If you remember all the way back to the first of November (was
that only two weeks ago?), you know that Mr. McCarthy and I both used the same
song, ‘The Look of Love’, but we each featured different combatants. Well,
today is the FACE OFF. The BIG BATTLE, if you will. This is the time when the
winner of each of those two BATTLES (Mr. McCarthy’s and mine) will face each
other to see who is; ‘The Supreme Commander of The Look of Love’.
Only thing about THAT BATTLE is that it is NOT taking place
HERE. You will need to go to STMCC PRESENTS BATTLE OF THE BANDS to cast your vote. Please click on over to
Mr. McCarthy’s Battle and cast a vote.
I’ll show up over there to cast my vote, but not until the 21st
of November, just like as if it was my very own BATTLE (you know the drill, I
make you wait until after all the votes are in, till I vote).
I’m behind in everything AGAIN, so I appreciate the opportunity
to take a break and it may take me awhile to get around and vote at the other
BATTLES, but I’ll do my best.
YIKES! Life has actually overtaken me. I keep saying I think it’s
going to happen and now it has. I’m two days behind on posting my BATTLE OF THE
BANDS results and I won’t even begin to list everything else in my life that is
running late.
So…let’s get on with it, shall we?
I had a lot of fun with this BATTLE. It was interesting to work
with Mr. McCarthy and see these four worthy contestants (one not so much, in my
opinion) battle it out. I am of the thinking that in both BATTLES, the best man
won.
I love Nina Simone. First, she reminds me of a very dear friend
from St. Croix, Miss Iotha Thomas. They are similar in every way except for
their vocal talents. Iotha loves to sing and does so with as much gusto as
Nina, but when it comes to staying on key and having a perfect pitch, not so
much.
Anyway…I’m not sure if any of you remember my very first BOTB
(Mr. McCarthy was kind enough to link you to this BATTLE at his blog), at that
time I pitted Miss Simone against the band Muse with the song ‘Summertime’.
Nina won handily, as she should have. Her rendition of ‘The Look of Love’ is
wonderful and I really enjoy it. It seems many of you felt the same. But, as
your comments show, she just wasn’t up to the task of taking on Mr. Sergio
Mendes and the marvelous Brazil ’66.
As much as I like Nina, there are not adequate words to describe
how I feel about Sergio and Brazil. I don’t think I have heard anything by them
that isn’t superb. Man, they probably have the best version of ‘Happy Birthday’
every heard. But, I digress. There is no doubt that Sergio Mendes and Brazil ’66
simply own this one and are hard to beat. No doubt about it, my vote goes to them.
The final tally:
Nina Simone6 votes
Sergio
Mendes and Brazil ’66 16 votes
(including mine)
All things considered, I think Nina made a pretty fine showing
here. I was warned that this could have been a shut-out, or at the very least a
blow-out. You may feel differently, but I think Nina getting 38% of the vote
qualifies this as a valid BATTLE.
I’ll be back on the 15th of November with something
fun for my next BATTLE OF THE BANDS. Until that time, Happy Trails.
Here is my favorite SM & B’66 tune for your enjoyment.
Here it is the first of November, Halloween is now behind us and
we are in full swing Holiday mode. So, naturally our hearts turn to thoughts of…turkey
Ah, er,…I mean our hearts turn to thoughts of L-O-V-E. Yeah,
that’s right. Thoughts of lOVE. ‘The Look of Love’ to be exact. Well, at least
that’s my selection for this BATTLE OF THE BANDS.
The music was written by Burt
Bacharach, and was originally intended to be an instrumental. But later Hal David
added the lyrics, and the song was published in 1967.
According to Bacharach, the melody was inspired by watching Ursula
Andress in an early cut of the film.[2]
Early
recordings
The first recording is by Stan Getz
as an instrumental in December 1966.[3]
The song with lyrics was originally recorded by Dusty
Springfield for the Casino Royale soundtrack, receiving
an Oscar
nomination and reaching the US Top 40. Phil
Ramone, the soundtrack's engineer, recorded the song separately from the
rest of the film tracks. Springfield re-recorded the song the same year in
London, featuring a throaty saxophone solo, and released it as the B-side of
"Give Me Time". Claudine
Longet recorded the song on her 1967 album of the same
title. Lainie Kazan also recorded "The Look of
Love" (arranged by Pat Williams) on her 1967 album Love is Lainie. Nina
Simone also recorded "The Look of Love" in 1967 on her album Silk
& Soul. Sérgio Mendes' hit rendition on the Sérgio Mendes
& Brasil
'66 album Look Around reached #4 on the
pop charts after their performance in the Academy
Awards telecast in March 1968. The lead vocal on this single was handled by
Janis Hansen, not Lani Hall,
a rarity in the early Brasil '66 canon. Andy
Williams released a version in 1967 on his album, Love, Andy.
Soul group The Delfonics also covered the song in 1968 on their
album La La Means I Love You, while
the legendary Motown quartet Four Tops gave the song a sweeping Broadway-like
treatment on their 1969 album Soul Spin. Brazilian threesome Som Três recorded an early instrumental
version on their album Show (Odeon, 1968).
Later
recordings
Isaac
Hayes covered the song for his 1970 album ...To Be Continued. While Hayes used the
same lyrics, his cover includes a unique instrumental which has been heavily
sampled on R&B and hip-hop records.
El Chicano
covered "The Look of Love" on their 1970 album, Viva Tirado .
No doubt about the fact that this one has been covered A LOT.
Today, I’ve chosen to pit two of the earlier recordings against each other.
First up, Miss Nina Simone
Next Brasil ‘66
Does this song seem familiar to you? Have you heard it somewhere
else recently? Well, what do you make of that?
Now, you guys know what to do and how to do it. Leave me a
comment with your vote and the reason you chose as you did. When you finish up
here, head on over to the home of TKOTPPH, Mr. Stephen T. McCarthy. You can
find him HERE Stephen will have an interesting selection for you I’m sure, and
he will also publish the link for other participants in BOTB. Please try to
visit everyone.
I’ll be back on the 7th to cast my vote and tell y’all
the outcome. Until then…
