Burt Bacharach (1971 Self-Titled A&M Release) [Vinyl LP] [Stereo]

2 Replies to “Burt Bacharach (1971 Self-Titled A&M Release) [Vinyl LP] [Stereo]”

1. 22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

   
   “Five Stars” : in this case, not a rough approximation., January 12, 2000

   By A Customer

   This review is from: Burt Bacharach (Audio CD)

   This is A&M Bacharach (Bacharach plays Bacharach at A&M) at its best. For some reason, songs 1, 3, 5-10 are almost never included in Burt Bacharach collections. One surprising exception is the Rhino 3-CD box set (“The Look of Love”), which includes what appears to be a mono, old recording of Nikki (3), and this album’s Hasbrook Heights (8). If you want to have access to Mr. Bacharach’s very best material you have no choice but to buy this CD. It is A MUST — there is no way around it. The songs and their arrangements are some of the best ever written by anybody. This album ranks as one of the best, if not the best, Bacharach A&M original albums. There’s also a good chance that you will discover that The Carpenters have not written the definitive version of Close To You. If you can put their recording of the song aside and listen to this version as if you had never heard the song, there’s a very good chance you will completely change your perception of the song — this recording is deeply sad, and the ending here is sublime, better than the life-time work of many well-known songwriters. Indeed, these are first-rate *compositions*. The version of Wives and lovers here is closer to the “An Amazing Night” CD/video version than to the Jack Jones hit version. In fact it is much more sophisticated, intricate, and full of peaks and valleys than even that live Bacharach-David Sanborn-George Duke version. Together with the suite “And The People Were With Her,” it is one of Burt’s best instrumental works — though we would have to add Pacific Coast Highway, She’s Gone Away, Whoever You Are, and several others from “Make It Easy on Yourself,” as well as Come Touch The Sun and others from “Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid,” to mention only a few of the best. Perhaps because of the great earlier success of One Less Bell To Answer with the excellent The Fifth Dimension, this Bacharach-Cissy Houston recording of that song (10) has been neglected in most collections, and is certainly one of the most underrated versions of any of Mr. Bacharach’s compositions. Also, in case you are wondering, Nikki (2) was indeed the theme song for ABC’s movie of the week in the 1970’s. It was named after Mr. Bacharach’s daughter. April Fools (7) is one of Mr.Bacharach’s most beautiful works. Since the one collection that included it (A&M style) is currently (Jan. 12, 2000) out of print, your only other choice is “The Dionne Warwick Collection; Her All-Time Greatest Hits,” which includes a very respectful Bacharach-Warwick collaboration. The latter is indeed an excellent collection, though you would have to buy also the “Hidden Gems” album in other to gain a better sense of what those two were up to. (In a sense these two Dionne Warwick albums I mentioned are better than some collections that have Dionne singing many Bacharach standards because contrary to popular belief many of Mr. Bacharach’s greatest hits were recorded at that time by him with other artists such as Chuck Jackson, Herb Alpert, Tom Jones, Jackie DeShannon, B.J. Thomas, and Dusty Springfield, to name a few.) I really do not think you can go wrong here, because, simply put, this is an important part of the history of civilization… You may think this is a hyperbole, but then again, you have not bought the CD yet, have you? As an import, this CD is a bit expensive, but if it continues not to be issued in the US, it may simply go out of stock… To quote Butch Cassidy in BC&TSK, “Small price to pay for beauty”…

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2. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

   
   BURT’S BEST., February 20, 2005

   By 

   Stephen Haddan “THE REVIEWER” (AUSTRALIA) –
   
     

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Burt Bacharach (Audio CD)

   Please note this album is now available elsewhere on amazon for $54.00. Here is the link
   http://www.amazon.com/Burt-Bacharach/dp/B008861SYK/ref=cm_rdp_product_img

   This is a little known studio album self titled “Burt Bacharach” that was released in 1971 by A&M. It remains one of Burt’s genuine masterpieces. For some reason it’s always been extremely difficult to acquire – it has never been available on CD until Amazon sourced it as a Japanese import in about 2004.

   I first fell in love with Burt’s studio recordings of his songs when my Mum and Dad bought a “Burt Bacharach’s Greatest Hits” album for me back in 1969. I was 12 and had just seen “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, which I loved. A year later I bought a copy of “Burt Bacarach” because my go-to lady at the town record store told me it was the coolest record she had. “Cool” it is, trust me. I spend way too much time trawling for quintessential sixties and seventies stuff trying to revive a time of life I have a great affection for and this beautiful album has all that in bucketloads. Think the soundtrack to “Mad Men” if it were set in the early seveties, think the soundtracks of “Bullit” and “The Thomas Crown Affair”. Throw this on your car CD, rip up the volume and you’ll feel like Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw snaking their way along the California Coast in the E-Type.

   There are many available compilations of Burt’s classics as performed by the great artists who covered he and Hal David’s tunes – I think “The Look of Love” 3 CD set remains the best. However my love affair with Burt’s own set of studio recordings continues after over 40 years. I believe his music is best enjoyed this way – with Burt out front of his orchestra, white towel round the neck, pencilling changes on the grand piano as his colleagues await further instruction and rise to the occasion. “And the People were with Her” and “Wives and Lovers” are magnificent pieces of music, while Burt’s invitation to join us for the weekend at “Hasbrook Heights” is at once quirky and infectious. “Burt Bacharach” is lush, and it’s cool.

   Get this now, add maybe “Reach Out” and “Make it Easy on Yourself” and the three CD set of course, and your Burt Bacharach experience is complete.

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