Burt Bacharach (1928-2023)

[noodles_leone]

You guys are soulless MONSTERS who do not like that scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_JPDEHU1ok
Well, tonight I'm sad.

[dave jenkins]

The scene is all right (and that bull sure knows how to do a reaction shot), it just doesn't fit with the movie it's in.

Btw, the best take on Bacharach's career is provided today by Ethan Iverson, formerly of The Bad Plus, now a solo artist. This is from his blog:

TT 213: Burt Bacharach, dead at 94
ETHAN IVERSON
FEB 9

Thank you Mr. Bacharach for the immortal music.

Burt Bacharach said his favorite 40's big band was led by Dizzy Gillespie, and learned jazz piano from the great Joe Bushkin. He studied modernist composition with Darius Milhaud, who told Bacharach that he shouldn't worry about dodecaphony and keep composing those nice melodies.

In his 60's songs, Bacharach undoes conventional pop from deep underneath the surface. "Hooks" are almost always a bit asymmetrical, but Burt's are truly lopsided. In the background of his radio-friendly hits there is an echo of bebop logic, an echo of Schoenbergian logic.

There's no Bacharach without his collaborators. American music is always a collision of cultures, frequently African and European. After spending several years as Marlene Dietrich's music director, Bacharach was ready to have a diva of his own.

Dionne Warwick brought the lineage of soul and gospel to the table and sang Bacharach's melodies as if she had inscribed them herself upon a biblical tablet.

The third member of the triumvirate was lyricist Hal David, who searched a surreal and overcast meadow for unexpected rhyme and reason.

Between them, Bacharach, David, and Warwick achieved a glorious pinnacle.

Dave Frishberg said that when learning to write memorable themes, he studied the "4 Bs": The Beach Boys, the Beatles, Brazilian, and Bacharach. ("Brazilian" means Jobim, Gilberto, Mendes, etc.)

This is '60s music. All of the "4Bs" find a balance between inside and outside, smooth and rough, straight and funky. But for my own taste, Bacharach/Warwick/Davis is the most sublime mix. Just the best -- like the best, EVER!

[titoli]

I bought this one 3-4 months ago:

[titoli]

The first pop sheet music I bought was, of course, the big Beatles collection available at the time. The second was a little BB songbook with a dozen of songs. Unfortunately there is still not a complete edition of Bacharach output, especially his non-David collaborations of the '60s. You usually find Any Day Now and that's that. As far as I know this is the most complete (but not complete) collection of the duo output:





A good survey of his career is this one:



For those only interested in the recordings: I'd take this 3 cd set (actually I have it)


over this one



There is also a 5 (or 4) cd set around with more recent recordings (the above is mostly '60s stuff: his best).
   

[noodles_leone]

I like this version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ml07tLzvjY

[dave jenkins]

I like this version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ml07tLzvjY

Better than this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfqVDHNW6c

[cigar joe]

RIP

[dave jenkins]

Who knew that BB was actually HH?

[noodles_leone]

I don't know if it's my culture, my english or my humor but one of these three is stopping me from understanding what you're saying.

[dave jenkins]

Sorry, I meant to include this image: