Omg I cant believe Burt Bacharach didnt write this

[geoff85]

Its a song on the Beach Boys Pet Sounds album called Lets go away for a while. It is mostly instrumental it sounds more Bacharach than any Bacharach tune ive heard. It starts at 13:23




I also hear Laura Nyro for the first 18 seconds of the song and from 1:05 to 1:24.

[geoff85]

cant u just hear Dionne's soaring voice pining for her unrequite love on this from 15:05 till the end of the tune?

[geoff85]

you can also listen to it here.

[blueonblue]

geoff,
I remember reading somewhere that Brian Wilson wrote "Let's Go Away For A While" as a tribute to Bacharach.

"blue"

[geoff85]

That is beyond tribute!!!! That is a cerebral clone. I hate to admit it but parts of the song were even more beautiful than a typical Bacharach tune because they introduced the classic pet sounds themes into Bacharachs latin soft jazz and created heaven on earth. Always glad to run into a gem like that.

[geoff85]

found this quote from Wilson on wikipedia "if you want to know the truth, I think Burt Bacharach had influenced me a little bit with that. If you really analyzeit and you think about it, there were a lot of chord changes similar to the way he would put something together. And I think that his music had such a profound thing on my head; he got me going in a direction. I'm definitely proud of that tune. [...] We used dynamics like Beethoven. You know, Beethoven, the dynamic music maker."

Nice to know my ears are sharp that I was able to hear his intended effect without having to read about it first.

[geoff85]

An artist named Sean Macreavy put lyrics to the tune and made it sound even more Bacharach/ Davidesque.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Since I haven`t been the turd in the punchbowl here for a while, I guess I`m overdue.
This track is nice. It`s pretty in its way. It doesn`t begin to reflect Bacharach. It`s a better than average try, but Brian Wilson has an over-inflated reputation. His vaunted "melodic genius" rests on three songs: "Wouldn`t It Be Nice", "God Only Knows", and "Caroline, No".
I love all three, but let`s be serious: most of the Beach Boys was cars-and-girls trivia of the era (in which I lived).
Roger Nichols captured the melodic muse of Burt better than anyone but probably too late for the recognition he deserved (after all, punk was only a couple of years away, and we all know now what geniuses the Ramones, the Replacements, Richard Hell et. al. were, don`t we)?
Pop was Captain and Tenille (anyone remember her ghastly talk show in NYC?), 10cc ("I`m Not In Love", anyone?), Olivia Newton-John...do I have to go on?
Burt was/is sui generis.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

Blair, I didn't want to be the first one. (I'm a coward that way.) But, jeez, sometimes I can't believe the songs that people post here and say that they're just like a Burt Bacharach composition, when, to me, they sound nothing like a Burt's music. Using Major 7ths and Minor 9ths does not a Bacharach song make. And I'm not putting down some very nice songs that are posted here. I'm just saying that they're so obviously not composed by Burt. And, Blair, you're 100% correct in stating that Burt is sui generis -- Gershwin was, Stevie Wonder is, and Burt most definitely is.

[geoff85]

Bacharach idiosyncracies are extremely unique and make him very hard to duplicate. I think Wilson held his own and then some seeing as how I was able to recognize the song was in an attempted Bacharach style before reading that was his intentions in the liner notes.

[geoff85]

Blair and Enormous: From 1:40 to the end is as Bacharachian as you can get without Bacharach himself composing. It has the spirit save maybe a few instruments here and there. I was impressed with the subtleties like the short horn solo at 1:50. Who does that but Bacharach himself? You guys are too harsh. Your judging music like Dolphins and not people .I would be curious to know what you think doesnt make it sound Bacharachian.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Because it doesn`t sound like a REAL faux-Bacharach composition like this:
Or this:

Now, go listen to Roger; I`m not doing any more research for you.

[geoff85]

I felt Kinda Wasted Without You had a bit of the piano rythm tho the tempo is slightly faster than Burt would normally do. The chord progressions were not nearly as complicated and odd as a Bacharachian tune as well but the attempt was there.

Dont take your time once again has strong traces of Burt especially from 1:15 onward. The prominence of the horn instrumental were somewhat Bacharachian but for me lacked the drama that Bacharach songs tend to have.

Both songs for me gave off a vibe more reminscent of Fifth Dimension and The Carpenters. Never once did I imagine Dionne singing any of these songs and I think that is a requirement for a good Bacharach tune. I could however maybe see them as songs on the Lost Horizon soundtrack.

All in all I hear way more Bacharach in the Wilson tune than in both of these you posted. They are nice songs though.

[geoff85]

I know you want me to do my own research which I always do anyway but any songs you send my way I will gladly give a listen to.

[geoff85]

I discovered these songs as wel after listening to the links you provided. Both give off a bit of a Bacharach vibe as well.. i HEAR slight echoes of South American Getaway and songs from Butch Cassidy mixed with a bit of Tom Jones





Is Karen Carpenter singing on these tracks or do the studio singers just happen to sound like her?