The Windows of the World
Encyclopedia
The Windows Of The World is the title of the eighth studio album by Dionne Warwick
released August 1967 when the title cut
was in the Top 40.
The single "The Windows of the World" had been recorded 13 April 1967 in the same session which produced Warwick's recording of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"1 also included on The Windows of the World album. The album featured four other recordings of Burt Bacharach
/Hal David
compositions, these four tracks all originating in an 9 April 1966 session and thus predating Warwick's December 1966 album release Here Where There is Love and being omitted from it; two of these four tracks had appeared on the Billboard Hot 100
the first being the December 1966 single release "Another Night" (#49) and the second "The Beginning of Loneliness" (#79) released March 1967 as the original A-side
of the "Alfie
".
The other two album tracks from the 9 April 1966 session were the B-side
of the single "The Windows of the World" entitled "Walk Little Dolly" and a track released for the first time on the album The Windows of the World entitled "I Say a Little Prayer
". Bacharach had an especial dislike for the last-named track having been unable to obtain the desired results instead finding the arrangement rushed despite doing ten takes - typically the tracks Bacharach recorded with Warwick required at most three takes often requiring only one - and it was Scepter Records
owner Florence Greenberg rather than Bacharach who got "I Say a Little Prayer" released on the album The Windows of the World.
Apart from "Love
" - Warwick's recording of this 1965 Bert Kaempfert
/Milt Gabler
composition is of uncertain origination date - the outside material on The Windows of the World comprises three tracks cut for Warwick's precedent On Stage and in the Movies
album which were omitted from the last-named album's finalized tracklisting: "What's Good About Goodbye", a Leo Robin
/Harold Arlen
composition introduced in the 1948 film Casbah
; "Somewhere
" composed by Stephen Sondheim
and Leonard Bernstein
for the stage musical West Side Story
; and "You're Gonna Hear From Me" (writers: Dory Previn
/Andre Previn
) a song introduced in the film Inside Daisy Clover
(1965).
The back cover of the original album listed the song "Taking a Chance on Love", which was not actually cut on the LP. The recording was located in 2003 and included on the Rhino CD rerelease of The Windows of the World (coupled with Valley of the Dolls).
Originally there was no plan to release a second A-side single from The Windows of the World album, the intended follow-up to "The Windows of the World" single being the theme from the movie Valley of the Dolls
with the Windows of the World album track "I Say a Little Prayer" relegated to B-side. Disc jockeys however favored "I Say a Little Prayer"2 that track's breezy arrangement - denigrated by Bacharach as "rushed" - proving to be the sound to effect a return for Warwick to the Top Ten for the first time since the spring of 1966 (when "Message to Michael
" had been a hit); "I Say a Little Prayer" peaked at #4 in December 1967 with its parent album concurrently peaking at #22.
and Hal David
, except where noted.
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
released August 1967 when the title cut
The Windows of the World (song)
"The Windows of the World" is the title of a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was a hit single for Dionne Warwick in 1967....
was in the Top 40.
The single "The Windows of the World" had been recorded 13 April 1967 in the same session which produced Warwick's recording of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"1 also included on The Windows of the World album. The album featured four other recordings of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
/Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
compositions, these four tracks all originating in an 9 April 1966 session and thus predating Warwick's December 1966 album release Here Where There is Love and being omitted from it; two of these four tracks had appeared on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
the first being the December 1966 single release "Another Night" (#49) and the second "The Beginning of Loneliness" (#79) released March 1967 as the original A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the "Alfie
Alfie (song)
"Alfie" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1965 most successfully recorded by Cher, Cilla Black and Dionne Warwick.-Background:...
".
The other two album tracks from the 9 April 1966 session were the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of the single "The Windows of the World" entitled "Walk Little Dolly" and a track released for the first time on the album The Windows of the World entitled "I Say a Little Prayer
I Say a Little Prayer
"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.-Background:...
". Bacharach had an especial dislike for the last-named track having been unable to obtain the desired results instead finding the arrangement rushed despite doing ten takes - typically the tracks Bacharach recorded with Warwick required at most three takes often requiring only one - and it was Scepter Records
Scepter Records
Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a...
owner Florence Greenberg rather than Bacharach who got "I Say a Little Prayer" released on the album The Windows of the World.
Apart from "Love
L-O-V-E
"L-O-V-E" is a jazz song written by Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler for American singer-pianist Nat King Cole's 1965 album L-O-V-E...
" - Warwick's recording of this 1965 Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...
/Milt Gabler
Milt Gabler
Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...
composition is of uncertain origination date - the outside material on The Windows of the World comprises three tracks cut for Warwick's precedent On Stage and in the Movies
On Stage and in the Movies
On Stage and in the Movies, Dionne Warwick's eighth album for Scepter Records, was recorded and released in 1967. The LP was issued as number 559 in the Scepter Catalog...
album which were omitted from the last-named album's finalized tracklisting: "What's Good About Goodbye", a Leo Robin
Leo Robin
Leo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
/Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
composition introduced in the 1948 film Casbah
Casbah (film)
Casbah is a musical film directed by John Berry, starring Yvonne DeCarlo and Tony Martin, and released by Universal Studios.-Plot:...
; "Somewhere
Somewhere (song)
"Somewhere" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story which was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the...
" composed by Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
for the stage musical West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
; and "You're Gonna Hear From Me" (writers: Dory Previn
Dory Previn
Dory Previn, née Dorothy Veronica Langan , is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist for motion picture songs, and with her first husband André Previn received several Academy Award nominations...
/Andre Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
) a song introduced in the film Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover
Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
(1965).
The back cover of the original album listed the song "Taking a Chance on Love", which was not actually cut on the LP. The recording was located in 2003 and included on the Rhino CD rerelease of The Windows of the World (coupled with Valley of the Dolls).
Originally there was no plan to release a second A-side single from The Windows of the World album, the intended follow-up to "The Windows of the World" single being the theme from the movie Valley of the Dolls
(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls
" Valley of the Dolls" is a 1967 song by André and Dory Previn, composed for the film version of the Jacqueline Susann novel Valley of the Dolls, and recorded by Dionne Warwick....
with the Windows of the World album track "I Say a Little Prayer" relegated to B-side. Disc jockeys however favored "I Say a Little Prayer"2 that track's breezy arrangement - denigrated by Bacharach as "rushed" - proving to be the sound to effect a return for Warwick to the Top Ten for the first time since the spring of 1966 (when "Message to Michael
Message to Michael
"Message to Michael" is a 1966 Top Ten hit by Dionne Warwick, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song's lyrics are addressed to a bluebird by a woman in Kentucky whose sweetheart is vainly pursuing musical stardom in New Orleans; the woman asks the bluebird to take a message to Michael,...
" had been a hit); "I Say a Little Prayer" peaked at #4 in December 1967 with its parent album concurrently peaking at #22.
- 1Warwick's rendition of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" would have a single release in August 1968 as the B-side of "Who Is Gonna Love Me?"; the first-named track would also chart in its own right reaching #65.
- 2The "(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls" side of the single did become a chart hit in 1968 reaching #2.
Track listing
All songs written by Burt BacharachBurt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
, except where noted.
- Side one
- "I Say A Little PrayerI Say a Little Prayer"I Say a Little Prayer" is a song written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick, originally peaking at number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in December 1967.-Background:...
" 3:04 - "Walk Little Dolly" 3:27
- "The Beginning of Loneliness" 3:33
- "Another Night" 2:34
- "The Windows of the WorldThe Windows of the World (song)"The Windows of the World" is the title of a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was a hit single for Dionne Warwick in 1967....
" 3:23- Side two
- "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written in the 1960s by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-First charting versions:...
" 2:59 - "SomewhereSomewhere (song)"Somewhere" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story which was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the...
" (Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, Leonard BernsteinLeonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
) 4:23 - "You're Gonna Hear From Me" (Dory PrevinDory PrevinDory Previn, née Dorothy Veronica Langan , is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist for motion picture songs, and with her first husband André Previn received several Academy Award nominations...
, Andre PrevinAndré PrevinAndré George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
) 4:29 - "LoveL-O-V-E"L-O-V-E" is a jazz song written by Bert Kaempfert and Milt Gabler for American singer-pianist Nat King Cole's 1965 album L-O-V-E...
" (Bert KaempfertBert KaempfertBert Kaempfert was a German orchestra leader and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records, and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, such as "Strangers in the Night" and "Spanish Eyes".-Biography:He was born in Hamburg, Germany - where he received his lifelong...
, Milt GablerMilt GablerMilton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...
) 2:52 - "What's Good About Goodbye" (Leo RobinLeo RobinLeo Robin was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Oscar-winning song "Thanks for the Memory," sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938.-Biography:Robin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and...
, Harold ArlenHarold ArlenHarold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
) 2:41 - "Taking a Chance on Love" (outtake first released in 2003, but listed on the original LP cover)