Bacharach & David Songbook Vol. 2
The 1960s had a generation of songwriters which in its breadth and quality is ummatched.
Jimmy Webb, Bob Dylan, Lennon & McCartney, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, King & Goffin and the rest of the Brill Building scene, Holland/Dozier/Holland and Smokey Robinson and the rest of the Motown crew, Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Curtis Mayfield, Hayes & Porter, Ray Davies, the evil John Phillips, Bert Berns, Crewe & Gaudio, James Brown, Sly Stone, Neil Diamond, Lee Hazlewood, Shadow Morton, Jagger & Richards, Stephen Stills, Van Morrison, and God knows whom I have forgotten and whose name you’ve just shouted out, unable to understand their inexplicable omission.
I don’t think it is remotely possible to name a “greatest” from that lot, but Burt Bacharach was a towering figure in that collection of genius songsmiths. His collaborations with Hal David, which comprises almost all of Burt’s 1960s prime, are near the level of Cole Porter, who perhaps was the greatest songwriter of all time (of course, Porter did music & lyrics himself).
Many of these songwriters and tunesmiths have already left us, some may follow soon. Burt Bacharach followed Hal David to the great recording studio in the sky last week. So this mix — a long overdue Vol. 2 to the Bacharach/David Songbook I posted in 2017 — is by way of tribute to this giant in popular music. A third Bacharach/David mix will follow later in the year; it will include some songs that didn’t make it on this collection, and a few versions of songs that did.
Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I have previously put up three Bacharach Songbooks:
The Bacharach/David Songbook Vol. 1
Bacharach: The Lesser Known Songbook
Covered With Soul: Bacharach/David Edition
Any Major Originals: Bacharach Edition
As ever, this mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-trumpeted covers.
1. Gwen Guthrie – (They Long To Be) Close To You (1986)
2. Robin McKelle & The FlyTones – Walk On By (2013)
3. Jennifer Warnes – Don’t Make Me Over (1979)
4. Luther Vandross – A House Is Not A Home (1980)
5. James Brown – What The World Needs Now Is Love (1976)
6. Lyn Collins – Reach Out For Me (1972)
7. Jimmy Ruffin – Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (1970)
8. The Dells – I Just Dont Know What To Do With Myself (1972)
9. Barbara Acklin – The Look Of Love (1969)
10. Dionne Warwick – I Say A Little Prayer (1967)
11. Dusty Springfield – TwentyFour Hours From Tulsa (1964)
12. Nancy Sinatra – Wishin’ And Hopin’ (1966)
13. Dee Dee Warwick – Alfie (1969)
14. Jackie Trent – Make It Easy On Yourself (1969)
15. Bobbie Gentry – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again (1969)
16. The Fifth Dimension – One Less Bell To Answer (1970)
17. Gabor Szabo & Lena Horne – A Message To Michael (1970)
18. Pretenders – The Windows Of The World (1988)
19. Neil Diamond – Do You Know The Way To San José (1993)
20. Rumer – You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) (2016)
21. Ronald Isley & Burt Bacharach – In Between The Heartaches (2003)
22. Bob Marley and The Wailers – What’s New Pussycat (1965)
Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Rod Temperton
Steely Dan
PW = amdwhah
Microsoft Defender would not allow a download from Rapidgator. It states the file is infected with Trojan:Script/Wacatac.H!ml.
Zippy file takes me through lots of extra ads and pages when I hit “download”, so I could not try a download there.
I’m downloading from Zippyshare and hitting the same problem as Stephen – not a problem that I’ve ever before had here.
Zippy download has same issue with Microsoft Defender. as Rapidgator.
So, likely issues is in file itself, not the download sites.
Sorry about that. I’m getting a bit desperate now. I’ve scanned everything with Avast, who are supposed to be the best in cleaning out viruses and Trojans and malware and all that stuff. I’ve scanned my system, and I’ve scanned the folder and the .rar file. All declared clean.
I’m not an expert on such things, so I’m at a loss. Is Avast failing me? Could Win Defender give a false reading?
Win Defender false reading is possible. Give it a few days.
Sometimes Microsoft clears it in a few days to a week.
Thanks for all you comps, write ups, and the In Memoriam section – which always honors some unsung heroes. I appreciate all you do.
Strange because the same problem with the Valentine Day set was solved when you ran it through Avast and reloaded it.
Fitting tribute to a legend – finely compiled as always Dude. Astonishing to think that such a gifted and prolific songwriter had so few hit 45s in the UK and USA. I am happy to be corrected but press reports and radio suggest only 50 odd singles reached the charts. A true genius who, along with his equally gifted partner Hal David, changed the face of music back in the 60s and continue to inspire and influence even today.
But when those singles hit, they did hit!
I ran this through Avast before posting it. I wonder whether the alerts are only in Windows Defender, or whether other anti-virus also block the files.
Windows Defender is now accepting this file as safe.
Oh, good news. It must have been a quirk with Windows Defender, rather than a threat from my side…
Hurrah! Downloaded successfully. And more importantly… thank you for all these lovely compilations that you compile so skillfully.
@amdwhah
Oh how true that is! Thanks again Dude for a great compilation.
Oh how true that is. Thanks again Dude for the great compilation.