I've heard various versions of Alfie from Cilla Black/ Cher/ Dionne Warwick/ Vanessa Williams/ Vikki Carr/ Nancy Wilson/ Ronald Isley and Burt Bacharach sang it himself!
To me the best is the one from Vanessa, what do you think?
I like the song better with Dionne Warwick, herself Bacharach's favourite performer. Cilla Black's version is also memorable, as she was one of the mod most important singers (managed by Brian Epstein, does the name ring a bell? There's a rumour that he once said Cilla: "For me , there's only you and The Beatles").
shareCilla Black is my favorite.
It's a mooooooooooooooovie!
I'm crazy about Cher's acting, not so much her singing. But her version of "Alfie" is the one for me. I can't divorce it from the end of the film, and the way it swings into those wonderful credits -- but in the end it's Cher's vocal and Sonny's production that carry the day for me.
share[deleted]
Can I just point out that the film, when originally released, did not have a theme, only incidental music from jazz musician Sonny Rollins. Burt Bacharach saw the film in London and was inspired to write the song Alfie, which was recorded by Cher and added to the American release. Burt did play piano on Cilla's version, which scored the biggest chart hit in the UK. Even now, there is no theme song on the British DVD version, so technically, there never was an official theme song. Sorry to be pedantic, but the number of times this has erroneously cropped up in quizes beggars belief!
shareThat's right! The song "Alfie" was not the movie's theme. Sonny Rollins wrote the music and the theme in Bb minor was Alfie's theme.
Frank
Joss Stone also did a great version, but Cher's is atill my favorite!
shareFor me - its Cilla - she didnt have the greatest voice in the world, but the way she sings it had something which captures the time this film was made, and the mood of it.
sharedionne warwick, hands down.
shareAt the time Bacharach wrote the song Cilla was a massive star. She was asked to record it but said she would only do it if Bacharach played on the session, so, the mountain came to Mohammed and Burt played piano on the recording. I have seen archive film of this and for me Cilla's will always be the best version of this evocative song of the era.
share[deleted]
On my VHS copy, there's no promo for FIB and nobody singing "What's it all About?" Just Sonny Rollins' Alfie theme.
http://byronik.com
[deleted]
Caught the end of Alfie on the TV recently and was surprised to hear somebody singing "What's it all about?" Wasn't it Cilla?
http://byronik.com
[deleted]
You're absolutely right.
Cher recorded it for the movie. Dionne Warwick released it in the USA. And Cilla's cover reached #9 in the British charts, which is what confused me.
http://byronik.com
My VHS is very old and definitely DOES NOT have the theme. Later versions, even in VHS format might well have the song now.
The song was not released for quite a bit of time (not sure how long) AFTER the film had been released - I remember that really, really well.
The first time I had ever heard the song at the end was maybe a year or so ago on TV and I also have a DVD copy that has the song. The Cher version.
In previous years, I had seen the film on TV, and the song was NOT included.
So, all a little inconsistent on that front.
Bottom line, the song was NOT on the first release of this film on VHS!!
Cilla Black the best version by virtue of her incredibly unique voice/range and the passion she evoked. Other versions all a bit "soft" compared to that version, in my humble opinion, that is!
I will always prefer Dionne Warwicks version...she sang it with such class !!!
shareDionne Warwick
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
If you want to hear one one the best pieces of music ever recorded try the late pianist Bill Evans version. I enjoy all of the versions that are mentioned. The jazz version with Evans improving puts this piece of music into immortality. This song is worthy of one of the greatest pianist talents.
shareActually, there is a new version of Alfie from 2004 which I believe the best of all, done by a local L.A. artist who appears in a lot of musical theatre:
Tami Tappan-Damiano. WONDERFUL arrangement!
One version not mentioned yet is that of one of Jamaica's greatest reggae stars (no, not Bob Marley), John Holt. Holt recorded a number of covers of big songs and his version of Alfie, due to its ever so slight reggae twang and the emotion he always managed to achieve in his recordings, is (at least or me) up there with the best of 'em.
If anyone is interested, you can find it on Holt's album "2000 Volts Of Holt".
the best period! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCDv5NK54u0
share