The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

Is there a recording of Burt Bacharach singing "What the World Needs Now" solo, with piano?

When I heard him sing it on one of the Austin Powers movies, it sounded more sincere to me to just hear hear him sing alone with no backup singers, etc. The words to the song have more meaning this way to me, and really I would like to hear a version of all his songs that way.

Is there a version like this somewhere? Every version I tried listening to on Apple's iTunes had other singers, not Burt himself. I even tried searching for an Austin Power's soundtrack to get it, but couldn't find one with that song.

Many thanks for any help.

Just thought I would bump this back up. A lot of views but no response yet.

Is there a recording of Burt Bacharach singing "What the World Needs Now" solo, with piano?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Unless it appears on the Austin Powers ST (which I`ve never heard), there is no such recording that I`m aware of.

The version I think you're referring to is available, although unfortunately it's not just Burt! He starts the song off (as you say, just him and the piano) and then the band The Pixies carry it on with their version. Burt then finishes the song off on the piano. I agree, it is a heartfelt rendition and in my opinion, spoiled by The Pixies 'interruption'!

The version you're all referring to is on the first Austin Powers International Man of Mystery soundtrack. It's from the scene where Austin hires Burt to play for Vanessa and him on an open-top double-decker bus cruising down the Las Vegas strip.

Burt sings the first few lines accompanying himself on piano and then the Posies--not the Pixies--takes over with a guitar pop version of the song.

Somebody obviously confused the Pixies and the Posies when they shared it on Napster and now the erroneous attribution to the Pixies is all over the net.

The Posies and the Pixies are both pretty good bands, I should note, but I think most fans agree there's an altogther lack of Burt singing Burt on record.

Thanks for the great information! Interesting. I knew one of the Posies and I like some (not all) of their music, but I wish they gave Burt his own entire track for that one. It certainly started out nice.

If anyone at the record company is reading these, please just put Burt on a CD at sometime with no backups. A man, a piano and a heartfelt song to sing doesn't necessitate anything else.

One of the greates thrills for me is to listen to a Bacharach song and know he wrote not just the main musical lines, but also, to the last detail, the arrangements.

There are great writers who don't do all this -- not even any of this so well. And when I listen to those recordings I cannot channel all my awe to anyone in particular, which, though perhaps it shouldn't, does bother me.

So although I would love to listen to Burt himself singing more of his songs accompanying himself at the piano, it does not bother me that he doesn't do that, for we do have several orchestrated versions in which he does sing, and because there's so much Bacharach in almost every recording of his songs in which he takes part.

And it is all so damned beautiful it hurts. Gotta love that man deeply.