The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Hello to all BB fans,

I am a new fan of Burt Bacharach, and though I heard lots of his songs I never knew who was the composer - and now I realized that he wrote some of the catchiest melodies in the history of pop. I am also a fan of an english band called "Swing Out Sister" and Burt Bacharach is quite often mentioned in connection with the band - I think lots of their melodies and musical moods are influenced by Burt Bacharach.

On a television programme I managed to see one song which was performed by Elvis Costello accompained by BB on the piano with a complete orchestra. It was a very good song, but as I am not a native english speaker I could only understand two lines from the song - something like "was talk about you" and " ...I need you so but". It was a bit uptempo song. Is there anyone who could help me to identify this song?

Jasperb

It's a good chance that the song you're looking for is on the album they made together: painted from memory. Have fun with one of bacharach best! Werner from the Netherlands.

The program you saw is probably one made by PBS (in the US). It includes most songs from the aforementioned Painted From Memory album, but some of the songs performed in that program are not that CD. You are looking for one such song, and it's called My Little Red Book. You can find that song (though not that recording) on Burt's first (chronologically only) LP, titled Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits. It's ben available on a CD with a cover with a lady wearing a colorful miniskirt and another one which is blue, with pictures of Burt.

The TV program itself can be bought at Amazon.com, for instance, and I believe it is called Painted from Memory. (Try "Burt Bacharach"under "videos".)

You are one lucky fellow. Now you know where to go (to BB's albums, that is) to find a large number of songs that might just come to reach many of the top spots among your favorites.

I would buy these albums first: Make it Easy on Yourself (black cover) and Buthc Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It isn't easy to find one of my very favorites albums, which is the self-titled Burt Bacharach, a green one, in which Burt is sitting backwards on a chair wearing a white sweater.

One super CD also is Dionne Warwick's _Greatest Hits_ (with more than 20 great recordings).

Just my two-cents.

Thank you for your replies. I looked at the amazon store and looked at the cds you mentioned. As amazon.com offers the opportunity to listen to parts from the songs I listened to lots of "fragments" from the songs, and there are lots of known songs to me - but there is one future favourite for sure and that is "south american getaway" from the butch cassidy soundtrack. This reminds me of some Swing Out Sister instrumentals very much, and the orchestration and the melody is just fantastic. Meanwhile I got hold of Casino Royal soundtrack, and for example Look Of Love is an immediate favourite , I also like the beat and the brass parts of "Little french boy". Sure, there is a lot to explore - but these will be the best moments of this summer (musically) and the time to come.

Jasperb