The Way to San Jose

A few weeks ago I was sitting next to Burt Bacharach on an overstuffed sofa in his living room at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. We were the only ones in the house, and it was a gloriously warm early autumn afternoon, with the ocean fog just starting to roll in. I was there to interview the last of the great songwriters for the Wall Street Journal. The peg? Burt's new musical—Some Lovers—which begins previews at San Diego's Old Globe on Saturday. My article on Burt is in today's paper—or online if you're a subscriber. On Monday I will start a multipart JazzWax series on Burt and my visit with him.

For now, a few words about one of Burt's masterpieces—Do You Know the Way to San Jose—which is probably my favorite Burt Bacharach/Hal David tune after Alfie. (Promises, Promises and One Less Bell to Answer are up there, too.)

Though the melody, tempo and arrangement are cheery, the words tell a different story. The lyrics are about a Los Angeles transplant who couldn't make it and has had it with the city's freeways, stars who never were and disposable culture, and wants to return to the sanity and tranquility of San Jose (hey, it was 1968).

That's Gary Chester [pictured] on drums—the East Coast's Hal Blaine who recorded on hundreds of pop recordings in the '60s and '70s. When I saw Hal Blaine a few weeks ago in New York, I asked if he had known Chester. Hal said he never got a chance to meet him but wished he had since, he said, he had admired his work for years. [You may recall that Gary Chester is on drums in D.A. Pennebaker's Audition at RCA, featuring Dave Lambert.]

I find it's impossible to keep my feet still while listening to Do You Know the Way to San Jose. Dionne Warwick won her first Grammy for the song in 1968. and while Dionne's smokey, urgent voice is intoxicating, dig Gary Chester's driving bass drum and wiry brushwork. Remarkable.

We'll pick up on my conversation with Burt on Monday. Plenty of posts between now and then though. And be sure to stop by on Thanksgiving. I'll be serving quite a feast.

JazzWax clips: Let's have a listen to a handful of great Do You Know the Way to San Joses:

Here's Dionne Warwick...



Here's Bobby Timmons...



Here's Rumer...



And here's Frankie Goes to Hollywood...