Who here Has Seen The Movie The Fool killer?

[steveo_1965]

Anyone here seen the old movie The Fool Killer?
It stars Anthony Perkins and was well, not a great flick I'm
guessing, but I'm wondering if the song Burt and Hal wrote plays against
the main titles...or is it another "inspired by the movie" promo song(not in the film)???????

Steveo

[Steve Schenck]

This is what Serene Dominic has to say about the song:

"No other male singer enjoyed as much access to first-run B/D songs and shared as much chart success with the duo as did Gene Pitney. Who could've anticipated that 'Fool Killer' would be the last time Pitney would work with B/D? A misunderstanding between the composers and Pitney's publisher/manager Aaron Schroeder ensued and the song never made it into the film of the same title. As Pitney comments in Rhino's The Look of Love collection, 'Something went terribly wrong with "Fool Killer." I think it was proposed to Burt and Hal that the song was a done deal for the film and the film people were told it was a done deal with Burt and Hal... or something like that. The relationship between Bacharach and David and Schroeder soured. Because I was signed to Schroeder, this put a wedge in our relationship and things were never the same.'

"It's doubtful this dream-like parable about a runaway orphan who suspects that his giant friend is a mythical ax murderer would've seen as much chart action as 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,' but surely it deserved a wider audience than just the Pitney fans who'd stick around for an album of leftover hits like Gene Pitney's Big Sixteen, Volume Two. Hal David's mysterious lyrics tell of a wandering boy wise beyond his years who is a lot like you but is later revealed to be the singer. The song is lyrically reminiscent of Nat King Cole's hit 'Nature Boy,' and the arrangement for 'Fool Killer' makes similar use of the earlier tune's wandering flute, while Bacharach substitutes a shimmering tremolo guitar where the trance-inducing harp used to be. Pitney cited this as his favorite of the Barach-David tracks he cut, and if one follows the progression of the trio's work together, it's more than a trifle disappointing that publishing politics and pride killed off a winning combination so unlike the one the songwriting team enjoyed with Dionne Warwick.

"It's widely known that B/D penned 'Trains and Boats and Planes' and 'What the World Needs Now' for Pitney, who was forced to find other avenues for his singing talent. In 1965, he would record several duet albums with country music stars (and Muiscor recording artists) George Jones and Melba Montgomery, songs by the then-unknown Randy Newman and several foreign language albums. While his international popularity never flagged, Pitney's status as a hit-maker in the US never fully recoevered the loss of B/D's material." (From "Burt Bacharach, Song by Song," by Serene Dominic) Steve Schenck

[steveo_1965]

Steve,
Thanks so much for putting this on here. i don't have S. Dominic's book(yet), and this helps explain a lot...
I agree with Gene, It's quite a gem of a recording-not commercial-but just a beautiful composition and arrangenment, and it is in the vein of a "NAture Boy"
One time I told Burt I thought it was an excellent tune, to which he responded, "Well, you're probably the only one who's ever heard it!"
He seemed amazed I knew it, and yet a bit disappointed that it didn't
receive any recognition.

Steveo

[ron hertel]

Steve Schenck:

Your input is greatly appreciated. "Fool Killer" along with a number of other BB/HD songs exemplify the fact that I was a Bacharach/David enthusiast before I even knew they existed. As you stated - "Fool Killer" was included on the "Big 16 - Volume 2" LP released back in 1965 - a year after I became a Dionne Warwick devotee with the release of "You'll Never Get To Heaven". I put it all together in 1966 - finally realizing that the common thread running through most of my favorite songs in the late 50's & early 60's was the maestro and his lyricist partner.

It was indeed unfortunate that legalities (and probably mixed with some hard feelings) precluded them from further collaboration. I was further disappointed when Rhino Records did not include it on their 1986 CD release of "Gene Pitney Anthology 1961 - 1968" They did include 4 other Bacharach/David/Pitney hits: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "Only Love Can Break A Heart", "True Love Never Runs Smooth" and "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa".

"Fool Killer" was eventually remastered and is included in a number of Pitney compilations including: "looking through GENE PITNEY the ultimate collection" on Sequel Records (50 recordings).

[steveo_1965]

Ron,
How does the remastered version sound? Is it true to the old vinyl pressing, or are it's frequencies squuezed, and not full sounding..do they change equalization during the song(these are very annoying traits of bad remastering) I'm asking because I haven't heard the remastered
version.

Steveo

[ron hertel]

steveo_1965:

Although I am not qualified to address the quality of the remastered version with the technical expertise that so many of the forum participants possess - the best I can offer is: IT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!

WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF REMASTERS - Bacharach/David/Warwick aficionados who have not yet purchased or downloaded the 3 Rhino Handmade Dionne Warwick remastered Scepter recordings should definitely do so. These were released approximately 3 years ago and were supposedly limited to 5000 numbered copies each. A total of 5 complete Warwick Scepter label albums are included along with a number of bonus tracks on the 3 CDs. FYI - the titles are:

"The Windows Of The World / Valley Of The Dolls"
"Promises Promises / I'll Never Fall In Love Again"
"Very Dionne"

A fourth was released at the same time: "Soulful" the Chips Moman produced Warwick Scepter album containing just one BB/HD track - "All Kinds Of People" in the form of a two song medley.

I expected all 5000 of each would sell out immediately - for some reason they remain available!

[blueonblue]

Special Request........
Please.....does anyone out there in "net land" have the "re-mastered"
version of Gene Pitney's "Fool Killer" they would like to share ?
I'm sure we'd all love to hear this "magnificent" song !!!

Many Thanks,
"blue"

[steveo_1965]

Ron,
Thanks for the information about the remastered Scepter stuff on Rhino.
With the exception of the first few releases on 45 rpm (and then it was a mixed bag, depending on what part of the country one lived), most of the Scepter stuff on 45RPM was pressed on cheap styrene plastic, and was horrible! These 45's tended to wear out after 20 or 30 plays....Don't Make Me Over, Anyone Who Had a Heart and Walk On By were mostly of this type of pressing, but a few pressing plants used vinyl on these 3 numbers...Most teenagers, including myself, could only afford to buy the "latest" single at a record store such as Wallich's Music City in Southern California,(there wqere 5) or a typical teen in NYC at Sam Goody's, etc..or yet more teens buying from the then "new concept" of early "Kmart" type stores, such as Hart's in Ohio, or Gemco here in southern California, etc. These purchases usually bought, when accompanying the parents while doing some major shopping!(remember that, guys?)

As I said, after the first 3 Warwick releases, the notrious styrene plastic(hard, brittle, breakable)was used almost exclusively by Scepter. The trend continued right up until the early 70's. Ironically,when Dionne switched to Warner Brothers the pressings were smooth vinyl, but the hits stopped coming.
This is not to knock Scepter Records, as it took the foresight of a New York
housewife, Florence Greenburg, to form the company, run it, and discover all the great talent she signed...I believe her first success was The Shirelles, on a terrible vinyl pressing of Dedicated To The one I Love.
But part of the success was keeping with the bottom line, and that meant
the cheapest pressings. Other labels were guilty of this as well, including the 45's of A&M's The Carpenters...mid sixties Philles stuff (Phil Spector) was often pressed on cheap vinyl from Mexico, with pretty awful results. (Again, the bottom line was considered)
The Scepter"albums" fared a bit better, and although the plastic used was vinyl, it was also not of high quality...
then CD's came in and rescued the aging master tapes of all of the great artists of the 50's 60's and 70's, and let me tell you, it came just in time...
Sinatra's classic Capitol albums sitting in those vaults on Vine St. in Hollywood were starting to lilt, and even on the early cd releases, the liner notes read "this is the best available material from the master tapes, but please excuse a couple of spots where there are "drop outs" etc"....
So it is with great pleasure that we have these treasured recordings now re-released on such cd compilations as Rhino.

[ron hertel]

steveo_1965,
You're right on the money re: the "cheap styrene plastic" and less than top quality vinyl utilized by Scepter. I have 3 to 5 worn out copies of each those 45s and the LPs which did not sound good from the beginning and got worse with each successive play. For some unknown reason I have not been able to part with them. The Rhino remasters are terrific - you'll find lyrics and nuances you never knew existed. They're available at: rhinohandmade.com for $19.99 each.

[steveo_1965]

Ron,
Thanks again...I'll check the "handmade" cd's out.
Steveo

[steveo_1965]

A Little Legend here on "The Fool Killer"
It was originally a short story byfamous writer O. Henry...
and later a book by someone else....
The lead of the kid was played by Eddie Albert's son, who has
passed on at a fairly young age..(in his 50's)
Tony Perkins plays a psychotic civil war veteran the boy runs into.
The boy runs into "several strange" characters, including actor Henry Hull, who plays a dirty old man(in the literal sense) with smelly clothes, and a dirty residence...etc.. Finally, the boy is sleeping in his bed , and sees the shadow of a huge man (The Giant Killer, I presume...)
The reviews say that the film is uneven, but is not the worst film, and is
interesting to watch.
The synopsis of this flick is strange., and makes me want to see it.

Steveo

[steveo_1965]

and now, someone has posted this great bacharach-david song to youtube, replete with pics of gene pitney..i rather enjoyed it, I hope you will too!



Steveo

[blueonblue]

Thanks Steveo,
Hugely enjoyable !!!.....a "Lost" Classic from Bacharach and David !!!

Thank you for sharing,
"blue"

[Martyn]

Regarding the record pressings discussion a few posts back, I have a book titled "Off the Record" by Joe Smith (1990), which features interviews with big-name recording artists including Burt Bacharach.

Burt mentions his disdain for the poor quality of earlier record pressings though I don't know if this is a reference to the Scepter product. Here's a direct quote from Burt in the book:

I could get very crazy about it, too. Like I'd go out to the pressing plants just to see what they were pressing on, to actually see what kind of garbage they were using. I'd scream at the quality-control people. They'd say, "What are you talking about? We sold 7,000 records in Philadelphia today." And I'd say, "Yeah but if it had really been pressed right, man, you would have sold 11,000 records in Philadelphia today."

Martyn.

[steveo_1965]

Martyn,
To Me, that can only mean one thing, that Burt was bugged by the lousy Scepter pressings..and went out there to the pressing plant in NYC or Jersey to see what he could do...
The author of the book you are quoting from, is that Joe Smith, the record industry giant?
And by the way, MArtyn, just out of curiosity, do you think they would have sold 11,000 with better pressings? As a teen, I remember looking at the 45's and thinking.."Scepter, it's that lousy styrene plastic...but I went ahead and bought it out of love for the Burt/Dionne sound.

Steveo

Steveo