2.99 (a bargain) for Bobby Vee's marvelous The Night Has a Thousand Eyes LP, also near-mint and with a jacket in perfect condition. Also, for today's gem--Dionne Warwick's second LP, from 1964, and in mono. I actually prefer Top 40 music of this era in monaural. Not sure why, but in mono the tracks have more punch and presence. To my ears, that is. I can't speak for anyone else's (though I've often spoken into other ears).
And musicman1979 reminded me that I posted the mono Harmony Grofe reissue last year on July 4th: https://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2024/07/fourth-of-july-music-grand-canyon-suite.html
This would have been up sooner, but it wasn't ready yet. (A little exercise in Police Squad! humor, there.) Problem was, I finally found the ideal analog-to-digital interface, but my initial experience was nothing but failed channels and a Line input which didn't accept a stereo signal. Being the infinitely patient and mature person that I am, I only screamed at the unit, oh, three times. Well, four. But no more than five times. Okay, six. And my yelling was closer to agonized screams. But I otherwise kept my composure (and saved my blood pressure). "Gear that doesn't work" might be a bigger anger trigger on my part than "Software That Fails." Close call.
Luckily, the Sweetwater rep was terrific, and together we did some highly detailed troubleshooting--whereupon, the flaw in the soup was the least likely item: the brand-new audio cables--the right side was defective. In five decades, and to the best of my memory (which isn't always the best), this is the first bad audio cable I've ever encountered. Seriously. Anyway, rep Barrett sent out (free of charge) two upgraded RCA-to-1/4" cables, and now all is fine. Well, except that VinylStudio doesn't let me know when and if I'm peaking the input. However, VS's peculiarities are nothing next to its many virtues, luckily. The software is so amazing, I have no right to nitpick.
Oh, and what about the album? Yes, today's offering. And it's magnificent! Purely fabulous (not faux-fabulous)! And, except for a slightly scratchy first band (which cleaned up nicely via VS's patching and manual-declicking features), in super-good shape. In short, worth five times the three-buck asking price. Not a bad song in the mostly Bacharach-David lineup, and Dionne has one of the most amazingly expressive voices in the history of pop music--and, to top things off, she always effortlessly managed Burt's quirky rhythms and his often jazz-complex melodic intervals. On the first takes, probably. I recall reading that, when Burt and Hal discovered Dionne, they knew they had the perfect interpreter. If they hadn't known as much, they'd have had to be drunk or otherwise impaired.
There's the great title song, Anyone Who Had a Heart, which I admire more each time I hear it, plus the just-as-magnificent Don't Make Me Over, the elegant I Cry Alone, and the should-have-been-a-monster-hit This Empty Place (maybe my favorite of the bunch). That possibly-greatest-all-of-Dionne-numbers had the unfortunate fate of serving as the B-side of Wishin' and Hopin' (terrific in its own right, but not as substantial as Empty). Luckily, Place was also memorably recorded by the Invasion bands The Searchers and Ian and the Zodiacs, meaning that someone realized the hit potential of this gem. How could anyone not be blown away by such a perfect pop release? I ask you. Should have been an A-side.
So, I changed the numbering (after exporting from VinylStudio), and I hope the proper numerals (1-12) show up--and the the jacket art, which I added in the Media Player app. Hope all goes as intended. I plan to get a VS upgrade, which should mean that I can add a year field per track. (Woo-hoo!) And Fab Forgeries, Pt. 7 is coming up next post.
DOWNLOAD: DW--Anyone Who Had a Heart.zip
TRACK LIST--All recorded 1963, unless otherwise noted
Anyone Who Had a Heart (Bacharach-David)
Shall I Tell Her (Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman)
Don't Make Me Over (Bacharach-David; rec. 1962)
I Cry Alone (Bacharach-David)
Getting Ready for the Heartbreak (Larry Weiss-Lockie Edwards)
Oh Lord What Are You Doing to Me (Luther Dixon-Burt Keyes)
Any Old Time of Day (Burt Bacharach-Hal David)
Mr. Heartbreak (Barbara English-Al Cleveland)
Put Yourself in My Place (Reggie Obrecht-William Drain)
I Could Make You Mine (Burt Bacharach-Hal David)
This Empty Place (Burt Bacharach-Hal David)
Please Make Him Love Me (Burt Bacharach-Hal David)
Anyone Who Had a Heart--Dionne Warwick (Scepter 517, rel. 1964)
Lee
10 comments:
Thanks Lee for this 'Classic' album that everyone who collect music from the 60's should have! Great post.
I miss cheap records. I'd take a chance on anything for a dollar or less, but $2.99 is a tough sell. :(
I'll fork three dollars if it is one I REALLY want or one that I am interested in adding to my collection. Will eventually get around to listening this. the Scepter label design on this copy is totally new to me. My Goodwill is primarily selling records for 99 cents; however, if there is no price tag, it sells for a quarter. (more cash if it is a boxed set.)
RecordCollector,
Thanks! This LP was a gem I couldn't pass up...
Ernie,
Yes, $2.99 is very much a tough sell. I've only gone that route four times so far, and ONLY with vinyl worth that much or more. Which isn't very often! Usually, the $2.99 stuff is mildewed Kingston Trio stuff. Nothing wrong with the KT--just that their LPs are everywhere. The local "Goodwill Unlimited" has boxes of LPs for $5.99--unreal. I'd be astonished if a single one has been bought.
musicman1979,
Totally agreed--If an LP is highly desirable, we'd be paying more than the Goodwill sticker price in most used record stores. For this Warwick LP, and a few other "vinyls," $2.99 was a steal. Oh, and I almost bought an overpriced five-record set, and I would have, had it contained more than just two Beatles knockoffs. When the GWs decide to charge more, they just plant the same price on each item, boxed set or single. And I envy your quarter GW records!
I still have a handful of quarter ones for sale presently, right now the store in my town is selling ones that I donated for 99 cents. "This Empty Place" actually did better than this album on the charts; the single peaked at #84 on Billboard and #96 on New Music Vendor (soon to be Record World a year later), while this album never even charted in the Top 200 Billboard LP charts. Fortunately, Scepter Records gave the song the kind of mega-hit treatment is deserved by including it on her first volume of Golden Hits, which I have in a Capitol Record Club pressing that I picked up at a book sale at my local library 29 years ago. You also neglected to mention that "Any Old Time of the Day" was the flip side of "Walk on By."
My Goodwill store tends to sell boxed sets for the price that you pay for a single LP up there in Ohio. This album is a classic piece of '60's pop, from the time period when Dionne was scoring hit after hit and she was slightly more popular than Nancy Wilson. "Should I Tell Her" is a neglected slice of girl-group pop. "Oh Lord, What You Are Doing to Me" is a great mid-tempo production co-written by longtime Shirelles (her Scepter labelmates) producer Luther Dixon. They did a great job making "Mr. Heartbreak" sound like a Bacharach & David production, even though didn't write it! She really sells "Don't Make Me Over", as if she was singing it in a Broadway production.
You can tell that Bacharach and David were well on their way to becoming the last major Great American Songbook songwriting team with some of the selections on this album, as they were able to tailor their compositions to Dionne's voice on songs like "Please Make Him Love Me", "Don't Make Me Over" and the title selection. My personal favorite version of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" is the one done by the Lettermen on their Going out of My Head album. Excellent remastering work. Solid four out of five stars from me.
You also neglected to mention that you shared with us your Mono version of Kostelanetz's Grand Canyon Suite July 4th of last year:
https://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2024/07/fourth-of-july-music-grand-canyon-suite.html
musicman1979,
Thanks, as ever, for your detailed input! And, yes, I should have provided the Kostelanetz link in my post--I'll do that shortly. It had occurred to me, but then I guess I forgot! And I didn't know that "This Empty Place" had made the Top 100 on its own--with more promotion, it would likely have gotten in the top 40, at least. Then again, how can predict such things after the fact? And I don't think I've heard the Lettermen's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" cover--I'll have to keep an eye out for that. The Lettermen were such a talented act, and I think that their middle-of-the-road/"establishment" reputation prevents their excellence from being acknowledged. Many great Beatles and Bacharach covers from those guys. And I agree re "Mr. Heartbreak": It's the one track I wasn't sure about, composer-wise. I was able to identify all the other Burt-Hal songs, but I wasn't sure about that one!
amazing post
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