Amazon.com essential recording: The greatest expression of Burt Bacharach's composing and arranging talents is the marvelous string of productions he made with Dionne Warwick and lyricist Hal David for a decade or so starting in 1962. Many of their triumphs are included in this three-CD box (also see the single disc The Dionne Warwick Collection), along with dozens of other tracks made between 1957 (Marty Robbins's "Story of My Life") and 1996 (Bacharach's collaboration with Elvis Costello on "God Give Me Strength"). The master's blend of froth, deep emotion, and challenging musicality provides many masterpieces and a few unfortunate moments: he doesn't have much to show for the '80s aside from "That's What Friends Are For" and "Arthur's Theme." Its handful of missteps aside, though, The Look of Love is an essential trove of great pop things. --Rickey Wright
Disc 1:
The Story Of My Life - Marty Robbins
Magic Moments - Pery Como
The Blob - The Five Blobs
Please Stay - The Drifters
I Wake Up Crying - Chuck Jackson
Tower Of Strength - Gene McDaniels
Baby It's You - The Shirelles
Mexican Divorce - The Drifters
(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance - Gene Pitney
Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird) - Chuck Jackson
Make It Easy On Yourself - Jerry Butler
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - Tommy Hunt
It's Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run) - The Shirelles
Only Love Can Break A Heart - Gene Pitney
(There Goes) The Forgotten Man - Jimmy Radcliffe
Don't Make Me Over - Dionne Warwick
Let The Music Play - The Drifters
Blue On Blue - Bobby Vinton
True Love Never Runs Smooth - Gene Pitney
Blue Guitar - Richard Chamberlain
Reach Out For Me - Lou Johnson
Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa - Gene Pitney
Anyone Who Had A Heart - Dionne Warwick
A House Is Not A Home - Brook Benton
Wives And Lovers - Jack Jones
Wishin' And Hopin' - Dusty Springfield
Disc 2:
Walk On By - Dionne Warwick
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me - Lou Johnson
Me Japanese Boy I Love You - Bobby Goldsboro
To Wait For Love - Tony Orlando
Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha) - Lou Johnson
Land Of Make Believe - Dionne Warwick
The Last One To Be Loved - Lou Johnson
Fool Killer - Gene Pitney
Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Burt Bacharach
What The World Needs Now Is Love - Jackie DeShannon
Trains And Boats And Planes - Burt Bacharach
What's New Pussycat? - Tom Jones
My Little Red Book - Manfred Mann
Here I Am - Dionne Warwick
A Lifetime Of Loneliness - Jackie DeShannon
Made In Paris - Trini Lopez
Promise Her Anything - Tom Jones
Are You There (With Another Girl) - Dionne Warwick
Come And Get Me - Jackie DeShannon
Alfie - Cilla Black
In Between The Heartaches - Dionne Warwick
Nikki - The Burt Bacharach Orchestra & Chorus
So Long Johnny - Jackie DeShannon
The Windows Of The World - Dionne Warwick
Take A Broken Heart - Rick Nelson
I Say A Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick
Casino Royale - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
Disc 3:
The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield
Do You Know The Way To San Jose - Dionne Warwick
This Guy's In Love With You - Herb Alpert
Knowing When To Leave - Jill O'Hara
Promises, Promises - Dionne Warwick
Pacific Coast Highway - Burt Bacharach
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - B.J. Thomas
Odds And Ends - Dionne Warwick
Everybody's Out Of Town - B.J. Thomas
I'll Never Fall In Love Again - Dionne Warwick
(They Long To Be) Close To You - Carpenters
Paper Mache - Dionne Warwick
One Less Bell To Answer - The 5th Dimension
Check Out There - Dionne Warwick
Hasbrook Heights - Burt Bacharach
The Balance Of Nature - Dionne Warwicke
Living Together, Growing Together - The 5th Dimension
You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) - The Stylistics
Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) - Christopher Cross
On My Own - Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald
That's What Friends Are For - Dionne & Friends
God Give Me Strength - Burt Bacharach & Elvis Costello
The best... Without a doubt, this is the best album that I have ever owned...well maybe next to Steely Dan's Aja, which was the first I ever owned. I love the lyrics, the tempo changes and the genius that is Burt Bacharach and Hal David. This album is even more haunting for me since the untimely death of Burt's daughter Nikki. Nikki was one of my favorite songs, even before I ever knew who it was written for, but even more so now. All the Dionne Warwick hits plus Tom Jones, Trini Lopez, Bobby Goldsboro, Dusty Springfield et al, this is a must have for any true Bacharach afficianado.
Wingtips, Telstar, Rotary, 1964 Worlds Fair... Fantastic Voyage, Ursula Andress, AM Radio, Sean Connery, Paisley, Man From Uncle...
In short, Burt Bacharach represents pop culture of the 1960's. At it's apogee. Like a moon shot Bacharach's gorgeous melodies and Hal David's brilliant lyrics spanning the decade from the Blob to Movie of The Week. From Bobby Vinton to the Age of Aquarius. Sock Hop to Woodstock.
Great music of... and beyond... it's era. Timeless... as long as Anyone Has A Heart and The World Needs Love.
This is MUSIC. Not hip hop. Orchestral, composed, inspired.
Genius.
Burt's Beanery WOW. This series of albums is wonderful PLUS A whole CD of Dionne Warwick doesn't hurt!
I'm amazed at how many of these songs i've forgotten but when I hear a few notes I recall the entire song... sort of like I had amnesia or something! Its amazing that so many of the songs in this list are in the mainstream ... still after as much as 40 years!
This is a definite BUY
DIG THAT BACH-AH-RACH my late uncle hipped me to ole burt. i love what he did with a track.........those percussive horns, man!!!!! i dig this. although i do not like all the joints on here, it's a good thing to have. what stands out for me on here are the lou johnson joints. i especially love REACH OUT FOR ME. more standouts for me are IT'S LOVE THAT REALLY COUNTS (IN THE LONG RUN) by the shirrelles and PLEASE STAY by the drifters. now i like some of the dionne warwick songs on here, but in the liner notes, i think her reasons for doing some of those songs were ridiculous. i thought it was her on WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE. i had no idea that it was a white lady. amazing vocal arrangement. another that just came to mind is DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART. actually, that is like my fave on here. i wished that they would've put dionne warwick's version of YOU'LL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN IF YOU BREAK MY HEART ON HERE though. the stylistics did their thing, but i prefer the original. all in all, it is wonderful, but then again, it is another reason i am a skeptic whenm it comes to box sets.
Superb historical box set This is not a "greatest hits" set, though many of Bacharach's greatest hits are contained here. Rather, it's a fascinating historical view of the progression of the songwriter(s) through four decades. It is truly instructive to listen to some of the less well-known pieces. The book that is included in the box set is an essential component: The writers really knew what they were talking about, and I've spent hours reading along with the (very detailed) descriptions of each song's history.
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