Bacharach is famous for his hit making songs. But on album, under his own name, not so much. It's telling he only had 10 albums by the end of the decade he helped define in pop culture terms. Reach Out is one of those, perhaps his most known. It's basically an orchestrated version of his top hits. For anyone else, this would be a yawn fest, 101 Strings' Hymn to the Great Elevator. In the hands of Bacharach, the most adept of arrangers, all of his songs come to life in different and inspiring ways. There are no star studded vocalists here, though it's not entirely instrumental. You will recognize most of these songs, but not in the same way as you might think.
Ostensibly this falls into the Easy Listening genre. This a term Bacharach bristled at. Yes, it's easy on the ears for sure, but it's hardly easy to compose or perform. I could not agree more. The depth of composition here is astounding, and was copied by thousands of aspiring songwriters. Most fell way short of achieving it.
Did you know, as I write this, that Bacharach is 91 and still writing songs? Somebody should take a blood sample. I bet a wire comes out instead...
Personal collection
LP: 1967 A&M
An easy album to find. Not so easy to find in Mint condition, which I recently did.
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