The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

One of the most unusual songs and suprising authorship is Burt Bacharach penning "My Little Red Book" When i heard that Bacharach had authored this Love single,(the rock group Love) in the mid 60's- I was quite surprised...it's very different...rock like, and has some very unusual minor chord changes...very driving and relentless!
Mr. Sustanato(Sustain chords) really had me hooked now on his chords!

Along with Tom Jones' "Promise Her Anything", "My Little Red Book" (both in its Burt-produced Manfred Mann version and of course the Love cover) is definitely among Bacharach's most rocking compositions. Any others we'd think of as rock songs? (I believe Burt joked once about being frustrated with Arthur Lee's simplification of his chords on "My Little Red Book" -- until the royalty checks started pouring in! Barry Mann tells a similar story, I believe, about the Animals' take on "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place"...)

Hey guys;

Can't forget about the late Cal Tjader's 60's latin jazz version of, "My Little Red Book!"

Nymusicalsguy,
Thanks for the response...well, Promise Her Anything does have a rollicking beat to it, in the Tom Jones version....I love Lyn Murry's smooth instrumental version on the album..it's in the tradition of a Pete King stlyed
orchestration.
Let me think on your question awhile...most of Burt's songs are "moderato"

Vince,
Thanks for the suggestion to check out Cal Tjader's version!
Steveo

Bonjour Steveo;

You really will enjoy it!

Ty Vincent! : )

To respond to an earlier question from NYmusicalsguy about "Burt rock songs" -
I guess Smith's Baby It's you, although I prefer John Lennon's version with the other 2 lads sha-la-la-ing like the Shirelles..
Burt has always had a rock rhythm section to his orchestra, but it is always tasteful, and on the rocks.. like smooth Burbon and Coke. In that genre, i would say Promises, Promises, Grapes of Roth, Bond Street, Freefall, etc. but this concept is different than tha afore mentioned treatment of Baby It's You and My Little Red Book...where songs fall into the hands of "Rock Groups."
There is a kind of "rock cut" on the Casino Royale Album with a bluesish guitar, but I don't know the copyright name he gave to this instrumental tune.It rocks out for a bit, brass and saxes come and go in it.

Steveo

Marty Paich also did a great swinging instrumental of "Promise Her Anything"...where is the Lyn Murray track from, Steve? This has to be one of Bacharach's least-covered compositions yet one of my favorites!

Joe

Joe,
The soundtrack album on Kapp....Burt did not directly do this score, he may have written the cues, but it was arranged and orchestrated by others, namely Lyn Murray, or so I was told.

Steveo

Got it! I believe Burt's sole contribution to the film was the title track, but I've gotta track it down to find how it's used in Murray's orchestral score. Of course, the song also appears on the terrific A-TOM-IC! JONES LP with that explosive cover shot!

For other Bacharach soundtrack ephemera, I have to point everybody in the direction of Sony Japan's long-awaited CD reissue of the soundtrack to THE APRIL FOOLS, with the title song recurring on the disc (Percy Faith contributes one version) and a number of rock-ish songs written by Marvin Hamlisch, soon to share an ex-wife with Burt. I was thrilled to discover this had just come out a couple months back. Highly recommended with great sound.

Joe

I just stumbled across this via Pitchfork.com, so I thought a post would be appropriate.

wow, Mark! awesome!......thanks for the post! I haven't seen this guy
perform since the 60's on tv!

Steveo

steveo_1965 wrote:One of the most unusual songs and suprising authorship is Burt Bacharach penning "My Little Red Book" When i heard that Bacharach had authored this Love single,(the rock group Love) in the mid 60's- I was quite surprised...it's very different...rock like, and has some very unusual minor chord changes...very driving and relentless!
Mr. Sustanato(Sustain chords) really had me hooked now on his chords!

I don't remember Love at all. Nor do I remember Arthur Lee. Were they national?? I loved reading the guy's comments, too! Very funny! If you liked that one, maybe you'd like some of the other songs he put on youtube. Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_favorite ... gwangi4325

(God do I love youtube!!!!)

Enormous,
Oh, yes...Love was national, and had a few big hits, including"My Little Red Book." Another one was called "7 and 7 Is" Regarding their popularity in the UK, I don't know...
Thanks for the link..I'll check it out!
If you want to read some funny comments, view the video of Breakaway by the Beach Boys..(a very excellent song, and one of my 1969 faves...but the comments on Mike Love are well, less than stellar...
I knew Mike, and liked him very much...but this guys comments are
not so complimentary.

Steveo

The only version of My Little Red Book I knew of at the time is the one done by Manfred Mann... and I loved it (without knowing until later it was by Burt!!). I never heard of "7 and 7 is" either. I honestly can't explain how I don't know "Love", considering how well I know the songs of that period (or so I thought).

Vincent, have you heard of them?

The group Love, as it turns out, reading on the Wikipedia, was more popular in Los Angeles, than in other parts of the country, although "My Little Red Book" peaked at 52 nationally.
Love,which was one of the first "underground" type groups(many more groups of this sort were to follow in the psych. era).. recorded 3 albums..and was basically a psychedelic-garage band
styled group.which twinges of folk.
Forever Changes is regarded by critics and fans alike as Love's finest recording. Despite this acclaim, the LP sold poorly in its time, although it reached the top 30 in the UK. Nonetheless, its cult status grew.
Arthur Lee was a strange man, and his radical behavior did not help him
sustain his career...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lee_(musician)#Love