"The Look of Love"
[song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David]
Rarely has a song been more copied than this latest Smooth Soul Survivor. From rock to country and jazz to orchestral this tune has been done every which-way yet retains a soulfulness and meaning that transcends genres to elevate it, in the annals of contemporary popular music, to true greatness. It is the classic Bacharach/David/Douglas/Lorenzo/Parker composition the ‘The Look of Love'.
The number of covers spanning the 39 years since it was first released is enormous. Consequently, to satisfy our soulful cravings, the insights drawn here into this wonderful tune will be limited to versions that originate on the soul, jazz and R & B side of the musical rainbow.
"The Look of Love"
[song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David]
Rarely has a song been more copied than this latest Smooth Soul Survivor. From rock to country and jazz to orchestral this tune has been done every which-way yet retains a soulfulness and meaning that transcends genres to elevate it, in the annals of contemporary popular music, to true greatness. It is the classic Bacharach/David/Douglas/Lorenzo/Parker composition the ‘The Look of Love'.
The number of covers spanning the 39 years since it was first released is enormous. Consequently, to satisfy our soulful cravings, the insights drawn here into this wonderful tune will be limited to versions that originate on the soul, jazz and R & B side of the musical rainbow.
Straight ahead (ish) jazz interpretations from Cleo Lane, Diana Krall, Milt Jackson, Ramsey Lewis and Nina Simone can all be found but the more soulful side of jazz has also taken a real shine to ‘The Look of Love'. Trumpeters Herb Alpert and Chris Botti have both used it as have sax men Kenny G and Grover Washington Jr. As recently as July of this year smooth jazz guitarist Peter White included it on his album of covers, ‘Playin Favorites'.
Purely soul defined examples abound. The Four Tops made their take on the song part of the 1969 album ‘Soul Spin' but one year earlier it was The Delfonics who featured the track on their LP ‘La La Means I Love You'. If there was ever a song that said ‘sex', then this is it so it's hardly surprising that the current king of the seduction set, Will Downing, incorporated it into his 1998 ‘Pleasures of the Night'. On their ‘Live from Heaven and Hell' CD The Moments made the tune last all of seven minutes but another artist, who in his time, combined Downing's sensuous style with a penchant for extended versions, has a special place in the discography of ‘The Look of Love'.
The unique Isaac Hayes featured an eleven minute rendition of it on his album ‘To Be Continued'. It was released in late 1970 on the heels of two chart-topping albums, ‘Hot Buttered Soul' in 1969 and ‘The Isaac Hayes Movement' in 1970. ‘To Be Continued' proved to be another number one album and, typical of Hayes at that time, featured four songs that extended far beyond traditional radio-friendly lengths. Notable among these were his treatment of ‘Walk on By' and ‘You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'. Elsewhere on the album ‘Our Day Will Come' concluded with a nice instrumental segment that was driven by a proto-hip-hop beat to prove just how ahead of his time Hayes was. It's commonly considered that ‘To Be Continued' was better than any of his recordings that came after 1971. Indeed, although both 1975's ‘Chocolate Chip' and 1976's ‘Groov-a-Thon' went gold, his records of that period attracted considerably less attention than prior efforts. This combined with poor management and business associations left Hayes with no choice but to file for bankruptcy in 1976.
That's why, fast forwarding to 2003, it was even more remarkable that the artist selected to partner with Ashanti on the tune ‘Rain On Me' from her CD ‘Chapter II' was no other than Isaac Hayes. The fact that the track is credited to Bacharach/ David/ Douglas / Lorenzo/ Parker is the giveaway that at its foundation is Hayes orchestral arrangement of their classic composition ‘The Look of Love'. It's rare when a hit single samples heavily from a piece of soul history and also features the original artist. This, in part, is what makes Ashanti's version so special.
In addition to all of that, through the years ‘The Look of Love' has been in the hands of some sensational female vocalists. These include Barbara Acklin, Patti Austin, Anita Baker, Madeline Bell, Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight but, paradoxically, perhaps the most heartfelt version came from the incomparable Dusty Springfield. From her album of the same name it was a huge hit for Dusty in 1967 and also used as the centerpiece in the film Casino Royale. Her interpretation has been described as by far the definitive version. It's another fantastic Smooth Soul Survivor.
Denis Poole