The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

"something big"
this is one of my eternal favourite, though i only got a crappy mp3 version! So does anyone got a clue for where to get it, wich album, what year ?

thanx & hi from France

ps) do you love that song too ?

It's one of my favorites too, but I didn't really appreciate it until I heard Jim O'Rourke's faithful cover of it on his CD Eureka.

The original version by Mark Lindsay is available on the excellent CD Reel Music. Burt's (even better) version is on both What The World Needs Now: Bacharach Classics and, appropriately enough, the Hip-O Select box set Something Big.

Good luck finding it!

I dig that wierd time signature at the end..which i think came about by editing...but hey..it's great!

Hi All,

I think YOu'll know how to help me in searching for a vocalist's name for "Something Big" (my very favourite Burt song). I know the singers: Mark Lindsay. That's alright. BUT I NEED THE FEMALE SINGER/S NAME/S! Could You please help? I never heard so beautiful and harmonizing vocals, that's in this song in the refrain..."There'll be joy and there'll be laughter...."

Please help, if You have any idea.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Hah. Identifying the backround singers for that session would be very hard...your best bet is someone who comes on here may have been associated with the session, and remembers....a player, someone
who was interacting with the session, or one the singers themselves!
(Still trying to find out the name of the kid singer on Saturday Sunshine, and if it was a boy or girl)

Steveo

Hi, The original version, by Mark Lindsay, is available on two CD's: The Reel Burt Bacharach (on Hip-O) and the Rare Bacharach 1 (on Raven, a label from Australia). Being a big fan of Mark Lindsay I checked the 45 (remember them!) and saw that it was arranged by John D'Andrea who also produced Mark Lindsay's last Columbia solo album, "You've Got A Friend" which was recorded in Hollywood, Ca. around the same time he recorded "Something Big". So, the background vocalists could be any number of vocalists who were in demand around that time. The 45 was produced by Mark LIndsay, himself, so maybe get to his website and put your question out there and maybe someone can come up with the answer.
Three of the much in demand singers of that time were: Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews and Venetta Fields, but since Mark Lindsay did not add "Something Big" to any of his albums it is hard to say exactly who deserves credit.
And, yes, it most definitely is one of my favorites, too. (I even like Mark Lindsay's version more than Burt Bacharach's, which is not ususally the case!)

Hi,
You've got to listen to Jim O'Rourke's version !!!
In the immortal words of Austin Powers "It's groovy baby......Yeah" !!!

"blue"

Regarding Mark Lindsay's or other relevant versions of "Something Big"
Burt did something which was kind of a stroke of genius, and that is
he sometimes creates a demo, AND along with that demo provides a glorified lead sheet, it's actually a piano-conductor part with some guiding details...the bass line, vocal harmonies,certain instruments, rhythm patterns, so that when when someone else wants to record this tune, they have a guide as to what to convieniently use....this is a brilliant concept...this is a form of protecting the material to a certain degree...and while I know that he doesn't always do this, I believe he did this on Something Big...
So John D' Andrea, while being a fine arranger, also had some written concepts to work with, and wisely chose to reflect a lot of "Burtisms" as well as adding his own touch. I really don't know who did the demo, was it Jim O'Rourke?

Steveo

Hello, It's very helpful to read all the info on a song that is "special" to many of us. I believe Jim O'Rourke's version came out in the late 90's and Mark Lindsay recorded his in 1971, so I'm not sure if Mr. O'Rourke did the original demo.
Comparing Mark Lindsay's version to Burt Bacharach's, you can "hear" some of the "differences" between the two versions, one of the most obvious being that in Mark Lindsay's version the tempo sounds "speeded up" (or faster) and with Burt Bacharach's version, there's a horn solo and a more pronounced horn section.
So I guess one could surmise what was different in John D'Andrea's arrangement from Burt Bacharach's lead sheet. (And I wonder what, if anything, Mark Lindsay added or subtracted from that).
Mark Lindsay was also singing to a different audience in 1971 than the audience that was listening to Burt Bacharach so that might have had an influence as to how the song "sounded".
Again, thank you for all the wonderful info!

Grooverider,
Thanks for your insight into the song and recordings as well. I enjoyed your post.
Steveo
P.S. Hello to my friend Blue!

Hi Steve,
Great to hear from you !!!

"blue"