The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Hearing the news that Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul And Mary fame had passed away a few days ago reminded me that he was the featured vocalist on 'The Young Grow Younger Every Day' from Bacharach's 'Futures' album. Although the song contains one killer Bacharahian chord change in the verses I've always been slightly disconcerted by the first line of the chorus and its musical similarity to "Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?" from 'Auld Lang Syne'. It was probably the first time I'd heard anything composed by Burt which was in any way derivative of another work, although as it turned out it wouldn't be the last.

The Henry Mancini-esque 'Lisa' has always been a bit of an anomaly in Bacharach's recorded output and maybe that accounts for the dearth of cover versions. Here's one of only two recordings of the song other than Burt's and it's a jazzy instrumental interpretation.

R.I.P. Richard Chamberlain....

'blue'

I'd forgotten how haunting the guitar riff is in Blue Guitar, an early Bacharach & David obscurity and the A-side of Richard Chamberlain's original recording of Close To You. I say 'obscurity' but I see that it peaked just outside Billboard's Top 40 in 1963. I see also that it features a Bacharach arrangement.

Sara D wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 6:09 am I'd forgotten how haunting the guitar riff is in Blue Guitar, an early Bacharach & David obscurity and the A-side of Richard Chamberlain's original recording of Close To You. I say 'obscurity' but I see that it peaked just outside Billboard's Top 40 in 1963. I see also that it features a Bacharach arrangement.

Very nice arrangement.