It's always emotional to watch an artist who has recently died and then you watch them on video or film working in their prime. Well, this one got me big time as I've watched this piece several times this past week. Jeff is a huge Beatle fan and I have great memories of friends Jeff and Paul Hobbs playing Beatle songs in their band, Hobbs, McCarthy, Landers and Gooding at the Santa Maria Airport and the Santa Barbara County Fair. My point here is that influence begets influence as it's shared and passed on and on. The Beatles were big fans of Cilla Black and when you put her in Abbey Road Studios with George Martin and Burt Bacharach, you know that some magic was going to result. Alfie, the song was a big hit for Dionne Warwick in the US but also a big hit for Cilla Black in the UK and used in promoting the film, Alfie released
I will say that both Black's and Warwick's versions of Alfie are classics and propelled the Hal David and Burt Bacharach tune to be one of the most iconic songs of the 1960's.
When George Martin says, "Those opening lines, What's it all about Alfie, I think is one of the nicest things I've ever heard." He is referring to Cilla Black's voice and as Jeff said in his post, "What a song. And what a voice." I couldn't have said it better. And thank you, Jeff for your posts, I hope we can see each other someday again in the future.
Enjoy these two videos of Cilla Black, may she rest in peace.