Burt Bacharach Cover LP's?...Any suggestions appreciated!

[Ian T]

Hello Burt Fans

My name is Ian (from England) and I'm a huge lover of easy and exotica music; devoting far too many pleasurable hours to trawling charity / thrift shops, car boot sales and even rubbish tips for easy and exotic music on vinyl. (Hauled some great stuff from rubbish skips over the years too!)

I'm presently writing a labour of love article for a web-site on Burt Bacharach Cover LP's...that is to say...LP's full of Burt Bacharach compositions sung or played by other artists.

The British market is full of such LP's, some fantastic; some awful(!) most of which came out in the late sixties or early seventies.

I'd like to pick the brains of any regular browsers / participants here to ask if anyone knows of any good / bad or indifferent ones?

I already have the ones listed below and will be writing reviews over the next few months...hopefully to finish the article in time for Burt's birthday.

Be great to hear about...then pursue....any more...particularly perhaps Bacharach songs sung in other languages or utterly different styles. (Any Tijuana / Progressive Pysch / Hip-Hop Bacharach out there??)

The web site I'm writing for is strictly non-profit / non-selling / non-advertising etc & contributions for consideration are voluntary .... it's for genuine lovers of esoteric music...and there's a lot of Burt fans that visit!

Happy to hear of any good one -trackers too eg....I love the Enoch Light version of Bond Street ; The Mike Sammes Singers version of To Wait For Love and Lenny Dee's fantastically simple 'Odds & Ends'.

Any help very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Ian





Stan Getz - ‘The Special Magic of Stan Getz & Burt Bacharach’ (Verve 1967)

Many
‘Tribute to Burt Bacharach & Jim Webb’ (Contour 1969)

101 Strings - ‘Plays Hits of Today featuring songs by Jim Webb and Burt Bacharach’ (Marble Arch, 1969)

18th Century Corporation - ‘Bacharach Baroque’ (Sunset 1969)

Pete Moore – ‘Plays the Best of Bacharach’ (Rediffusion, 1970)

‘Tribute to Burt Bacharach’ – (A&M, 1970)

Strings For Pleasure - ‘play The Best of Bacharach’ (MFP, 1971)

‘Beatles, Bach, Bacharach Go Bossa’ (MFP 1971)

The Tony Mansell Singers – ‘Hits from Burt Bacharach with Love’ (Stereo Gold Award 1971)

The Sunset Festival Orchestra – ‘Non-Stop Bacharach’ (Sunset 1971)

‘Beatles, Bach, Bacharach Go Bossa’ (MFP 1971)

‘The Phase 4 World of Burt Bacharach’ (Decca 1972)

Ena Baga ‘The Happy Hammond plays the Hits of Burt Bacharach’ (Hallmark, 1972)

Band of the Royal Marines - ‘Play Burt Bacharach’ (Studio Two 1974)

The Anita Kerr Singers -‘The Burt Bacharach Songbook’ (Gold Star 1974)

Christopher Scott – ‘Bacharach Moog’ (197?)

[Steve S]

Ian - I may be mistaken, but I think there was an album of Burt/Hal tunes by Ferrante & Teicher(spelling?). These were two guys who played 2 pianos together and they made numerous albums in the 60s and 70s. Might be worth checking out. Steve S

[vincent.cole]

Bonjour Ian T;

There is a great 1968 CD called;

"Cal Tjader Sounds Out Burt Bacharach[/b]"!

It has a great, "My Little Red Book".

I am sure you will like the whole CD.

[Ian T]

Steve & Vincent...thanks to both of you.

Steve S
Spellings fine! I have a fair bit of Ferrante & Teicher already...I really like their gently funky 'Getting Together' LP .... which incidentally has a light and airy 'Raindrops Keep Falling' on it. Didn't know they did a Burt LP ...great news!

Vincent
What I've heard of Cal Tjader I really like...and the prospect of some jazz Latin Bacharach appeals BIG time. On the jazz tip I'm loving the Special Magic of Getz & Bacharach at the moment...Stan turns 'Windows' on it's head; turning it into a very upbeat and chippy lil' number. .

I'll be Gemmin' and Bayin' for them both .....much appreciated.

Any more suggestions greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

[mark]

Hi Ian,

Sorry for my delay in getting back back to you, but things are a little hectic here.

If you haven't already, please visit Stefan's website, the Hitmaker Archive, a database that aspires to document every known recording of every known Bacharach composition. It doesn't really cover cover albums, per se, but it gives you an idea of the variety of performers to cover Bacharach.

I honestly don't have too many single-artist Bacharach cover LPs, and a lot of the ones I do have are fairly anonymous easy listening records--the Longines Symphonette Society, the Mellow Moods Orchestra, the Living Marimbas, Frank Chaksfield, etc. I'm sure there were hundreds. There are a few excellent easy listening records--like Anita Kerr's--and a few excellent "novelty" LPs--like Christopher Scott's Switched On and Switched On II--but it seems to me the best Bacharach cover LPs are the ones by more established performers. The Cal Tjader LP is probably my favorite, but I really love the Stan Getz album, too. A lot of performers in the day seemed to put a few Bacharach-David recordings on albums that weren't entirely Bacharach-David cover albums. For example, Tony Mottola's Warm Wild and Wonderful features Do You Know the Way to San Jose and This Guy's In Love With You.

This may be outside your realm, but there are some great Bacharach compilations I've picked up over the years on CD that have turned me on to amazing cover versions. A few of my faves are Blue Bacharach, Lounge Legend, The Readymade Hall of Fame (Japan), Lippy Lip Bacharach (Japan), Whip Hip Bacharach (Japan) and The Rare Bacharach (Australia).

The John Zorn compiled Great Jewish Music is also one of my favorites, offering some eclectic, avant garde-leaning versions. I also think Bill Frisell's The Sweetest Punch is amazing and I like McCoy Tyner's What the World Needs Now.

As you can see, I've got a bias toward Bacharach recordings I've got on CD. I guess I'm getting too lazy in my old age to use my turntable.

If you need more info, please let me know. I could probably even pull some of the CD compilations I've got off the rack to see if they list the LPs on which the original recordings appeared. That might give you a few leads.

Good luck,

Mark

[kyleburke]

There is Johnny Matthis' double-LP set, one devoted to Burt Bacharach, the other to Burt Kaempfert.

Also, though not 100% covers per se, Ed Ames' LP "The Songs of Bacharach and David".

[Ian T]

Mark

Many thanks for your help...check your private mail.

Kyle

Thanks for those recommendations...actually you jogged my memory on the Johnny Mathis one though I think it was reduced to a single LP for it's British release...but I'll check.

Anyone out there still want to add any more....they'll be most appreciated. I'm keen to write a very comprehensive article!!

Merry Xmas
Happy New Year

Take care

Ian

[Chris]

It was mentioned above as "The Burt Bacharach Songbook" but The Anita Kerr singers released "The Anita Kerr Singers REFLECT On The Hits Of Bacharach And David" in 1969. I believe the above mention was a reissue.

Either way, this album must be owned by all fans of Bacharach. It's an amazing collection of his songs. Containing many, near-definative versions of these songs (In Between The Heartaches, for one)....a great album. Perfect late sixties male/female soft pop harmonies and arrangments.

Also "Frank Chacksfield Plays Bacharach" is another one off the top of my head.

[Ian T]

Chris

Many thanks for assisting in this project. I just secured the Frank Chacksfield one the other day; along with the second Christopher Scott Moog one.

I'm researching at present if the Living Marimbas 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' is a Bacharach cover LP.....

I suspect the Anita Kerr one I have is a re-issue of the 'Reflect' one, purely because mine is on the British Goldstar / Rediffusion label...which did a lot of re-issues.

Collection is growing steadily; some good; some not so.

Cal Tjader's 'Sounds Out Burt Bacharach' is proving to be very elusive on vinyl but I'm a determined gentleman!!

Cheers to all for your help so far....if nothing else I'll update this site with a full listing of all the vinyl Bacharach Covers LP's I find.

Someone, somewhere, sometime may be glad it's here.

(Actually. Burt? If you're viewing?....Switch the 'it's' to 'I'm' .....and you've got yourself a nice starter lyric right there!)

Take care

Ian

[Werner]

these are the acharach cover-titles i own:
- Peter Moore plays the best of Bacharach (rediffusion);
- Chris Hinze: Bacharach Bravo (a Dutch fluteplayer that, i think, made another album with only bacharach covers);
- Terry Baxter his orchestra and chorus: The look of love (4lp-box);
- Rita Reys: Sings the Hits of Burt Bacharach(?);
- Compilation: Rita Reys / Louis van Dyke / Wim Overgaauw / Chris Hinze : The Best of Burt Bacharach (cbs);
- This Guy's in love with you; Burt Bacharach Hits (Discofoon (Dutch Label)).