To Wait For Love

Do you think Lani Hall participated in "To Wait For Love?"

  • Inconclusive

    Votes: 2 22.2%
  • No

    Votes: 5 55.6%
  • Yes

    Votes: 2 22.2%

  • Total voters
    9
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Harry

Charter A&M Corner Member
Staff member
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While listening to "To Wait For Love" the other day, something struck me about it that I'd never considered before. Roughly two minutes into the record, a chorus of backing vocals appears, becoming more prominent in the left channel of the stereo by about 2:30. And then it hit me: is one of the chorus possibly Lani Hall? There are certain times when it seems like it could be her, but I know of no conclusive proof. I'd like to get a consensus here as to what you think.

The stereo version features less of the ending since its shorter, but the chorus is more well-defined with the stereo separation than on the mono single version, which is about 20-30 seconds longer.

Harry
...with his first poll, online...
 
Seeing that this track got an "orchestral" treatment (arranged, likely, by Shorty Rogers?), it could have just been a chorus that was an extension of the orchestra. Hard to tell, really!

-= N =-
 
I have an earlier version of "To Wait For Love," recorded by Tom Jones and released as the B-side of his smash "It's Not Unusual" (Parrot 9737, 1965). Ironic that today Unilateral -- er, Univer$al -- owns the masters of both London/Parrot/Phase 4/Deram etc. and A&M (although Mr. Alpert's own recordings in this end today have been touched on in other topics in the past). Mr. Jones's version -- listed on the label as "To Wait For Love (Is To Waste Your Life Away)" -- clocked in at a mere 1:58. I wonder why the subtitle disappeared when Mr. Alpert recorded it. . . .
 
Harry said:
While listening to "To Wait For Love" the other day, something struck me about it that I'd never considered before. Roughly two minutes into the record, a chorus of backing vocals appears, becoming more prominent in the left channel of the stereo by about 2:30. And then it hit me: is one of the chorus possibly Lani Hall?

As you say, there's nothing definite about it. It sounds similar to the background vocals on "This Guy..." to me.


Capt. Bacardi
...hazarding a guess online...
 
And although I don't have the 45 itself, I do vaguely remember seeing Burt Bacharach himself listed as the arranger on Mr. Alpert's recording thereof, just as in "This Guy's . . . ".
 
I would agree. It's clearly an attempt to make lightning strike twice, but it just doesn't have the oomph of "This Guy." I don't know what it is, the production maybe, but just listen to "This Guy" side by side with just about any other Herb vocal, and it's pretty striking. They just nailed it with "This Guy" and never were able to do it again. Kind of like the Carpenters did it with "Close to You"... Bacharach even admitted that "they really nailed" that song.
 
I'm certain that Lani didn't participate in "To Wait For Love". She had to have been doing her "Sergio Sessions" in the next studio. :laugh:


There is a chorus in a lot of the songs on the WARM album. Particularily on "Sandbox", where it sounds like a bit of a "Whooshing" sound. :twisted:

"Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da" and "Zazuiera" seem to have an Old Time TJB Kinda Sound, however. :cool:

Dave

Gioccho Adesso: Herb Alpert & TJB "To Wait For Love"/"Bud" '45' 964 :D

...Now if only I could find out the difference between the LP and '45' Versions... :wink:
 
Harry said:
While listening to "To Wait For Love" the other day, something struck me about it that I'd never considered before. Roughly two minutes into the record, a chorus of backing vocals appears, becoming more prominent in the left channel of the stereo by about 2:30. And then it hit me: is one of the chorus possibly Lani Hall?

Captain Bacardi said:
As you say, there's nothing definite about it. It sounds similar to the background vocals on "This Guy..." to me.

I agree...I don't think Lani participated in either recording session...the first time they recorded together, to my knowledge was "Summertime"...which was ca. 1971...I think Herb participated in some B66 sessions, though, especially "Like A Lover".

Dan
 
Again, I had no information or evidence that this scenario might be true other rhan my ears. There's something rather Lani-like in one of the female vocalists in that chorus, and after all these years, it just caught my ear.

We know that A&M was a big, happy family, particularly at that time. As suggested, Sergio may have been at work on the CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS album at the sametime that Herb and Burt were working on "To Wait For Love." It's just possible that as they were sweetening the track with the backing vocals, someone grabbed all available singers that happened to be floating around that day, recruiting them for Herb's "next big single." Or for all we know, the budding romance that was to become a thirty year marriage may have already begun at this point...

It's just a thought I had and wanted to run it by the folks here to see what they thought. It's probably more likely that the vocalists on "To Wait For Love" were some of the same ones that worked with Burt Bacharach on his recordings for A&M.

But it sure sounds like Lani to me....

Harry
...explaining his rationale, online...
 
I wouldn't be too sure of her singing on that song. But once again, I have to admit that I like "To Wait for Love" better than "This Guy's in Love With You. :) Joe, is still deciding on his avatar
 
Dave said:
...Now if only I could find out the difference between the LP and '45' Versions..

The 45 version of "To Wait For Love" was released first, long before the WARM album. It was the 45 mono version that got airplay on the radio as the follow-up single to "This Guy's In Love With You."

The main differences are the length and the lead vocal track. The single version is actually longer by about 20 seconds or so, with a slower fade-out that lasts longer. If you listen carefully to the lead vocal track by Herb, you can hear differences in his phrasing, microphone techniques, and presence. I believe there's also a bit of double-tracking by Herb on the single version that might be missing on the stereo album version.

Harry
...explaining, online...
 
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