The Good: Some memorable, well sung, well-written songs
The Bad: Some complete duds, Title is a misnomer for non-fans
The Basics: In a mediocre collection of singles, this reviewer learns that Burt Bacharach is a writer, composer, and producer who has pretty much made Dionne Warwick.
Up until yesterday, when I started listening repeatedly to The Very Best Of Burt Bacharach, my only known experiences with Burt Bacharach was through the song "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself." The White Stripes covered the song on their album Elephant and I caught a video of Elvis Costello singing the same song with Burt Bacharach on The Tube the other day. Well, I decided if his one song was so good, I ought to hear more. So, I picked up The Very Best Of Burt Bacharach figuring that might be the best place to start.
Right off the bat, the name of this album is completely wrong. It should be "The Very Best FROM Burt Bacharach." Bacharach, for those as ignorant of him as I, is a writer, composer, producer and conductor. On the sixteen tracks on this album, he sings or plays an instrument on a grand total of zero. He might be an artist, but all of his songs are performed by others, at least on this Rhino compilation.
Instead, this is a collection of sixteen tracks spanning twenty-five years co-written by Bacharach and performed by musical performers. It's worth noting that while Bacharach arranged, produced and/or conducted most of these singles, all of them were co-written (most with Hal David). I don't know why Hal David is not being given more credit, but that's the way it is here. And this collection seems to be a pretty solid group of light rock-orchestral pop standards.
Clocking in at 45 minutes, The Very Best Of Burt Bacharach features seven tracks performed by Dionne Warwick, the classic Tom Jones number "What's New Pussycat?" and the hip B.J. Thomas rendition of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head." This album spans from the totally soulful "Only Love Can Break A Heart" to the idealistic "What The World Needs Now Is Love" to the pure musical schmaltzfest that was "That's What Friends Are For." And while several of the songs were featured in movies, none is so tailor-made to its film that Christopher Cross's performance of "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)."
Bacharach is a talented lyricist and music writer. His songs are dominated either by an orchestral sound, like the disc's opener "Baby It's You" performed by The Shirelles, or a strong piano-driven sound, like "That's What Friends Are For." Bacharach's music spans the decades but this collection is focused on the 1960s and early 80s (the 70s are almost entirely absent on this disc). The thing about Bacharach's music here is that it seems very much to embody the sound of the times. "Baby It's You" and "Only Love Can Break A Heart," released in the early 60s, retain the late-50's, early 60's fascination with the big band sound. As a result, there is a very full musical sound to the tracks and it is reminiscent of the time when vocals drove pop music and big band was fading to rock and roll in the mainstream.
Similarly, the two tracks from the early 1980s embody the pop-music obsession of the time, which was actually reminiscent of the harmonizing and jazz influences in rock and roll from the 1950s. Vocalists like Billy Joel and Huey Lewis and the News were creating a new retro sound that was harkening back to the 50s, so it fits that Bacharach's style, embodied here by "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" and "That's What Friends Are For," would be able to achieve charting success again.
Bacharach's lyrics range greatly with each song, but he does have some genuine talent with writing lyrics. For example, his poetics on "Anyone Who Had A Heart," performed beautifully by Dionne Warwick, are perfectly expressive when he writes, "Anyone who had a heart would take me in his arms and love me / Do you? / Couldn't really have a heart / And hurt me, like you hurt me and be so untrue / What am I to do?" He chose well with Warwick for that song as she has the vocal ability to present ahead of a very full orchestral sound without being drown out. This does justice to his lyrics.
And for as much as I like "What's New Pussycat?," it's not terribly well written in the lyrics department, certainly not in the refrain which is simply the title followed by "Whoa whoa whoa." Sigh. That wouldn't be so bad had he not relied on the same "whoa whoa whoa" for Sandie Shaw's rendition of his "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me."
Because this album is so hit or miss on the singles, it behooves the reader to know exactly what is on this disc. The songs include:
The Shirelles - "Baby It's You,"
Gene Pitney - "Only Love Can Break A Heart,"
Dionne Warwick - "Anyone Who Had A Heart," "Walk On By," "Alfie," "I Say A Little Prayer," "Do You Know The Way To San Jose." and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again,"
Sandie Shaw - "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me,"
Jackie DeShannon - "What The World Needs Now Is Love,"
Tom Jones - "What's New Pussycat?,"
Dusty Springfield - "The Look of Love,"
B.J. Thomas - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head,"
The 5th Dimension - "One Less Bell To Answer,"
Christopher Cross - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do),"
and Dionne & Friends - "That's What Friends Are For."
So, it's a bit of a mixed bag of performers, despite the general quality to the lyrics and music. I found it to be an enjoyable listen, but once was truly enough and if I wanted to hear more, I suppose I could turn on one of the light rock stations.
The best track is "Anyone Who Had A Heart," the low point is the unmemorable "Alfie." As for Burt Bacharach, maybe I'll look into him more to see if there's something more consistently him. Or him and Hal David. :)
For other vocally-driven albums, be sure to visit my reviews of:
21 - Adele
Addison Road - Addison Road
Tidal - Fiona Apple
5/10
For other music reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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