Alfie (Burt Bacharach song)

"Alfie"is a song written byBurt BacharachandHal Davidto promote the 1966 filmAlfie.The song was a major hit forCilla Black(UK) andDionne Warwick(US).

"Alfie"
Side A of UK single
SinglebyCilla Black
B-side	"Night Time Is Here"
Released	1966 (UK); August 1966 (US)
Recorded	Autumn 1965
Length	2:40
Label	Parlophone(UK) Capitol(U.S.)
Songwriter(s)	Burt Bacharach Hal David
Producer(s)	George Martin
Cilla Blacksingles chronology
"Love's Just a Broken Heart" (1966) "Alfie" (1966) "Don't Answer Me" (1966)
Music video
"Alfie" by Cilla BlackonYouTube

At the 10th Annual Grammy Awards in 1968,Burt Bacharachwon the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement.

Background

Although Bacharach has cited "Alfie" as his personal favorite of his compositions, he and Hal David were not eager to write a song to promote the filmAlfie(a release fromParamount Pictures,which owned Famous Music) when approached by Ed Wolpin of the Composers' Guild. David thought the title character's name pedestrian: "Writing a song about a man called 'Alfie' didn't seem too exciting at the time."

The composers agreed to submit an "Alfie" song if they could complete it within three weeks. Bacharach, in California, was inspired by a rough cut of the film about theCockneywomanizer played byMichael Caine.Bacharach felt that: "with 'Alfie' the lyric had to come first because it had to say what that movie was all about".He arranged for David – on Long Island – to receive a script of the film to enable him to compose the lyrics. David utilized one of Caine's lines, "What's it all about?", as the opening phrase. David's lyrics were then set to music by Bacharach. The original was recorded in the key ofF-sharp major,but Bacharach usually plays it live inB-flat major,the same key in whichCilla Blackrecorded it.

Cilla Black version

Although Bacharach and David suggested "Alfie" be recorded byDionne Warwick,their most prolific interpreter, Paramount felt the film's setting demanded the song be recorded by a UK singer. Accordingly,Sandie Shaw,who had had a UK #1 hit with the Bacharach/David composition "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me",was initially invited to record" Alfie ". When Shaw declined, the song was offered toCilla Black,who had also had a UK #1 with a Bacharach/David number, "Anyone Who Had a Heart".

Black was invited to record "Alfie" in a letter from Bacharach, and Black recalls him saying that the song had been written specially for her.Brian Epstein,her manager, was sent a demoof the song, originally performed by 22-year-old Kenny Karen, with Bacharach on piano, accompanied by a string ensemble.Black reacted negatively on hearing the demo "of some fella singing 'Alfie'... I actually said to Brian 'I can't do this.' For a start—Alfie?? You call your dog Alfie!... [Couldn't] it be Tarquin or something like that? "

Black states that, rather than declining outright to record the song, she decided to set conditions: "I said I'd only do it if Burt Bacharach himself did the arrangement, never thinking for one moment that he would. [When] the reply came back from America that he'd be happy to.... I said I would only do it if Burt came over to London for the recording session. 'Yes,' came the reply. Next I said that as well as the arrangements and coming over, he had to play [piano] on the session. To my astonishment it was agreed that Burt would do all three. So by this time, coward that I was, I really couldn't back out."

The session for Black's recording of "Alfie" took place in the autumn of 1965, in Studio One atAbbey Road Studios,and was overseen by Black's regular producerGeorge Martin.In addition to the agreed arranging and piano playing, Bacharach conducted a 48-piece orchestra, and the session also featuredthe Breakawaysas background vocalists. According to Black, Bacharach had her record eighteen completealternative takesbefore he was satisfied with her vocal, while Bacharach's estimation of the total number of takes, including partial ones, is as high as "twenty-eight or twenty-nine.... I kept going [thinking] can we get it a little better... [add] just some magic[?]. Cilla was great and wound up delivering a killer vocal as she did on so many of my songs."

"Alfie" was released in January 1966, four months prior to the opening of the film. The single was essentially intended as a specialty item to foster interest in the upcoming film rather than a mainstream hit. However the track accrued enough interest to enter the UK Top 50 in April 1966, reaching #9 that May.Black's "Alfie" was released in Australia, New Zealand and the US in July 1966, a month prior to the release of the film in both countries. Despite the soundtrack appearance of a version of "Alfie" byCherin the film's worldwide release, Black's "Alfie" was a sizable Australian hit at #22. It went to #20 in New Zealand.In the US—where Black had previously enjoyed only one moderate success with "You're My World"in 1964—her" Alfie "single just made theBillboardHot 100at #95, the pop mainstream sector's focus being primarily on Cher's version of the song, which was only a moderate hit in the US at #32. In Canada her version reached #96 before being replaced by Cher's version.Interest in any one recorded version of "Alfie" was dissipated by the plethora ofeasy listening-orientedcover versionswhich were in release by the summer of 1966.

Cilla Black titled her 2004 autobiographyWhat's It All About?,a reference to the opening phrase of the song. The grave marker beneath the headstone on her burial plot inAllerton Cemeteryis inscribed with four lines taken from the bridge and the third verse of "Alfie". Lyrics from Black's hits "Step Inside Love"and"You're My World"also appear on the marker. The blackmarbleheadstone and marker were installed 18 April 2016, eight months after Black's death on 1 August 2015. Following the December 2015 theft of the original bronze nameplate, Black's grave remained unmarked until drier weather permitted the installation of the replacement marble headstone and marker.

Cher version

"Alfie"
One of pressings of the US single
SinglebyCher
from the albumCher
B-side	"She's No Better Than Me"
Released	July 1966
Genre	Pop folk
Length	2:50
Label	Imperial
Songwriter(s)	Burt Bacharach,Hal David
Producer(s)	Sonny Bono
Chersingles chronology
"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (1966) "Alfie" (1966) "I Feel Something in the Air" (1966)
Audio
"Alfie" by CheronYouTube

Although the song "Alfie" (as recorded by Black) had served as a promotional tool for the film's UK release, it did not serve as an official theme song, because directorLewis Gilbertfelt the song would distract from thejazzscore he had hadSonny Rollinsprovide for the film. United Artists compromised with Gilbert in keeping the song out of the main body of the film, instead having it play during the closing credits. The song was also not included on the soundtrack album of the film's UK release. However, the film's US distributor,United Artists,wanted the song featured on the US release of the soundtrack album.

Rather than utilize Black's version, United Artists commissioned a new version of the song "Alfie" by the 20-year-old American singer/actressCher,who was on the roster ofImperial Records.Cher recorded the song atGold Star Studios,in a rendition produced by her then-husbandSonny Bono,which followed a similar production style to that ofPhil Spector.Cher's version of "Alfie" was released at the end of June 1966, almost two months prior to the film's US premiere (August 25, 1966). Despite being the follow-up to her #2 hit "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)","Alfie "rose no higher than #32.It was also a top 40 hit in Canada, reaching #36.

The versions of "Alfie" by both Cilla Black and Cher were released in Australia in July 1966, with Black's becoming the major hit at #22; the Cher version's Australian chart peak was #96.

"Alfie" was included in Cher's albumChér,released in October 1966.

Cher re-recorded the song for the closing credits of the 2004 remake ofAlfie,but it was dropped in favour of a version byJoss Stone.

Charts

Chart (1966)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles(RPM)	36
Quebec (ADISQ)	16
USBillboardHot 100	32
US Cashbox Sales Chart	32

Early covers

Despite the relative failure of the version of "Alfie" cut for the US film release, Cilla Black's UK success with the song had attracted sufficient attention in the US for several American singers besides Cher to cover the song by the time the filmAlfieopened in the US in August 1966. Two of these covers actually predate the Cher recording although neither was released prior to Cher's, the first evident recording of "Alfie" by an American singer being that cut byJerry Butlerin May 1966 which first appeared as a track on the December 1967 album releaseMr Dream Merchant.Also in the spring of 1966Dee Dee Warwick,while on a promotional junket to the UK, made a recording of "Alfie" at the Philips Studio inMarble ArchwithJohnny Franzproducing the session andPeter Knightarranging and conducting the orchestra; this version was first issued over a year later as theB-sideof Dee Dee Warwick's 1967 single "Locked in Your Love".

At the time the filmAlfiepremiered in New York City August 25, 1966 at least eight recorded versions of the song "Alfie" were in release in the US: besides the Cher version from the film and the Cilla Black original which had been issued in the US that July to peak at No.95 on theBillboardHot 100, "Alfie" had been recorded byVikki Carr,Jack Jones,Tony Martin,Carmen McRae,Joanie SommersandBilly Vaughn.The five last-named singers had recorded "Alfie" in hopes of taking the song into theBillboardEasy Listening chartrather than scoring a mainstream Pop hit and both Joanie Sommers and Carmen McRae did score an Easy Listening hit with their respective versions of "Alfie" (Sommers - #9; McRae - #29).

Dionne Warwick version

"Alfie"
Side B of the US single
SinglebyDionne Warwick
from the albumHere Where There Is Love
A-side	"The Beginning of Loneliness"
Released	March 1967
Recorded	1966
Genre	Soul,pop
Length	2:44
Label	Scepter
Songwriter(s)	Burt Bacharach,Hal David
Producer(s)	Burt Bacharach,Hal David
Dionne Warwicksingles chronology
"Another Night" (1966) "The Beginning of Loneliness" / "Alfie" (1967) "The Windows of the World" (1967)
Audio
"Alfie" by Dionne WarwickonYouTube

"Alfie" would not become a Top 15 hit in the US until the spring and summer of 1967 whenDionne Warwick,the most prolific interpreter of Bacharach/David compositions and the composers' original choice, recorded the song. Warwick's version peaked to #15 on theBillboardHot 100, #5 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and #10 on the Canadian Singles Chart. Introduced on the December 1966 album releaseHere Where There Is Love,Warwick's version of "Alfie" had been an impromptu addition to a recording session at A&R Studio in New York City whose scheduled tracks had been completed early; Scepter RecordsA&RmanSteve Tyrellsuggested to Burt Bacharach that the booked time remaining be put to use by having Warwick record a version of "Alfie". Warwick, though feeling it pointless to increase the song's massive cover version count (there were by then some forty-two recorded versions of the song), was persuaded to record the song, cutting her vocal in a single take.

Although the "Alfie" track on Warwick'sHere Where There Is Lovealbum began receiving radio airplay as early as January 1967, the track was not issued as a single until March 1967 and then as the intended B-side of the Bacharach/David composed "The Beginning of Loneliness"; however disc jockeys preferred "Alfie", flipped the single to its B-side, and the track began to ascend theBillboardHot 100 in April 1967, with a major assist from Warwick's performance of "Alfie" on the39th Academy Awardsceremony television broadcast live worldwide on April 10, 1967.Billboard'syear end tally of the biggest Pop hits of 1967 ranked Warwick's version of "Alfie" at #44 in a Top 100 of the year composed otherwise of Top Ten hits.

In 2008, Warwick's recording of "Alfie" was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.

Charts

Chart (1967)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	10
USBillboardHot 100	15
USHot Rhythm & Blues Singles(Billboard)	5
USCash BoxTop 100	15

Other versions

In 1966, Dutch singerConny Vandenbosrecorded a Dutch-language version titled "Frankie" for her albumConny Van den Bos.

In 1968,Stevie Wonderreleased aharmonicainstrumentalversion. This version made the Hot 100, peaking at #66, and it was also a Top 20 Easy Listening hit. Wonder's single was made forGordy Recordsand released pseudonymously as Eivets Rednow - an inversion of "Stevie" and "Wonder". InCanadathe song reached #83.

Minarecorded the song in 1971 for her albumMina,also known as "the monkey album".

The Delfonicsrecorded "Alfie" for their 1968La La Means I Love Youalbum produced byThom Bell;originally the B-side of the group's hit 1968 hit "Break Your Promise", the Delfonics' recording of "Alfie" had a belated A-side release in 1973 when it was a minor R&B hit (#88).

In 1994,Whitney Houstonperformed the song on select dates during herBodyguard Tour,and her 1997 HBO televised concert,Classic Whitney: Live from Washington, D.C..

Other artists to record versions of "Alfie" include several versions by Bacharach himself,Patricia Barber,Tony Bennett,Jerry Butler,Liane Carroll,Randy Crawford,Blossom Dearie,Bill Evans,Percy Faith,Everything But The Girl,Maynard Ferguson,Renée Geyer,Stan Getz,Tony Hatch,Dick Hyman,Jack Jones,The Anita Kerr Singers,Chaka Khan,Rahsaan Roland Kirk,Earl Klugh,Cleo Laine,Tony Martin,Johnny Mathis,David McCallum,Carmen McRae,Brad Mehldau,Pat Metheny,Matt Monro,Elaine Paige,Rita Reys,Buddy Rich,Rumer,The John Scofield Trio,The Sweet Inspirations,Joanie Sommers,McCoy Tyner,Midge Ure,Sylvia Vrethammar(Swedish rendering),Sarah Vaughan,Billy Vaughn,Nancy Wilson,Andy Williams,Roger Williams,Vanessa Williams,Kerry Ellis,Alison MoyetandNanette Workman.

Barbra Streisandrecorded the song for her 1969 albumWhat About Today?and performed it on herTimeless Tourin 2000.

In a deleted scene from the movieAustin Powers in Goldmember,the song is parodied, with "Austin" replacing "Alfie" in the lyric. Alfie is sung by most of the main characters.Michael Caine,who playsAustin Powers' father, also played the character Alfie in the original 1966 movie, and scenes from the film appear in the background while he is singing.Susanna Hoffsmade the recording of this version - entitled "Alfie (What's It All About, Austin?)" for the soundtrack album.

Bob Welchcovered this song on his 2011 Album: Sings The Best Songs Ever Written

Olivia Newton-Johnrecorded the song for her 2004 albumIndigo: Women of Song

Santana Lopez(portrayed byNaya Rivera) performed this song on the sixth episode ofGlee'ssixth season, "What The World Needs Now".The episode aired in the US on 6 February 2015.

In 2020, emerging Japanese pop starFujii Kazecovered this song on the special edition of his debut album,Help Ever Hurt Never.

On December 3, 2023,Cynthia Erivosang the song to honor Dionne Warwick at theKennedy Center Honors.

External links

• "Alfie" by Barbra Streisand (audio)onYouTube