I just heard (on the radio appropriately) that Hal David has died. As a kid I grew up with David/Bacharach songs without even knowing it and when I was old enough to know I sort of wrote them off as middle of the road... pretty stupid yeah ? Nowadays I appreciate them more all the time. Whether it's Isaac Hayes or Elvis Costello, The Carpenters, Paul Weller, Bobbie Gentry, Dionne Warwick or Aretha performing them, even the Stranglers version of Walk On By, they take me someplace else.
There will be enough tributes and blog entries about the man who wrote some of the most fantastic lyrics going so I won't even try - but this one is special to me, it's the song that my mum used to sing when she was doing things around the house, ironing, cleaning, making my meals and hanging out the washing. I wonder sometimes what she invested in it. It's the song that brings her immediately to mind.
A moving tribute to Hal and your Mum.
ReplyDeleteDitto The Swede.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your choice of Bobbie Gentry... If it might make you smile, I had such a HUGE crush on Bobbie as a littl'un that I desperately wanted to be her. I was quite obsessed. My mum bought me a Red Indian (you could say that then, yeah..) wig from the toy shop, not so much for me to play Cowboys and Indians with but so that I could temporarily have dark hair like hers, and wear it whilst dancing around a tree as Bobbie G.
Thanks The Swede and C - I always thought it was the Dionne Warwick version that my mum was singing until I looked at this on YouTube last night and it became very obvious it was the Bobbie Gentry intonation she was copying. Much underrated these days.
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