Burt Bacharach RIP

[Hardbopjazz]

4 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

I think the song Alfie (not to be confused with S.R's Alfie's Theme) is one of the best songs ever written; multi-sections yet all unified musically; complicated yet accessible:

 

Burt himself said the lyrics are the best Hal David ever wrote. 

[felser]

R.I.P. and thank you.  I am a HUGE fan of his songs, my favorite being the majestic "Reach Out For Me", recorded by Dionne Warwick.  Had it been released any year other than 1964, it would have charted much higher.

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by felser

[Teasing the Korean]

Enoch Light recorded the definitive version of "Knowing When to Leave."

 

[JSngry]

Some of that shit was just flat-out weird! 

❤️

[JSngry]

I marvel at how people could show up in a studio and deal with all this truly weird and/or difficult music, not just singers and players but engineers too, and make it sound like basically normal, if distinctive, pop music. 

[felser]

31 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Some of that shit was just flat-out weird! 

❤️

The title track to that album was also pretty strange, though moving.  The great version of "Windows of the World" was by Scott Walker, who of course fed on weird music.

 

[mikeweil]

Even Tjader did them. A great songwriter.

Edited February 11, 2023 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

Another deep catalog gem :

 

You gotta get people to believe to do stuff like this...

 

[JSngry]

 

I mean, JESUS...

 

[JSngry]

This one is simply a miracle...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6PflaMu6Xg

especially with Dionne (who STILL does not get enough credit for doing what she did on all these records)

Let me get snooty-tooty and say that anybody who has more than a recreational interest in American Music (PERIOD!!!) has a gap in their knowledge unless and until they go through Bacharach. All of it, not just the hits. There's SO much "there" there.

Watch his countoff and move to the piano. One continuous fluid motion. The guy had a mojo like that.

 

[JSngry]

 

[felser]

Still true...  BTW, Dionne Warwick turned this one down, "too country" she said.  And she floundered in 1965 while DeShannon had her breakthrough with this Bacharach classic (ironic, since DeShannon was a pretty great songwriter herself).

 

[mjzee]

His songs are so much a part of my childhood.  I'm thinking of Do You Know The Way To San Jose?  That lilting samba beat, the story of the song, Dionne Warwick's little but not-so-little voice, and how percussively she sang the song...I'm not sure there was anything quite like those Bacharach-David songs on the radio.  Many thanks, and R.I.P.

[Balladeer]

 As you all note rightfully Dionne was definitely his songstress.
I also loved Aretha interpretation of "Say a little prayer" -  the definiton of a perfect pop song!
Finally I´ve been impressed by Elvis Costello´s album "Painted from memory" in honour of Burt Bacharach..

Without those Bacharach melodies  this earth would be a poorer.

RIP

PS @Ken Dryden: It would be nice if  you could upload Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz with Bacharach! Please let us know.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Balladeer

[JSngry]

That Ronald Isley thing is deep....apparently those two did a whole PBS special, I see other excerpts on YouTube. Has the whole thing been made available commercially?

[Teasing the Korean]

Vinnie Bell's version of "Nikki:"

 

[gmonahan]

Though I don't think she much liked the song, I always liked Ella's version of "A House is not a Home"

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by gmonahan

[Hardbopjazz]

 

[felser]

8 hours ago, gmonahan said:

Though I don't think she much liked the song, I always liked Ella's version of "A House is not a Home"

It's a great song.  Part of Dionne Warwick's incredible 1964 run:

 

[Teasing the Korean]

On 2/10/2023 at 10:44 PM, felser said:

It's a great song. ("A House is Not a Home")  Part of Dionne Warwick's incredible 1964 run:

I would place it among my three favorite Bacharach tunes.  Dusty does an incredible TV performance with Burt at the piano.  This is just fantastic.  

 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I would place it among my three favorite Bacharach tunes.  Dusty does an incredible TV performance with Burt at the piano.  This is just fantastic.  

 

Astonishing performance!

[felser]

Found out something I hadn't realized.  "I Say a Little Prayer" was released in 1967 by Dionne Warwick and 1968 by Aretha Franklin (as a "B" side!).  Turns out the guy being sung to/ab out, is in Vietnam, not out on the town.  So when the woman sings "say you love me too, come on and answer my prayer", she isn't afraid he's out messing around with another woman, she's afraid he's dead in a trench in southeast Asia.   Relistening to the song with this in mind makes it a very moving experience ("The moment I wake up, before I put on my makeup, I say a little prayer for you... to live without you would only mean heartbreak for me", etc.))

[Ken Dryden]

On 2/10/2023 at 5:41 AM, Balladeer said:

 As you all note rightfully Dionne was definitely his songstress.
I also loved Aretha interpretation of "Say a little prayer" -  the definiton of a perfect pop song!
Finally I´ve been impressed by Elvis Costello´s album "Painted from memory" in honour of Burt Bacharach..

Without those Bacharach melodies  this earth would be a poorer.

RIP

PS @Ken Dryden: It would be nice if  you could upload Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz with Bacharach! Please let us know.

I will have to see if it is indexed, it may be one long track on a cdr.

[JSngry]

9 hours ago, felser said:

Found out something I hadn't realized.  "I Say a Little Prayer" was released in 1967 by Dionne Warwick and 1968 by Aretha Franklin (as a "B" side!).  Turns out the guy being sung to/ab out, is in Vietnam, not out on the town.  So when the woman sings "say you love me too, come on and answer my prayer", she isn't afraid he's out messing around with another woman, she's afraid he's dead in a trench in southeast Asia.   Relistening to the song with this in mind makes it a very moving experience ("The moment I wake up, before I put on my makeup, I say a little prayer for you... to live without you would only mean heartbreak for me", etc.))

I bet he lived in Galveston. 

[Teasing the Korean]

56 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I bet he lived in Galveston. 

Or Clarksville.