"THE SOUND OF BACHARACH", issued by the venerable British label Pye International in 1965, was the first ever Bacharach compilation album. Thirty-five years later, Westside Records asked us to take that LP and revamp it for the CD age. Unfortunately, the end result was lost amid a wall of Burt Bacharach & Hal David compilations. Here’s an exclusive chance to read the contents of that CD’s booklet . . .

1965 was a banner year in the career of Burt Bacharach. Here in the UK, where his recording of "Trains And Boats And Plains" made the Top 5, his popularity was at a peak. He lived in London for part of the year, directing sessions with his erstwhile partner Hal David for Dionne Warwick at Pye Studios near Marble Arch and composing the score for the movie "What’s New, Pussycat?" from his apartment in Belgravia. It was also the year that Granada Television broadcast "The Bacharach Sound", in which he starred.

BURT BACHARACH was born in Kansas City on May 12^th, 1928. He grew up in New York where, as a boy, he learned to play cello, drums and piano. By his teenage years he had become a jazz fan and was sneaking out at night to see Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker play. This inspired him to form his own pickup band with a group of pals. He began gigging at hotels and Army bases and soon abandoned his early dream of becoming a professional sportsman for a career in music.

His musical education took place at McGill University in Montreal, the Mannes School of Music in New York City, the Berkshire Music Center, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and, most significantly, the New School for Social Research where he studied music theory and composition under composers Bohuslav Martinu, Henry Cowell and Darius Milhaud.

Bacharach spent the years 1950 to 1952 serving in the US Army. His assignments included stints as an officers’ club pianist and a dance band arranger. While on duty in Germany he met singer Vic Damone for whom he went to work as piano accompanist upon leaving the Military. The young Bacharach also played solo restaurant and club gigs in addition to tinkling the ivories for the Ames Brothers, Georgia Gibbs and Paula Stewart whom he married in 1953.

HAL DAVID was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 25^th, 1921. As a kid he studied violin and played in neighbourhood bands. A natural wordsmith, David wrote for the Thomas Jefferson High School newspaper, becoming editor in his senior year. He studied at the NYU School of Journalism before joining the New York Post as a copywriter while playing violin for various ensembles on the borscht circuit at weekends.

While serving in the Army, Hal David was posted to the Central Pacific Entertainment Section in Hawaii. When World War II ended he returned to New York where, encouraged by his oldest brother, noted country and Disney songwriter Mack David, he set about earning a living as a professional lyricist. In 1947 he sold his song "Isn’t This Better Than Walking In The Rain?" to bandleader Sammy Kaye and enjoyed further success when his composition "The Four Winds And The Seven Seas" charted for Guy Lombardo. Hal David composed many songs with Leon Carr including Teresa Brewer’s smash hit "Bell Bottom Blues".

It was in 1956, at the suggestion of Eddie Wolpin of Famous Music, that our subjects first began writing together. They scored almost immediately with "I Cry More", performed by Alan Dale in the movie "Don’t Knock The Rock". In 1957 "Warm And Tender" became the first of several Bacharach & David compositions to be recorded by Johnny Mathis. Other early triumphs for the new team included the better-known "The Story Of My Life" by Marty Robbins and Perry Como’s "Magic Moments", both high charters early in 1958.

His first marriage now over, Burt Bacharach spent the next two years working for Marlene Dietrich. He was at the legendary diva’s side when she courageously returned to Germany in 1960 and led the orchestra for her when she triumphantly performed at the Titania Palast in Berlin, her first stage appearance in the country of her birth since 1929. He also conducted for Dietrich when she played concerts in England, France, Belgium, Canada and the USA. Burt Bacharach continued to work, on and off, for Marlene Dietrich for several years, arranging her recordings of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" and her German language original of "Kentucky Bluebird".

Home from his international jaunt, Burt Bacharach resumed his partnership with Hal David and began a period of feverish activity working under the wing of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller at the Brill Building in New York. He also briefly joined forces with lyricists Paul Hampton, Norman Gimbel, Sydney Shaw and Frederick Tobias. In February 1961 the Drifters recorded Burt Bacharach & Bob Hilliard’s "Please Stay". For that group’s next session, which kicked off with his and Hal David’s "Loneliness Or Happiness", Bacharach was employed as arranger. It was at this session that he first met Dionne Warwick. Further Leiber & Stoller-produced acts to record Bacharach & David songs include Kapp label artist Babs Tino and, for United Artists, the Exciters, Marv Johnson and Jay & the Americans. A fruitful association with Big Top commenced with Del Shannon’s recording of Bacharach & Hilliard’s "The Answer To Everything". The liaison with that label continued with "Brigitte Bardot" by the Burt Bacharach Orchestra and culminated, three years later, with such magnificent Bacharach & David-written magnum opuses as "Reach Out For Me", "(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me" and "Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha)" by Lou Johnson. Meanwhile, Hal David reunited with Sherman Edwards, with whom he had co-penned Sarah Vaughan’s 1959 smash hit "Broken-Hearted Melody", to script "You’ll Answer To Me" for Patti Page and "Johnny Get Angry" for Joanie Sommers. But Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s early triumphs at Atlantic, Big Top and UA pale in comparison to their work for the labels of Florence Greenberg which make up the bulk of the tracks on this collection . . .

In approximate chronological order:

4) "I WAKE UP CRYING" CHUCK JACKSON: Wand 110, 1961. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Alan Lorber & Paul Griffin. Produced by Luther Dixon. Bacharach and David launched their decade-long association with Scepter/Wand with this custom-written classic for Chuck Jackson, which peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#13 R’n’B) in September 1961. Note the absence of the names Bacharach or David in the arranger or producer credits, roles they were yet to assume with any regularity.

23) "THE BREAKING POINT" CHUCK JACKSON: Wand 115, 1961. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Alan Lorber & Paul Griffin. Produced by Luther Dixon. Unfortunately, the former Del Viking’s furiously paced follow-up "The Breaking Point" secured fewer takers and missed the charts. Again the kitchen sink arrangement was courtesy of Alpa, the acronymous duo also responsible for sides like Gene Pitney’s "Every Breath I Take" and several epics by Junior Lewis. Along with Rudy Lewis of the Drifters, Chuck Jackson was surely one of the definitive voices of Bacharach & David’s early period.

2) "ANY DAY NOW (My Wild Beautiful Bird)" CHUCK JACKSON: Wand 122, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Bob Hilliard. Arranged by Bert Keyes. Produced by Luther Dixon. Songs like "Any Day Now" and the Drifters’ "Mexican Divorce" illustrate that Hal David was not the only brilliant lyricist to collaborate with Burt Bacharach. Bob Hilliard was a veteran Tin Pan Alley scribe who numbered Sammy Fain, Carl Sigman, Milton Delugg and Jule Styne as previous songwriting partners plus Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, the Andrews Sisters and Frank Sinatra among those who recorded his compositions. Further Bacharach/Hilliard songs include Etta James’ "Waitin’ For Charlie To Come Home", Babs Tino’s "Keep Away From Other Girls", Gene McDaniels’ "Tower Of Strength" and, from the opposite end of the taste spectrum, "Three Wheels On My Wagon" by Dick Van Dyke. Bob Hilliard went on to co-author with Mort Garson many songs for Ruby & the Romantics, not to mention "The Theme From Deep Throat". "Any Day Now" peaked at #23 (#2 R’n’B) in June 1962, providing Chuck Jackson with his biggest ever hit.

13) "THEY DON’T GIVE MEDALS (To Yesterday’s Heroes)" CHUCK JACKSON: UK LP, Kent 073, 1987. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. This song was recorded first by Rick Nelson for Bacharach & David’s made-for-television musical of 1966 "On The Flip Side". Chuck Jackson’s version of the song, taped just prior to his defection from Wand to Motown, was first made available on his "A Powerful Soul" album two decades later. Marvellous versions by Walter Jackson, Ben E. King and Dionne Warwick also exist.

26) "SINNER’S DEVOTION" TAMMI TERRELL: Wand LP 682, 1967. Written by Burt Bacharach & Bob Hilliard. Arranged by Alan Lorber & Paul Griffin. Produced by Luther Dixon. With Chuck Jackson and Tammi Terrell then both recently-signed by Motown, the Wand label trawled their tape vaults for six tracks by each artist which they combined to form the 1967 "The Early Show" album. Cut some five or six years earlier, when she was in her mid-teens and known as Tammy Montgomery, this adult number is one of the tragic star’s very earliest recordings and features the Shirelles on backing vocals, which might intimate that an unissued version by that group awaits discovery. Boasting another excellent lyric by Bob Hilliard and a typically big budget Ludix production, "Sinner’s Devotion" is often overlooked by Bacharach discographers.

11) "BABY IT’S YOU" THE SHIRELLES: Scepter 1227, 1961. Written by Burt Bacharach, Barney Williams & Mack David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Luther Dixon. A #8 hit on the Hot 100 (#3 R’n’B) in February 1962 and chart disc number ten for the Shirelles whose lead vocalist Shirley Owens was dubbed over the backing-track of the original demo, making her the only group member present on this record. The backup-vocalists include Burt Bacharach himself. The song was originally written as "I’ll Cherish You" by which title a still unissued version by Tommy Hunt exists. Other fruits of Burt’s alliance with Mack David include the Five Blobs’ 1958 hit "The Blob" and "Move It On The Backbeat" which Bacharach himself recorded, as Burt & the Backbeats, for Big Top late in 1961. The Backbeats were actually the Gospelaires, a group of church-trained session-singers fronted by a young lady destined to become one of the biggest stars of the 1960s and the finest interpreter of Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s songs they would ever encounter. Her name? Dionne Warwick. Scepter promo man Barney Williams was the brother of Luther Dixon, the man responsible for rewriting the lyrics of "Baby It’s You". The song was famously recorded a couple of years later by the Beatles who loved the Shirelles, although the two groups never met.

9) "IT’S LOVE THAT REALLY COUNTS (In The Long Run)" THE SHIRELLES: Scepter 1237, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. Released as the B-side of the Shirelles’ "Stop The Music" and a #102 hit in its own right in September 1962, this track began life as a demonstration disc with lead vocals by Dionne Warwick. That very demo was subsequently included on her first album in 1963. Prior to her first solo single Warwick sang fleetingly with the Shirelles while Shirley Owens was away on maternity leave.

24) "LONG DAY, SHORT NIGHT" THE SHIRELLES: UK LP, Impact ACT 10, 1987. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. The Dionne Warwick recording of this difficult song, contained on her 1966 "Here I Am" long-player, utilises not only the same music track as the Shirelles’ take but also backing vocals by the girls. It seems possible that, on this occasion, the group’s version predates hers. The Shirelles’ "Long Day, Short Night" languished unissued until the release of their "Lost & Found" LP in 1987.

22) "MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF" THE ISLEY BROTHERS: UK CD, Ace CDCHD 928, 1990. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. Recorded circa mid-1962 but unissued until its inclusion on their "Shout & Twist With The Isley Brothers" CD some 28 years later, "Make It Easy On Yourself" is one of the best vehicles the group ever had for the wailing vocals of front man Ronald Isley. This recording utilises the same music track as Dionne Warwick’s demo, which subsequently appeared on her debut long-player. However, given the variant lyrics of the group’s version, chances are that the Isley Brothers were the first to commit this classic song to tape. Jerry Butler had the original hit version, much to Warwick’s chagrin.

1) "I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF" TOMMY HUNT: Scepter 1236, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged & Conducted by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. Tommy Hunt was persona non grata to Florence Greenberg. Something to do with his simultaneously dating Beverly Lee of the Shirelles and being the kept man of an infamous Mafia madam, it seems. Mrs Greenberg was very protective of her girls and, as a result, failed to promote the follow-ups to Hunt’s big hit "Human", even barring the singer from entering her office. Thus a truly great record failed to rise above #119 on the Billboard chart and one of the most talented balladeers of the early years of soul music was robbed of a promising career. Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick each hit big with the song in ensuing years.

25) "LOVER" TOMMY HUNT: UK LP, Kent 059, 1986. Written by Burt Bacharach & Bob Hilliard. Arranged by Bert Keyes. Produced by Luther Dixon. Recorded in 1962 but not released until Tommy Hunt’s "Your Man" LP some 24 years later, this early incarnation of "Any Day Now" was consigned to the shelf at the insistence of Burt Bacharach who was adamant that the song be given to Chuck Jackson or to no-one at all. Listen closely to the Chuck Jackson version and you’ll hear traces of Tommy Hunt’s vocal still present. Scepter signee Lonnie Sattin performed the original demo of this song.

12) "DON’T MAKE ME OVER" TOMMY HUNT: UK LP, Kent 059, 1986. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. The song that launched the solo career of Dionne Warwick late in 1962 was written specifically for her as consolation for Bacharach & David giving "Make It Easy On Yourself" to Jerry Butler. Tommy Hunt’s version of "Don’t Make Me Over" received its premiere on his aforementioned "Your Man" album.

19) "(The Man Who Shot) LIBERTY VALANCE" GENE PITNEY: Musicor 1020, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Chuck Sagle. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Friends. This was the first of many Bacharach & David songs to be recorded by Gene Pitney. Having won a Golden Globe for the movie theme "Town Without Pity", the singer was rewarded by being given this Frankie Laine-style number to record. "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" was written for the John Wayne movie but music biz bureaucracy, or a thumbs-down from director John Ford, prevented its inclusion in the film. The 45 shot to #4 in June 1962, regardless.

16) "ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK A HEART" GENE PITNEY: Musicor 1022, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. The biggest hit of his career and the title track of the first of Gene Pitney’s many chart albums. Only the Crystals’ recording of his composition "He’s A Rebel" prevented "Only Love Can Break A Heart" from reaching #1 in November 1962. The song did, however, reach #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and was the only Gene Pitney 45 to crack the Billboard R’n’B list.

6) "TRUE LOVE NEVER RUNS SMOOTH" GENE PITNEY: Musicor 1032, 1963. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. A #21 hit for Gene Pitney in August 1963 and his third chart success with a Bacharach & David composition in little over a year. Big Top label duo Don & Juan also released a splendid version of this song.

20) "TWENTY FOUR HOURS FROM TULSA" GENE PITNEY: Musicor 1034, 1963. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. "Tulsa" peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1963 and established Gene Pitney as a huge and enduring star in the UK where it reached the Top 5. Unfortunately, a crumbling business relationship between Musicor mogul Aaron Schroeder and the song’s composers put paid to Pitney’s Bacharach & David period. Shame.

15) "THE FOOL KILLER" GENE PITNEY: Musicor LP 3043, 1965. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. Another movie theme, which, for one reason or another, was never used for its intended purpose, "The Fool Killer" was issued on Pitney’s "Big Sixteen, Volume 2" LP and is the singer’s personal favourite of his Bacharach & David recordings. It’s not too difficult to understand why.

5) "IF I NEVER GET TO LOVE YOU" GENE PITNEY: UK LP, Stateside 10148, 1965. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. First issued on Gene Pitney’s British "Looking Through The Eyes Of Love" LP, his killer version of "If I Never Get To Love You" eventually gained American release three years later on the "Pitney Sings Bacharach" album. His recording of the song ranks alongside those by Lou Johnson and Timi Yuro. Pitney’s friend Marianne Faithfull cut a wispy version later.

21) "(There Goes) THE FORGOTTEN MAN" JIMMY RADCLIFFE: Musicor 1024, 1962. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Aaron Schroeder & Wally Gold. No mean songwriter in his own right, Jimmy Radcliffe was also one heck of a singer, much in demand at the publishing company of Aaron Schroeder making demonstration discs for Gene Pitney, et al. It’s unlikely that Pitney could have ever topped Radcliffe’s version. Gene McDaniels made a good attempt, though.

3) "LONG AFTER TONIGHT IS ALL OVER" JIMMY RADCLIFFE: Musicor 1042, 1964. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Bert Berns. Like "(There Goes) The Forgotten Man", this song was intended for Gene Pitney. Jimmy Radcliffe was never lucky as a recording artist despite a handful of top class releases. This wonderful recording inexplicably failed to chart at all in the States but reached the Top 40 in the UK where it remains a perennial end-of-night favourite at soul clubs around the land.

10) "I CRY ALONE" MAXINE BROWN: Wand 158, 1964. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Another selection from the "Presenting Dionne Warwick" album gets re-voiced, this time courtesy of "All In My Mind" gal Maxine Brown who taped a vocal for this track at the suggestion of Florence Greenberg’s son Stan Green. It failed to sell, unlike Green’s next bright idea, which was to substitute Maxine’s vocals for those of the Shirelles on "Oh No, Not My Baby".

27) "I JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF" BIG MAYBELLE: Scepter LP 522, 1964. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. One of the most spine-chilling recordings of a Bacharach & David composition ever made. Rarely, if ever, was the Scepter label’s practice of recycling backing tracks as successful as Big Maybelle’s interpretation of Tommy Hunt’s classic original. A standout cut from the doomed R’n’B legend’s Tony Bruno-supervised "The Soul Of Big Maybelle" long-player.

14) "THIS EMPTY PLACE" THE TANGEERS: Scepter 12269, 1969. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Arranged by Nick Barker. Produced by Bollon & Plato for Plato Productions. Dionne Warwick’s sophomore 45 revived in a Delfonics-style by the Tangeers. How well the song suits this classy, yet little-known, sweet soul outfit. La Warwick would approve, we’re sure.

17) "RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD" B J THOMAS: Scepter 12265, 1969. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Engineered by Phil Ramone. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. The theme song for the Paul Newman/Robert Redford motion picture "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid", this track spent a month at #1 at the dawn of the new decade and earned for Billy Joe Thomas a Gold Disc for sales of over one million copies and, for Burt Bacharach & Hal David, an Oscar for Best Song. Quite a result, considering the singer was given the number to record only after it had been rejected by Bob Dylan and Ray Stevens.

7) "THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU" B J THOMAS: Scepter LP 580, 1970. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Engineered by Phil Ramone. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. A #1 song for a whole month for Herb Alpert in 1968, B J Thomas’ version of one of Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s most famous compositions comes from his Gold Disc winning "Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head" LP.

8) "EVERYBODY’S OUT OF TOWN" B J THOMAS: Scepter 12277, 1970. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Engineered by Phil Ramone. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. This track has a certain Brecht/Weil quality about it but whether Burt Bacharach or Hal David would ever admit to that influence is unlikely. A very respectable #26 hit for the apple of Mrs Greenberg’s eye in April 1970.

18) "SEND MY PICTURE TO SCRANTON, PA" B J THOMAS: Scepter 12283, 1970. Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. Engineered by Phil Ramone. Arranged by Burt Bacharach. Produced by Burt Bacharach & Hal David. An excellent example of Hal David’s narrative style, this unacknowledged gem appeared on the B-side of the long tall Texan’s next 45, the top-tenner "I Just Can’t Help Believing".

(A note on label credits: Where possible, all arranger and producer credits are taken from the labels of original 45 releases. However, the Wand and Scepter labels frequently used backing tracks more than once and the arrangers and producers of the original versions may well have had no involvement in subsequently recorded vocals. Also, educated guesswork has been used to ascertain the arrangers and producers of certain LP tracks.)

When Jackie DeShannon’s "What The World Needs Now Is Love" soared into the Top 10 in 1965, Dionne Warwick’s reign as Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s top star was momentarily threatened. But by the close of the decade the "Walk On By" gal had charted with over thirty of their compositions. And then, dark day and cursed, came "Lost Horizon". So ill-received was that movie and its soundtrack that Bacharach, by then also a prolific recording artist in his own right, partially withdrew from the music business. With broken contracts to contend with, the Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate expired in a mass of mutual litigation.

Burt Bacharach’s 14-year marriage to the actress Angie Dickinson ended in 1980. He soon re-emerged with the Christopher Cross chart-topper "Arthur’s Theme" and, in 1982, married the song’s co-writer Carole Bayer Sager. The couple went on to write Dionne Warwick & Friends’ "That’s What Friends Are For" and "On My Own" for Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald, both of which were also #1 records. 

Meanwhile, Hal David joined forces with John Barry to write the James Bond movie theme "Moonraker" and penned "To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before" with Albert Hammond. He spent the years 1980 to 1986 as President of the American Society of Composers, Artists & Publishers and still serves on the board of directors. Hal David is also Chairman of the National Academy of Popular Music and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame.

In 1989, all past ill feelings long since forgotten, Dionne Warwick reunited with her former mentors to record the brand new Bacharach & David composition "Sunny Weather Lovers". The songwriters have since also collaborated on fresh material for a revived version of their 1968 stage musical "Promises, Promises" and, last year, had two new numbers featured in the Bette Midler movie "Isn’t She Great". Commissioned to compose a song for the film "Grace Of My Heart", Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello created the wonderful "God Give Me Strength". This successful liaison led to the 1998 Bacharach & Costello album "Painted From Memory" comprised entirely of material authored by the unlikely twosome. The project contained Burt Bacharach’s best work for many years.

Today we find Burt Bacharach and Hal David with their reputations at an all-time apex, worshipped as icons of loungecore cool. Their profiles are as high now as they were in the halcyon days of their "Alfie", "Casino Royale", "Butch Cassidy" and "What’s New, Pussycat?" movie themes. Not since Dionne Warwick’s "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Walk On By" and "I Say A Little Prayer" have the names Burt Bacharach & Hal David been so ubiquitous. In an age when, thanks to television documentaries like the recent "Walk On By" series, the art of crafting songs is undergoing a resurgence of appreciation, Burt Bacharach & Hal David are regarded by many as contenders for the title of the best writer of popular songs that ever lived. Listen to the material contained on this CD and you’ll discover that it is a title they each richly deserve.

Sources:

·      "Promises, Promises", original Broadway cast LP: liner notes (United Artists, 1968)
·      Hal David interview by Peter Paphides (Time Out magazine, August 4-11 1999)
·      Legends of Songwriting: Hal David by Paul Zollo (SongTalk magazine, Winter 1991)
·      Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles 1955-1996 (Record Research)
·      Joel Whitburn’s Top R’n’B Singles 1942-1988 (Record Research)
·      Dietrich by Donald Spoto (Bantam Press, 1992)
·      "The Scepter Records Story", CD Box Set: liner notes by Diana Reid Haig (Capricorn, 1992)
·      "The Look Of Love", CD box set: liner notes by Bill DeMain, Paul Grein & Alec Cumming (Rhino, 1998)
·      Anyone Who Had A Heart: The Songs Of Burt Bacharach And Hal David by Robin Platts (Discoveries magazine, Issue 115, December 1997)

First published in the CD "The Sound Of Bacharach", Westside WESA 894.