The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

My condolences to Burt’s family. Yes, it was a day we knew would come. But I am glad he reached the age of 94 and that he kept on writing great music to the end. No other composer’s music has had such an impact on me – it was his late 60s/early 70s solo instrumental albums for A&M that grabbed m...

Here's a gem posted on Youtube by 'AR' - an hour-long concert featuring Burt conducting the Quad City Symphony Orchestra at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa back in 1986. What's interesting is the set list and the arrangements for some of his standards, performed more in the instrumental style o...

I too thought the title of this piece was connected with horse racing. But there are a few references to the piece being written for the widow of Bobby Kennedy, including via the link below (I hope it works). It would seem that this was done without any publicity at the time. http://www.bacharachonl...

And here's that interview. A couple of rare 60s video snippets with Burt and Hal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0wv6-gDuQ

Martyn

Hi Paul, I like Rosemary's version as well. At the 1974 Oscars, Burt and Ann Margret presented the award for Best Original Song. Apart from naming great songs that missed out on an Oscar (including some of his own) Burt asks how a song like 'What are You Doing the Rest of Your Life' could miss out o...

Hi Paul,

Perhaps Babra Streisand is a worthy runner up, in the absence of Lani.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ITvY8sPeWk

Martyn

Hello, I chanced upon an upload on Vimeo of 'Freefall' from Burt's 1971 self-titled album. It was amazingly clear - I heard no background noise or imperfections. Here is a link: https://vimeo.com/216454097 Then there's this crystal clear rendition of 'South American Getaway': https://vimeo.com/22760...

Hi Ken,

Gabriel Raya at Contante & Sonante (the distributor of the CD) may be able to help. I contacted her a while ago about an order I had placed for this title. Here is her email address:

graya@contanteysonante.com

Hope this helps.

Martyn

I too am very sorry to hear this sad news. My condolences to his family. Vincent and I corresponded for many years personally and via the forum topics. We also exchanged rare TV footage and recordings of Burt's. We were going to meet up in Charlotte a couple of years back when I was planning a visit...

Ditto!

Happy Birthday Burt and thanks for all the great music. Glad you are still writing and performing!

Martyn

Thanks for posting this link Martin. What a great song!

It's so like a song Burt would write it's uncanny!

Martyn

Hi Martin, Yes I remember seeing a youtube video interview where Corrine recalls the joy of meeting Burt on that UK tour. I like what SOS did with Herbie Mann's cover of the Bacharach/David song "Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So". A cover of a cover, if you like. They called it 'Certain Shad...

Hello,

Yes, it would appear the film is to be released in North American cinemas later this week, according to this Variety article:

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/chris ... 202501037/

Martyn

I was thrilled to be able to see this show whilst visiting friends in he UK. Previously I'd seen him perform last year in Melbourne and Sydney. The departure from the usual medley format was a refreshing change and hearing the instrumental version of Promises Promises as the opening number was a rea...

[quote="pljms"]Nice one, Martyn. No, it's not always the obvious Bacharach tunes we love the most and 'Freefall' still makes for fascinating listening even after all these years. However, If there is a Jobim influence it wouldn't have been 'The Waters of March' because that was first recor...