"Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles.
Jack Jones recording
Most notably the song was recorded by Jack Jones in 1963, for Kapp Records. He was accompanied by an orchestra directed by Pete King. The B-side was "Toys in the Attic."
This recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male,[1]
In the US, it peaked at number fourteen on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Easy Listening chart.[2]
"Wives and Lovers" is a song of advice to married women, to stay attractive and attentive to their husbands ("wives should always be lovers, too") to avoid their husbands straying with "girls at the office". In the first line, the everywoman wife is addressed "Hey little girl", before a "warning" to "fix your make up" and "run to his [i.e., her husband's] arms the moment he comes home to you." The song originated when Bacharach and David were asked to write a song with the title "Wives and Lovers", on the theme of marital infidelity, as a promotional tie-in for the 1963 film Wives and Lovers. The song did not appear in the film but was intended simply to promote the film, making it what was known at the time as an "exploitation song". Similarly, the song "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance", which Bacharach and David wrote in 1962, promoted, but was not featured in, the film of the same name.[4]
Other versions
Burt Bacharach recorded "Wives and Lovers" with an orchestra and chorus and released it as the B-side of "Trains and Boats and Planes" in 1965 on London Records. It was included on the album Hit Maker! Burt Bacharach Plays the Burt Bacharach Hits (London and Kapp) of the same year,[5] and later compilations.
Bacharach and David produced their version with Dionne Warwick in 1963Ref? for Scepter (licensed to British Pye and French Vogue, both releasing the title on 7-inch EPs, each with four different songs). That version of the song was featured in the 1965 album The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick (Scepter).[6]
Nancy Wilson – Today, Tomorrow, Forever,[12] a double single issued by Capitol in 1964 with arrangements by Kenny Dennis. This version is featured on the 2004 label compilation Blue Note Plays Burt Bacharach.
The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps performed "Wives and Lovers" along with other music by Burt Bacharach in their 2011 production entitled The Beat My Heart Skipped. Blue Devils received a score of 97.800 and 2nd place.[15]
^Simpson, Dave (May 21, 2015). "Burt Bacharach: Marlene Dietrich's music sucked! But I liked her". The Guardian. Retrieved May 21, 2015. It was the same thing with Sinatra and the Count Basie band, with Quincy Jones producing. They did Wives and Lovers, which is in 3/4 time, but they did it in 4/4. I said, "Quincy, what happened?" He said: "The Basie band can't play in 3/4."
