Anyone Who Had a Heart (song)

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Song
B-side	"The Love of a Boy"

"Anyone Who Had a Heart" is a 1960s song by American songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The song was originally written for Dionne Warwick. Warwick's original (recorded at the same November 1963 session in New York that yielded "Walk On By"), released as a single in 1963 and eventually appearing on her album of the same name, hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top ten hit. The tune was also a crossover smash and hit #6 on the Cashbox R&B Chart (Billboard did not print R&B charts from 11/30/63 to 1/16/65) and #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. Dionne's original peaked at #42 in the UK.

Outside of the US the cover version by British singer Cilla Black is better known; Cilla's first hit, it charted across Europe before the original recording was released overseas, and reached #1 in the UK.

Original recording

The tune was presented to Dionne in unfinished form while she, Hal and Burt were rehearsing in Burt's Manhattan apartment for a recording session a few days hence at Bell Sound Studios in Manhattan. Bacharach had finished the score but Hal had written only about a third of the lyric and was struggling with what Hal regarded a bad accent in the sixth line of the first stanza, which he could not resolve. Burt played a snippet of the tune for Dionne and she fell in love with it and begged Hal to finish it. Hal, according to his 1968 book "What the World Needs Now and Other Love Lyrics", went to Burt's bedroom while Burt and Dionne rehearsed in the living room and finished the lyric. The tune was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in Manhattan in November 1963, days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in the same session as Bacharach and David's "Walk on By" and "In the Land of Make Believe". According to published reports, Warwick nailed the tune in only one take – though another version was released on a compilation LP by Springboard International in 1976. According to David Nathan's 1985 liner notes for "Dionne Warwick Anthology: 1962–1969", a Rhino label compilation LP, this tune was Dionne Warwick's first international million seller.

The song's lyrics describe the pain felt by a singer as she continues to love the person to whom she sings, but is continually hurt by that person. The song, with its many time signatures, was unlike many ballads on the scene in the early 1960s.

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Song

Cilla Black version and other early covers

The song was covered by several 1960s female singers: Vikki Carr, Dusty Springfield and Marlene Dietrich. Most notably, Cilla Black's version – arranged by Johnny Pearson and orchestrated by George Martin – hit Number One in 1964 on the UK Top 75 and Irish Singles Chart. It was the singer's first hit and notable for its place in the contemporary boom for pop music originating from Liverpool. Dionne Warwick maintains to this day that Black's version was a note-for-note copy of hers. On a 1995 production of "Great Performances" highlighting Burt Bacharach, Warwick stated that the cover was so verbatim that if she had coughed or the organ player hit a wrong note in the middle of the song, Black would have done the same thing. In fact - whether intentionally - Black's version features radically different lyrics on the chorus than those recorded by Warwick. On the same "Great Performances" telecast, Black said of her recording, "It was a Number One; Dionne was dead choked, and she's never forgiven me, to this day." Cilla Black's version was released in the UK before Scepter licensee Pye Records could release Warwick's original and Warwick's version - competing not only with Black but with another UK cover by Mary May - reached #42 UK.

Petula Clark recorded the song in French as "Ceux Qui Ont Un Coeur", in German as "Alles ist nun vorbei", in Spanish as "Tú no tienes corazón" and in Italian as "Quelli che hanno un cuore", making it to the top 10 in Italy, 1964. Italian singer Mina performed a version to an unprecedented Italian viewing audience of twenty million watching an episode of the Canzonissima series, scored by Bruno Canfora for an orchestra of 400 people on 14 December 1968.

Later recordings

Over the years the song has become an often-covered standard of excellence with Shirley Bassey,The Four Seasons, and Maureen McGovern. More recently, Luther Vandross both solo and in a duet with Elton John, Wynonna Judd, and Linda Ronstadt have recorded it, along with Jan Graveson, Tim Curry, Bic Runga, Olivia Newton John, Maxine Nightingale, Bec & Beth from Welsh Band The Hot Puppies on 2008 EP "Where we are from, the birds sing a pretty song". Icelandic singer Björk performed an acoustic cover of the song with the Brodsky Quartet. Dionne Warwick recorded the song again in 2006 — this time as a duet with Wynonna — on her debut Concord album, "My Friends and Me".

Sandie Shaw version

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Song
B-side	"Anyone Who Had a Heart (Instrumental)"

Sandie Shaw, one of the few British girl singers who did not cover the song in the 1960s, eventually joined that list during the early 1980s. One of the reasons Shaw did not record the song in the 1960s was because she felt that the emotional content of the lyrics was too strong to be sung by a young girl and should be sung by a more mature woman who had experienced true heartbreak. In 1982, she was introduced to the British Electric Foundation by future husband Nik Powell. The B.E.F. (formerly members of The Human League and later with singer Glenn Gregory would become Heaven 17) asked Shaw to record a song for their Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 1 album on which they intended people to cover old songs and give them an updated electronic sound. At first she recorded a version of The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" but this was scrapped in favor of "Anyone Who Had a Heart." Shaw was particularly proud of her emotional vocals on the song which was subsequently released as a single. She had been in semi-retirement for some years at the time and this release brought attention back to her and she discovered that many current pop stars (including Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders) had been strongly influenced by her work. This proved to be the beginning of her 1980s comeback.

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Song

Atomic Kitten version

Atomic Kitten's 2008 comeback single was a cover of the song "Anyone Who Had a Heart", released as the lead single from Liverpool - The Number Ones Album — an album and project celebrating Liverpool's unique musical heritage having had a world beating 56 Number One singles. It marks Liverpool's status as 2008 European Capital Of Culture. The record and project support six key Liverpool charities.This was also Atomic Kittens final single to ever be released.

The single reached Number 77 in the UK in February 2008.