🎵 AotW Burt Bacharach: Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits (A&M SP-3661)

Burt Bacharach
Greatest Hits

A&M SP-3661
Released 1973


TRACKS:

Alfie/ I'll Never Fall in Love Again/ I Say a Little Prayer/ Living Together, Growing Together/ Make it Easy on Yourself/ Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head/ Reach Out/ The Look of Love/ Close to You/ This Guy's In Love With You/ What the World Needs Now is Love/ Wives & Lovers.


Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits (A&M SP 3661) entered the Billboard Top 200 on December 14, 1974 and remained in the charts for five weeks, peaking at Number 173, according to Whitburn's "Top Pop Albums."

Burt Bacharach - Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits

Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits by Burt Bacharach. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.

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JB

 

[Harry]

This is one I never had as an LP. I had all of the original albums, so I never felt the need for this album. I did however buy the CD when I found it, since it was an early entry for Burt in his A&M years.

As an album, it's got a smattering of Burt's work, but it's been largely passed by with other compilations and even box sets that have come along. It's good if you don't have any of Burt's other stuff.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I remember buying this hoping it would have some cool liner notes or pictures on the inside package. It has nothing of the sort, so I was disappointed.

It's a nice collection although a few buyers probably thought the tracks were performed by the original artists.

I think a big share of Burt's best is the non-hits like "And the People Were With Her" and "Another Spring Will Rise" and "Something Big" and such, so most of his compilations fall a little short for me.

 

[Dave]

"THE INCOMPLETE" Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits...



Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I bought this LP shortly after it came out. At the time I only had one other Bacharach album, so this gave me an idea what his other stuff was about. But in hindsight, this is a pretty dull package job. I thought there were better tracks available than some of these.




Capt. Bacardi

 

[alonely bull in paradise]

I have an LP version of it but have two of his original LP's and plan to get more of his original albums and I also his score to the film "Lost Horizon" which features vocals from Shawn Phillips on Bell Records (BELL 1110), But anyways, I plan on getting rid of the greatest hits LP in the near future!!

 

[Dave]

Easily surpassed by even the smallest of the Newer "Greatest Hits", Retrospective" or "Best Of" Sets...

Surely this may have just been packaged and put out by A&M, much like how Columbia put out the first Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits album... (Though Dylan was actually recuperating from a motorcycle wreck at the time)

Compilation-Sets like this sort'a set the pattern for how a lot of "Greatest Hits" ideas by countless artists at this time, really were essentially similar...

--And These Days, "Totally Lame"...!!! :goofygrin:



Dave

 

[Rudy]

I bought this LP shortly after it came out. At the time I only had one other Bacharach album, so this gave me an idea what his other stuff was about. But in hindsight, this is a pretty dull package job. I thought there were better tracks available than some of these.

Agreed...from his own A&M recordings, I'd certainly have picked a better assortment of 10 songs to put on there. In fact, I made up an interesting CD from all of his A&M albums that only include the instrumental originals that appeared on his albums, like "And The People Were With Her", "Futures", "Pacific Coast Highway", etc. I threw in "Wives And Lovers" only because it was totally re-imagined as a new song, as far from the original as one could get. (Given the dated, chauvinistic lyrics, it's no surprise. )

Nevertheless, the apparent idea behind this package was not the best of his A&M recordings, but an overview of his hits that were originally recorded by others. Yes, they were "hits", but certainly never in their A&M versions. His own A&M recordings are pretty good, but IMHO they still can't hold a candle to the original hit versions (on which he was already the arranger/producer).

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Yeah - they'd've done better compiling the "hit" versions of all those songs, and titling the package BURT BACHARACH: ARRANGER AND PRODUCER. Of course Rhino had the same idea years later...

I made up an interesting CD from all of his A&M albums that only include the instrumental originals that appeared on his albums,

That's a cool idea, I should do that.

I made a similar CD of TJB songs that were band (and staff writer) originals...it's great!

 

[Rudy]

Yeah - they'd've done better compiling the "hit" versions of all those songs, and titling the package BURT BACHARACH: ARRANGER AND PRODUCER. Of course Rhino had the same idea years later...

One of the best box sets I own--certainly one of the most played!

I made up an interesting CD from all of his A&M albums that only include the instrumental originals that appeared on his albums,

That's a cool idea, I should do that.

I made a similar CD of TJB songs that were band (and staff writer) originals...it's great!

Here's the track list. Most stick to the theme I chose, although you'll notice that "Where Are You?" has some brief vocals, and this one and "Wives and Lovers" were included just because they're favorites. So I should probably say it's "mainly instrumentals" here.

1 The Sundance Kid
2 Futures
3 Nikki
4 Another Spring Will Rise
5 Walk The Way You Talk
6 Wives and Lovers
7 Pacific Coast Highway
8 South American Getaway
9 And The People Were With Her
10 Monterey Peninsula
11 Magdalena
12 Time and Tenderness
13 The Old Fun City
14 Summer of '77
15 Where Are You?
16 Etta's Theme
17 Freefall
18 She's Gone Away
19 New York Lady

Other than changing the track order, I'm pretty much happy with it.

 

[Dave]

Actually here's the order this album runs in:

SIDE 1

1. I'll Never Fall In Love Again 3:13
2. Make It Easy On Yourself 3:25
3. This Guy's In Love With You 4:46
4. Reach Out For Me 2:50
5. The Look Of Love 2:31
6. What The World Needs Now Is Love 4:00

SIDE 2

1. I Say A Little Prayer 2:24
2. Alfie 2:58
3. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head 2:30
4. Wives & Lovers 6:02
5. (They Long To Be) Close To You 3:14
6. Living Together, Growing Together 4:07



-- Dave