Living Together, Polling Together — it's the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Ballot Poll

https://i.imgur.com/o6Ogr6A.jpg

OK, here's where we get to talk about and assign carefully-considered numbers to the body of work of Burt Freeman Bacharach (b. 12 May 1928), one of the greatest songwriters and arrangers of the last century. It just occurs to me that his 91st birthday is coming up and it would be cool to finish the results that day, but that's a Sunday so who knows.

Ballots may only include any given song one time. You can't have Manfred Mann's "My Little Red Book" in one spot and Love's version in another. This may affect whether you are ranking performances or ranking the quality of songs irrespective of performance. "This Guy's/Girl's in Love With You" is to be considered one song, so don't put Herb Alpert's version in one spot and Bobbie Gentry's in another.

Ballots will be up to 30 songs. I've carefully (not really) devised a point system that goes from 100 points for #1 down to 12 points for #30. Send ballots to wmcrµmp at gmail. If you're Facebook friends with me, you can send ballots by private message. Don't send by ILX mail -- that address is defunct.

I've been working on a Spotify playlist that as of this writing is at 571 tracks, which includes a lot of versions of the same songs for your compare/contrast enjoyment. I've left a lot of versions out, some intentionally and some accidentally. I'm not going to make the playlist collaborative, but if you know of a version that's on Spotify that you want me to include, let me know in this thread. That playlist is at https://open.spotify.com/user/wmcrump/playlist/3xk2OUpDgmz8snT69k3NBt?si=CfMX3oi6S6iQfBAurPO8xg

I'll arbitrarily set the voting deadline for Tuesday, May 7th, three weeks from today. Knowing how these things go, it will probably change. *fondly recalls the Led Zeppelin poll which had a one-week voting period and got 70+ ballots*

As voting progresses, I'll start posting youtube links to songs that aren't available in Spotify, and I encourage Burt fans to do the same. Links but not embeds, please.

Start listening! Don't vote too soon!

This is going to be tough if we can only choose one version. Dionne Warwick's 'Walk on By' vs Isaac Hayes vs Stranglers etc...

severe temptation to throw "Three Wheels on My Wagon" some points

Fun fact: "How About?", a BB-written b-side to "How Can You Not Believe Me" by Della Reese (Jubilee Records, late 50s) isn't on Spotify OR Youtube.

Manfred Mann's "My Little Red Book," which isn't on Spotify:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7Ywa668aw

Can't check at the moment, don't suppose this is on Spotify? Love the version of After the Fox in particular, but it's all p sweet:

https://www.discogs.com/Jim-ORourke-All-Kinds-Of-People-Love-Burt-Bacharach/master/803741

Sadly no.

Handy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Burt_Bacharach

wonderful ! can't wait for this.

first things first: i think all burt fans will greatly appreciate this version of always something there to remind me by WENDELL STUART AND THE DOWNBEATERS, an amazing late '60s bahamian calypso-soul group. this song changed my life. it's worth three minutes of your time.

love's "little red book" will be very high on my ballot.

"reach out" is my favorite example of burt playing his own tunes. glad to see it's on the playlist. i also really like the cover:

https://img.discogs.com/57VQh9PTnwpFXt8Ja7gcZp6oikw=/fit-in/551x548/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-532165-1239442175.jpeg.jpg

excited to dive deep, as it were, into the playlist and elsewhere. long live burt !

also thanks for that jim o'rourke tip xp

also, while i'm here:

"baby it's you" by the shirelles is one of the most beautiful recordings i know. really magical production by luther dixon, nice and spacious with plenty of reverb, super-earnest and oh-so-sweet vocal delivery, it's just so classic. check it out on youtube

Yeah, thanks for mentioning that Jim O'R album, Ward, I've had it for about a year and need to give it another listen or two. O'Rourke was one of my avenues in to BB's work via the cover of "Something Big" on Eureka.

Speaking of great Burt tribute albums, I love the Great Jewish Music BB album that John Zorn produced in 1997. There are a couple of clunkers but mostly fantastic.

i just realized that the "sweet jane" bridge is a reference to "anyone who has a heart" !!

speaking of which, how do we feel about interpolations and (prominent) samples -- particularly when burt is credited ? (n.b. i'm not trying to vote for "sweet jane")

Great stuff WmC, looking forward to going through the deep dive playlist.

In a crossover with the Bob Stanley thread, I recently heard this great (and unreleased until 1992) Bacharach/David song via the Saint Etienne Present Songs for the Carnegie Deli comp:

Irma Thomas - Live Again

xp - If Burt's name is on it just because his work is sampled and not because of any active involvement in the creation of the song, it doesn't belong here imo.

Thanks for that Irma Thomas link, Gavin, I've added it to the big playlist. Everything upthread that I hadn't previously added was also added, assuming it was available. I'm ashamed to say I didn't know about the Stranglers track.

When I ran across the Smith cover of "Baby It's You" last night I kind of flipped, I hadn't heard that version in 35 years probably.

OK, the full youtube url embeds, let's see if the short one does too. This is Trini Lopez's "Made in Paris," not on Spotify:
https://youtu.be/eu4z52bJPU0

OK, good. Here are the available youtubes from Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach.

Wayne Horvitz, “Close To You” - https://youtu.be/MhliDovlMpA
Marc Ribot, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (electric, with band) - https://youtu.be/K6de2BkfhEo
Dave Douglas, “Wives and Lovers” - https://youtu.be/CkUW_Fc2xj0
Guy Klucevsek, “Who Gets the Guy?/This Guy’s in Love With You” - https://youtu.be/1ofUIdRc5_A
Kramer, “Walk on By” - https://youtu.be/8pvEZKaYIbA
Erik Friedlander, “Promises, Promises” - https://youtu.be/ti8_LA-_OdE
Fred Frith, “Trains and Boats and Planes” - https://youtu.be/juNwNdYic5w
Medeski, Martin & Wood, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” - https://youtu.be/0EK2RuhfVfM
Elliott Sharp, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” - https://youtu.be/MXd92r8dQaQ
Mike Patton, “She’s Gone Away” - https://youtu.be/avhABirTsgE
Lloyd Cole w/Robert Quine, “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” - https://youtu.be/uW6muHCqqnc
Anthony Coleman/Selfhaters, “A House Is Not a Home” - https://youtu.be/HogOIYRVkXM
Bill Frisell, “What the World Needs Now Is Love” - https://youtu.be/CuEHSvWcV64

Missing: Joey Baron, "Alfie" (solo drums); Zeena Parkins, "Freefall"; Marc Ribot, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (solo acoustic version, really fucking fantastic, it kills me that it's not available); Marie McAuliffe, "I Say a Little Prayer"; Yuka Honda & Sean Lennon, "The Look of Love"; Shelley Hirsch, "What's New Pussycat"; Eyvind Kang, "I Took My Strength from You (I Had None)".

Oh my god, this will be a tough one. I don't use spotify so I'll lobby for a couple near and dear to my heart with youtube links.

When I moved back to New Orleans about a month after fleeing Katrina I drove around the city in a daze with Everybody's Out of Town by BJ Thomas on loop. The vertiginous horns and strings. BJ's awshucks tone while singing about what to any sane person would be a total nightmare. The most menacing Burt ever got: https://youtu.be/qiLII1skGOU

The Shirelles - "Long Day Short Night". Somehow even sweeter and tauter than Dionne's version. Didn't get released until the 80s for some reason. Few songs capture the excitement of new love as well as this one does: https://youtu.be/Lt1FqpqOVAE

Also, Mo Plen Bacharach another good comp of Burt songs, all in Italian.

Love Sylvester’s version (with Two Tons O’ Fun) of “I Took My Strength From You” on his Step II album:

You Tube link

Cool, some of the songs on that Italian comp were on spotify, added to the playlist.

Excellent! Nice thread title. *starts playlist*

The Hammond Brothers, "Thirty Miles of Railroad Track" (Bacharach-Hilliard) - Abner, 1962
https://youtu.be/otsJwO83m7s

Big Ups to WmC, you're doing everything I would have done with this poll and then some.

I would have called this thread "ILXORS Can Be VOTERS* Too" tho.

*or POLLERS. Indecision like that stifled my stewardship.

Cool, thanks for letting me pick it back up.

I just found the wildest "Wives and Lovers" yet, by Japanese "death jazz" sextet Soil & "Pimp" Sessions.
https://youtu.be/iqwmOxlnT80
also added to the big list

1st ballot received! The songs came with artists, which leads me to a clarification about this poll. You can include artists with your song choices, but it's not necessary, because votes for, say, Aretha's and Dionne's versions of "I Say a Little Prayer" will be combined, and the results will just be for the songs irrespective of their performers. This is a Burt poll, after all.

What would be a good side poll or two? Favorite performer of BB songs would be a race for 2nd place, I assume...

One less well-known song I'd like to call to your attention is Dream Sweet Dreamer, a Dionne Warwick b-side : https://youtu.be/j8npRt-7L18
The followup single, "The April Fools" is grand: https://youtu.be/UuNMlfYvmuc
Elvis Presley's version of "Any Day Now" was my #1 pick in the Elvis poll last summer: https://youtu.be/xg0D_E1WLn8

Nice. Elvis is a major blind spot for me, didn't know about this version.

and the results will just be for the songs irrespective of their performers. This is a Burt poll, after all.

is there a way you can roll out the results with the (different, according to votes) performers listed with the tracks ?

for me at least — and this was partially informed by yr op — the performances were a p big part of the ranking. so i was envisioning a roll out where there was a possibility of al green doing “say a little prayer” but also dionne would place in a separate slot for the same song. is that not the case ?

because like. if the songs get combined anyway, what is even the point of us all sharing different renditions of the same tune ?

i feel very strongly that burt’s songs work or don’t work so well based on who is performing. naked eyes and lou johnson are totally different entities to me, even tho the “song” is the same.

either way, let me know. it’s your poll after all and in the end i’m just happy to talk and rank burt

Agree with both points: your poll, your call, but; versions supersede songs.

Fun fact: "How About?", a BB-written b-side to "How Can You Not Believe Me" by Della Reese (Jubilee Records, late 50s) isn't on Spotify OR Youtube.

― The Mod Who Banned Liberty Valance (WmC)

the deep cuts on this thread brought me to the ace records comp "always something there", which contains this _and_ "dream sweet dreamer". i'm going to have to check out the whole thing

If you haven't heard it before, check out "This Empty Place," Dionne's non-hit follow-up to "Don't Make Me Over." That will be in my top 5.

So I'm looking forward to learning about all those songs I didn't know were written by BB. Like There's Always Something To Remind Me. No idea BB wrote it. Guess I would have known if I'd seen Black Mirror.

Side poll suggestion: top BB-penned songs from 1980 or later.

I feel I should have heard "The Things I Will Not Miss" before today. Originally from the soundtrack of Lost Horizon apparently, but it's mostly the Ross/Gaye rendition blowing my little mind just now.

all those songs I didn't know were written by BB

I think this is the first time I became aware that BB wrote "The Story of My Life."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzk0bdlDr3Y

Not the original, not very Bacharach-like, but one the great whistling songs ever.

i love "The Story of My Life", i think there are Bacharchy elements in the melody, will probably give it a vote

OK, I've given it some thought and as long as everyone includes the artist/version with each song on their ballot, there's no reason I can't generate 2 sets of results -- one for specific recordings/performances, and then a combined one for the compositions. I'm more interested in the songs, but I can see budo jeru's and clemenza's viewpoint too.

The one version of a song per ballot rule still applies, though. If you're performances-minded and "I Say a Little Prayer" just became an impossible choice, well, that's the fun of it.

i'm far happier voting for the songs than trying to pick apart whether i prefer say Dionne and Isaac Hayes (tho the answer is pretty much all Dionne versions are my canon)

Isn't the logical compromise to do what budo jerk suggested, i.e.

is there a way you can roll out the results with the (different, according to votes) performers listed with the tracks ?

*jeru! dya

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

Esoteric sub-category: most Bacharach-like non-BB songs.

Neil Young's "Till the Morning Comes"; David Bowie's "Kooks"; Anne Murray's "Talk It Over in the Morning"; Ginette Reno's "Beautiful Second Hand Man."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=3vX7ZWzocec

xps - That would make an easier rollout for me but I see the appeal of 2 sets of results, especially if they have major differences and surprise finishers. I have a couple of weeks to think about it.

Post-1980 tracks isn't a bad idea.

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

― dorsalstop

i think i'll wind up going with ground zero!

Richard Chamberlain, "Blue Guitar," 1963

https://youtu.be/ccY1Fg_3oxc

The b-side was the first recording of "Close To You."

https://youtu.be/tft09VpllvU

Am I crazy or did Bacharach write one of Starship's '80s hits? I was thinking it was 'Built This City' but I see that was Bernie Taupin (which is equally weird).

NM, just went to the actual Wikipedia page.

Had no idea he wrote 'Heartlight'. Beautiful. Just belted that gem out at karaoke the other night.

Anita Harris, "London Life" — Pye, 1965
https://youtu.be/p-olFlO7gsk

I'm going to be posting links to non-spotify rarities and obscurities like this one regularly, hope everyone's cool with that. Not an endorsement, not campaigning, just more Burt.

Are we purposely focusing on lesser known covers? If not, I'm going to throw out the obvious ones:

Walk On By - Dionne Warwick
What The World Needs Now Is Love - Jackie DeShannon
What's New Pussycat? - Tom Jones
Alfie - Cilla Black
Baby It's You - The Shirelles
The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield
This Guy's In Love With You - Herb Alpert
Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) - Christopher Cross
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - B.J. Thomas
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson

2 sets of results -- one for specific recordings/performances, and then a combined one for the compositions. I'm more interested in the songs, but I can see budo jeru's and clemenza's viewpoint too.

The one version of a song per ballot rule still applies, though. If you're performances-minded and "I Say a Little Prayer" just became an impossible choice, well, that's the fun of it.

― The Mod Who Banned Liberty Valance (WmC), Wednesday, April 17, 2019 6:18 AM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is great, thanks so much !

re: “endorsing” (xp) and obvious vs. obscure renditions — my opinion is that everyone itt should talk about / post links to songs they like ! i don’t assume anybody knows what are the obvious choices (and even a handful of darin’s tracks are new to me). on the other hand i’m delighted by obscurities that i might not come across via the wikipedia page or spotify.

this is a thread about burt, so the more renditions of burt songs the merrier, is what i’m basically saying

(And since "I Say A Little Prayer" is indeed an impossible choice, I'll vote the Bomb the Bass version)

― dorsalstop

i think i'll wind up going with ground zero!

― Jaki Liebowitz (rushomancy), Wednesday, April 17, 2019 8:20 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

al green for me

Ah, I get it now. Thank you! This is going to be fun...

i’m also going to assume that not everybody uses spotify / has time to make it through the whole playlist, so i hope it’s okay with WmC that i post youtube links here to songs that might already be on the playlist ?

Totally cool with that!

I'm posting obscurities in the early days mostly because when I started the spotify playlist I tried for a while to go chronologically and kept running into roadblocks, and I have a sticky note with a bunch of those roadblocks on it. Doris Day's "Send Me No Flowers" and suchlike. I'll move to better-known stuff eventually with my linkage.

The string break in Chuck Jackson's "Breaking Point" is almost glorious enough to overshadow Chuck's unhinged desperate vocal performance. Almost.
https://youtu.be/ojrbvy6bbhI

Richard X feat. Deborah Evans-Stickland (of the Flying Lizards) - Walk On By
https://youtu.be/EFSkDUlQz1M

Burt & the Backbeats - "Move It on the Backbeat" aka "Move Me on the Backbeat" - Bigtop, 1961 (The Backbeats were Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick)

https://youtu.be/kaGEe7u9J3E

The flip was Jobim's "A Felicidade," no youtube available that I can find.

3 versions of "The Look of Love" Dusty Springfield:

The superior "Dusty whispering in your ear" U.K. vocal mix: https://youtu.be/e8o-XuTH68w

The inferior "drenched in reverb" U.S. vocal mix: https://youtu.be/bDnrzFWlZUg

The completely different "Casino Royale" soundtrack version: https://youtu.be/MPkp-pCJYCc

Nice! (that reverb version is more funny than nice)

"Me Japanese Boy I Love You" — released just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The incorrect grammar makes me squirm, but a beautiful tune.

Bobby Goldsboro, 1964 — https://youtu.be/xMOWttB17OU

Pizzicato Five, 1994 — https://youtu.be/lx57hRa6VHI

The full single isn't on youtube, but here's Richard Chamberlain singing part of "Rome Will Never Leave You" on a Dr. Kildare episode. https://youtu.be/Q0t_zDIUSvQ

I have The Fear that this poll will get 8 or 9 ballots.

for tunes i will probly just list the 30 i saw him rip thru at Coney Island about 15 years ago

(excepting "That's What Friends Are For")

Cool, glad you plan on voting -- don't forget to include artists with those tunes. I guess for ballots that don't include artists I will default the artist name to BB.

I yesterday watched Lost Horizon, to see a few songs in their original context. BB's claims that it almost ended his career was also a major selling point. LOL. It was... quite an experience.

Good morning! Don't forget to vote!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7pgAAW9pEU

Morbs, did he do a lot of between song patter and reminiscing when you saw him?

nice stylistics tune !

i'm feeling torn on which version of "i just don't know what do with myself" i like best. i haven't listened to the white stripes since i was probably 13 but i just listened to their version and it kind of rules ?

anyone have a fav / rec beyond dusty / white stripes / lloyd cole version upthread ?

some discoveries from the spotify playlist i've liked:

dionne warwick - that's not the answer (incredibly beautiful)
the three sounds - the look of love (nothing too special i suppose but it grooves)
nat king cole - once in a blue moon (when was this recorded ? lovely playing for sure)
james brown - a message to michael (love that organ tone)

some non-playlist stuff that's caught my ear:

eddy mitchell - toujours un coin qui me rapelle (nice french-language adaptation of "always something" - love the arrangement)
the rangoons - moon guitar (moody guitar instrumental)
the boots - another tear falls (pretty cool german beat / psych rendition with killer drums)

finally, it's totally killing me that i can't track down the soulful strings version of "message to michael" because i'd really like to hear it.

Discogs lists that Nat King Cole tune, which is subtitled "Based on Rubinstein's Melody in F," as from a 1955 album, but on second look it may not be by Bacharach after all; there's a 1952 version of the same album that has the songwriting credit as "arranged by Nat Cole" with no credit to BB. It's the earliest BB credit as songwriter/arrangers in Discogs.

ah, okay. perhaps this poll could use a bit of mystery. i’ll try to do some more research and report back if i find anything

I see the flipside of that Rangoons track ("My Heart Is a Ball of String") is also Bacharach-David. Here's both of them together on youtube, but a terrible transfer from the vinyl. https://youtu.be/jh2OjNXZwUg

i'm going to have to try not to miss the deadline for sure, i'm definitely trying to absorb this man's fantastic work before i do!

A PERFECT song and performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8fzpPK1NGM

also, i'm definitely appreciating the youtube posts of highlights, since i don't spotify...

Rushomancy, here are some youtube mixes/playlists to save from having to go track by track.

163 tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75lAZuzOEwk&list=PL5DBD438DE93F7200
50 tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dDGnl8_Dzg&list=RDEM9Aij9DVsEj1dHoZTAzaLfQ&start_radio=1
80 tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoN2Egw_zN4&list=PLED2157694D9F62CA

120 tracks in a single file (time markers included): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZEu9YCSYA

Wow, that last one is crammed with obscure tracks including the Della Reese one I was looking for. Vic Dana, "The Story Behind My Tears," that's gotta be top 10 on everyone's ballot for sure. It's got the Mel Torme "These Desperate Hours" I was looking for...

Crap, I meant to do short URLs.

xxp - "Are You There" has jumped from not on my radar to top half of my ballot...

My ballot will be mainly the hits and in their best known versions, I suspect, with a few exceptions. Gotta plug 'Bond Street' (aka Home James Don't Spare the Horses from the o.g. Casino Royale OST) although I'll be voting for the Reach Out version.

Speaking of Casino Royale, this Geoff Love version of the title theme is canon.

Finally, a plug for the Burt & The Posies version of What the World Needs Now (from the 'Austin Powers in: Goldmember' OST), which is my favourite arrangement of the song and I always like it when Burt himself sings.

I like that Burt + Posies version, though the seams are pretty apparent between the 2 artists' parts.

Here's a 1-hour Burt documentary from BBC Four -- not sure what year this was broadcast.
https://youtu.be/hcGDvUgewu4

Definitely considering Casino Royale selections, in some form or another.

One thing that could have had an alternative life in a film score IMHO is BB's own wordless arrangement of Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa from Hit Maker! The drumming in the second half is kinda bonkers. I've listened to it an insane number of times this week and might opt for it over Gene Pitney's.

XXXP: OTM re Warkwick's "Are You There..." Easily top 5 here.

A track I'm glad to have discovered through this exercise is Gloria Lynne's response to Tower of Strength. Not least for the rhythm section. Almost proto-ska or something?!

("Tower of Strength" itself, Gene McDaniels', is also sitting on my longlist at present.)

it’s funny, i’ve always known (eu)gene mcdaniels had a pop vocal career before he re-emerged in the late ‘60s / early ‘70s as a militant black power soul / jazz singer-songwriter. but i’ve never listened to as much of his early liberty records period as i have this past week. i can’t say i like it so much. dude has a stellar voice obv but i just can’t dig the arrangements and the vocal performances can be grating (tho tbf i’ve had friends gripe about the vocal theatrics on “outlaw” so idk).

i’ll give “tower of strength” another listen tho

The drumming in the second half is kinda bonkers.

haha, wow, that is wild.

Thanks everyone who is linking and posting tracks -- I'm struggling with work and an AGING PARENT. I've been listening to that Audiosonic 120-track comp with all the really obscure stuff -- I doubt any of it will make my ballot but it is entertaining cheese. Paul Hampton's "Two Hour Honeymoon," wtf.

Two ballots in btw!

Here's Jim O'Rourke's "Something Big" — https://youtu.be/1TVVQvk5KbM
I can't believe there aren't a hundred versions of this song, so joyful and yet a dark undercurrent in the lyric.

It's impossible to say how good or how successful Burt would have been without Hal David, but it's still something I think about a lot. I don't think a body of work worth polling would have happened without him. And this may be more of a challop, but I'm not sure we'd be talking about him as much if he hadn't had Dionne Warwick on hand to give voice to his musical ideas almost as soon as he had them. Burt has said that he wrote differently and took greater chances because he could write for her...

The lyrics to "Wives and Lovers" still make me cringe, though.

on the “wrote differently” thing, i’ve been meaning to post an excerpt from the hype from that “great jewish music” comp because i feel like it’s otm, and bc we haven’t talked so much about the architecture of the songs itt:

Burt Bacharach's compositions explode the expectations of what a popular song is supposed to be. Advanced harmonies and chord changes with unexpected turnarounds and modulations, unusual changing time signatures and rhythmic twists, often in uneven numbers of bars. But he makes it all sound so natural you can't get it out of your head or stop whistling it. Maddeningly complex, sometimes deceptively simple, these are more than just great pop songs: these are deep explorations of the materials of music.

That "Something Big" is great. I have to pay more attention to stuff on BB's own records. (No idea why I don't own them all really, given the charity shop ubiquity of many of them.)

The lyrics to "Wives and Lovers" still make me cringe, though.

I know it via Goodfellas--I'm blanking out on the scene, but whatever it is, it works.

I checked out BB's memoir, Anyone Who Had a Heart, from the library today and Burt is refreshingly crude early on. By 2013, when this was published, he had no reason to give a fuck about offending anyone. In high school he came in second in a piano competition, winning 15 lessons from jazz pianist Joe Bushkin. "Although I never got high with him, Joe did show me how to roll a joint. He also told me how to go down on a girl." On Paula Stewart, his first wife: "The attraction between us was physical, because she was really good looking and had great tits, which back then could not be prefabricated."

TS: Burt & Hal David's "Only Love Can Break a Heart" vs. Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"

Second beats every other song ever written (more or less).

WmC let me know if he's diplomatic about Angie D

The lyrics to "Wives and Lovers" were tailormade for Lounge Bill Murray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBLMbJnN69c

some favorites from today's listening:

patti labelle - always something there to remind me (starts out heartbreakingly beautiful, ends up being kind of a wild ride !)
soul incorporated - my proposal (just some rare soul)
walter jackson - they don't give medals (enjoy the production -- real crisp guitar -- and vocal delivery)
the litter - little red book (killer heavy psych re-working of the tune)
conjunto académico joão paulo - i just don't know what to do with myself (this one is so goofy i just had to share it)
wynton kelly - walk on by (excellent bop workout from '66)
the free design - the windows of the world (nice ethereal version produced by enoch light)
willie bobo - the look of love (dang this version kills; the congas sound really sexy drenched in echo)
dorothy ashby - the look of love (dorothy rules; if you like deeply funky / polyrhythmic / earthy psych vibes + soaring harp runs, this one's for you)
dusty springfield - the land of make believe (a truly beautiful rendition; the sparse arrangement really suits the super-delicate vocals)

Morbs, I can tell you when they first met they bonded over baseball. That's as far as I am in the book right now, but it's a very short book.

when i saw Burt play, his patter included the agent calling every year to see if they wanted to do the Martini & Rossi spot again.

the year they split it was "...nope."

heh.

btw burt bacharach's official website is called "a house is not a homepage"

Thanks for those links, budo jeru -- lots of great versions there.

Hey, he has a concert coming up on June 14th in Rancho Cucamonga if anyone wants to shell out for that.

There were only six people at the wedding — me and Carole; Neil Diamond and his wife, Marcia; and Neil and Joyce Bogart. We all had an ample amount to drink and I smoked some dope. Then this guy who I guess was a judge in Santa Monica said, "Do you, Burt Bacharach, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" I said, "I'll try," and Neil Diamond said, "Holy shit!"

Very diplomatic about Angie, Morbs, and takes the blame for every fracture with her, with Hal David, with Dionne.

LX on BB — The Box Tops, "Trains and Boats and Planes" — https://youtu.be/-gNB-6WNk7E

I just found this pretty handy site: https://www.whosampled.com/Burt-Bacharach/covered/

"The Look of Love" has 150 covers, "Walk On By" has 86, lol

i cannot reveal my source who dealt professionally w/ BB and C.B.S. after they married, and calls her "Carole Bayer Aspirin" for the tsuris she caused

Today's find: the first recording, by Tom Jones, of 'Us' (written by Bobby Russell and BB) from 1975 - not easily Googleable so here is the Spotify link. A toss up for me whether to vote for this or Burt's version on his Futures album, with a stunning lead vocal by Jo Armstead, but think I slightly prefer the melodrama of the arrangement in the Jones version.

so the rollout is for songs, but for each of those you give the breakdown as to which versions contributed how many points to the total?

This is how the results will roll out, btw. After they're done I'm sure I'll do a one-post data dump with a ranking of the individual versions.

Everybody keep listening and voting!

I don't know much about Bacharach. I haven't participated in many ballot polls lately because they tend to ruin the artist for me, but maybe I'll join up for this one because he's such a blind spot for me.

For my part, here's Bobby Van doing Question Me an Answer from Lost Horizon, just because that's always what I think about when I hear his name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfs62HWRjyA

I do hope you'll vote! The great thing about Bacharach is there are so many artists involved you probably won't burn out on any one.

If the votes are for songs only presumably the carpenters bacharach / David medley counts as a song in its own right in voting terms?

i am not gonna be able to listen to 200 recordings, or even relisten to most, but ive been hearing the songs since i was 5 or 6

xp - sure, you can vote for the Carpenters Bacharach/David medley. As far as its contribution to the composition standings, since it's a medley of 6 songs, each song will get 1/6 of the points a single song would get in the same spot on your ballot. For example, 6th place on a ballot gets 60 points. If you put the medley there, each of those songs will get 10 points toward the overall songbook standings. I'll round up to an integer if it's in a spot on the ballot where the points aren't divisible by 6.

Everybody still listening and putting their ballot together?
https://media.giphy.com/media/l0NwPo3VHujpJDI4w/giphy.gif

I thought I would be finished with my latest work deadline this week and would have free time next week to tabulate votes, create graphics and roll out results, but my work client is dealing with newly-discovered cancer and I have no idea what this is going to do to my schedule.

Think I'm done researching now, just need to whittle down to 30

i won't participate but i am psyched for the results. bacharach is more or less a blind spot in my music knowledge.

Without voters, there won't be any results; cross your fingers.

D Warwick's Check Out Time keeps ascending further up my list with each listen. I hadn't knowingly heard it before this exercise but I certainly should have.

I'm enjoying your playlist. Have to recommend the Woody Herman and His Thundering Herd irrepressibly jaunty instrumental of 'Say a Little Prayer'

still here / still voting

fwiw

will post more links when i have time and get a ballot in by the deadline in the op (although i’m not opposed to extending it if it means more votes).

how many ballots in so far ?

a whopping 3 ballots

I may have to push back the deadline for work reasons as well as to try to get more voters.

I'll be voting. Been enjoying the playlist except for multiple versions of this guy/girl in love with you. That's a song that seems to inhibit interpretation. Aretha tries to soul it but gets twisted up by the melody along the way.

my work life is crazy, i'd like to put a vote in over the weekend tho

VOTED

Got it!

I had misremembered the sample spreadsheet with ballot weighting that finefinemusic had done many years ago as having 20 spots, which is why I ginned up a new point system for a 30-track ballot. But it turns out her spreadsheet had been for 30 ballots after all, so I could use that point system that goes from 40 points for #1 down to 2 points for #30. Or I could stick with my new system (1159 total points per ballot lol). I'll probably use the latter.

NV, I do hope you'll take a few minutes to vote.

30 places on the ballot, not 30 ballots

I will try to vote too

I have settled on 30, more or less. I feel like my provisional list came too easily. So this has mainly been a process of deciding whether seemingly "obvious" selections should be displaced.

Planning to vote in this, not sure when I will have the time though

My big dilemma right now is choosing which version of my #1.

TS: Burt's "Pacific Coast Highway" vs. Sonic Youth's "Pacific Coast Highway"

I've started tabulating and there are 6 songs on everybody's ballot so far.

What is the deadline for submissions wmc?

This coming Tuesday, May 7th.

Seeing on FB that Lou Johnson was passed on.

<has>

Ah, RIP

Here's a challop -- I don't really like Aretha's "I Say a Little Prayer." I don't like how she lays out in the choruses and lets the backup singers do the work.

Finished my ballot, with a few days to ponder it before I call it final.

xp
I getcha. But. Counterpoint: those hand-offs to the backing singers work really well in the verses.

Been meaning to throw this in for a while, so may as well do it now.

When it comes to the most renowned songwriters with large songbooks, like Bacharach & David, does anyone else attach a greater premium to whether the singer interprets the song just so, how well they express the lyric or the melody than to originality of interpretation or arrangement? To the extent that you don't think of new versions as "covers", only good or bad interpretations of a set text.

Contrast with most pop music, where what I'm looking for in a good cover version includes deviation from the prototype, unexpected takes and angles, and so on.

Not saying either of the above is correct or a good thing, it's just what I do. Just wondered if I'm alone in drawing that distinction.

I'm in roughly the same camp if I'm reading you right, though a few spots on my ballot have gone to unexpected angles. I think that's due to my first really deep listen into the songbook coming from the Great Jewish Music compilation. There are some tracks on that compilation that I thought must be pretty wide variations from the set text, only to find out in the listening for this poll that they're not so far off after all.

I'd say the Aretha version of "I Say a Little Prayer" deviates from the prototype, to name one

Hey WmC, you don't have any spreadsheet etc, just doing manual collating from emails? Just checking bcs I'm off to Memphis tomorrow so need to submit tonight.

Yeah, email it is.

Go to Pho Saigon on Poplar and have the bun thom thit nuong cha gio, so good.

Thanks for the tip.

Submitted, wasn't sure if i'd go the email address right, let me know if it's come through.

Haven't gotten it yet. The address at the top is googleproofed, the µ should be a u.

Just got a ballot, all lowercase.

Lowercase not a problem, just mentioned it as an identifier.

Just noticed a problem, you have 2 different versions of a song on your ballot, sent you an email back about it.

Props to Noel Gallagher for introducing me to him via his 'Rebellious Jukebox' piece in Melody Maker when i was about 17, i bought a 24 track early 90s 'best of' (The Bacharach and David Songbook)as a result.

and his cover of this is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIZHzLd0Cak

I just listened to the Promises, Promises original cast recording and I may have to make a change on my ballot. (Not saying which song.)

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BF367F005988986

Oooh, I only just realised on hearing the overture that I'm voting for one track myself. Wasn't aware of its origin!

Listening to Samuel Jonathan Johnson's My Love today I was reminded of his very nice version of What the World Needs Now is Love, which is followed by the funky extended outro Sweet Love.

I am up to six ballots in and I hope every Burt-lover out there will vote. Rollout won't happen until the week of the 13th, as paying work is being dragged out due to client health issues.

79 different songs have votes so far.

^ that's awesome.

i'm getting fatigued by hearing version after version so i've just decided to just cut my ballot at 25 and call it a day. will email my finished list shortly.

okay, voted.

That makes 8 ballots -- how many can we get?

https://www.theopennotebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Your_Vote_Counts_Badge.jpg

Tabulation trivia - one of the songs has four votes, all from different artists.

So no extension? If not, what time is the deadline?

Can probably get a ballot in by Wednesday, maybe by tomorrow

I'll take ballots all through this week. Rollout won't happen until next week.

9 ballots in.
6th and 7th place are one point apart, 6th and 9th are 20 points apart.

I voted, really wanted to throw a vote for Dorothy Ashby's version of 'The Look of Love'. Hope someone else does.

That's not which version you had in your ballot -- you want me to change it to Ashby?

I may have misunderstood yr post

No, the version I voted for is the correct one. Just regretted not being able to vote for Ashby.

Gotcha.

Five songs have points from four different artists! Only one of those five songs is in the top 15!

Gonna have to scramble. With a few exceptions, probably going to vote for mostly obvious stuff, especially early stuff on Scepter, especially if Paul Griffin is on it.

Your daily reminder to vote! With a low turnout, everybody who votes can be sure their ballot will carry a lot of weight.

Okay, thanks. Slowly compiling a ballot.

Sent!

rad

I count a dozen or so unballoted posters upthread who said they'd vote or vaguely indicated interest -- please give a few minutes to hammer out your ballot! NV, Morbs, rushomancy, Euler, Darin, et al...

I am putting one together right now!

Promises, promises.

Obviously the results thread has to be called One Less Poll to Answer.

dunno if ongoing life crash will permit

voted

Sorry, Morbs, hope things improve for you.

Highest-ranked song with all points from one version: {redacted} place
Lowest-ranked song with points from more than one artist: 60th place

Make it easy on yourself, Doctor.

One of the weirder bootlegs in my music collection is Zumpano on the radio on “Burt Bacharach” night in 1999 playing:

24 Hours From Tulsa
Anyone Who Had A Heart
What The World Needs Now
Always Something There To Remind Me
My Little Red Book

It’s a fun listen if nothing else, and I can’t remember where I got it.

OK, I have a better sense of my work schedule (I hope). The thing is, my work client has newly-discovered cancer and is putting 95% of her time and attention into dealing with that, so a big project that should have been finished on the 1st isn't getting finished until next week. My part should be mostly done by Monday, fingers crossed. So I'm calling a hard deadline on ballots: MONDAY, MAY 13th by end of day. I will work on tabulations and artwork Tuesday and roll out results starting Wednesday.

Sorry this is dragging out past a month, I hate it when these polls do that. But you have plenty of time to vote!

I have a job application and a ballot scheduled to do tomorrow/Sunday, hangover permitting. Might well just vote for the songs rather than versions tho

Haven't found the time to put together a ballot unfortunately, but here's a new interview with BB:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/10/burt-bacharach-trump-is-dangerous-my-songs-are-a-form-of-resistance?fbclid=IwAR3_2HB0-eNWHKODPiBio6ib_yJYcgOI0SP2_1uXymcs7ggrCQz_EPIP5gA

Last 3 days to vote! Do it if you're gonna do it!

already voted, but still listening and finding new stuff to be interested in

91 years old today! (or whenever Sunday arrives in the western hemisphere anyway)

Nice Guardian article btw.

Interesting article!

I am pretty sure I could stay cool and collected in the presence of any individual but Dionne Warwick would be the exception. "Anyone Who Had A Heart" is just the greatest song

Happy Burtday! Vote if you haven't already!

Up to 103 different songs, represented by 110 artists, receiving votes.

Drafting Ballot Now.

Needs To Be Said: The Rhino Box Is ALL-TIME.

Yup

Last day to vote!

Come on ILM

And there are
Only
Twenty four hours to POLL, sir

Ballot #15 received and added to the spreadsheet.

I just want to say that one of these years real soon, Burt's going to die and somebody's going to say "hey we should do a ballot poll in tribute" and I'm going to be real tempted to ban that fucker if stet doesn't catch me and unmod me first.

Pretend he's dead now and vote in the memorial poll!

might do a short ballot tonight

Just sent my top 20

One song has points from seven different artists, still not enough to push it into the top 10.

"Long Day, Short Night" is the greatest song the (English) Beat never recorded.

Wm there really isn't a mu in yr email, is there?

No, it's a u.

sent

failed to perversely include Ella Fitzgerald's "Wives and Lovers"

No "Beware of the Blob," no credibility

One song has points from seven different artists, still not enough to push it into the top 10.

Going to hazard a guess that it’s ‘This Girl/Guys in Love With You’.

No "Beware of the Blob," no credibility

thought about it, left it out for accounting reasons

OK, no ballots came in overnight so this dish is DONE with 17 voters. Thank you to everyone who sent in a ballot! I could start the results right now if previous polls hadn't raised the graphics game so high.

A sense a bit of perfectionism in you, not unlike Mark Hudson.

Ah, got the wording slightly wrong, should be a *bit* of the perfectionismt

for my part, I don't ever look at the graphics in poll rollouts, with images off.

OK, I don't see any reason to delay the results, but I'm still waiting on a big work dump that is 2 weeks late at this point. If it comes in today, I'll have to pause the rollout and give 100% attention to that.

Wishin' and Votin' - the BURT BACHARACH SONGBOOK Poll Results

Good to have NV and Dr M in the polling

https://i.imgur.com/0BQjtxe.jpg

2. I Say a Little Prayer — 1027 Points, 17 Votes, 2 first-place votes
Lyric: Hal David
Aretha Franklin, 1968 single, 708 points — https://youtu.be/KtBbyglq37E
Dionne Warwick, 1967 single, 244 points — https://youtu.be/kafVkPxjLYg
Gene, from To See the Lights (1996), 88 points — https://youtu.be/G7CxOtEqOmQ
Al Green, from Truth N' Time (1978), 77 points — https://youtu.be/ZeQQGjoFdI0

lol whoops

WTF is Paul Hampton?

Oh wait this is first thread