Davide Bonori just sent me the most recent version of his excellent Bacharach discography.
Alec Cumming sent in the link to this long, incisive essay/review, Burt Bacharach Comes Back, from the New York Review of Books.
At the request of several people, I’ve decided to start featuring a few “rare” Bacharach MP3 files on a rotating basis. I say “rare” because these tracks are fairly well known to the more devoted Bacharach aficionados, although to many more fans, these tracks will be new.
First up are three cuts from a Japanese Bacharach collection entitled Burt Bacharach Songbook (MCA 1997).
Saturday Sunshine–Burt Bacharach (this vocal version is different from the one that appears on “Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits”)
Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)–Babs Tino
I Cry More–Alan Dale
Two new Bacharach records to be on the lookout for… The Love Songs of Burt Bacharach (Uni/Hip O Records) is on the whole a predictable collection of 18 greatest hits that aren’t terribly … “lovey.” The Reel Bacharach,on the other hand, is a collection of songs composed for films notable for its inclusion of more than a few tracks previously unavailable (or not readily availabe) on Bacharach collections, including B.J. Thomas’ “Long Ago Tomorrow,” Mark Lindsay’s “Something Big,” Richard Chamberlain’s “Rome Will Never Leave Us” and “Seconds,” a rare collaboration between Burt and lyricist Neil Simon performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips.
Yeah, Baby! The new Austin Powers movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me, opens on June 11.
Its soundtrack features a rendetion of “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” by the dynamic duo of Bacharach and Costello, who also reportedly make a cameo in the film.
It’s been forever since I updated this page, but thankfully the river of Burtformation has kept flowing through the forum.
Thanks to everyone who has posted news there in the past six months. A few items of business: First of all, Happy Birthday to Burt! On May 12, Burt turned 70, a fact we here at A House Is Not A Homepage are (almost) sure of thanks to the firsthand research of forum contributor Robert H. de La Garza.
The theatrically named Nando van Kleeff recently submitted this fabulously hip photo of Burt along with a RealAudio file of Burt and Noel Gallagher’s rendition of “This Guy’s In Love with You.”. Thanks!
Bill Minnick wrote to report three upcoming Burt releases: The Reel (movie music) on Hip-O, June 22; 20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection on UMG/A&M, July 13; and the long-awaited Promises, Promises OST on Rykodisc, July 13.
And finally, I’m still trying to get an official word on Burt’s summer appearances, but as of right now the only two dates I know of are the ones listed on the Ticketmaster site, Atlanta July 10 and Detroit July 11. Chech out Ticketmaster.com for details.
Congratulations to Burt and Elvis, who won a Grammy last night in the “Pop Collaboration with Vocals” category for the song “I Still Have That Other Girl.”
Happy New Year, everyone! Apologies as always for the long absence of updates, but with the Bacharach forum going so well, most crucial Burt info gets distributed independent of this page. The new year has greeted me with good news and bad news. The good news is that I’ve got a brand new bondi blue computer that will make working on the page from home much more feasible than before. The bad news is that my hard drive at work chose this week to crash on me; I lost virtually everything on it, which included virtually all of the Burt audio files. No, they weren’t backed up. It’s going to take a few weeks to reassemble an audio library.
The plus is that I’ll be rerecording the audio files as MP3 files, so the quality should be excellent. Also, I updated the Burt hits list to include every Burt composed song to reach the U.S. Hot 100 (plus a few singles that bubbled under). If I’ve left anything out, please let me know. Cheers.
Hello all. Back from Japan, where I had the opportunity to buy a stack of (mostly) Japanese only Bacharach CDs (including On The Flip Side) and meet graphic designer Kazuya Ito and his wife, two of Japan’s biggest Bacharach fanatics.
There’s been lots of Burt news to report recently. Including?
Burt appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on Friday, Nov. 27, where he accompanied on piano Elvis Costello in an incredible version of “This House Is Empty Now.”
On December 3, 1998, Elvis and Burt are scheduled to appear on Barbara Walters The View talk show, where they’ll chat with show hosts and perform “This House Is Empty Now.”
The television special “Burt Bacharach: One Amazing Night,” recorded April 8, 1998, in New York was released on both CD and video on November 24 by N2K Music. The television special?which as you no doubt know features Bacharach’s songs covered live by Sheryl Crow, All Saints, Elvis Costello, Chrissie Hynde, Mike Myers, Wynonna, Ben Folds Five, Barenaked Ladies, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn & George Duke, Dionne Warwick, and Burt himself?will be rebroadcast on Dec. 9 on PBS and Dec. 25 on cable network TNT. The special also aired on TNT on Nov. 18.
And beginning on Dec.
10, 1998, at 12 pm, Eastern, http://www.rocktropolis.com will present the on-demand Internet broadcast of “One Amazing Night.”
On Nov. 21, Elvis and Burt appeared on the PBS television program Sessions at West 54th.
On November 28, BBC2 broadcast Burt and Elvis’ Royal Festival Hall concert, recorded in October.
On Nov. 3, Varese Vintage released More from the Burt Bacharach Songbook, which features Burt songs as performed by the likes of Nancy Sinatra, Perry Como, Brenda Lee, et al.
In April 1999, Verve will release The Sweetest Punch: Songs of Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach: Arranged by Bill Frisell, a reinterpretation of the entire Painted From Memory album by guitarist Frisell. The predominantly instrumental record will reportedly feature two tracks with vocals by, respectively, Elvis Costello and Cassandra Wilson.
That’s all I can think of right now. If I’ve left out any major recent or upcoming events, let me know about it, okay? Okay.
Sorry for the lack of updates to the site lately, but the drought will have to continue for at least a little while longer. I’ m going to be visiting friends in Japan fro
m Nov. 10?23, and in all probability I won’t be able to do updates or answer email during that time. Hopefully, though, I’ll have the chance to meet at least one Burt fan in Japan who’s written me. Cheers!
