A House Is Not a Home (song)

"A House Is Not a Home"
French EP release
Song by Dionne Warwick
from the album Make Way for Dionne Warwick
A-side	"You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)"
Released	1964
Recorded	1964 at Bell Sound Studios, Manhattan, Ed Smith, Engineer
Genre	Soul
Length	3:08
Label	Scepter
Songwriter(s)	Burt Bacharach, Hal David
Producer(s)	Burt Bacharach, Hal David

"A House Is Not a Home" is a 1964 ballad recorded by American singer Dionne Warwick, and written by the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1964 film of the same name, starring Shelley Winters and Robert Taylor. The song was a modest hit in the United States for Warwick, peaking at #71 on the pop singles chart as the B-side of the top 40 single, "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)". Another version of the song, by Brook Benton, which was the version that appeared in the film, was released at nearly the same time. It debuted two weeks earlier on the Billboard Hot 100. Benton's version split airplay with Warwick's, and ultimately peaked at #75.

Warwick's version of "A House Is Not a Home" fared better in Canada, where it was a top 40 hit, peaking at #37. The ballad made the R&B top 10 in Cashbox by both Warwick and Benton, with neither artist specified as best seller.

Despite its modest initial success, the song went on to achieve greater renown through frequent recordings by other artists, including a hit version in 1981 by Luther Vandross.

Production[]

The Warwick single was performed in the key of F major, and it is most often played in that key in jazz interpretations. Bacharach recorded and performs the song in the key of A-flat major.

Luther Vandross version[]

The song was recorded by R&B/soul singer-songwriter Luther Vandross on his 1981 debut album Never Too Much. The track, which was recorded at seven minutes long, was released as a single and became an R&B hit, and later one of Vandross's signature songs. His performance of the song at the 1988 NAACP Awards telecast would bring Warwick to tears.

In 2009, Essence magazine included Vandross's version of the song in their list of the "25 Best Slow Jams of All Time".^[1]

Vandross's version was sampled by Twista on "Slow Jamz" from his 2004 studio album Kamikaze.

Other versions[]

• Following the original singles by Warwick and Benton, Bacharach himself recorded the song for his 1965 debut Hit Maker!: Burt Bacharach plays the Burt Bacharach Hits.
• Ella Fitzgerald included this on her 1969 live album
• The Temptations and The Supremes recorded a version for their joint album
• Julie Rogers recorded the song for her 1964 debut album Julie Rogers (which also featured her rendition of "The Love of a Boy").
• Ronnie Carroll recorded the song for his 1965 album Carroll Calling.
• The Anita Kerr Singers recorded an a cappella arrangement on their 1969 album .
• Della Reese recorded a version for her 1967 album Della on Strings of Blue.
• Lainie Kazan recorded a version for her 1968 album Love is Lainie.
• Cher released a version on her 1968 album Backstage.
• Shirley Bassey included a version on her 1968 album 12 of Those Songs.
• Mavis Staples recorded the song for her 1969 album Mavis Staples.
• British singer Lulu recorded the song for her 1969 album Lulu's Album.
• English rock duo The Marbles performed the song and was released on the group's 1970 self-titled album.^[2]
• Dusty Springfield performed the song with Bacharach on the 1970 television special Another Evening With Burt Bacharach (a performance she was "quite proud of").^[3]
• Barbra Streisand recorded a medley of the song with "One Less Bell to Answer" (the 5th Dimension hit) for her 1971 album Barbra Joan Streisand.
• Dakota Stanton recorded the song for her 1972 album with organist Groove Holmes "Madame Foo-Foo".
• In 2001, Japanese reggae artists , released a reggae version of the song that very closely follows the melodies and styles of the original.^[4]
• In 2002, Lynne Arriale recorded the song on her album Inspiration.
• Ronald Isley would record his own version with Bacharach, in 2003, using essentially the same template as Luther Vandross, for the album Here I Am: Isley meets Bacharach.
• In 2005, Aretha Franklin recorded it for the tribute album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. The song won her the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards, her second in the category.
• In 2007, Marcia Hines recorded the songs for her album Life.
• In 2010, the song was reused in the revival of Promises, Promises.
• In 2012, Steps included the song on their festive themed album, Light Up the World.
• In 2014, Warwick released a duet version of the song with singer Ne-Yo on .^[5]

Instrumental versions[]

• Various jazz musicians have performed and recorded the song, and it has thus acquired the status of a jazz standard.
• Sonny Rollins recorded a version at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival, released on The Cutting Edge.
• Bill Evans recorded the song for his 1977 album I Will Say Goodbye in the key of B flat major
• In 1993, pianist Joe Sample included the song on the album Invitation.
• In 1995, another instrumental rendition was released on saxophonist Nelson Rangell's album Destiny.^[6]
• In 2004, Eliane Elias included the song in her album Dreamer.
• In 1968, Stevie Wonder recorded an instrumental version of this song on his album "Eivets Rednow".
• In 1972, alto saxophonist Karl "Cannonball" Bryan, with the Soul Vendors featuring Jackie Mittoo on keyboards, recorded the song as a reggae instrumental released as a single on Studio One with a B-side dub version called "A House is Not a Dub".*
• In 2011, the Blue Devils played the song as the opener to their 2011 show, "The Beat My Heart Skipped". The show consisted of Burt Bacharach's music.^[7]

In popular culture[]

• Psychedelic band Love parodied the song's title on their album Forever Changes in 1967, by naming one of their songs "A House Is Not a Motel".
• The song is parodied in SpongeBob SquarePants episode, "Welcome to the Chum Bucket".
• Peter Hammill parodied the title on his album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage in 1974, naming the lengthy final number "A Louse Is Not a Home".
• In the song "Coming Home" by P. Diddy, the song is referenced.
• "A House Is Not a Home" was one of several Bacharach/David hits added to the score of the 2010 Broadway revival of Promises, Promises (a Bacharach/David musical from 1968). It was performed by Kristin Chenoweth and later recorded again for her album "The Art of Elegance".
• The song was performed twice in "Home", the sixteenth episode of the television series Glee, once by Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith, and once by Matthew Morrison and Kristin Chenoweth as part of a medley with "One Less Bell to Answer".

References[]

External links[]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics