The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Rumer is interviewed in the October, 2015 edition of "Record Collector" RC asked what else (besides her new cd "B Sides & Rarities") is in the cards, her response: "I'm doing a Burt Bacharach/Hal David songbook compilation."

The "B Sides & Rarities" cd has 3 Bacharach/David songs: Arthur's Theme, Hasbrook Heights (a duet with Dionne Warwick, although I could barely hear her) and Alfie. Other songs on the cd: Sailing (the Christopher Cross hit), Come Saturday Morning, Moon River, The Warmth of the Sun, That's All, Separate Lives (with author Stephen Bishop) and 8 more.

Grooverider, Arthur's Theme is not by Bacharach & David and it famously took four people to write the song, Bacharach, Christopher Cross, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen. Oddly, the instrumental version on Arthur the Album is still credited to all four writers.

Oops, thank you, Martin, I'm losing it, fast!!

This video wrongly credits Bacharach as the composer of 'Slow' by Rumer. Rumer wrote it herself but his influence is all over it:

The "B Sides & Rarities" cd has 3 Bacharach/David songs: Arthur's Theme, Hasbrook Heights (a duet with Dionne Warwick, although I could barely hear her) and Alfie. Other songs on the cd: Sailing (the Christopher Cross hit), Come Saturday Morning, Moon River, The Warmth of the Sun, That's All, Separate Lives (with author Stephen Bishop) and 8 more.

Martin Johnson wrote:Grooverider, Arthur's Theme is not by Bacharach & David and it famously took four people to write the song, Bacharach, Christopher Cross, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen. Oddly, the instrumental version on Arthur the Album is still credited to all four writers.

I'm pretty certain, Martin, that all four writers weren't responsible for the music. Bacharach was vague about the division of labour for this song in his autobiography but the one possible clue for me has always been that Bacharach was credited as the sole composer of the soundtrack or the incidental music for the movie and the only part of 'Arthur's Theme' heard in the incidental music was the verse which suggests to me that the chorus or at least part of it was probably composed by Christopher Cross.

Bacharach's own instrumental recording of 'Arthur's Theme' took a bit of tracking down on YouTube but here it is. To my knowledge he's never performed this arrangement of the tune in concert.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=swa4qJvQBfs

I found an article featuring Rumer talking about 'Hasbrook Heights'.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicb ... h-hasbrook