Various Artists - Love Songs of Burt Bacharach

Something of a miniature version of the three-CD Look of Love box, this single disc is on firm ground with classic takes by Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, and other '60s and '70s artists who helped render these tunes eternally fresh. A few offbeat choices of covers (Isaac Hayes's transformation of "Walk On By," Naked Eyes' "Always Something There to Remind Me") work, while later songs such as "Arthur's Theme" and "On My Own" show Bacharach's efforts becoming mired in the middle of the road. That he still had more to offer, though, is amply demonstrated by the inclusion of "This House Is Empty Now," a stunner from the Elvis Costello-Bacharach album Painted from Memory. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

Bacharach Can Write With The Best Of Them.

I was looking for "What's New Pussycat," as my version left off the beginning (with the crashing glass). That may be a funny reason to buy a CD but it worked out great for me.

What I found was hit after hit after hit that I didn't know Burt had even written. From Perry Como's "Magic Moments" to "This House Is Empty Now" with Elvis Costello, this CD gives a cross section of Burt's versatility and shows his longevity. It's no wonder he had a great writing career; and here I thought he only wrote for Dionne Warwick.

1/3 of the songs are covers, i.e., Dusty Springfield singing Dionne Warwick's song, "I Just Don't know To Do With Myself," but every song is great no matter who sings it and that's the tell tale sign of a great song.

One other note; Dusty Springfield's version of "The Look Of Love" only went to #22 in July of 1967 while Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's version went to #4 almost a year later. However, the only version you hear now-a-days is Dusty's, although they almost sound like two different songs. April 9, 2007

impressive cross section

As this disc shows, Burt Bachrach has had a very long career spanning a tremendous diversity of songs. I guarantee you that unless you are a total expert you will be surprised by at least a few of the songs and find yourself saying, HE wrote that? A couple of the versions here are questionable, especially the Naked Eyes, but the vast majority of the songs are excellent and, even where the original hits are not used, the versions are quite good. An entertaining, reasonably good CD. February 27, 2001

Takes you back to the 60's

With the exception of 2-3 songs I could listen to this CD over and over again. My favorites are Aretha Franklin's "Say A Little Prayer," anything by Dusty Springfield , Jackie DeShannon, Perry Como's "Magic Moments". I didn't care for Naked Eyes or Tom Jones. It's good easy listening with a sprinkling of soul and pop. June 11, 2000

The Love Songs of Burt Bacharach

The Australian pressing (Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd - Catalouge No.541 564 2) of the above is better. It has 22 songs including "This Guy's In Love With You" - Herb Alpert, "Magic Moments" - Perry Como and some others not on the US CD. It sure brought back some memories from the 60's May 20, 2000

A fair sampling of classic Bacharach, but not the best

Contrary to the last reviewer's comments, Burt was actually in the studio when many of these cuts were recorded, and whether or not he actually sat at the piano, he shaped every aspect of the arrangements he supervised. That said, this compilation is a bit of an odd mix of classic "original" versions and later versions. The Rhino Records box set has the best versions of most of these songs, and would be a much better choice if you can afford to spring for 3 CDs.As to Burt's own slick orchestral intrumental versions of his hits, I find the mid-fi 1960s radio versions infinitely more charming. Burt's reputation as the elevator music king was certainly reinforced by those mediocre solo albums he released in the 60s and 70s. August 14, 1999

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