Something Big: The Complete A&M Years (Burt)

[dvakman]

I haven't located a discussion of this wonderful collection anywhere on the forum. Have any of you picked this up? It appears to be OOP now, but it is one of the most satisfying music purchases I've ever made. The sound quality and sequencing are excellent, the packaging and color scheme are inspired, and as an overall package it is (to me) just as satisfying as (and complementary to) the famous Look of Love set. The book includes a Richard Carpenter essay as well, with one of my favorite uses of the word "virtually" in the English language.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I got this when it first came out, and it is still available at alot of online sites. I really like it for the content but I wish they had done "mini LPs" for the packaging. But, that's a nitpick; overall it's a very nice set.

The one thing I didn't like was, in the essay there's barely any mention of the albums in the set! It covers Burt's career nicely, but I was hoping for a lot of info on how those albums were recorded, personnel, inspiration for the arrangements, etc. -- none of which was there. There's hardly any information on those albums out there, outside of what's printed on the sleeves.

 

[Harry]

Yep, early adopter here too. It is a sterling set soundwise, but I have the same nitpicks that Mike does - lumping the original albums together on fewer discs does a disservice to those of us who fondly remember each album as an entity. But that's a minor point - I'm happy to have all of the A&M output in one place.

Harry

 

[Rudy]

When I ripped the album, I split it out into the individual albums easily. I can understand why it was released as is, as it would have nearly doubled the number of discs in the package, making it a thicker book, or requiring a different package entirely if they went with mini LPs. But this was typical of box sets back then, as the "mini LP" packaging hadn't quite caught on like it has today. The only really awkward thing about the set is that "I Took My Strength From You" had to be tacked onto the previous disc for space reasons, and the Futures/Woman disc had some of the inter-track spacing shortened slightly. Beyond that, they're all convenient two-fers--I had no problem with that, even when I used to keep it loaded in the CD changer. It's not like some "complete" sets where you would have to hop around between tracks to hear the original sequence (and I have some of those, although the Mosaic sets had the logic of ordering songs based on the date/time they were recorded, not by album sequence).

The notes were great and yes, there really was minimal information about the recording dates. The Rhino box has notes about a few of the A&M tracks, but that is the extent of it.

Indispensable set, though. So much easier to get all the A&M output (and the Kapp album) in one place, with consistent sound quality.

 

[dvakman]

Wouldn't a Jobim set of this type be amazing too? They could go with the mini-LP concept, and maybe include some outtakes.

 

[Rudy]

Wouldn't a Jobim set of this type be amazing too? They could go with the mini-LP concept, and maybe include some outtakes.

He was spread across so many labels--Verve, CTi (including A&M), Warner, etc. and that does not even count recordings from Brazil. It would be a licensing nightmare but it would be so nice to be able to get everything in one set.

 

[Bobberman]

Although i have almost all of Bacharach's A&M output except Futures and Woman. I would definitely like to purchase this set if the price isnt too outrageous. I was introduced to his A&M music by means of an 8 track tape version of his 1973 "Greatest Hits" Compilation the tape quality decreased over time. But later i was able to get all those songs ( and more) on his 1987 classics volume 23 CD. Which IMO is the better of the two.

 

[Harry]

It looks like the SOMETHING BIG set is finally sold out. It was a limited edition, but took a long while to sell all of those out.

Harry

 

[dvakman]

I think that this release has been pretty successful for sets of its type. It has gone out of print in the past and more have been manufactured due to demand. Hopefully that will be the case again.

 

[Bobberman]

It looks like the SOMETHING BIG set is finally sold out. It was a limited edition, but took a long while to sell all of those out.

Harry

Oh well. I guess i was too late on that one but at least i can still search for "Futures "and "Woman". And complete my A&M Bacharach set. As they are the two missing ones.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Wouldn't a Jobim set of this type be amazing too? They could go with the mini-LP concept, and maybe include some outtakes.

PolyGram Brasil (now Universal) released multiple CD sets Series called "Grandes Nomes." There was a Tom Jobim release which is now out of print. I'm sure an aggressive internet search will find you a copy. I have the 4CD Sergio Mendes set, which I bought new at the time. If I find a stock number, I'll post it for you. The Series Grandes Nomes was for Brazilian artists only.

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

I haven't located a discussion of this wonderful collection anywhere on the forum. Have any of you picked this up? It appears to be OOP now, but it is one of the most satisfying music purchases I've ever made. The sound quality and sequencing are excellent, the packaging and color scheme are inspired, and as an overall package it is (to me) just as satisfying as (and complementary to) the famous Look of Love set. The book includes a Richard Carpenter essay as well, with one of my favorite uses of the word "virtually" in the English language.

There is also a nice 4CD Burt set that his publishing company released as promo only.

 

[Actorman]

There is also a nice 4CD Burt set that his publishing company released as promo only.

Actually, there was both a 4-disc version and a 5-disc version of that promo box set released a few years apart. The packaging is almost identical on both. I have the 5-disc version which was the later one released. The really interesting thing is that the 5-disc version isn't just the 4-disc version with an added disc. The first four discs have a different tracklist (although about 90% of the same tracks).

There is also a "matching" 4-disc promo set for Burt's ex, Carole Bayer Sager, which is really nice as well.

 

[Rudy]

Any links to either of these sets? I'm all about all things Bacharach.

 

[Harry]

5-disc set here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Music-O...390799?hash=item3aba575d0f:g:f-wAAOSwp5JWW5qA

Harry

 

[Rudy]

Eh, I'll pass. Not too many things I don't already have, and the newer stuff (aside from Costello) is lame.

 

[Acapulco 1922]

It seems the commercial tapes of the '73 GREATEST HITS album -no matter *which* format- sucked across the board (Columbia House in Terre Haute, Indiana made them).
The reel I have (1R1 6292) was duped at 64x-the-speed and used the same copy master as the 8-track (NOT the way it SHOULD have been done...8-track has more compression).
The difference in quality; between, say, the sound of the instrumental RAINDROPS... (on the G.H. comp) and on the *actual* B.C.&S.K. soundtrack...is SUCH a disaster, it's ridiculous.

 

[Bobberman]

It seems the commercial tapes of the '73 GREATEST HITS album -no matter *which* format- sucked across the board (Columbia House in Terre Haute, Indiana made them).
The reel I have (1R1 6292) was duped at 64x-the-speed and used the same copy master as the 8-track (NOT the way it SHOULD have been done...8-track has more compression).
The difference in quality; between, say, the sound of the instrumental RAINDROPS... (on the G.H. comp) and on the *actual* B.C.&S.K. soundtrack...is SUCH a disaster, it's ridiculous.

The vinyl version of Greatest Hits sounded superior to all other formats. I loved the album but i hated it on 8 track ( which my mom had) and the vinyl version of B.C.&S.K. Soundtrack is the same story i always preferred the vinyl back in the day because it sounded best to me.

 

[Rudy]

The funny thing about the Burt Greatest Hits album is that I have seen a lot more promo copies of it than I have stock copies! Just about any time I've looked at one in the local shops, it has been a promo.

This one, correct?

I have made some neat playlists from the Something Big box set. The best one I made was of all the instrumentals that are not cover versions of songs that he wrote for other artists, except for the dramatic rearrangement of "Wives and Lovers" which is also included.

 

[Bobberman]

I saw this a lot in stores sealed stock copies back in the 70s and 80s

The funny thing about the Burt Greatest Hits album is that I have seen a lot more promo copies of it than I have stock copies! Just about any time I've looked at one in the local shops, it has been a promo.

This one, correct?

I have made some neat playlists from the Something Big box set. The best one I made was of all the instrumentals that are not cover versions of songs that he wrote for other artists, except for the dramatic rearrangement of "Wives and Lovers" which is also included.

Yes this is the one. I saw many stock copies of this on vinyl in the 70s and 80s sealed and in regular stores as a kid the record stores were my favorite hangouts

 

[Rudy]

My mother owned his A&M LPs, plus she had the red cover version of the Kapp album (Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits). I had gotten Living Together and Futures as gifts back when they were new, and later bought a used promo of Woman that sounds fantastic.

 

[Bobberman]

I have burt's Classics volume 23 which not only has all the songs from the 1973 greatest hits but it expands on the idea by including other noteworthy tracks from his A&M albums even one from "Futures" No one remembers my name" and from Woman. "New York Lady" and i have all the others except as of yet i havent found Futures and Woman albums respectively. And i know they are very rare and will be very pricey. But they'll be worth it i also have the Cd comp of "Burt Bacharach plays his hits" which has all his Kapp recordings that is a keeper

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I think the first Bacharach album I ever had was Burt Bacharach. I'd seen his name all over the place thanks to the Carpenters, Butch Cassidy, B.J. Thomas, and of course Dionne Warwick, so I was aware of his music. I wasn't all that intrigued with the music on his LPs at first but it sure grew on me, and now I like almost all of it. My favorite album is probably a tie between Burt Bacharach and Living Together. Favorite song would be tougher...I think you would have to separate it into a few categories, sich as Burt vocal, other vocal, instrumental, and partial vocal.

 

[Rudy]

For me, getting the Bacharach box set The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection was a real eye opener. I do like many of the songs on his own A&M records but very few I would ever consider the definitive versions. This box set has them, and it's one of the most played box sets in my collection. Rhino did a great job on this set, digging up either the most popular hit versions or the definitive versions of the songs on here. And not too soon after, getting a few of Dionne Warwick's albums and anthologies really demonstrated that she was arguably the best interpreter of the Bacharach/David catalog--after getting a few hits under their collective belts, it came to pass that they wrote specifically for Dionne's talents, and it was a winning formula. A couple of years ago, I finally took the plunge and got the CD sets of all of her albums up to a point--these were UK releases that bundled four albums per set, and also include some b-sides (such as "Odds and Ends," a great Bacharach/David tune that never appeared on her albums) so the sets truly are complete.

From that context, I can safely say some of the A&M recordings are a nice change of pace, but not really essential as compared to the multitudes of others who have performed his songs, especially the work he and Hal did with Dionne Warwick.

If anything, I find I gravitate more towards the unique instrumentals I mentioned earlier, plus the albums Futures and Woman since they contain primarily a lot of new works that weren't re-recordings. Woman was conceived as an orchestral-based project and I believe it was recorded over two days in Houston. Burt himself called it a "failed experiment;" I'd disagree on the "failed" part of it, though, as the listener really gets a good feel for how he composes his instrumental pieces. Even though there was nothing hit- or single-worthy here, I've always found it a good listen.

Futures is almost in a sense a "break-up album," as it marks the ending of the collaborations with Hal David for the most part (only two tunes here feature Hal's lyrics), while others take over that role (Norman Gimbel, Brenda Russell, etc.). This one can be difficult to get into, but it is ultimately one of the most rewarding if one has the patience to let it all sink in. Aside from the lyrics, the music itself is more dense, more convoluted (even difficult) at times. Not in a bad way--I should say it's challenging.

 

[Bobberman]

I agree i even like Burt's original material that wasnt a hit or rerecorded especially his instrumentals thats primarily what drew me to his music to begin with when i was a kid 10 yrs old thanks to my moms 8 track copy of greatest hits although i hated 8 tracks