The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

In the mid-70s, I was at a concert with Burt in Westbury, Long Island, and he was talking about having recorded a forth-coming album with a university orchestra, if I'm not mistaken. He was lamenting the hassle he would get from Hollywood and union orchestras about doing extra takes, working longer hours, refining the performance, etc.; and he said how refreshing it was to work with young talent in the schools. I believe he said he recorded with a university orchestra from the Philadelphia area. Does anyone know what album he was referring to? I thought, given the time frame, it might have been the Futures album, but in reading the production credits, it just lists A&R recording studios in NY, and says nothing about a university orchestra. Am I imagining all this, or has anyone else heard about it?

It was "Woman."

But wasn't Woman recorded in Houston, with the Houston symphony?

I know nothing of Woman`s history ("between thought and expression", as Lou Reed would have it) but Futures was an exhaustively credited studio album. The Philly connection is new to me.

After checking the album sleeves again, I notice that the Futures album, while recorded in studios in NY and mastered in LA, gives credit to the "Philadelphia Strings," naming them all (13 of them). I'm guessing that's the group Burt referred to when I saw him in concert in the mid-70s. I'll have to hunt around for more information on this "Philadelphia Strings" group... the Woman album sleeve contains this note on the front side, "The music for this album was recorded in one four-hour session on November 2, 1978 at Jones Hall, Houston, Texas." Those must have been some four hours!

I agree! I recall reading somewhere (or maybe it was in that BBC documentary) where Burt said that he kept glancing at the clock during the sessions, wondering why he had decided to record under such pressure. I haven`t had the vinyl copies in decades so I defer to anyone who can still cite the credits thereon. I still think "Woman" is his outstanding recording under his own name.
Irrelevantly, I was back in the city several days ago and hit the Vanguard for the first time in quite a while. Kenny Barron had a superb quintet and sold out the place!