Brilliant Bacharach

What's New Pussycat

Before computers took over, one of the most exciting things you could do in a studio was record a film score. The studios were huge, the orchestras often symphony size, and the film was shown on a cinema-size screen so the composer could conduct his score in sync with it.

In 1965 I was employed as music editor on the film ‘What’s New Pussycat’ for which Burt Bacharach was doing the score. For eight weeks I visited him nearly every day, often operating the Moviola while he looked at sections of the film through its giant magnifying glass and worked out ideas on the piano. But by far the most exciting moment was the day we recorded the title theme with Tom Jones.

A week earlier Burt had called me to pick up a tape of the song he’d written for it. To be honest, it sounded pretty ropey; Burt’s singing voice was dreadful. But I sent it to Tom anyway and the date was booked – an evening session at CTS Studios in Queensway.

There was a great sense of occasion. The orchestra was the biggest the studio could accommodate and everyone was there to watch – the film’s director Clive Donner, the producer Charlie Feldman, Dionne Warwick, who’d flown in from LA to record another song for the film, Peter O’Toole who was one of the stars of the film, and Tom Jones's record producer from EMI, who probably wasn’t going to interfere too much with Burt in charge of things.

Tom was late because his train from Wales was delayed. And when he arrived he wasn’t the polished showbiz personality we know today; he was shy and rather overawed by the occasion.

We hadn’t been able to start without him because Musicians Union rules demanded that recording was done all up – that is, everyone together, and live. The song would be recorded straight onto a three-track half-inch tape, two tracks for the orchestra and BVs, one for Tom.

For a while Burt had been on the rostrum talking to the musicians, running through the parts, altering one or two things. Most of us had been expecting to hear one of the stark minimalist arrangements he did for Dionne, and we were shocked. What were those oompah trombones doing? Where was Burt’s finesse? And those brash, brazen backing voices - Dionne’s records never had any of those.

Then Tom arrived and Burt asked him to go into the vocal booth. The next time the orchestra ran through the song the title sequence of the film was shown too.

In an instant it changed from scrappy rehearsal to Number One hit. It was incredible. Burt had gauged to perfection what would be right for both the film and Tom. His presence on the rostrum was like a switch that turned everyone on to their best.

That first take wasn’t recorded because the sound engineer was still getting the vocal balance, but it could have been the master.

And the next one was. It was totally magnificent, Tom included. How he’d managed to fashion such a great vocal part from the patchy demo we’d sent him, I’ll never know.

But the real genius was Burt.