Sorry for the lack of updates lately (where have I heard that before?), but hopefully you’ve all been checking out the discussion forum for the latest news.

Just a few years ago, Bacharach’s early and/or rare recordings were prized collector’s items. Fans used to trade cassette tapes of scratchy 45s they’d find at garage sales or used record stores. While Rhino’s The Look of Love collection from 1998 included a few relative obscurities, it wasn’t until the last few years that the floodgates have really opened on Bacharach’s early recordings.

One of the first Bacharach rarities collections on CD was 2003’s The Rare Bacharach, a two-disc collection on the Australian label Raven Records that included recordings from everyone from Andy Williams to Sylvester.

Last summer, Ace released Always Something There: A Burt Bacharach Collectors’ Anthology 1952-1969, an excellent single-disc collection that included Nat “King” Cole’s “Once in a Blue Moon,” one of the earliest recordings of a Bacharach song.

Most recently, forum participant robbieindart notes that a new Bacharach rarities collection, Rare Bacharach – The Early Years 1958 – 1965, will be released on July 31 on Rare Rockin’ Records. It looks like another good collection to fill in the gaps for the Burt completeists out there.