May 6, 2004
Hot off the press, I have Burt’s updated concert schedule, with new dates announced in Alanta, Dallas, Denver, Hawaii, Los Angeles and New York.

For the complete list, visit the updated On Tour page.

May 5, 2004
Roberto Pinardi reports two new dates have been added to Burt’s summer concert schedule in Italy.

For the complete list, visit the On Tour page.

April 23, 2004
The latest releases in Rhino Handmade’s series of Dionne Warwick reissues have been released and, as you might expect, they’re both outstanding. The Windows of the World/Valley of the Dolls is a deluxe repackaging of two of Dionne’s classic Bacharach-produced albums (Windows was originally issued in 1967 and Valley of the Dolls in 1968) on one CD augmented by a wealth of bonus material.

In addition to classics like “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and the respective title tracks, it includes wonderful lesser-known Bacharach compositions like “Walk Little Dolly,” “As Long As There’s an Apple Tree” and “Another Night.” The reissue of 1970’s Very Dionne features “Check Out Time,” “The Green Grass Starts to Grow” and “They Don’t Give Medals to Yesterday’s Heroes” as well as underappreciated gems like “Who Gets the Guy” and 10 live tracks. Both releases are digitally remastered and were compiled by and feature liner notes by noted R&B expert David Nathan. These limited edition, individually numbered releases are currently available through Rhino Handmade and SoulMusic.com.

An addition to Burt’s upcoming concert schedule: Burt will be performing two dates with the San Diego Symphony this summer as part of its Summer Pops Series, Friday, August 27, and Saturday, August 28.

I’m slowly starting to update the images section, but rather than wait until it’s completely done, I figured I’d post as I go. First, the official publicity photos of Burt and Ron. Second, the cover of Newsweek, June 22, 1970. Thirdly, some newly scanned images from Burt Bacharach Anthology, a sheet music collection.

And, fourthly, Burt’s official press photo. (I also plan to post the 2 MB high-resolution version for use in print media.)

Correspondent Dennis Webb deserves credit for originally posting this to the Discussion Forum, but I thought it would be interesting to re-post here as well.

Apple’s iTunes Music Store has a feature called Celebrity Playlist in which celebrities list and offer comments on the 10 recordings that constitute their ultimate iTunes playlist. Burt was featured in January and listed the following recordings:

“Yesterday” by Shirley Horn
“Un-Break My Heart” by Toni Braxton
“Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton
“Is That All There Is” by Peggy Lee
“What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross
“Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye
“Just Once” by James Ingram
“Baby Come to Me” by James Ingram & Patti Austin
“After the Love is Gone” by Earth, Wind, & Fire

To read Burt’s comments on each recording, visit the iTunes Music Store and click on Celebrity Playlists.

I updated the media section with an excellent 1995 Melody Maker article that may have been contributed by Martin Edwards back in 1997.

Oops.

This just in … new tour dates announced. Burt will be performing three concerts in Italy this summer as well several other newly scheduled dates. For Burt’s full upcoming performance schedule, visit the on tour section.

At long last, we have a new Discussion Forum. This phpBB forum replaces the old server.com forum. The old forum will remain online to direct people to the new forum but eventually it will be deleted. The new forum offers many enhancements over the old forum, not the least of which is an absence of advertisements.

I want to encourage the regular posters to the forum to register with a user name, which enables you to take advantage of the forum’s full range of options.

I added two transcriptions to the lyrics and chords section. Hakan Bremberg sent in the lyrics to “(There Goes) The Forgotten Man” and Paul Rossen sent the lyrics and chords to “I Took My Strength From You.” Thanks to both of you for the contributions.

Burt’s updated concert schedule for next six months.