Women - 1979

[marco]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum. Having been a Burt fan since hearing south american getaway and the Carpenters various interpretations of his songs 25 or so years ago I've sought out Burts own recordings. The one album I've never heard and am having difficulty finding is Women from 1979. The choices I have are buying the Box set on CD or the vinyl from abroad. Not owning a Record player it all becomes a little prohibitive! Those that have the Album, can I ask is it worth the price of a record payer or the £50 for the box Set? Also has anyone come across a blog where it's shared for appraisal purposes? This may be a long shot but I look forward to your replies. All the best Marco.

[nowmedical]

Marco,

Woman is the most wonderful album, and reproduced in its entirety on "Something Big" (5-CD set). I'd recommend you buy this. Just wait till you hear "Riverboat" over a decent sound system. Awesome, as they say.

[mserra]

I agrree absolutely with nowmedical's evaluation. With only an addition regading FUTURES an other of the Maestro's most interesting albums he ever produced, in a broad sense. It makes me nuts that the Maestro tends to overlook theese 2 wonderfull albums , that are far ahead of their time.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Burt underestimates Futures and Woman simply because they didn`t sell. As Elvis Costello pointed out< "The man`s all about hits, you know".
Presumably, given his view of contemporary pop, he has come to better understand the accidental intersection of quality and popularity.
Woman is still my favorite Bacharach album; and I would have appreciated Futures more if he had scrapped each of the male vocals on it.

[BachtoBacharach]

Blair, agree totally. Burt's fame grew due to his hit records with Dionne and others. That fame and fortune allowed him to do other projects like 'Woman" and "Futures" but Burt always loved the hits and loved to hear his work on the radio and have it recognized. The recognition brought by those hits also brought an appreciation to his more obscure works. But, as Elvis said, Burt was in the business to make hit records and that was his first love, seems to me, and this gave him his greatest satisfaction and he would not have had the luxury to do those less commercial projects without what the hits brought him. Sadly, in these days, the recording industry bears little resemblence to what we were so accustomed to for the past 50 years and composers these days aren't getting the kind of exposure million selling records like Dionne's I Say A Little Prayer or BJ's Raindrops got Burt. Memorable melodies seem to be a thing of the past, although that is probably the most broad and vague generalization, it sure seems to be that way.