Burt performed a mind-blowingly brilliant show at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Miss., on April 25, and after the show I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet Burt for the first time. I’ll eventually post a full recap of the show in the discussion forum, but in the meantime, here’s a photo. Please excuse the idiotic grin. For what it’s worth, Burt said he is familiar with the Web site and expressed his interest in and appreciation for it. We only spent a few minutes with him, but Burt was charming and gracious beyond the call of duty, and I sincerely appreciate his taking the time to greet four wide-eyed, star-struck fans.

Vocalist Alan Dale died in New York on April 25 after a lengthy illness. Dale’s “I Cry More,” from the film Don’t Knock the Rock (1957), has the distinction of being among the earliest Burt Bacharach compositions to be recorded. Dale was 73.

I added two articles to the media page. Hits, which appeared in the New Yorker, Sept. 14, 1968, and Composer in Tartan Cap, which appeared in the New Yorker, Dec. 21, 1968. The first is a profile of Burt as he returns to New York to begin rehearsals for Promises, Promises; the second is a follow-up visit with Burt as he prepares to go on the Tonight Show to promote Promises, which by then was a major Broadway hit. The articles were transcribed from a fax of copies made from a large, tightly bound volume. When the text was illegible, I either made an educated guess based on the context or used ????s. Thanks to Mark Rozzo for sending me these articles.

The audio link has been non-functioning for quite a while. I had been hosting the audio files on my office PC, and the strain was just too much. So I’m going to try hosting a few mp3s here. The space allocation is fairly small, so I’ll rotate songs on a semi-regular basis. Today, we have three relatively obscure Bacharach tracks: Alan Dale’s “I Cry More,” the Isley Brothers’ “Make It Easy on Yourself (Are You Lonely By Yourself)” and Chuck Jackson’s “The Breaking Point.” “I Cry More” is taken from the 1997 MCA Japan compilation Burt Bacharach Songbook. “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “The Breaking Point” are from the 2001 West Side compilation The Sound of Bacharach. Enjoy!

Vincent Cole submitted this photo of he, his wife and Burt.Thanks, Vincent.

The images page is in desperate need of an update. I was browsing through the images directory and I realized there were quite a few images there that weren’t linked on the images page. So I got rid of the images page. Now, if you go to images, you get a raw index of everything there. It’s not pretty and you don’t get thumbnail views, but at least you get to see all the pics I’ve scanned, downloaded or had mailed to me.

Motown Salutes Bacharach–a new CD featuring Bacharach covers from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross–is scheduled for release in the U.K. on May 6, according to www.amazon.co.uk. No word yet on a domestic release date.

Burt’s updated concert tour itinerary is now available. Also updated from his publicity agency is Burt’s official media bio.

Just for fun, I added the following poll. Because it’s a readymade, I was only able to include 50 songs to choose from, which I’m sure is going to infuriate many of you. I tried to pick the best-known songs with a few highly regarded obscurities. If your favorites are missing, write me and I’ll update the poll to include them.