Apologies for the long delay between updates, but it’s been a busy six-plus-months at the webmaster’s house as some of you know. There’s been lots of Bacharach news, but the biggest news of course is the passing of Hal David on Sept. 1. Even without his long partnership with Burt Bacharach, David would have been considered one of the great pop songwriters. The New York Times published a thorough obituary and there were remembrances in everything from The Wall Street Journal to Pitchfork as well as this poignant remembrance of Hal from Burt himself.

For the more devoted fans, Roberto Pinardi alerted me to the fact that Burt’s unjustly neglected soundtrack Together? has at long last been issued on CD by Sony Music Japan. Released in 1979, generally regarded as a less than spectacular period in Bacharach’s compositional career, Together? is nonetheless an excellent record, the veritable missing link between the jazz-pop fusion of his late ’70s solo albums and his work in the ’80s with Carole Bayer Sager, with whom he would team up just two years later for the Arthur soundtrack. The only downside of this long-awaited CD issue is the price. It’s selling on Amazon right now for $39.99.

Armando Gabba pointed me to a recent article that mentioned some intriguing news: Burt and Bernie Taupin are working on an album together. While I know Bernie is no Hal David (nor Elvis Costello), the prospect of Burt in the studio with a legendary lyricist is cause for excitement. (Did I mention that Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was the first album I ever bought?)

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry to get your hopes up, but I’ve been informed that Burt and Bernie are not in fact working on a new album together. Although they’ve written together in the past and may have even gone into the studio to cut some demos, my sources tell me there is currently no album in the works. Burt’s top priority right now is finishing his memoir, which is set to come out this spring. Stay tuned for me details on that.

Finally, Tina sent me a terrific new year’s present: five new Bacharach concert dates. Those are now posted on the On Tour page.