🎵 AotW Burt Bacharach: Burt Bacharach (A&M Records SP-3501)

Burt Bacharach: Burt Bacharach

A&M Records SP-3501
Released 1971

A1: Mexican Divorce 3:07​

A2: (They Long To Be) Close To You 3:14​

A3: Nikki 2:25​

A4: Wives & Lovers 6:02​

A5: All Kinds Of People 3:05​

B1: "And The People Were With Her" (Suite For Orchestra) 5:59​

B2: April Fools 3:39​

B3: Hasbrook Heights 3:10​

B4: Freefall 3:04​

B5: One Less Bell To Answer 3:08​

Arranged By, Conductor – Burt Bacharach
Art Direction – Ron Wolin
Engineer – Phil Ramone
Engineer [Assistant] – David Scott (6)
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By [Front Cover] – Jim McCrary
Photography By [Inside Spread] – Ellen Blume Graham, Jim McCrary
Piano – Mr. Bacharach*
Producer – Burt Bacharach, Phil Ramone
Sleeve Notes – Albert Goldman
Vocals – Cissy Houston (tracks: A5, B5)

Recorded at A&R Studios, New York City

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SP-3413 is apparently the end of the 3400 series. The 3500 series begins with SP-3501.

 

[Bobberman]

Definitely A Great album in the Bacharach Canon there is quite a variety of styles Burt uses here my favorite standouts are Nikki. And the People were with her. Free fall. Hasbrook Heights. Wives and Lovers.but I like them all I think This version of Wives and Lovers is the Definitive version as it was the first version I ever heard. They really jazzed it up here.

 

[Rudy]

"Wives and Lovers" needed a reboot for sure! The lyrics were catchy back in the day but not too long after, by the dawn of the 1970s, they would be considered very sexist. This record was always a favorite, and I still remember my mother playing this one, along with the other three earlier Burt albums.

 

[Harry]

"Wives and Lovers" minutiae

I was just comparing several CD masterings of "Wives And Lovers" by Bacharach and found an interesting tidbit - for me, anyway. At about 30 seconds into the record, the main string section plays, and is essentially mono. When the piano returns it's on the right with horns on the left.

Anyway, things centered should cancel out when OOPS'ed, and the best version for the best cancellation comes from the CLASSICS VOLUME 23 CD. I would have expected the SOMETHING BIG set to be more accurate in that regard, but it's not. For that section to 'cancel' on that box set version, I can move one channel by one sample (left channel moves to the right one sample) and then I still need to reduce the left channel by 1 db. Then it works out just like the CLASSICS version.

 

[Rudy]

I'm just happy to be able to figure out how to turn on everything and have actual music come out.

(Hate to say, some days it gets a little difficult figuring out even simple things.)

 

[Harry]

I'm just happy to be able to figure out how to turn on everything and have actual music come out.

(Hate to say, some days it gets a little difficult figuring out even simple things.)

Boy, ain't that the truth... Used to be a simple push of a button to change a TV channel. Now, depending on what streaming service we're on, we have to log off of one service, log onto another, scroll to find the TV show or movie, and then pick the episode.

But, I suppose some rely on Siri or Alexa to do that for them. I'm not fond of talking to inanimate objects.

 

[Rudy]

My issue isn't the procedure...it's remembering how to do something I've done several hundred times in the past. For the music it's just a series of turning on three or four power switches depending on what I'm listening to. Yet why do I often forget to turn on one of those?

I'm also one of those that walks to the other end of the kitchen and forgets what I went there for. Except it happens multiple times per hour now.
I'm really enjoying it here in the Corvette Forums though!

Google Hub gets a lot of workout here, especially in the kitchen--setting timers, asking for conversions, knocking back the thermostat five degrees since I'm a sweaty old man, turning down Pandora's volume on the kitchen system, etc. while my hands are covered in prepping food or keeping three pots from burning.

But it still can't fix my memory...

 

[Mr Bill]

In the same boat as you, Rudy!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Burt Bacharach is my favorite of all his albums, although I think my fave tends to shift between this one and Living Together -- because THAT one contains my favorite of his solo songs, "Something Big." But there isn't a single track on either album that I don't like. I guess if I had to pick a least-favorite it would be "Close to You," which makes sense because there is really no topping Richard Carpenter's arrangement on that one.

This album features more "vocal" songs than Burt's previous albums, with him sometimes leaning hard into the style of music he perfected with Dionne Warwick -- namely having a black female vocalist (or chorus) in front of his lush arrangements. There was some of that on the previous albums but back then, the only "lead" vocals were by Burt himself. Here, Cissy Houston is given much more of a spotlight.

The instrumentals are some of the best he ever put on record, and his solo vocal ("Hasbrook Heights" ) would probably qualify as a co-favorite along with "Something Big."

The excellent music is topped off with my favorite of all the Bacharach album covers. The inside spread is a cool photo too.

It's interesting how much my tastes have evolved regarding black vocalists. I didn't used to like them much but now I enjoy a lot of them -- Stevie Wonder, Seal, Dionne, Michael Jackson, Tasmin Archer, and even the occasional Ray Charles, and others that don't spring to mind at the moment. I think I started to like those styles of music more during the disco era. I was never able to warm up to Whitney Houston, though -- which is odd, because her mom's songs on this album (and the songs on Living Together) are among my favorites.

 

[AM Matt]

"Time to get ready, time to get ready, time to get ready for BANG"

 

[AM Matt]

The late Hawaii singer Don Ho did "All Kinds Of People" on his short lived ABC daytime show around late 1976 or early 1977.

 

[Rudy]

I was never able to warm up to Whitney Houston, though -- which is odd, because her mom's songs on this album (and the songs on Living Together) are among my favorites.

Me neither, and I listened to a lot of funk and R&B from my mid teens and onward. I partly think it has to do with the bland, generic music she performed, which gave her no opportunity to do more than sing in tune with no style or inflection of any kind. I also realized in later years that many of the higher-pitched female vocalists out there do not appeal to me. Had she been given some sophisticated material (like what Bacharach/David wrote and produced) and learned some restraint in singing with a competent vocal coach, she probably could have done a lot better than belt out mindless pop songs totally devoid of any vocal stylings (beyond, IMHO, yelling). She certainly had the pedigree, what with her mom and aunt (Dionne) both being talented vocalists.

 

[Rudy]

In the same boat as you, Rudy!

Do I know you?

 

[Rudy]

Aside from the total remake of "Wives and Lovers," the covers of prior vocal hits on this record don't do much for me. But it's the unique instrumental tracks that win me over, along with the Bacharach vocal on "Hasbrook Heights." "And the People Were With Her" is the centerpiece and more often than not, I will play side two of the record just to hear that song. It's nice that the middle tracks of the album are all highlights, as it keeps the pace up throughout.

 

[Harry]

I have two copies of the BURT BACHARACH (3501) album. The first of course was the original LP. I have a gatefold Pitman pressing with ochre label.


Years later, around 1997, I spotted the CD version for sale from Japan and got hold of POCM-2013. My only complaint about that CD is that the LP artwork on the rear is way too small to read, so the track listing is a mystery until you open it and look at the disc face.


Actually a third copy exists within the SOMETHING BIG Box Set that Hip-O produced around the turn of the millennium.

 

[rockdoctor]

When this album was released, one of the local stations was playing One Less Bell To Answer for a few weeks. I was not too enamored of this version and never got the album. I see it very often in the thrift stores.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I always thought they should have had "All Kinds of People" and "One Less Bell to Answer" switched around. "All Kinds" seems more like an album-closing song.

 

[Harry]

^^ Interesting. I don't think I ever heard "One Less Bell To Answer" from this album on the radio; perhaps as a one-off play, but I don't recall it in any kind of regular rotation.

Looking on Discogs, the "One Less Bell..." single had "Freefall" on the other side, and this jukebox label indicates that it was considered the a-side, though the matrix numbers indicate "One Less..." as the plug side.

 

[JOv2]

"Wives and Lovers" needed a reboot for sure! The lyrics were catchy back in the day but not too long after, by the dawn of the 1970s, they would be considered very sexist.

You think? I actually always thought the song begged a reply song (which were not unexpected in the late '50s--mid '60s) given the supposition is equally applicable to both sexes. If taken at face value, nevertheless, I'd replace the words "little" and "warning".

Hey! Little Girl
Comb your hair, fix your makeup
Soon he will open the door
Don't think because there's a ring on your finger
You needn't try anymore​

For wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you
I'm warning you​

Day after day
There are girls at the office
And men will always be men
Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers
You may not see him again​

For wives should always be lovers too
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you
He's almost here​

Hey! Little girl
Better wear something pretty
Something you'd wear to go to the city and
Dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music
Time to get ready for love
Time to get ready
Time to get ready for love​

 

[Rudy]

I actually always thought the song begged a reply song (which were not unexpected in the late '50s--mid '60s) given the supposition is equally applicable to both sexes.

That would have been epic! Same melody but let's flip it around a bit...

Hey! Little boy
Wash your face, and your armpits
Soon, she'll be home from her job
Don't think because you don't do all your laundry
She won't think you're a slob
For men should always be lovers too
Get on your knees the moment she comes home to you
Your groveling's due

Day after day
There are men at the office
And girls will always be girls
Don't send her off without buying her jewelry
This time, it'd better be pearls
For men should always be lovers too
Get on your knees the moment she comes home to you
Go grab that brew

Hey! Little boy
Better wear your new Dockers
Something you'd wear to clean out your lockers
Dim all the lights, pour the beer, start the ball game
Time to get ready for sports
Time to get ready
Time to get ready for sports

 

[rockdoctor]

That would have been epic! Same melody but let's flip it around a bit...

Hey! Little boy
Wash your face, and your armpits
Soon, she'll be home from her job
Don't think because you don't do all your laundry
She won't think you're a slob
For men should always be lovers too
Get on your knees the moment she comes home to you
Your groveling's due

Day after day
There are men at the office
And girls will always be girls
Don't send her off without buying her jewelry
This time, it'd better be pearls
For men should always be lovers too
Get on your knees the moment she comes home to you
Go grab that brew

Hey! Little boy
Better wear your new Dockers
Something you'd wear to clean out your lockers
Dim all the lights, pour the beer, start the ball game
Time to get ready for sports
Time to get ready
Time to get ready for sports

That is hysterical!!!

 

[Rudy]

That is hysterical!!!

I've probably been listening to a little too much Bob Rivers lately. (He's known to parody current-day rock and pop songs, many of them quite convincingly.)

 

[A&M Retro]

I convinced my Mom to let me join the Columbia House Record and Tape Club when I was 10 in 1972. I sent them quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies in a regular sized envelope in the mail with no padding whatsoever. Somehow, it made it to its destination. Anyway, the package arrived with 13 brand-new, sealed cassettes. I was in heaven. When my Mom figured out what I'd done, she was none too happy, but we made it through. lol.

Anyway, ''Burt Bacharach' was one of the 'free' cassettes I chose and I loved it from the start. 'My favorites were 'And The People Were With Her', 'Nicki', 'Close To You' and 'Wives and Lovers'. Around this same time, ABC aired a Burt Bacharach special where 'Wives and Lovers' and 'Nikki' were both performed. Made me a fan for life. Great memories. I still have the cassette tape I recorded off our portable B&W TV up in my brother's room with the aluminum foil antenna. Yikes.

 

[Rudy]

Around this same time, ABC aired a Burt Bacharach special where 'Wives and Lovers' and 'Nikki' were both performed. Made me a fan for life. Great memories. I still have the cassette tape I recorded off our portable B&W TV up in my brother's room with the aluminum foil antenna. Yikes.

I probably didn't have my cassette recorder when that special aired, but I did have it by the time the TJB's Coney Island was out, and grabbed that one on cassette straight out of the earphone jack on the TV.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

You think? I actually always thought the song begged a reply song (which were not unexpected in the late '50s--mid '60s) given the supposition is equally applicable to both sexes. If taken at face value, nevertheless, I'd replace the words "little" and "warning".

Hey! Little Girl​

Comb your hair, fix your makeup​

Soon he will open the door​

Don't think because there's a ring on your finger​

You needn't try anymore​

For wives should always be lovers too​

Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you​

I'm warning you​

Day after day​

There are girls at the office​

And men will always be men​

Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers​

You may not see him again​

For wives should always be lovers too​

Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you​

He's almost here​

Hey! Little girl​

Better wear something pretty ​

Something you'd wear to go to the city and​

Dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music​

Time to get ready for love​

Time to get ready​

Time to get ready for love​

I like to imagine the conversation when Hal David brings Burt the lyrics for the first time:


Burt: "What is it you're trying to say with these lyrics here, Hal?"

Hal: "I don't know, Burt....something like if you still have your hair in curlers when your husband leaves the house at 7 in the morning, don't blame him if he nails his secretary."

Burt: "Hal, is everything okay at home between you and Anne?"

Hal: "Back off, Burt! Not all of us are dating Angie Dickinson, okay?"