Great news for Bacharach & David fans from Ace's Songwriters & Producers series! Seems June 30 will bring the release of ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE: A BURT BACHARACH COLLECTORS' ANTHOLOGY. I think this Ace series is consistently the best reissue line on the market today --probably given competition only by Ace's other lines! Needless to say, I'm thrilled they've finally gotten around to Burt! Here's the tracklisting:



* Collectors' pieces and original versions from the deep catalogue of one of the 20th century's greatest pop tunesmiths.

* Burt Bacharach turned 80 on 12 May. This CD could be regarded as a birthday tribute. It fits nicely with similar projects in the Ace catalogue; the songwriter and producer series.

* All tracks are completely new to Ace CD, and most are new to a CD release, full stop.

* It features a £400.00 Northern rarity (Dean Barlow) and contains Burt's first recorded composition (Nat "King" Cole, 1952).

* The vocalists on the Burt & the Backbeats track are sisters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick - from before they launched their solo careers.

* While most of the songs feature lyrics by Hal David, the CD contains rare examples of songs written by Burt with other co-writers.

* Bacharach never goes out of fashion, however obscure or lesser known the repertoire might be.

1. There's Always Something To Remind Me - Johnson, Lou
2. So Long Johnny - Deshannon, Jackie
3. Third Window From The Right - Barlow, Dean
4. If I Never Get To Love You - Pitney, Gene
5. Made In Paris - Lopez, Trini
6. I Wake Up Crying - Shannon, Del
7. Rain From The Skies - Wade, Adam
8. That's The Way I'll Come To You - Vee, Bobby
9. Move It On The Backbeat - Burt & The Backbeats
10. You're Telling Our Secrets - Clark, Dee
11. Thirty Miles Of Railroad Track - Hammond Brothers
12. Story Of My Life - Downing, 'Big' Al
13. Three Friends (Two Lovers) - Turbans
14. True Love Never Runs Smooth - Don & Juan
15. They Don't Give Medals To Yesterday's Heroes - King, Ben E.
16. More Time To Be With You - Benton, Brook
17. Dream Sweet Dreamer - Warwick, Dionne
18. That's Not The Answer - Velasco, Vi
19. I Looked For You - Gracie, Charlie
20. Send Me No Flowers - Day, Doris
21. How About - Reese, Della
22. Last Time I Saw My Heart - Robbins, Marty
23. Crazy Times - Vincent, Gene
24. Gotta Get A Girl - Avalon, Frankie
25. Wild Honey - Carr, Cathy
26. Once In A Blue Moon - Cole, Nat 'King'

While only two tracks are completely new to me, I believe more than half of them are new to CD, and undoubtedly far more pristine than my transferred 45s!

Linda, can you add the appropriate 'wan link?

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019JHEWS/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0019JHEWS/?tag=imwan-21

Looks like other Ace releases (according to their website) coming soon include a Mojo Men comp, a Golden Age... volume of jazz crossover hits, and a collection of James Brown's production work.

---

All new and future Ace releases at Amazon USA

All new and future Ace releases at Amazon UK

A neat reminder that the 1980's synth-pop band, Naked Eyes' recording of "Always Something There to Remind Me" was a Bacharach / David cover.

I have to agree with JMarch... Ace has always been one of the best reissue labels!

Wow, this is all new stuff to me, what a great summer this will be!

I'm a huge Bacharach fan. This one is on the list to buy for me!

I did not know that. Maybe the original version's not as annoying as the Naked Eyes version.

I can assure you, Doc, that the Lou Johnson & Sandie Shaw originals (and Dionne's, of course) are all terrific and much less annoying than Naked Eyes'!

If there are any other Bacharach collectors here, run, don't walk to pick this up. I really couldn't recommend it more. I had all but one track, mostly scratchy 45s or rips thereof, but they really sparkle here, and Ace makes a strong case for Bacharach's work pre-Dionne, some songs even before Pitney, Butler, the Drifters, etc. There's more than enough material for a second volume, but for now, this does stand as the ultimate Bacharach collectors' anthology and it makes a fine complement to Raven's THE RARE BACHARACH (some equally hard-to-find stuff, but inferior notes and packaging to this one) and Rhino's essential 3-disc box. Highly recommended, and congrats again, Ace folks!! I hope they continue their Brill Building series with Mann & Weil and Sedaka & Greenfield next, and of course, another Goffin & King volume...

Just a note so that no one is confused by the game of musical chairs tonight ~ Googa had posted a duplicate thread for this release, and JMarch replied to it ~ I've merged the new thread into JMarch's original thread, and moved Googa's finalised tracklisting into the first post at the top.