Geico Insurance ad

[ron hertel]

Back in the early 70's Burt filmed a car commercial on the plaza in front of the building where my office was located in San Diego for the Lincoln Towncar. I watched from a distance for quite some time as they did take after take after take. Perhaps a bit ironic considering some of the comments on this topic - Burt's only line in the Lincoln ad was "I'VE GOT MY STANDARDS" Burt looks as healthy as ever - just never resorted to the "nip and tuck stuff" and has maintained his weight through the years.
May we all look as good as we approach 80!

[mario serra]

I must say that at the beginning of the concert in Forlì,on july 8th,Burt appeard very fatigued: Maybe due to the heat or to jet lag problems.
Anyway he seems to have lost weight compared with his last tour in Italy,in 2004. Let's hope it was a temporary factor.

[vincent.cole]

Ron & Mario;

Let me add my thoughts on this subject.

I last saw Burt at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on July 1, 2006. I was only about 2 feet away from him when he signed my book, ‘Song By Song.’ Burt looked in excellent condition! This was after he gave a 2 hour show and signed autographs for almost 1 ½ hours! I sent a photo to Mark who runs the website. When Mark adds this photo to the site, you be the judge.

I don’t know when the Geico commercial was produce, but seeing Burt 3 times in person this year, he looked fine!

Hey, I hope I look that great if I make it to 78!

[Rio]

Only now did I read this, by KeithBurke:

"Anyone who could have written a piece of music like And The People Were With Her (not to mention why it was written) automatically is exempt from any speculation of ‘cheese factor’. End of story."

I am not familiar with why that composition was written (maybe it relates to Jacqueline Kennedy?), but I otherwise wholeheartedly agree with Keith's point. I can only think some of Mr. Bacharach's best works are not known by (or are beyond the level of comprehension of) a lot of people who nevertheless just won't shut up about what they know nothing about. Although I realize that to keep writing on matters they are not knowledgeable is precisely what most journalists, almost of necessity, are all about, I can't help but think of Oscar Wilde's aphorism in connection with the snide remarks some of them make about Mr. Bacharach and/or his music:

"Caricature is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius."

----
By the way, I wrote this for Amazon, re the album Make It Easy on Yourself (up there in my estimation, with the self-titled BB album in which we find And the People):

One of the very best albums ever, February 6, 1999

This is one of those great albums that Bacharach recorded at A&M. Make It Easy on Yourself is superb, and might just be my favorite. Perhaps what one will find most rewarding about this album is that relatively unknown compositions such as Pacific Coast Highway, She's Gone Away, Knowing When to Leave, Whoever You Are (I Love You), and Wanting Things, are unspeakably beautiful --that's all I can say... Lots of people seem to think they know Bacharach because they know Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, or I'll Never Fall In Love Again, for instance --but this album gives everyone a chance to find out what Bacharach is all about. It is clear enough that Bacharach's music should never have been labeled (by some) as "easy listening." But what this album does is show that his music (understood to include his arrangements) often is not easy to listen to either. It is too beautiful --and often too sad-- for that.

[KeithBurke]

I whole heartily agree with your assessment of the Make It Easy On Yourself LP, Rio. There is an entire body of work Mr. Bacharach produced which basically has been over-looked by the critics and surprisingly by a lot of the fans.
Much has been said in the press about Burt’s obtaining a new fan base via the Austin Powers movies of the 90’s. Sadly, so many of those new fans identify Mr. Bacharach with almost tongue in cheek versions of I’ll Never Fall In Love and What The World Needs Now. Even the much heralded box sets of the late 90’s featured mostly the greatest hits (albeit with lesser known versions of those hits) and a smattering of the novelty/campy songs of the late 50’s and early 60’s.
Evident by the recent concerts… at least 3/4 of the shows are devoted to the Raindrops, This Guys In Love, Walk On By’s, etc. and while some of the selections from At This Time have been included one can’t help but wonder if any of those selections will be included in future concerts once the ATT hoopla has subsided.
Don’t get me wrong… hearing the tried and true selections is, in many ways, like visiting old friends (after all, many of us would never have been exposed to the unknown Bacharach had it not been for the hits) but are we doomed to quickie medleys of greatest hits for years to come?
I, for one, would love to have included one or two of the lesser known compositions Pacific Coast Highway, And The People Were With Her, Freefall, South America Getaway, Futures, Together, Woman in upcoming concerts. A bone for the die hard fans who have taken the time to explore the “unchartedâ€￾ Bacharach....if you will.

[Rio]

Thanks for your reply. (And for everything else you've done for us.)

I agree with everything you just said. From the box set to the concerts.

[mario serra]

It's realy positive that european and american fans of BB, Finalliy come to a common ground about his music.Roberto Pinardi and My self have written similar considerations, ever since we joined the forum, quite a fiew years ago. The problem is that Burt sometimes seems to be overlooking his previous work of his earlyer yeras.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Keith, you make the point I most recently made last fall after seein Burt in Buffalo. Sure, it`s nice to be In the Presence as he performs and conducts music that will surely live decades after his (and our) demise; but I think a bit more variety is called for. Especially for those of us of a certain age, the bloom long ago wore off the roses of those greatest hits. I suppose I envy those who are still capable of responding with the same enthusiasm to songs they`ve heard ad nauseum for over forty years, but I say "Enough, already"!
I suspect one of the reasons I value the WOMAN album over all the rest is that I was never bludgeoned by those songs on the radio nor forced to hear covers of them by everybody and his dog.
I know Burt has to play popular favorites (Hell, I`m sure the Stones are still trying to get away with "Satisfaction")but people haven`t heard "Look of Love" all their lives--it just seems that way. Once, it was new like everything now familiar. He should take advantage of his current popularity to open up his set list...and his newer audience`s ears.

[Belladonna]

I grew I in the sixties and seventies and I really loved Mr. Bacharach way of composing songs. I watched the Geico commercial and thought it was great. One question I have though is how Mr. Bacharach is sitting and moving. Does he have Parkinson Disease?

[someonenameddavid]

Being a doctor, and getting to shake hands with Burt last April, I can truly say, he doesn't have Parkinson's.... In fact he's probably fitter than alot of the fifty year olds that I deal with ( I do, however treat obscure and difficult diseases )

So guys, quit the speculation... he's good for a while yet and just enjoy the music... it's not healthy to obsess over him.

David

[Bill Minnick]

Someone finally posted the commercial at YouTube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ERRzKNtRAfg&search=bacharach

[The Toe]

I joined the forums just to respond to this topic. Let me say that I am fairly neutral about Burt Bacharach. I enjoy a few of his sixties hits in a sort of guilty way - they -are- catchy if anything. I never felt the need, as others have, to make light of him or anything like that. As a musician myself I don't go in for that sort of thing.

Anyway, I found this page when looking for info about the Geico commercial, because I was rather taken aback by Burt's physical appearance on the commercial. No offense intended, but he looks like a cadaver that is being manipulated like a marionette. I know that that is not a nice image but that is how he looks in the commercial. So I was searching to see how old he is and if he had a stroke or something. Apparently he is in good health for his age so more power to him.

So I wanted to respond to a couple of comments made by some of the posters here. First of all, some of you seem to get very offended by people who make fun of Burt Bacharach. Perhaps even more so than Burt himself, who seems to be rather easy going. As fans you are entitled to be offended if you want to be though. That's OK. But what offends -me- here is that while it seems that it is not OK to view Burt as anything less than a genius, it's OK to put down Charo and Little Richard as "3rd rate celebrities" and so forth and say that it is "demeaning" to Burt to be included with these people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, the Geico commercials came off as making all three celebrity participants look to be slightly insane and sorta sad. Yes, Burt too. And while it is true that Little Richard is definitely way out there and that Charo has been known to act quite silly, neither one of them is any more insane than Burt. So you can blame that perception on the TV commercial producers. What is sad is that all three of the celebrity participants willingly subjected themselves to this because they either needed the money or they craved the spotlight. That spotlight is addictive. You don't see people like Elton John or Bob Dylan etc. etc. doing these things - they need neither money nor attention. I don't know what Burt's motivation was but it has to be one of the two, or maybe both.

Second, and more important, is the fact that both Little Richard and Charo are top-rate musicians. I'd go as far to say that if somebody conducted an informal poll of random participants and asked them to rate the three celebrities on the Geico commercials as musicians that Burt Bacharach would not be listed number one and would probably be number three. Please do not take offense - they are all very talented musicians and a case for any one of them could be made as the "best." And regardless of who would "win" the hypothetical poll, they are all VERY close in terms of talent. There are no losers there.

Since we all know about Burt here, let me just take a minute to remind you of the accomplishments of the other two members of this little group. Little Richard invented rock and roll. Well, that's what he claims anyway. But seriously - the number of people alive who can make that claim and actually have it taken seriously is extremely slim. I'd amend it a little bit to say that Little Richard, along with a handful of others, helped invent rock and roll. He was definitely a pioneer into uncharted musical waters at the time. And "Tutti Frutti" has got to be one of the most recognized songs on the planet and "Good Golly Miss Molly" is not far behind. So regardless of what he's done lately (what have any of these folks done lately besides Geico commercials...) Little Richard is no "third rate celebrity." He's also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Then we have Charo. As she herself noted - everywhere in the world she is known as a great guitar player except in the USA, where she is the "cuchi cuchi" girl; but she's ok with that because she took "cuchi cuchi" all the way to the bank. Not much different from Burt doing the Geico commercial. We all need money, right? And it's us dopey Americans who would rather see some lady say cuchi cuchi repeatedly than play her guitar. That's not Charo's fault. Because she is one of the top Flamenco guitar players on Earth. She was even voted Guitar Magazine's top Spanish guitar player two years in a row. They don't vote you that for saying cuchi cuchi. She was a top player in her early teens, before she ever came to America or was famous here. She has always been a guitarist first and a cuchi cuchi girl second. The only ones who saw her as a cuchi cuchi girl first were some American TV producers. But Charo is cool and she was able to make a lot of money from that stuff, so more power to her too.
And finally - Charo is either 65 years old (most likely) or 55 years old (she claims) but either way I'd much rather look at her than Burt or Little Richard. So there.

Respect for all musicians OK?

[Madeline]

I like all three entertainers. Very much.
The point I would like to make is: The commercial got everyone attention and I'm sure Geico really likes that.

[steveo_1965]

guess I'll jump in here....I find the Geico commercials very much fun...
and despite the critisicm of Charro being too much hoochy coochie, she
still looks incredible....Little Richard has made one as well....It's all
amusing, and Burt is funny as well......that's the bottom line for me..don't care about the social implications of the commercial regarding Burt's image..his stature is wayyyyyyyy beyond questioning... he is a true classic!