Chicago-based Vee-Jay Records head a&r man Calvin Carter brought back "Make It Easy on Yourself" from a trip to New York City scouting song publishers. Carter played the demo of "Make It Easy on Yourself" — featuring Dionne Warwick's vocal — for Vee-Jay artist Jerry Butler who commented: "Man, it's a great song, and the girl who's singing it, and the arrangement, is a hit." When Carter explained that Florence Greenberg, the owner of Scepter Records who'd recently signed Warwick, was not interested in "Make It Easy on Yourself" Butler recalls being "ecstatic" and, wanting the same arrangement featured on the demo flew to New York City to record the song in a session overseen by Burt Bacharach (although Bacharach's official credit was limited to arranger). "Make It Easy on Yourself" was rele