The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

You can hear "Don't Look Now" at 1:52:00.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/m0000mzb

Elvis sounds in really good voice on all the tracks I've heard from the album.

What a stunningly beautiful song.
Apparently, `though, there wasn`t an entire second album`s worth of new collaborations: only these three and "Look Up Again" recorded as an instrumental by Herb Alpert. Too bad; "Elvis" always brings out Burt in top form and I still think that he`s Burt`s best lyricist.

Here's another of the songs from the album co-written with Bacharach, 'Photographs Can Lie'. Once again EC's in splendid voice on this.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=31_kTZcX0LI

Sara D wrote:Here's another of the songs from the album co-written with Bacharach, 'Photographs Can Lie'. Once again EC's in splendid voice on this.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=31_kTZcX0LI

Could almost have been a track from 'Painted From Memory'....outstanding !

'blue'

Here`s a question the answer to which may not be as immediately obvious as it seems:
Would Burt`s songs have enjoyed significantly less commercial appeal had they been supplied with lyrics of complexity comparable to those "Elvis" writes for them?
In other words, would the melodies and arrangements still have carried the day?

Good as it is I think 'Photographs Can Lie' would have really benefited from a classic Bacharach orchestration. According to one or two of the articles I've read re the 'Look Now' album, it appears that BB's sole contribution to the composition of 'He's Given Me Things' is one single chord change, which probably explains why he doesn't play on this track. Now I wonder which chord change it is?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7C8XfawPW8c

Paul, "Elvis" almost always contributed music to his collabs with Burt (in fact, "Tears at the Birthday Party" betrays scarcely a trace of the latter) and many of Burt`s latter day melodies don`t sound like his at all. Do you recall if the articles you mentioned cited a source ("Elvis", himself? Burt?) or were the writers just unable to detect Burt`s contribution?

Blair, the source would have been Elvis Costello. He's said a few times that he'll send a 'finished' song to Bacharach to see if he might suggest a change and 'He's Given Me Things' must be an instance where a suggestion was acted upon. From what I can gather Bacharach is mostly if not wholly responsible for the music for the other two collaborations. I don't know about the rest of the song but most of the melody and chord progression that accompanies the line "Unwrapping presents that I should have sent" from 'Tears at the Birthday Party' originated in Bacharach's song 'With A Smile' from the early 90s.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I2qJ3ONGpEA

Thanks, Paul. I recall that lift from "...Smile."
Ironically, to my ears "He`s Given Me Things" has a melody more redolent of Bacharach than "Photographs...."
We can probably all agree that "Don`t Look Now" is pure Bacharach and the "keeper" of the bunch.

I agree, Blair, that 'He's Given Me Things' sounds the most 'Bacharachian' of the three collaborations which consequently makes trying to identify his sole contribution to the song, the apparently crucial chord change, a nigh-on impossible task.

For those who couldn't be bothered registering with the BBC via the link above to find 'Don't Look Now', here it is on YT.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IzCFFHaDFGk

I see the album has entered the UK chart at No.14, very high by his recent standards. Here's EC's collaboration with Carole King, 'Burnt Sugar is so Bitter', which has echoes of Steely Dan in places.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPhF9VAo8E

Here`s an interview with the two regarding their collaboration from the NYT of several days back:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/arts ... -king.html

I've never found Carole King a particularly interesting interviewee. As for her autobiography, I gave up on it after about fifty pages. I noticed that both the NYT journo and EC were very careful not to mention Bacharach.