The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

I don't mean the first song you heard by Bacharach & David but the first one that made an impression on you, enough of an impression for you to make a mental note of the composer rather than just the performer.

For me it was "Where Can You Take a Girl," which I heard sometime in the mid-'80s on WTUL-FM, my local college radio station. I pretty much despised Broadway music at the time, but this song stood out as something entirely different from the overwrought, operatic show tunes I'd been accustomed to. The descending melody of the verse and the soaring chorus are still among my favorite Bacharach moments. It was at that point that I first began to connect the dots between all these disparate songs I loved and the man who composed them.

The first Bacharach composition that made an impression on me was Bond Street from Casino Royale. I thought everything about it was amazing especially the arrangement. After I heard that I became completely obsessed with his music and still am.

The first Bacharach song to make an auteur of me was "Come and Get Me" by Jackie de Shannon.

All the songs in the album "portrait in music".

For me, it was the "Make Way For Dionne Warwick" album. Burt's great arrangements, and especially the strong piano on tracks like "Reach Out For Me" & "The Last One To Be Loved" immediately attracted me to his music. Nobody did chord changes or wrote seductive melodies like him; and with Dionne's voice on "Land of Make Believe" and "Close to You," he was and is my all-time favorite!!

During the "top 40" countdown years - beginning for me in the late 50's and into the early 60's - there was a common thread running through songs such as Magic Moments, Tower Of Strength, Blue On Blue, Be True To Yourself and Fool Killer that made them my favorites (never bothered to check out the composer). Then came Anyone Who Had A Heart with that same common thread (never could understand the DJ's when they rushed through and mispronounced the singer's name "Dye Onny Warlock" or however they attempted to identify Dionne. Then came 1964's You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart. Once again - that same common thread;however, this time I did my homework and learned that the common thread was Burt Bacharach. That was 40 years ago this month and I've been an avid follower ever since.

Bottom Line: the song that did it for me was "You'll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart" although I was an unknowing fan long before Burt, Hal & Dionne released that recording.

Was aware of Bacharach and David mainly because of the early Dionne Warwick songs, particularly favorites like You'll Never Get To Heaven, Reach Out for Me, and Anyone Who Had a Heart. However, it was the soundtrack for Promises Promises that proved to be the watershed moment. Up until then, my musical interest was mainly confined to Top 40 radio fare. Broadway musicals seemed too stodgy and adult for my taste.

I had no intention of purchasing the album until I read a rave review of the show by critic Clive Barnes. (I think he worked for the New York Times back then.) He seemed absolutely enthralled by the music. One of the best musical reviews I've ever read. Couldn't seem to say enough about Bacharach's sweeping melodies, and unusual time signatures. I went out and bought the album that same day.

The first listen was like magic. After that, I wanted to hear anything associated with Bacharach.

Ron, thanks for that post. My parents had some early A&M Bacharach, and that, plus Dione's Promises, Promises, did the trick. I always knew it was all Bacharach&David, I guess. At the same time I fell in love with Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and it is awfully nice to know that Burt loves that too. I listened to those all the time as a kid.
But Ron, would you have that Clive Barns review? I'd love to read it.
Thanks.

Mark;

My pick is; "Don't Make Me Over" in 1962!!! This song just blew me away!

Burt, Dionne and Hal!

There will never be another team as those 3!!!!!!!!!

Take care.

Vincent

In 1968, the biggest thing going on in San Antonio, Texas was the world's fair, called HemisFair '68.

It was exciting, because it brought a good bit of international attention to SA, elevating it from merely a backwater western cow-town to something a bit more sophisticated. Kennedy's assassination and LBJ's administration had already focused the nation's eyes on Texas, as well as the rise of NASA and the building of the Houston Astrodome; San Antonio fuelled Vietnam with its numerous military installations; in the 60's, Texas was enjoying a certain chic. Many new buildings and businesses sprang up because of it, and for a year at least, San Antonio had a new veneer of aesthetic sophistication. Pavilions, rides, theaters, floats, carnivals, headshops and exhibitions were everywhere, as well as countless new eateries, bars, music venues and nightclubs.

Burt's music was everywhere at HemisFair '68 as well... if you wanted to show that you were upwardly mobile, not a hippie, yet still youthfully "with it", you eschewed the usual Texas fare-- C&W music-- and embraced the jazz/Latin/R&B sounds that Burt was king of at the time.

Anyway, my young, good-looking parents were very much involved in organizing HemisFair. I remember I was a six year old when they purchased a brand-new, banana-yellow Ford Galaxie, which I thought was really cool.

Unlike our previous cars, this one came with an upscale FM radio/8-track player that had the rich full sound of FM stereo! The seats were soft velvet velour, and when my parents placed me in the backseat, I inhaled the new car scent, and was transported by the first song I heard playing: "This Guy's In Love (With You)" as sung by Herb Alpert, with its gorgeous strings and piano cascades.

It was on an easy listening station. By 1968, Burt Bacharach was already a household name in the USA, and DJ's very often mentioned his name along with the artists'. That's how unique his songs were.

So I made this association pretty early in life.

The first one I remember loving was Walk On By, as a kid of about 7 in 1964, but had no idea who Dionne Warwick or Burt Bacharach were. Jut know I loved the song. It was not until I heard I Say A Little Prayer by Dionne in 1967 that I recognised that unique Bacharach sound. That is when I discovered Burt and Dionne. It is strange but I remember liking some of Dionne's stuff, like Alfie and Message to Michael, but until I heard "Prayer", it did not click. I liked What the World Needs Now by Jackie DeShannon, but still did not associate it with BB. I think that "Prayer" was a breakthrough commercially for BB and for DW. I understand that it was the first Bacharach single to go gold. The first time I saw Bacharach and Warwick together was on her 1969 special. By then, everyone knew that most all the great tunes Dionne hit with were written by BB and HD. It is incredible to think about what happened with Dionne and Burt beginning with Alfie in mid 67. It was a huge top 15 hit followed by Prayer, a #4 in Nov 67 followed by the #2 Valley of the Dolls in Feb 68 (funny that most people associate the tune with Bacharach instead of Andre Previn!-I did!) followed by the top 10 San Jose in May 68, followed by top 20 Promises in October 68, followed by top 10 This Girl's in Love with You, followed by top 20 You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling in September 69 followed by top ten I'll Never Fall in Love Again in December 69. Eight huge hits for Dionne in a period of a little over two years. Not including such so-called "minor" top 40 hits during that time of Windows of the World, Who Is Gonna Love Me, and The April Fools. All this in addition to the hit tunes Bacharach had with Herb Albert and Aretha's remake of Prayer among others! No wonder by the late sixties Burt was so world recognised! This is the period when I well remember Bacharach's dominance of top 40 radio and that wonderful sound only he could be responsible for.

BachtoBacharach:

Very well stated - In retospect that was a very overwhelming period period of time in terms of the magnitude of the successes that Burt and Dionne experienced together as well as with their collaborations with others. By then I was already an entrenched follower so I could say to my friends "told you so"

The first song i ever learned the words to was "Raindrops". I had a music box that played it when i was a kid. I maybe made up some of my own words...nothing like "I'm never going to stop the rain by complaining because i'm free" but something like"i'm never gonna see the rain by my stayin' into the sea...":-)

The first real song i knew that i loved was "my little black book". Part of it was seeing the movie"What's new pussycat" and thinking that it was neat. Peter O'Toole seemed to be having such a good time while that song was playing. It still is a happy song to me.

"Raindrops" and "My Little Red Book" also spring to my mind when I think of songs that got me interested in Bacharach.

I mentioned "connecting the dots" in my first post. That really describes how I first became interested in Bacharach's music. I had grown up with his music in the background but never really made the connection between the man and all these disparate Top 40 songs by various artists that I had an inexplicable, almost visceral attraction to.

It was only when I was older and started to make a point of noticing songs I liked that I started to realize he was responsible for an extraordinary number of favorites. "Raindrops," which we sang in third-grade music class; the French horn (?) intro of "What the World Needs Now is Love"; the buildup and resolution of Dionne's "Don't Make Me Over"; those two heartbreaking piano chords in "Walk On By"; Love's version of "My Little Red Book"; the gorgeous arrangement of "This Guy's In Love with You"; the chord progresssion of the Carpenters' "Close To You"; the beautiful chorus of "The Look of Love"; all of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"; Aretha Franklin's version of "I Say A Little Prayer for You"; Naked Eyes' version of "There's Always Something There to Remind Me."

It was only after this epiphany that Bacharach was responsible for all this wonderful, deeply felt music that I started to delve deeper into his catalog and I was rewarded with the discovery that what I'd been exposed to was only the tip of the iceberg.