🔊 Audio To Wait For Love - Single Mix in Stereo!

Harry

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Most of us know the story of "To Wait For Love". It was the follow-up to "This Guy's...", was another Burt Bacharach composition that Herb was doing, was highly anticipated as the lead single from the next album. But that 1968 single was in mono, and when Herb finally got WARM ready for release, he went back into the studio and re-did his lead vocal on "To Wait For Love". He also shortened the track by about 15 seconds or so for the album. So for years, we've been left with the mono single as the only issuance of that early lead vocal.

I've always wondered, but had no proof, if there was a stereo version of that original single. It seemed to me that I listened to an FM radio station that prided itself on playing popular stuff in stereo, and I couldn't imagine them playing the mono single for the length of time that the song was climbing the chart. No it wasn't a huge hit, only managing a #51 in the main Billboard Top 100, though getting up to #2 on the US A/C chart. That station DID play the record for quite awhile until the follow-up "Zazuiera" was released.

So, was there a stereo version of that first single? Turns out the answer is yes, and the good news is that I've located one. It was one of those rare white-label 45s pressed specially for FM stations that broadcast in stereo. The bad news is that -----> it was processed in HAECO-CSG!

So, the single arrived this weekend and I cleaned it, digitized it, and set about using my PhaseBug filter in Audacity to rid the single of the dreaded CSG processing. Thus, it occurs to me, that any radio station that played this stereo single did so back in 1968-69, and it probably hasn't been heard since, other than the mono singles we might have in our collections. Given the CSG processing, I'm theorizing that NO-ONE, other than the record's creators, have heard this mix in stereo - and never with the corrected phasing. Thus, I'm calling this a World Premiere. Enjoy!

 
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Great find. And nice job fixing it up!! I remember Zazuiera getting lots of airplay on WNEW (a major New York) radio station, but I can't remember hearing To Wait For Love. Maybe I blocked it out because I never liked it. But Zazuiera sounded great even coming from a little radio.
 
Yeah, I'd love to find a stereo "Zazuiera". They might be out there.

Now that I think of it, a better find would be a stereo version of the compressed "Without Her", since "Zazuiera" never had any kind of alternate mix.
 
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That's great, Harry! I have my own special story regarding the To Wait For Love single. For Christmas in 1969 I had got the "America" LP as a Christmas gift from my parents. Right after Christmas I longed like crazy for more Herb stuff, and went down to one of the music stores in Oslo city. However, I could only afford to buy a single and the store had two: This Guy's in Love/A Quiet Tear and To Wait For Love/Bud. As I already had A Quiet Tear on the America LP I went for To Wait For Love, which really was a disappointment to me. At the time, I had no idea that Herb was singing, and I was not too impressed. Bud helped a little but not all that much... Funny what you can remember from what happened 54 years ago...

Greetings from the north
Martin
 
Great Mix the true single version in Stereo sound excellent I wish I had this in my collection it's one of several of those oddities I missed out on and wasn't aware of. Great job Harry 👏
 
Great Mix the true single version in Stereo sound excellent I wish I had this in my collection it's one of several of those oddities I missed out on and wasn't aware of. Great job Harry 👏
Same here! This sounds beautiful!!! Oh, man I wish this was on Warm -- Herb sounds more focused and definitive with his delivery.

A+ job, Harry!
 
This stereo mix is just mellifluous! Very nicely done, Harry. I am coming off of a weekend of playing my entire Herb Alpert collection and the mood is still with me. Now it continues on🎺 Thanks
 
My first time hearing the single version, and in stereo no less! Thanks for that Harry, it sounds great!
 
Most excellent, Thank you.

Sorry if this has been asked before; why did Herb re-record the vocal for Warm?
 
I think that's a big unanswered question, but I at least have a theory. "To Wait For Love" didn't tear up the charts the way "This Guy's In Love With You" did, yet both songs have the same pedigree. Herb must've asked others and perhaps himself what went wrong and someone (himself?) came to a conclusion that his vocal track didn't have the same quality as the prior song. So another attempt was made.

There's a little difference in the backing mix too. In this single version, the backing singers are centered along with Herb. In the album version those same singers are placed in the left of the stereo. So, was it a lead vocal problem that was perceived? A mix problem? How about a length? The album version cuts off about 15 seconds sooner.

I don't know. Just guesses and theories is all I've got.
 
I believe the vocal for "This Guy.." was Herb's first take and was deemed perfect by his "brain trust". perhaps he tried to repeat with "TWFL" and as you mentioned, was disappointed when lightning did not strike twice in the charts.
 
I have my own theories too, the biggest one of which is "it's very hard to make lightning strike twice." "This Guy" was definitely a lightning strike, and was probably always destined to make Herb a one-vocal-hit wonder.

Still, there are a few other things I can think of that might have been in play:

1. There were a lot of other "singer" records out by then, that had more of a small-band feel rather than the big orchestral feel of "To Wait For Love." In other words, it didn't sound like a contemporary record, it sounded more like an E-Z listening record.

2. "This Guy" had a very spare arrangement (except on the choruses, of course) so it made Herb's vocal stand out. On "To Wait," the vocal is more surrounded by other instruments. I can't quite put my finger on it but the "feel" of that record is just very different from "This Guy."

3. Even though he'd just just had a Number One record, Herb was still mainly known as a trumpeter and the TJB was rapidly being overshadowed by rock bands and singer/songwriters on the charts.
 
Most of us know the story of "To Wait For Love". It was the follow-up to "This Guy's...", was another Burt Bacharach composition that Herb was doing, was highly anticipated as the lead single from the next album. But that 1968 single was in mono, and when Herb finally got WARM ready for release, he went back into the studio and re-did his lead vocal on "To Wait For Love". He also shortened the track by about 15 seconds or so for the album. So for years, we've been left with the mono single as the only issuance of that early lead vocal.

I've always wondered, but had no proof, if there was a stereo version of that original single. It seemed to me that I listened to an FM radio station that prided itself on playing popular stuff in stereo, and I couldn't imagine them playing the mono single for the length of time that the song was climbing the chart. No it wasn't a huge hit, only managing a #51 in the main Billboard Top 100, though getting up to #2 on the US A/C chart. That station DID play the record for quite awhile until the follow-up "Zazuiera" was released.

So, was there a stereo version of that first single? Turns out the answer is yes, and the good news is that I've located one. It was one of those rare white-label 45s pressed specially for FM stations that broadcast in stereo. The bad news is that -----> it was processed in HAECO-CSG!

So, the single arrived this weekend and I cleaned it, digitized it, and set about using my PhaseBug filter in Audacity to rid the single of the dreaded CSG processing. Thus, it occurs to me, that any radio station that played this stereo single did so back in 1968-69, and it probably hasn't been heard since, other than the mono singles we might have in our collections. Given the CSG processing, I'm theorizing that NO-ONE, other than the record's creators, have heard this mix in stereo - and never with the corrected phasing. Thus, I'm calling this a World Premiere. Enjoy!


Thank you. This is wonderful. It's so strange to hear the song sound so "intimate," compared to the bigger-than-life album mix. Quite a contrast.
 
"To Wait For Love" didn't tear up the charts the way "This Guy's In Love With You" did, yet both songs have the same pedigree. Herb must've asked others and perhaps himself what went wrong ......
My personal opinion is that 'This Guy's In Love With You is just a better song. It is more tuneful, and thus easier to sing, which makes it more memorable.
 
I like to listen to this song as the back half of a "two-fer" with Marjorine. I try to imagine Marjoine as a past-her-prime chanteuse getting a second chance at love, or at least she's trying for a second chance with a guy who also feels a bit "washed up" in the love department...maybe her former manager or partner or something like that. Of course, it could work both ways, so maybe the guy is singing TWFL after running into her after many years apart.
 
Didn't Little Anthony from Little Anthony and The Imperials also do a cover of "To Wait For Love"? I thought I remember hearing his version, but I'm not too sure if it was him or not. Like I always say, would like to know!
 
I've looked through numerous albums and singles of theirs and show nothing for "To Wait for Love."

What I do see are:

Tony Orlando
Tom Jones
Jay & The Americans
Jackie DeShannon
Nick Noble
Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra
Patty Page
Eydie Gorme
 
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