The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

How many other songwriters give concert tours of their music all over the world? I'm referring to songwriters only -- not singer-songwriters. This list can't include people like Paul McCartney or Carole King or Neil Diamond or Bob Dylan because, although they are songwriters, they also were all singers who had hit records. Although Burt does sing from time to time, he is not a singer, per se; he is a songwriter and others have made his songs hits.

My point here is that, out of all the scores of songwriters who wrote hit songs, I think Burt is the only songwriter touring the world and giving concerts of his music. And just think of all the songwriters he competed against. Amazing!

Not to spoil the party but there`s Jimmy Webb....

Bob Dylan is a singer????.... The guys that made up the 1960s version of Manfred Mann, when they did some pretty good covers of Dylan's songs ( And Burt's) wondered why ol Bob couldn't have gotten a better lead singer....

David
(Ms Eliza is playing with Paul Anka in Vegas tonight)

Blair N. Cummings wrote:Not to spoil the party but there`s Jimmy Webb....

Does Jimmy Webb give concerts all over the world? If he does, good for him. Out of all the songwriters, if the list is just Burt and Jimmy, that's a very short list.

someonenameddavid wrote:Bob Dylan is a singer????....

His voice these days is unbelievably horrible, no question about it. It's not even a voice -- it's a croak. But he is certainly known as a singer-songwriter. In fact, he may be the most famous singer-songwriter of all time.

JW does, indeed, tour the world; in fact, he recently returned from Japan.
Don`t get me started on Mr. Zimmerman, one of the most appalling frauds ever to have come down the pike.

I wish you would get started on Mr. Zimmerman. I don't know Dylan's music at all (ok, I know "Tamborine Man"). I think he probably couldn't figure out the chords to a Bacharach song if his life depended on it. He's not a serious musician in the way that Bacharach is. I always assumed, though, that he was a great lyricist. I say, assumed, because I'm not that interested in listening to a song just for the lyrics and I can't stand that voice of his. I'm interested to know why you used the word "fraud." I'm not challenging you. I will probably agree with you. I think its an interesting word to use for someone who has so much respect.

Blair N. Cummings wrote:Don`t get me started on Mr. Zimmerman, one of the most appalling frauds ever to have come down the pike.

I'm not the biggest fan of Bob Dylan, but if he's a fraud, he's SOME fraud!!

from Wikipedia:

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" radically altered the parameters of popular music in 1965. His recordings employing electric instruments attracted denunciation and criticism from others in the folk movement.

Dylan's lyrics have incorporated a variety of political, social, philosophical, biblical and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the performance style of Little Richard, and the songwriting of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson and Hank Williams, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning fifty years, has explored many of the traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing. Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting.

Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." In May 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
====================================================================================================

I would love to know if Burt thinks that Dylan is a fraud. It would also be nice to know what Hal had thought of Dylan as a lyricist. My guess is that both Burt and Hal would agree that Dylan was not a fraud. I don't think a fraud could have lasted as many decades and had as much respect from other musicians as Dylan has had. If he IS a fraud, then I'm wondering when all these people will figure it out.

I really don`t want to get into this. Bob "Dylan"`s fame rests on the early folk-ish and "folk-rock" material. Most of is is speed- or acid-generated logorrhea and, therefore, consists of hit-or-miss imagery. Since he scrawled reams of this stuff, most of it was incomprehensible which led too many who should have known better to assume that he was writing over their heads which (of course!) made him a poet. Those early `6os albums were embraced by the student left as anthemic endorsements of the various civil rights movements of the time. In fact, "Dylan" never (to my knowledge) had any serious interest in or involvement with any of these groups or struggles. His turn to these themes was chiefly the result of his relationship with Suze Rotolo (sp?) whose parents were supporters of progressive causes. He wanted to ingratiate himself with her and them and wrote his early songs under their influence. When that affair ended, so did his interest in political or "protest" songs.
His crackpot fling with fundamentalist Christianity also saw him inveighing against space exploration and "Daughters of Satan" (Women, to you and me).
I really don`t want to go on. He`s a clumsy scribbler of doggerel and a lazy bullshit artist. If you like him, enjoy him.

Thanks for that informative post! What's the most memorable concert have you attended? Well, being a musician professionally sounds like a pretty sweet concept for many people. Concerts, the open road and some think, a boatload of cash. However, it isn't much of a living, even for groups that get a ton of interest, as the cost of touring is through the roof.

I don`t think it`s possible to have one "favorite concert" after a lifetime of attending live performances. As for the vicissitudes of "the road", I`m sure that they`re as grueling as ever.
I`ll partially answer your question by saying that the last two concerts I attended were in NYC a little over a year ago. I saw Todd Rundgren`s State show at the Gramercy on 23rd St. (where he and I both lived in the 70s, although certainly not together). The light show consisting of strobes and lasers was impressive, but I`ve seen infinitely better TR tours.
The next day I attended a recital by an amateur - but highly proficient - group of musicians performing a program of Handel and Telemann at St Peter`s on Lex. I love Baroque music and the venue (okay, a very modern church) was beautiful.