Feature Song: “I Say A Little Prayer For You”
Mini Series: Part 4
When I reintroduced Morgan James in DUTC#60, I mentioned her incredible vocal range and her ability to take on cover songs in a wide range of genres. The first time I featured her about a year ago, one of the covers I used was a quintessential power ballad from the 70s, Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” This was actually the first video I ever watched of one of her covers with PMJ (2016), and I was completely blown away by the power in her voice. Steven Tyler has been performing this song for many years, and while his vocals on the original from 1973 are tough to emulate, James does a very credible job indeed. James recently performed “Dream On” at a live concert in Seattle in 2023 with her new band, which includes the very talented Doug Wamble on guitar (he has released several Jazz albums of his own), who is James’s album producer, touring musical director (since 2012), and also happens to be her husband. Because of all of this, I decided to go with more subtle and nuanced covers for this series.
“I Say A Little Prayer For You” (often shortened to “I Say A Little Prayer”) is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Dionne Warwick. The song was written in 1966 and lyricist Hal David’s intent was to convey a woman’s concern for her man who’s serving in the Vietnam War. It was recorded by Dionne Warwick in an April 9th, 1966, session. Although Bacharach’s recordings with Warwick normally only took a couple of takes, Bacharach did ten takes on “I Say A Little Prayer For You,” but still disliked the completed track, which is why it went unreleased until September 1967, when it was introduced on the album The Windows of the World. It was actually the owner of Scepter Records, Florence Greenberg, not Bacharach, who wanted the song included on the album. It was the “brisk” sound of the song that Bacharach objected to, but once it started to get airplay in October of that year, it was soon released as a single and it became a million-selling hit, moving up the Pop and R&B charts. The flip side of the single was “(Theme from) Valley of The Dolls,” which also became a big hit.
The song returned to the Pop and R& B top ten in the fall of 1968 when it was recorded by Aretha Franklin for her album, Aretha Now. Franklin, along with backup vocalists, The Sweet Inspirations, started to sing the song for fun while they were rehearsing the other songs for the above album, and they soon realized that it might be a viable addition to the album. They significantly reinvented the song from Warwick’s format, especially with the prominence of Clayton Ivey’s piano work. James’s cover aligns itself with Franklin’s cover in the same way with its wonderful piano work. Similar to the history of Warwick’s double-sided hit, the Aretha Franklin version was intended for the B-side of the 1968 single release, “The House That Jack Built,” but it also started to get equal airplay as the A-side.
First up is Dionne Warwick, followed by Franklin and James. James is accompanied by Julius Rodriquez on piano, and beautiful backup vocals provided by Melodie Ray and Chenee Campbell. Enjoy!
Dionne Warwick. “I Say A Little Prayer.” Live, 1967.
Aretha Franklin. “I Say A Little Prayer” cover. Official audio, 1968.
Morgan James. “I Say A Little Prayer” Aretha Franklin cover, 2022.
Los Angeles 2024
What a lovely song to feature and a bit of background that shows how close some songs come to not being the epic success we know them as. I am partial to the original but I love all three. North I just finished a post yesterday about the writers of The House That Jack Built! Scheduled to come out soon. I mean really what are the chances?
Actually, the chances are pretty good as we both appear to be in each other’s heads! As a matter of fact, I just put the finishing touches on a post for May that features Robert Johnson! I think I might watch the Twilight Zone tonight!
It amazes me how many bloggers manage to get posts written days, weeks or even months ahead of time! I can barely get mine done on the day I’ve promised them to artists!
lol I usually have several unfinished ones on the go so I rarely get ahead of things. But I hear ya Jeff. Thing with you, you’re current, my stuff definitely isn’t going anywhere!
I can answer this in one word: R-E-T-I-R-E-D!
Except that I’m nearly retired, generally working only 8-10 hours a week. No, in my case it comes down to the fact that I’m a serious procrastinator with a terrible work ethic, exacerbated by undiagnosed ADD.
And yet you manage to write substantial posts about new music and introduce myself and I am certain others to what is going on in the world of music on a weekly basis. And, you’re nearly retired. Kudos to you my friend!
Thank you. I will say that never once in all my years of college and grad school was I ever late with a paper. I just stayed up til all hours the last few nights before they were due in order to get them done!
Well there you go. My full name is Irwin G Shubert, but when I was in college and grad school, the middle initial changed to E, for extension!
Spooky indeed! True enough not the first time this has happened.
Nor the last!
I love that song! While Dionne Warwick has a lovely voice, I feel it’s nearly impossible to beat Aretha Franklin. I also have to say that rendition by Morgan James is very pretty!
Yeah, I agree with you on that one, Aretha rocks!
I’ve long loved both Warwick and Franklin’s renditions of the song. Hard to believe Burt Bacharach wasn’t happy with Warwick’s many takes, and it just goes to show how often songwriters and producers get it wrong. One thing about her version I’ve always found fascinating are her vocal intonations that mimic the horns in spots, which long left me wondering whether they were actually her voice or the horns. Turns out they were both!
Morgan James’ cover is quite lovely too, and it’s interesting how she and her two backup singers all use their hands so expressively.
Well, it’s a great song out of anyone’s mouth, and I’m a long-time fan of Dionne Warwick. What a voice. But who can EVER beat Aretha? She puts more soul into one extended note than anyone. The Morgan James version didn’t do much for me – maybe it was too stylized or somehow a little precious.
There’s a nice cover by Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston and it looks like they’re having a great time. But how could you ignore Rupert Everett (and company’s) version in My Best Friend’s Wedding?! Cringe-worthy, to be sure, but a tribute to how universally beloved that song is!
And to Eclectic Music Lover, I, too, procrastinated all through college and grad school. I convinced myself I did my best writing under pressure, at the very last moment…but never produced anything even remotely before it was due, so no way to really compare!
I guess I ignored it because it’s cringe worthy! Yeah, it is very hard to beat Aretha at anything.