Burt Bacharach: Song By Song (Omnibus Press) [Paperback]

Serene Dominic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Best known as the composer (with lyricist Hal David) of such 1960s hits as Dionne Warwick s Walk On By, Dusty Springfield s The Look of Love, and the Carpenters' Close to You, Burt Bacharach wrote the music for over 700 published songs, which have been recorded by some 2,000 artists - from Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley to the Beatles and the Supremes. Song By Song is a witty, cheeky song-by-song journey through Bacharach s vast recorded oeuvre, from Nat King Cole s little-known 1952 version of Once in a Blue Moon to Burt s recent collaborations with Elvis Costello, Lyle Lovett and Chicago.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Serene Dominic is a music writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. He writes for the New Times Chain and has published articles in Rouze, Popsmear, New York Press, and Guitar.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer Trade Books (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825672805
• ISBN-13: 978-0825672804
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AS BRILLIANT AS ITS SUBJECT, AND FUNNY TO BOOT, September 9, 2003

By 

J. Cherry (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burt Bacharach: Song By Song (Omnibus Press) (Paperback)

Serene Dominic has written the book that anyone interested in Bacharach (or popular music of the 20th century) has been waiting for. This amazingly complete discography is written in such a breezy, amusing style you won't be able to put it down. Reproductions of period graphics, such as record jackets and sheet music covers help readers place the songs in the context of their times. Burt Bacharach himself vouches for the book's accuracy on a cover blurb. Well-researched, informative, colorful, and fun to read, this is sure to become a classic of pop music literature.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea For A Book; Almost Got It Right, July 4, 2005

By 

Frank M. Young III "eubiecat" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burt Bacharach: Song By Song (Omnibus Press) (Paperback)

I found this book fascinating but flawed. Author Dominic has done a great service to those interested in the music of Burt Bacharach. Via this tome, I discovered several Bacharach tunes previously unknown to me. I also found that the original versions of certain songs were not the hit versions.
There is more trivia than a person could ask for scattered throughout this book. If it were written more seriously, with less attempts at puns, cutdowns, shaggy dog stories and quips, I think it would be a far stronger work. Dominic just cannot resist any opportunity to make a funny. At times, his quips are amusing, but more often, they invalidate his critical voice.
Another problem I had with the book was its organization. Dominic groups the Bacharach songs into periods of two to three years. Within those periods, the songs are presented in chronological order, as they were first recorded and released. This is fine, and I salute Dominic's scholarship.
But [and you knew there would be a 'but'!] there is no other way to cross-index the songs. Thus, eyestrain and brainstrain set in as the reader scans pages and paragraphs in search of a certain song. Many readers are not going to have this chronology in their heads. Had Dominic included an alphabetical song index in the back of the book, he would have made his work easier to access and more usable.
The post-1970s chapters are rough going, as Bacharach sinks into MOR mire, and Dominic struggles to find something of value to say about this work. He perks up considerably when Elvis Costello's collaboration occurs in the 1990s.
This book is loaded with interesting memorabilia--record sleeves, labels, etc.--and is well worth owning and reading. I just wish the tone had been less jocular and more refined. Sometimes I could hear the voice of Groucho Marx narrating the book as I read it. Comedy is a fine thing, but it is a strange bedfellow of scholarship.
This book is a valuable resource for anyone else attempting to write a 'song by song' volume for other composers. I appreciate the groundwork Dominic has achieved with this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "The ultimate Burt Bacharach reference"?, January 4, 2008

By 

Lee Hartsfeld (Central Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burt Bacharach: Song By Song (Omnibus Press) (Paperback)

So promises the cover. "For fans, serious record collectors, and music critics." Song by song, we presume.

What we get, instead, is snarky rock-style journalism--to be sure, many of Bacharach's early titles are trashed for (among other crimes) not being rock and roll. (What were they supposed to sound like??) Not that anyone ever went broke critiquing music from a rock-good/pop-bad perspective, but shouldn't there have been some warning that this was the same cliched, mean-toned prose to be found everywhere else?

Song analysis is next to none, and what little we get is occasionally bizarre. Ferrante and Teicher made a career of contrary-motion glissandos, claims the author, for example. I make a point of avoiding such inane, reductive journalism, and I had every reason to expect something more from this volume. Otherwise, I'd happily give it two or three stars, just for the fun photos and facts. Because of the false advertising, one star.