"Any Day Now"

[MikeFromHolland]

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From an interview with the composer of the song, Burt Bacharach (born: May 12, 1928) in May 2015:

Any great singers you wish you’d have worked with? Could you have worked with Elvis Presley, for example?

I doubt it, although he did record Any Day Now, and that’s one of those things where you think, “Great!”, and you hear it and it’s not so great.

Burt Bacharach in 2014.jpg

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/21/30-minutes-with-burt-bacharach-interview

He also composed the music for "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" with Hal David.




Bob Hilliard (January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) wrote the words for Any Day Now.



The original version of the song was recorded by Chuck Jackson in February 1962 and reached number 23 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2 in the R&B chart.
Here we see him in 1965 with composer Bacharach on the organ:

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Elvis recorded his version on February 21, 1969 at the American Sound Studios. It became the B-side for his hit-single "In The Ghetto" which was released in April that year:

In The Ghetto Any Day Now.jpg

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Some Early versions - released before February 1969


Dee Dee Sharp - 1962
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Peter and Gordon - July 1965
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Tom Jones - January 1967
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Oscar Toney Jr - 1967
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Some Later versions - released after April 1969


The composer himself recorded Any Day Now, and released it in May 1969. That’s one of those things where you think, “Great!”, and you hear it and it’s not so great:

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Faron Young - 1982
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Ronnie Milsap - 1982
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Steve Tyrell - February 2015
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Sources
http://www.poplartunes.nl/any_day_now.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_OS04Sn1Oo
https://secondhandsongs.com/work/5995/versions#nav-entity

[The Pirate]

"You hear it, and it's not so great." Oh well, he's still a brilliant songwriter.

[Tony C]

Amazing comment from Burt, I think Elvis' version is superb.

[paulshakeyeta]

I'm surprised by that I love Elvis' version. But each to there own! I prefer Chuck Jacksons tho. One Burt song I wish Elvis had recorded was The Answer To Everything

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[drjohncarpenter]

"You hear it, and it's not so great." Oh well, he's still a brilliant songwriter.

The complete answer is not in the original post.

If you go back and read the full quote from this May 2015 interview, what Burt Bacharach actually means is he does not like the arrangement of "Any Day Now."

Any great singers you wish you’d have worked with? Could you have worked with Elvis Presley, for example?

I doubt it, although he did record Any Day Now, and that’s one of those things where you think, “Great!”, and you hear it and it’s not so great. It was the same thing with Sinatra and the Count Basie band, with Quincy Jones producing. They did Wives and Lovers, which is in 3/4 time, but they did it in 4/4. I said, “Quincy, what happened?” He said: “The Basie band can’t play in 3/4.”

Context is always important.

[brian]

Burt Bacharach should have written a song specifically for Elvis. Then Elvis should have taken it and released it as a single.

[The Pirate]

"You hear it, and it's not so great." Oh well, he's still a brilliant songwriter.

The complete answer is not in the original post.

If you go back and read the full quote from this May 2015 interview, what Burt Bacharach actually means is he does not like the arrangement of "Any Day Now."

Any great singers you wish you’d have worked with? Could you have worked with Elvis Presley, for example?

I doubt it, although he did record Any Day Now, and that’s one of those things where you think, “Great!”, and you hear it and it’s not so great. It was the same thing with Sinatra and the Count Basie band, with Quincy Jones producing. They did Wives and Lovers, which is in 3/4 time, but they did it in 4/4. I said, “Quincy, what happened?” He said: “The Basie band can’t play in 3/4.”

Context is always important.

Thanks for that, and yes you're right it does make a difference. But I still disagree with him, and I think I would regardless of it being Elvis doing the vocal. It's a fine arrangement.

[drjohncarpenter]

The complete answer is not in the original post.

If you go back and read the full quote from this May 2015 interview, what Burt Bacharach actually means is he does not like the arrangement of "Any Day Now."

Any great singers you wish you’d have worked with? Could you have worked with Elvis Presley, for example?

I doubt it, although he did record Any Day Now, and that’s one of those things where you think, “Great!”, and you hear it and it’s not so great. It was the same thing with Sinatra and the Count Basie band, with Quincy Jones producing. They did Wives and Lovers, which is in 3/4 time, but they did it in 4/4. I said, “Quincy, what happened?” He said: “The Basie band can’t play in 3/4.”

Context is always important.

Thanks for that, and yes you're right it does make a difference. But I still disagree with him, and I think I would regardless of it being Elvis doing the vocal. It's a fine arrangement.

My pleasure.

I agree that the 1969 Presley release is superb in all respects. And Chips Moman's arrangement and production are based off of the 1962 Chuck Jackson single, which Burt Bacharach must have known and appreciated.

[Juan Luis]

There isn't any credit for Chips Moman arranging "Any Day Now". It goes to Mike Leech and Glen Spreen. As for production, the credit goes to both Chips Moman and Felton Jarvis.

[stevelecher]

This song is somewhat overrated by fans, based on when and with whom it was recorded. His voice always seemed strained to me on this and hearing the outtakes confirmed it.

[Juan Luis]

Elvis had trouble with that one. Not one usable take. Vocal repairs later done and edited to make one flawless performance.

[stevelecher]

Elvis had trouble with that one. Not one usable take. Vocal repairs later done and edited to make one flawless performance.

Not totally flawless. You can still hear the difficulty.

[SteamrollerBlues]

I'm with Pirate and Doc on this. I think Elvis' version is superb.

[Juan Luis]

Elvis had trouble with that one. Not one usable take. Vocal repairs later done and edited to make one flawless performance.

Not totally flawless. You can still hear the difficulty.

I meant free from the "frogs in his throat" that ruined the takes.

[Eggrert]

This song is somewhat overrated by fans, based on when and with whom it was recorded. His voice always seemed strained to me on this and hearing the outtakes confirmed it.

Agreed. I'm not a big fan of the song in any case, but as you said, Elvis' versions are pretty strained. Honestly, I think that's true of a few American Sound tracks...

[midnightx]

Burt Bacharach should have written a song specifically for Elvis. Then Elvis should have taken it and released it as a single.

Bacharach would not have given up 50% of his publishing or complied with other publishing demands from Presley's management, so it is unlikely Elvis would have recorded a submitted song.

[YDKM]

yes i too think Elvis's version is Superb!~

[drjohncarpenter]

Funny, I have never thought of Elvis's vocal in Any Day Now as strained. To me it's passionate and very emotional, the middle section where it's just Elvis singing is exquisite and his desperate cries at the end, "don't fly away my beautiful bird", are genuinely moving. Another song he made his own.

Agree 110%

It is a tremendous performance, and without a doubt one of the finest B-sides of his career. I can't imagine how thrilling it must have been for a fan who had gotten excited all over again about Elvis Presley after his recent TV special, to take home the new single of "In The Ghetto" and be stunned by the astounding quality of both that and the flip side. The talent was no longer hidden away in garbage movie soundtracks.

[Fabbe]

I think Elvis sounds great ! Our man went the extra mile to create those vocals




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[TCBell]

"He also composed the music for "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" with Hal David." - yes, but not to be confused with Elvis's I'll Never Fall In Love Again which was written by Scotland's own Lonnie Donegan!

ANY DAY NOW rocks!

[The Pirate]

There was a famous incident with Burt during the recording session for Alfie, with Cilla Black. He was totally unable to recognise that the perfect take had already been committed to tape, and made her repeat the song over and over until eventually George Martin stepped in, and diplomatically suggested that maybe Burt had missed the take in question. So this is not without precedent. Perhaps he's just a perfectionist?

[DarrylMac]

Any Day Now by Elvis is absolutely superb - one of the highlight from the session. It's the epitome of blue eyed soul, and his vocal, to me, is sublime. When I've played it for people, the overwhelming comment is - wow, why didn't he do more like that, it's fantastic. I often then play Only The Strong Survive, another favourite, soul flavoured performance with an equally affecting vocal, just to show it wasn't a fluke!

I could really imagine Elvis moving from working with Chips to perhaps going down to Muscle Shoals to spend some time with RIck Hall - Elvis worked with a few of the original swampers, and he might have felt at home there. Who knows what might have come out of it!

[r&b]

Funny, I have never thought of Elvis's vocal in Any Day Now as strained. To me it's passionate and very emotional, the middle section where it's just Elvis singing is exquisite and his desperate cries at the end, "don't fly away my beautiful bird", are genuinely moving. Another song he made his own.

Its a great version and really the last time his voice was able to reach that high register in such a manner. I hear no strain at all.

[Juan Luis]

Funny, I have never thought of Elvis's vocal in Any Day Now as strained. To me it's passionate and very emotional, the middle section where it's just Elvis singing is exquisite and his desperate cries at the end, "don't fly away my beautiful bird", are genuinely moving. Another song he made his own.

Its a great version and really the last time his voice was able to reach that high register in such a manner. I hear no strain at all.

Never complete. The middle vocal part was overdubbed later. There's a strain alright. That being said. Great record.

[skatterbrane]

Elvis' Any Day Now is fantastic. Elvis could sing with both hands tied behind his back. I actually like Any Day Now MUCH better than In The Ghetto.