Upcoming Cherry Red 4 CD set release

[Alistair]

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/bur ... f375ba3fb8

Three CDs of early Bacharach songs plus a CD of his influences. Out in July.

Alistair

[pljms]

There can't be many compilations that feature not only the likes of 'Peggy's In The Pantry', 'Underneath The Overpass' and 'Three Wheels On My Wagon', but also works by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg and Henry Cowell! As for the three discs of early stuff, I should imagine that most if not all of the tracks have featured on previous 'Early Bacharach' compilations. However, it's curious that while 'Tower Of Strength' by Gene McDaniels is absent from this compilation, its answer record, 'You Don't Have To Be A Tower Of Strength' by Gloria Lynn, is included. An oversight on the compilers' part?

[Sara D]

However, it's curious that while 'Tower Of Strength' by Gene McDaniels is absent from this compilation, its answer record, 'You Don't Have To Be A Tower Of Strength' by Gloria Lynn, is included. An oversight on the compilers' part?

Even if there was a licensing problem with the Gene McDaniels recording, which I doubt considering the amount of times it has featured on previous compilations, they could have always included Frankie Vaughan's UK no.1 hit version instead.

[pljms]

While Bacharach would have been very gratified that Frankie Vaughan's version of 'Tower Of Strength' gave him his third UK no.1, he was reported as saying that he thought the tempo was too brisk. That was a common complaint from Burt over the years so did he ever think that the tempo had been too slow on a recording of one of his songs? Yes, and it's a record he both arranged and produced himself, namely Dionne Warwick's version of 'Promises, Promises'. As he mused during a radio interview given in 2010 to promote the Broadway revival of PP, is it any wonder that she was able to negotiate those tricky time changes with such apparent ease when the tempo was so leisurely?

[mark]

I always associated Cherry Red with post punk, so it's a happy surprise to learn of this. At some point, I should go through my Apple Music library and figure out which rarities I still don't have legitimate versions of. Do I really need "One Part Dog, Nine Parts Cat" on CD?

[Jim Dixon]

As for the three discs of early stuff, I should imagine that most if not all of the tracks have featured on previous 'Early Bacharach' compilations.

That's correct, and specifically, on three single-disc collections put out by the same company several years back.
The new set largely reproduces these three discs:

https://www.discogs.com/release/2026289 ... gs-1954-58
Various – Burt Bacharach: The First Book of Songs 1954-58

https://www.discogs.com/release/8905044 ... er-1959-61
Various - Long Ago Last Summer 1959-61

https://www.discogs.com/release/8913761 ... rself-1962
Various – Make It Easy On Yourself 1962

It even re-uses the same titles for each individual volume of the new set. But there are about 20 or so tracks that were swapped out. Generally speaking, the tracks unique to the new set are less obscure than the tracks unique to the three single-disc collections. They have put several rarities from the Ace "Always Something There to Remind Me" collection in the new box, and also some commonly available stuff by Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, The Drifters, etc.