Stories of Standards: “I say a Little Prayer”

Tune in to Jazz with Victor Cooper – weekdays from 6-9 a.m. MT – for Stories of Standards to hear our favorite versions of this song all week long beginning Monday, October 15 presented by host Rodney Franks!

Stories of Standards is sponsored by ListenUp - If you love music, you’ll love ListenUp.

In 1966 Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote “I Say a Little Prayer” for Dionne Warwick; that first recording peaked at #4 on U.S. Billboard in December 1967, while it reached #8 on the R&B Singles list. The song, written the year before American casualties in Vietnam reached maximum losses, was intended to express concern for someone serving there. While songs written by Bacharach and David for Warwick usually took no more than three takes, “I Say a Little Prayer” took ten and Bacharach was still dissatisfied, regarding the result as having a rushed feeling. Scepter Record owner Florence Greenberg insisted on including the song on Warwick’s “The Windows of the World” album in September 1967, where its popularity with DJs led to release as a single. In 1968 Aretha Franklin recorded it on her “Aretha Now” album, where it was her ninth (and last) consecutive Hot 100 top 10 hit on the Atlantic label and peaked at #4 in the United Kingdom where it was her biggest hit. During a 2010 interview with Fresh Air host Terry Gross Bacharach said of Franklin’s recording: “It’s a better record than the record we made.” and David added “Mmhmm. We did, yeah. And we did a great record, but she topped it.”  The Sweet Inspirations (Cissy Houston, Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith and Sylvia Shemwell) were backup singers on both Warwick and Franklin’s recordings; Franklin was singing “I Say a Little Prayer” with them when the studio decided to add the song to the album being recorded.

Burt Bacharach (1928-present) and Hal David (1921-2012) wrote 52 Top 40 hits in the 1960s and 1970s, most often characterized by memorable melodies, unconventional time signatures, unusual chords and penetrating lyrics. They met in 1957 and shortly thereafter began their stream of award-winning songs. In 2011 they were the first duo to win the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Hal David died of a stroke when 91 years old; Burt Bacharach still tours.