"Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles, most notably by Jack Jones in 1963. That recording earned the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male, and peaked at number fourteen on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Easy Listening chart. "Wives and Lovers" is a song of advice to married women, to stay attractive and attentive to their husbands to avoid their husbands straying with "girls at the office". The song originated when Bacharach and David were asked to write a song with the title "Wives and Lovers", on the theme of marital infidelity, as a promotional tie-in for the 1963 film Wives and Lovers. The song did not appear in the film but was intended simply to promote the film; which made it what was known at the time as an "exploitation song". Similarly, the song "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," which Bacharach and David wrote in 1962, promoted, but was not featured in, the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Other versions
Burt Bacharach recorded "Wives and Lovers" with orchestra and chorus and released the song as single B-side of "Trains and Boats and Planes" in 1965 on London Records and included it on the album Hit Maker! Burt Bacharach Plays the Burt Bacharach Hits of the same year.
Bacharach and David produced their version with Dionne Warwick in 1963Ref? for Scepter. The 1965 album featuring the song called The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick.
Vic Damone version was released as single in 1963; B-side was "Oooh! Look-A There Ain't She Pretty?"
Jack Jones' 1963 single on Kapp Records earned him a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance. Jones was accompanied by an orchestra directed by Pete King; the B-side was "Toys in the Attic." In 1979, he released a disco version of the song on the LP Nobody Does It Better.
Andy Williams – The Wonderful World of Andy Williams. Andy also performed the song live with Burt Bacharach, his orchestra & chorus as part of a medley of Burt's songs on The Andy Williams Show on April 28, 1968.
Frank Sinatra with Count Basie and His Orchestra – It Might as Well Be Swing It was later mentioned by Burt Bacharach that while the song was in 3/4 time, the performance was in 4/4 time as "the Basie band can’t play in 3/4."
Nancy Wilson – Today, Tomorrow, Forever, a double single issued by Capitol in 1964 with arrangements by Kenny Dennis. This version is featured on the 2004 label compilation Blue Note Plays Burt Bacharach.
Grant Green recorded the song in 1965, but was not released until 1990 on the reissue of Matador.
Obscure Christopher Scott's Moog Plays Switched-On Bacharach for Decca Records in 1969, exploiting Wendy Carlos' success with her interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach on the Moog synthesizer in 1968.
Mark Laub and the Music Minus One Orchestra - Bacharach Organized – Music Minus One Organ, arranged and conducted by Jack Six.
Jack Six – Bacharach Revisited – 10 Backgrounds for Male Singers
British organist Ena Baga included the song on Happy Hammond Plays Bacharach.
The song is featured playing on a radio in the very first "For Better or For Worse" comic strip by Lynn Johnston.
The Jack Jones recording plays in the movie Goodfellas as Karen shows off her new house to Belle Kessler.
The Warwick version of the song was played during the opening credits of The First Wives Club.
The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps performed "Wives and Lovers" along with other music by Burt Bacharach in their 2011 production entitled The Beat My Heart Skipped. Blue Devils received a score of 97.800 and 2nd place.
