The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

King of cool
Rockers come and go, but Burt Bacharach's edgy pop still swings

By ANDREW DANSBY
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent ... 24390.html

The linked article was a pretty good one. Thanks for providing it! One thing that I think many people - writers and others - who comment on Burt "from the outside" miss, is that he knowingly went into uncharted waters in the mid-late 70s. His "Futures" and "Woman" albums were decidedly different, and not for mass popular consumption as, say, the Butch Cassidy album and the Greatest Hits albums were. They didn't represent an inability to continue his golden touch; they represented a venture in a different direction, with or without popular support.

I recall hearing Burt on a talk show in the early 70s (it may have been Mike Douglas) saying that with the royalties from a song like "Raindrops," he could afford to do other music, music he wanted to do, wanted to experiment with, even though it wouldn't bring in the cash and hit the charts like "Raindrops" did. He considered that a luxurious advantage.

Just a single listen to "Futures" and "Woman" makes it clear that they are different. Few of the songs have lyrics. That's more than just a result of the split with Hal. Burt was doing a different kind of music; he could afford to, and he wanted to. He even said more recently that it was something he had to get out of his system.

I, for one, am so glad he did. I love his songs, his pop hits, the sung ones with which I love to sing along. But I also love those intense, introspective and sometimes explosive symphonic explorations on those other albums. He could never have done those starting out... he could never have afforded to do them.

I know that in the 70s and part of the 80s Burt did experience some shadow time, some slump that he did not want to experience. But casual commentators roll everything together and say things like "He just couldn't write like he used to." The truth is, he could, but didn't want to. He wanted to write new and different material; and HE DID! And IT IS EXCELLENT!

Sadly, when the day comes that Burt passes on, these exquisite, never-to-be-imitated albums may just be revisited by the public, and finally appreciated for what they contain. For those of us who have carefully listened to BB all along, it will not be a new discovery, but it will be sweet nonetheless.

Futures and Woman: Greatest Lp, Greatest compositions.

Bye
Roberto

Hi Rio,Steve,Roberto.
"Futures" and "Woman" are two vastly underrated Bacharach albums,
Didn't care for them when they first came out, but now know they
are works of "Genius"...........Time will tell !!!

Take care,
"Blue"