The Look Of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection [Box]

Performer: Various Artists/Burt Bacharach
Artist: Elvis Costello; Herb Alpert; Brook Benton; Cilla Black; The Drifters; The Carpenters; Perry Como; Dusty Springfield
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: This deluxe three disc set includes an 89-page book including rare photos and liner notes by Burt Bacharach, Patrick Milligan, Bill De Main, Paul Grein, Alec Cumming. Producers include: Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Phil Ramone, Bones Howe, George Martin. Compilation Producer: Patrick Milligan. Performers include: The Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, B.J. Thomas, Christopher Cross. Contains 30 tracks. Personnel: Johnny Mann Singers (vocals). Audio Remasterers: Andrew Garver; Bill Inglot. Liner Note Authors: Paul Grein; Patrick Milligan; Bill DeMain; Burt Bacharach. Directors: Harold Wheeler; Ivor Raymonde; Pete King ; Jimmie Haskell. Photographer: Jim McCrary. Arrangers: Claus Ogerman; Larry Wilcox; Garry Sherman; Chuck Sagle; Joe Reisman; Alan Lorber; Ray Ellis; Richard Carpenter ; Artie Butler; Bob Alcivar; Thom Bell; Peter Matz; Bill Holman; Paul Griffin ; Bones Howe; Burt Bacharach; Bert Keyes; Carole Bayer Sager. While this three-CD, 75-song box set only has a half-dozen tracks actually credited to Burt Bacharach, it's certainly the best representation of his music likely to ever be assembled. Spanning the late '50s through a 1996 duet with Elvis Costello, this is the cream of his work as a composer (and, frequently, producer), properly concentrating mostly on the 1960s hit versions of his songs (usually, though not always, co-written with Hal David) by Dionne Warwick, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Dusty Springfield, the Drifters, Chuck Jackson, and many others. Classics like "Baby It's You," "Walk On By," "What the World Needs Now Is Love," and "Wishin' and Hopin'" are here, of course. What really makes this exceptional by box set standards, however, is the deft intermingling of familiar smash hits with interesting minor hits and rarities. There are four cuts by the unknown Lou Johnson, who has been described as the male counterpart to Dionne Warwick; intriguing obscurities by Gene Pitney ("Fool Killer"), Jackie DeShannon ("So Long Johnny"), and others that even fans of the artists might not have heard; rare original versions of familiar classics (Tommy Hunt's "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," for instance); hits by artists who only benefited grandly from the magic Bacharach/David touch once (Bobby Vinton's "Blue on Blue," Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers"); and just plain off-the-wall things like the Five Blobs' novelty "The Blob," Manfred Mann's "My Little Red Book," Bobby Goldsboro's "My Japanese Boy I Love You," and TV actor Richard Chamberlain's "Blue Guitar." Thankfully only a little of his subpar work from the '80s is included. Aficionados may find some things to carp about, particularly the absence of some small hits (quantity and licensing would have made it difficult to bring everything together) and the track choice when several singers made worthy versions; sometimes the big hit is used, sometimes it's a rare original version, sometimes it's a rare rendition that was neither the original nor the biggest hit. Certainly there's more Bacharach/David worth hearing; the first places to start after getting through this are vintage Dionne Warwick compilations. For a rich but manageable anthology of his best work, though, it could hardly be bettered, enhanced by nearly 100 pages of liner notes and track annotations. ~ Richie Unterberger The Burt Bacharach revival was one of the most pleasing things about pop music in the late '90s, but it did produce an abundance of reissues, many of which seemed superfluous. So, it may be easy to dismiss Hip-O's Love Songs of Burt Bacharach as an unnecessary compilation, especially since it arrived in the summer of 1999, when the revival was starting to fade. That would be unfortunate because it's one of the best Bacharach compilations of the CD age. True, it's nowhere near comprehensive (particularly in comparison to Rhino's exhaustive three-disc box, The Look of Love), but it's a concise sampling of classic recordings of Bacharach's best songs. A few songs aren't here in their best-known or best versions -- "Anyone Who Had a Heart" is by Luther Vandross instead of Dionne Warwick; Perry Como's "Magic Moments" doesn't quite fit the tone of the disc, for instance, nor does Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald's otherwise fine duet "On My Own" -- but the compilers should be given credit for choosing Naked Eyes' excellent revamping of "Always Something There to Remind Me" and Isaac Hayes' reinvention of "Walk on By." The rest of the disc is devoted to classic renditions of classic songs, from Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer" to Bacharach and Elvis Costello's contemporary classic, "This House Is Empty Now" (which, in this context, sounds more timeless than ever). Sure, there might be a couple of noteworthy songs missing, but it's nevertheless a representative sampler that's not only ideal for casual listeners on a budget, it will still be entertaining for serious fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine If you're at a loss for context, think of Bacharach as the American Jobim. Like his Brazilian counterpart, he combined the influences of jazz and 20th Century classical music with a penchant for odd harmonies and meters, all made palatable by an uncanny gift for infectious melodies. Again like Jobim, Bacharach was more a composer than a performer, and he usually left the singing to professionals (we won't get into the Astrud Gilberto/Dionne Warwick parallels). The Bacharach tunes presented on this three-disc retrospective are the original hit versions as sung by the likes of Warwick, Tom Jones, the Carpenters and others. Over the course of this set, what becomes clear (besides the ungodly bankroll Burt must have amassed via these compositions) is the consistent merging of innovation with pure pop appeal. Perhaps only the Beatles ever pulled off that combo with equal panache.

Spin (1/99, p.92) - Ranked #10 in Spin's list of the "Ten Best Reissues Of 1998." Entertainment Weekly (12/11/98, pp.74-76) - "...As familiar as you may be with these songs, THE LOOK OF LOVE makes you feel as if you've uncovered a treasure chest that was before your eyes the whole time." - Rating: A-

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