Burt and the "Promises" score

[Steve Schenck]

I'm sitting here listening to the "Promises" cast album... No matter how often I listen to it, it's thrilling. It's getting close to 40 years old now, but it still sounds fresh and new, a true sign of a classic!... I'm especially hooked on the overture and I'm wondering - given that Burt himself did not actually arrange the songs for the show, has anyone ever heard what Burt thought of Jonathan Tunick's arrangements? He's the guy who got his break arranging this show and went on to become one of the Broadway's premier arrangers. He is the personal favorite of Steve Sondheim... Listening to the arrangements, it seems clear - to me at least - that Tunick must have listened long and carefully to Burt's arrangements. In the beginning, I used to think Burt must have arranged the songs, they sounded so like his work... Only when I read the album cover carefully did I realize that he didn't. And when you think of it, of course, he couldn't have arranged the show. The time schedule is so tight, and re-writes can be constant. While he was writing the tunes with Hal, someone else had to be entrusted with arranging what would ultimately be the final show. But listen to that overture! What a talent to be able to take the songs and create an overture that is so thoroughly Bacharach!... As I listen to that score again and again over all these years, these pieces stand out as favorites for me: number one, the overture! Then, Turkey Lurkey Time. Next, Knowing When to Leave, then Grapes of Roth, and then the exquisite Whoever You Are, I Love You. The other songs are fine, and some of them excellent, but these are incredible pieces that you can hear again and again and never tire of. I still wish I could get hold of the sheet music for Grapes of Roth and finally figure out the time signature of those opening measures... What a thrill it must have been to be session musicians for that recording... I have played that overture and those other pieces for young music students and they marvel at it. Ditto Burt's recording of Knowing When to Leave from his 1970 album... Well, this is a long post, but I don't want to forget the original question - did anyone ever come across or hear of Burt's thoughts on Jonathan Tunick's arrangements of his songs? If you had told me Burt himself arranged those songs, I wouldn't have a hard time believing it! Steve

[Rio]

Bacharach gave Tunick detailed instructions as to what he wanted down to what the drums should be playing. Tunick said also (discussion after matinee of City Center's revival of PP in 1996) that he learned enormously from Bacharach and that made all the difference in his career, as he used that lavishly ever since, beginning with (and especially) in Company. Burt even taught him how to read drum charts, according to a Sondheim site.

[Steve Schenck]

Hey, Rio - Thanks for that info! That was really interesting. I saw that Encores show in NY and never knew Jonathan Tunick was there... of course, he naturally would be, wouldn't he... But I have heard of other musicians also saying they learned so much from working with BB. Lee Ritenour, bass player par excellence and frequent session musician, once said in a Stereo Review album that BB was the most demanding but most accomplished and satisfying musician he ever worked with. He said that often Burt would actually indicate which inversions of guitar chords he wanted the guitarists to play and when... In a book about Michael Bennet, I remember him also saying something about the influence of BB on his, Bennet's, own career. He did the choreography for PP, and then went on to Company and so much more. They used Burt's idea about having off-stage or in-the-pit voices to complement the orchestra, and miked the show the way a recording studio mikes voices... Thanks for adding another interesting piece of the puzzle of BB's genius!