1964 - Ballad of Hollis Brown

Close The Door Lightly When You Go · Eric Andersen (1966)

So, the “Summer Of Love” happened in ‘67, and now we’re up to #67 and I can’t think of a better song for this spot than the following timelessly relevant single and it’s one of the best things, if not THE best thing Burt Bacharach & Hal David ever did! And it’s one of the hardest songs Hal David ever had to write…Originally set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the fight for racial justice and the assassination deaths of John F. Kennedy, and later, his brother Robert and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the song’s message has inspired countless millions and continues to inspire to this day…In fact, it is such a culturally important piece of music that last year (2023), it was added to The Library Of Congress’ Recording Registry…So today, our song apropos is the eternally poignant “What The World Needs Now Is Love” by the equally talented Jackie DeShannon (“When You Walk In The Room”, “Bette Davis Eyes”)…
67. JACKIE DESHANNON What The World Needs Now Is Love (1965)





The song and it’s plaintive cries for kindness and selflessness amid a world gone bad seems innocuously simple enough on the surface, but it took forever to write…Co-writer Burt Bacharach had this waltz-like melody and a chorus, written in 1962, that he didn’t know what to do with…But, he didn’t have any words…His songwriting partner Hal David searched his brain for two years to come up with something and then, one day, he wrote down the line, “Lord, we don’t need another mountain.” The verses came quickly and according to Burt, the song essentially “wrote itself” and they were able to complete it within a day or two…It seems many songs are like that…A songwriter can struggle for years to find the right words or a melody and then one day, out of the blue, it just happens by chance…

Initially, the song was offered to their most willing participant (and go-to singer to try out new material), the fabulous Dionne Warwick, but for various reasons (She felt it “too preachy” at the time), she turned it down…So, they gave the song to Jackie DeShannon to see what she could do with it…At first, Burt didn’t want to play the song for Jackie, seeing that Dionne rejected it…Gene Pitney also rejected it, reportedly over a financial dispute…So, you could understand Burt’s reluctance to get burned once again…But fortunately, Jackie loved the song and recorded it on March 23, 1965 at New York’s Bell Sound Studios with all arrangements and production handled by Burt himself…He shouldn’t have been too worried, either, as the song became a huge hit, rising to #7 on the pop charts in the U.S. and even becoming a #1 in Canada! Even Dionne eventually came around to the song, recording it on her 1966 album, “Here Where There Is Love”…





And it only snowballed from there…Some of the greatest artists in the world recorded it, but a few highlights for me include versions by Glenn Yarbrough…





The Chambers Brothers…





Sarah Vaughan…





Diana Ross & The Supremes…





Patty Duke…





Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66…





The Anita Kerr Singers…





The Staple Singers…





Mahalia Jackson…





Tony Bennett…





Tiny Tim…





Tom Clay…





Lyn Collins…





Luther Vandross…





Aimee Mann…





Rick Astley…





Barry Manilow…





Trijntje Oosterhuis…





Carol Duboc…





The Glee Cast…





The Isley Brothers & Santana…





Lisa Loeb…





Cat Power…





Jim James…





Barbra Streisand…





Chicago…





Tank & The Bangas…





Bud Shank…





Wes Montgomery…





Stan Getz…





and of course, Ray Conniff, who covered just about every standard and hit of the Golden Age of Music (60’s, 70’s, 80’s)…





Dionne Warwick even tried the song two more times…First, in a hip hop version with Hip-Hop United that was a Hot 100 hit (#87) again in 1996…





And then, in a more recent version in 2019…





My favorites, The 5th Dimension, even did a live medley featuring it…





And then, after the Orlando nightclub shooting, Broadway even turned out to honor the victims with it…





And even Burt Bacharach himself performed it many times, including this version featured in the very first “Austin Powers” film…





What all these versions show is that no matter your race, creed, color or background, there is a version of this song just for you…And the breadth of artists who have covered the song show just what a timeless, universal message the song represents…

And although I love Jackie’s original, if I had to pick a close second, it would be Rumer’s lovely, stirring and brilliant version here with the string orchestra…





It’s a song that more people should hear in this day and age…In fact, we ALL need to hear and consequently, spread its message! As Marvin Gaye has said, “There’s far too many of you fighting” and we need to stop and look at ourselves in the mirror once in a while and ask ourselves what we’re doing to this world…Have we made it a better place by just us being there, offering a hand to someone in need, encouraging someone with good advice or just sharing a smile? Honestly, HAVE we? The world is a better place just for having you and me in it and the more we can continue that message of love, the better! I will shout it from the rooftops as long as I can! It’s an anthem of the flower power 60’s generation, just as much as it is an anthem, a meditation and a call to action to us now! With all the problems that we face as a world, we don’t need another mountain! And everyone needs love! Everyone deserves love! And the world and every single person in it deserve nothing less!

Recorded 1965 - Ride on Baby