The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Details of a new compilation of Burt tracks 1959 - 61:

Thanks for the notice; this album otherwise would have shot past me. I only know a few of these songs and all, obviously, belong in that category Burt himself has called "ordinary". Nevertheless, we`re all this much closer to being "completists". No more trudging through the East Village and elsewhere for old vinyl....

It looks like a fascinating compilation. I've long thought that 'With Open Arms' is one of Bacharach's most beguiling melodies and 'In Times Like These' deserves to be much better known than it is.

Excellent - another CD with undiscovered Bacharach gems - thanks for the heads-up, would have missed this otherwise!
Alistair

I'm lucky enough to have most if not all of these tracks on 6th and 7th generation discs but it will still be great to have them all on one CD. Apart from the 'hits' and the two songs mentioned by Sara, the other classy songs include 'Close' by Keely Smith and 'Your Lips are Warmer than your Heart' by Rosemary June. As for the weird and wonderful, If you think Dick Van Dyke's 'Three Wheels on my Wagon' is bizarre you wait till you hear the two Paul Hampton tracks, 'Two Hour Honeymoon' and 'Creams'! I'm pretty certain that 'With Open Arms' was the first Bacharach tune to really catch my ear in the late 50s with its unexpected melodic and harmonic twist. It's been posted on this forum before but here it is again:

What an extraordinary compilation for Bacharach completists like myself. I own or am at least familiar with about half of the tracks, including the afore-mentioned rarer than rare 'Two-Hour Honeymoon'. It's a 'death record' and so not for the squeamish, although it does feature some very nice alto sax playing!

For those (like me) on a budget, it may be interesting to note that the total price for this album via Amazon U. S. (with shipping) is $22.65; through Amazon U.K. the inclusive price in U. S. dollars is $15.84. Even near-innumerates such as myself will recognise the roughly 30% difference.

I marvel at how Burt grew and changed so drastically as a composer from those earlier songs, many of which were "common" and had none (or very little) of that Bacharach magic that was displayed in his later songs. I can't think of any other songwriter/composer whose talent grew so exponentially. I think that even with "At This Time", Burt showed further growth and depth as a composer.

As those of you who like me ordered this album on Amazon will know, the release date has been put back a week and the disc will now be available from the 18th of June. Here's Keely Smith's 'Close' which is featured in the compilation:

Hi all,

We have more information up at The Second Disc, including full discography, for this just-released anthology:

http://theseconddisc.com/2012/06/21/bab ... st-summer/

Enjoy!

Joe

The compilation is nothing less than a fascinating listen, of course, with more than a few hints of the genius that was only a year or so away from coming into full flower. Here's the title track sung by one Diana Trask:

Yes, it's a fascinating listen but there are several top-notch songs from the years 59-61 which are missing from the compilation. Apart from the hits 'Tower of Strength' and 'Please Stay' (Don't Go) there's Lena Horne's 'Out of my Continental Mind', Johnny Mathis's 'Heavenly' and Sam Butera's 'Love Lessons', not to mention Burt and the Backbeats' 'Move it on the Backbeat'. I appreciate there might have been licensing problems with one or two of the above but I think there inclusion at the expense of some of the novelty songs on the disc would have improved the quality factor no end.

To be fair, the Mathis "Heavenly" was on the first El Bacharach release a couple of years ago. But I would like to have had Lena Horne's "Out Of My Continental Mind" instead of one of the more well known tracks. And isn't "Move It On the Backbeat" available on CD already? (I love this catchy song!)
Alistair

I`ve just finished listening to the whole thing for the first (and probably last) time. As with the other recent collections of proto - Burt songs, the interesting thing is how utterly UNinteresting 99% of them are. Gradually and then, seemingly, abruptly, Burt`s minor eccentricities became a recognisable and, ultimately, revolutionary pop style.
Not even Burt himself can explain the "how-and-why" of its emergence and success.
One song from this collection that I will revisit (like "Who`s Got the Action?" from the Rare Bacharach album) is "The Miracle of Ste Marie", an astonishingly modern-sounding melody, despite its period arrangement. In fact, I think it`s superior to everything that I`ve heard so far from Some Lovers excpt the title song.
I wonder what the status is of that other long-ago-promised anthology Paradise Island (title?). There were interesting tracks slotted that filled still-existing gaps in the currently available recordings from the early years.

I totally agree with you Blair. It's like Burt was a catepillar with his early compositions...and then turned into a butterfly. It's like two entirely different people. That's one thing about Burt that has amazed me over the years -- his total metamorphosis from an average run-of-the-mill kind of songwriter into this dynamic, incredible, earth-shaking genius of a composer. I've never seen anything like it in any other composer. No wonder he wants to disassociate himself from some of his earlier songs. Having said that, I do have a feeling that Burt was the genius that we know right from the start, but simply had to hold back and cut his cloth to fit the music scene that he first entered. He also didn't have the clout, in the early days, to make the records that he wanted to make. I would very much like to discuss this with him if I ever had the chance. Because an incredible transformation definitely occurred.