I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore

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"I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore"
Single by Dusty Springfield
from the album Dusty in Memphis
B-side "The Windmills of Your Mind"
ReleasedMay 1969
Recorded1969
Genre R&B
Length3:07
Label Atlantic
45-2623 [1]
Philips
Songwriter Randy Newman
Producers
Dusty Springfield singles chronology
"Breakfast in Bed"
(1969)
"I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore"
(1969)
"Willie & Laura Mae Jones"
(1969)

"I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" is a 1964 song written by Randy Newman. It was first recorded by Jerry Butler in 1964 and released as a single by him (under the title "I Don't Want to Hear Anymore"). [2]

Contents

Writer Kevin Courrier, in his 2005 book Randy Newman's American Dreams, describes the song as about the "ambiguities of romance" with the singer the protagonist in an "ill-fated love affair". [3]

Dusty Springfield version

In April 1969 "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" was announced as the third A-side release from Dusty Springfield's album Dusty in Memphis with "The Windmills of Your Mind" as the B-side. The producer of Dusty in Memphis, Jerry Wexler, was prepared to promote "The Windmills of Your Mind" as the A-side if it won the Academy Award for Best Song, which it duly did. It was subsequently issued as a double-sided promo single. [4] [5] [6] String arranger Arif Mardin described the background vocalists on the song as resembling a Greek chorus in their interactions with Springfield's protagonist. [7] In his 2003 book, Dusty in Memphis, critic Warren Zanes describes the idiosyncratic songwriting of Newman as "reinforcing the backbone of the story that gives [the album] its special shape". [7]

Other versions

The Walker Brothers included a version of the song on their 1965 debut album Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers, sung by Scott Walker. Lorez Alexandria released a 7" single of the song in 1969 with "Hey Jude" as its B-side. [8]

Melissa Manchester recorded it on her 1975 hit album Melissa . [9] Shelby Lynne recorded the song on her 2008 tribute album to Dusty Springfield, Just a Little Lovin' . [10]

References

  1. "Dusty Springfield - I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore/The Windmills of Your Mind at 45cat". 45cat. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. "Jerry Butler - The Windmills of Your Mind/I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  3. Kevin Courrier (2005). Randy Newman's American Dreams. ECW Press. p. 63. ISBN   978-1-55022-690-4.
  4. Howes, Paul (2012). The Complete Dusty Springfield. London: Titan Books. ISBN   9780857681409.
  5. "Dusty Springfield - The Windmills of Your Mind/I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  6. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 26 April 1969. p. 6. ISSN   0006-2510.
  7. 1 2 Warren Zanes (1 September 2003). Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis. A&C Black. ISBN   978-0-8264-1492-2.
  8. "Lorez Alexander - I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  9. "Melissa - Melissa Manchester". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  10. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1211963