Wives and Lovers

1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David
"Wives and Lovers"
Single by Jack Jones
from the album Wives and Lovers
B-side"Toys in the Attic"
ReleasedSeptember 1963 (1963-09)
Recorded1963
StudioColumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
GenreTraditional pop
Length2:29
LabelKapp
Songwriter(s)Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Jack Jones singles chronology
"That's the Way I'll Come to You"
(1963)
"Wives and Lovers"
(1963)
"Love with the Proper Stranger"
(1964)

"Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles.

Jack Jones recording

Most notably the song was recorded by Jack Jones in 1963, for Kapp Records. He was accompanied by an orchestra directed by Pete King. The B-side was "Toys in the Attic." This recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male,[1] In the US, it peaked at number fourteen on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Easy Listening chart.[2]

In 1979, he released a disco version of the song on the LP Nobody Does It Better (MGM).[3][better source needed]

Background

"Wives and Lovers" is a song of advice to married women, to stay attractive and attentive to their husbands ("wives should always be lovers, too") to avoid their husbands straying with "girls at the office". In the first line, the everywoman wife is addressed "Hey little girl", before a "warning" to "fix your make up" and "run to his [i.e., her husband's] arms the moment he comes home to you." The song originated when Bacharach and David were asked to write a song with the title "Wives and Lovers", on the theme of marital infidelity, as a promotional tie-in for the 1963 film Wives and Lovers. The song did not appear in the film but was intended simply to promote the film, making it what was known at the time as an "exploitation song". Similarly, the song "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance", which Bacharach and David wrote in 1962, promoted, but was not featured in, the film of the same name.[4]

Other versions

Song in popular culture

  • The song is featured playing on a radio in the very first "For Better or For Worse" comic strip by Lynn Johnston.[14]
  • The Jack Jones recording plays in the film Goodfellas as Karen shows off her new house to Belle Kessler.[citation needed]
  • Dionne Warwick's version of the song was played during the opening credits of The First Wives Club.[citation needed]
  • The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps performed "Wives and Lovers" along with other music by Burt Bacharach in their 2011 production entitled The Beat My Heart Skipped. Blue Devils received a score of 97.800 and 2nd place.[15]

References

  1. ^ GRAMMY Winners Search
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 130.
  3. ^ "www.discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  4. ^ Anyone Who Had A Heart: The Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Robin Platts, Discoveries, December 1997
  5. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  6. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  7. ^ "Wives and Lovers by Julie London". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "Our Fair Lady - Julie London". allmusic.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  10. ^ Frank Sinatra: The Complete Guide
  11. ^ Simpson, Dave (May 21, 2015). "Burt Bacharach: Marlene Dietrich's music sucked! But I liked her". The Guardian. Retrieved May 21, 2015. It was the same thing with Sinatra and the Count Basie band, with Quincy Jones producing. They did Wives and Lovers, which is in 3/4 time, but they did it in 4/4. I said, "Quincy, what happened?" He said: "The Basie band can't play in 3/4."
  12. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  13. ^ "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  14. ^ Johnston, Lynn (September 9, 1979). "For Better or For Worse". Universal Press Syndicate. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  15. ^ "corpsreps.com - The Drum Corps Repertoire Database". corpsreps.com. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
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