I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'; RIP Burt Bacharach

[PastTense]

His songs on Youtube:
:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=burt+bacharach+songs

[wolfpup]

@LSLGuy

His personal sound certainly defined the entire era while he was big.

His music brings back my youth, as I’m sure it does for many of my generation.

[xanthous]

@Baal_Houtham

Someone once wrote that Bacharach’s melodies tended to limit a singer’s improv opportunities — there were rhythmic hooks that had to be closely followed to retain the essence of the tune. I’m not musically literate enough to assess that claim, but it generally feels true to me if I try to casually sing a Burt B song.

Wow this kind of blows my mind. It’s so true. I’ve loved him for decades (saw him live at least twice—I was usually the youngest in attendance by a wide margin). I have his complete box set and will have to pull it out for a commemorative playthrough this weekend. But yes, his songs are tight right down to the vocal expression.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

Martini and Rossi on the rocks. Say YES!

[74westy]

@EinsteinsHund

When I was a snotty little young teenager, I despised music like Bacharach’s and the artists he wrote for, Dusty, Dionne, the Carpenters etc. This was music for squares, for grown-ups, I preferred to listen to music like Elvis Costello’s without having a clue that guys like him adored that music.

Ain’t that the truth. 10 or so years ago at a family gathering I pulled out a guitar and sang This Guy’s in Love with You. My Brother in law was horrified and embarrassed for me. He probably was late teens/early twenties when it came out whereas I was 7 or 8. Quite a gulf in attitudes between the two demographics.

[Son_of_a_Rich]

“Husbands and wives”. Unless they’re willing to change the lyrics, that thing should be pressed with “Dreams of the everyday housewife” on the b side and cast into the sun.

[Pavelb1]

There was no bigger fan than I. I even loved the music from

Lost Horizon (1973) Opening Theme

[Paxx]

@blondebear

I don’t know which particular version of Casino Royale was used for the clip I posted, but the reissued/remastered soundtrack has both mono and stereo versions of the songs and the stereo versions sound terrific.

From 007 Magazine Fact Files:

the Casino Royal soundtrack became highly sought after by audiophiles wishing to test the limits of their own stereo equipment.

And, according to James Bond Wiki:

the original stereo vinyl release of the soundtrack (Colgems #COSO-5005) is still highly sought after by audiophiles. It has been regarded by some music critics as the finest-sounding LP of all time.

[Paxx]

I’ve been listening to several Bacharach songs and I came across I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.

I remembered the lyrics and I always thought that the song had one of the corniest (cutest?) rhymes in pop music, but I didn’t know the background story:

In the fall of 1968, Bacharach and [Hal] David were in Boston previews of Promises, Promises, the new musical for which producer David Merrick had asked if they would write the score, and Merrick realized, “We’re missing a song in the middle of the second act, and what we need is something the audience can whistle on their way out of the theater.” But around this time, Bacharach was hospitalized with pneumonia and wasn’t able to sit at a piano to write the music until after he was released. By that time “Hal had already come up with the lyrics to ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,’ and my hospital stay had inspired him to write ‘What do you get when you kiss a girl? / You get enough germs to catch pneumonia / After you do, she’ll never phone you.’” When [Bacharach] finally sat with the lyrics in front of him, he recalls, “I wrote the melody for ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ faster than I had ever written any song in my life.” The surge of creativity paid off. “We came in with the song the next morning, and it went into the show a couple of nights later. ‘I’ll Never Fall in Love Again’ became the outstanding hit from the score and pretty much stopped the show every night.”

[Northern_Piper]

Also in that Wikipedia article, it mentions that for the Broadway premier, it was sung as a duet between Jill O’Hara and Jerry Orbach.

Yep, Detective Lennie Briscow singing “I’ll never fall in love again”.

[needscoffee]

@Northern_Piper

it mentions that for the Broadway premier, it was sung as a duet between Jill O’Hara and Jerry Orbach.

Yep, Detective Lennie Briscow singing “I’ll never fall in love again”.

He sang “Try to Remember” in “The Fantasticks”.

[burpo_the_wonder_mutt]

Be our guest, be our guest… .

[nightshadea]

just found this

Elvis Costello Pays Musical Tribute to Burt Bacharach at NYC Residency Kickoff

i thought they only did a couple of albums together but it says this near the end :

In January, Costello announced plans to release The Songs of Bacharach & Costello , a 4-LP box set featuring all of the duo’s published works as well as 19 previously unreleased recordings, including live performances and songs written from some unrealized musical projects.

[Baal_Houtham]

From that article:
However, Costello did perform a pair of tracks in memory of Bacharach: A cover of the Beatles’ “Baby It’s You,” (…)

It’s sad to see fact checking go to hell as magazine budgets plummet. Ahh well, here’s a great performance of “One Less Bell to Answer” in silly costumes; lead vocals from Marilyn McCoo.

5th Dimension "One Less Bell to Answer" Great Live Performance

[Pavelb1]

That 1999 album with Costello is fantastic. And the best track is “Toledo”…one of a number of mid-sized cities name-dropped by Bacharach (And David)

Toledo
24 Hours to Tulsa
Do You Know the Way to San Jose
St. Augustine