Back to Bacharach - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Steve Tyrell, whose appearances in the two "Father Of The Bride" movies, and whose albums "A New Standard" and "Standard Time" established him as a premier contemporary interpreter of the Great American Songbook, now turns his attention to one of the legendary composers in all of pop music: Burt Bacharach.

Steve has a personal stake in these classic songs. As a young man breaking into the record business in the 1960s, he became head of A&R and Promotion at Scepter Records, the history-making independent label that released the famous hits written by Bacharach and his lyricist partner Hal David, and recorded by the great Dionne Warwick. Tyrell was present at the creation of standards like "Walk On By," "Alfie," "I Say A Little Prayer," and many others. Moreover, he produced B.J. Thomas' Oscar-winning recording of Bacharach-David's "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head."

One can only categorize Tyrell's performances on "Back To Bacharach" as definitive. His supporting cast includes the top session players on two coasts, as well as guest collaborators Herb Alpert, Patti Austin, Dionne Warwick, James Taylor, Rod Stewart, and Martina McBride. Steve's own singular vocal style, drenched in the Texas tones of his sophisticated R&B approach, is perfectly suited to these great hits. He sings the songs exactly the way everyone wants to hear them. To top it all of, Maestro Bacharach himself appears on three tracks as a performer and two as co-producer.

Steve Tyrell's "Back To Bacharach" makes the case for adding Burt Bacharach to the roster of all-time great creators of the previous generation of American Songbook immortals---Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, and Ellington. And it does so with supreme style, taste, and expertise.

Album Description
Steve Tyrell brings Bacharach back to the airwaves with his 2008 album Back to Bacharach! This classic album chimes with 'Walk on By', 'The Look of Love', 'This Guy's in Love' featuring Herb Alpert, 'What the World Needs Now' featuring Dionne Warwick/James Taylor/Martina McBride/Rod Stewart/Burt Bacharach, 'One Less Bell to Answer','I Say a Little Prayer' and more. 14 tracks.

Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Warmly seductive. June 24, 2008
36 out of 37 found this review helpful

"Back To Bacharach" continues Tyrell's foray into pop standards and remains quite close to the winning formula he developed on his previous albums.
Virtually all the songs on the album are so well-known that it would be difficult not to compare them to the originals; the only difficulty would be knowing exactly which artist did record the original, since all of them had been so well-covered both by famous and not quite so famous singers.
Steve possesses a pleasantly husky voice, but has limited range.
He put this quality to good use in his version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head".
However, tracks like "Walk on By", "Always Something There to Remind Me", and "This Guy's in Love with You" find Tyrell straining to reach the high notes.
There is nothing to stretch the imagination here, Steve's versions are all impeccably performed, perfectly in tune, very pleasant, no chance of alienating any existing fan.
On "I Say A Little Prayer" and "Don't Make Me Over", he duets gracefully with Patti Austin, who, along with Regina Belle, remains one of the best duet partners of all time. Patti nicely complements, but never overshadows Steve's voice.
Mostly Tyrell sticks close to Bacharach's original arrangements, although "The Look of Love" uses bass and guitar lines to give it more of a rock feel.
The result is always pleasant, yet Tyrell's takes very rarely leave a lasting mark in a listener's ear.
Many guest artists: Herb Alpert, vocalists Patti Austin and Lynne Fiddmont, Bob Mann, with Bacharach lending a hand as pianist on Bacharach and David's anthem, "What the World Needs Now is Love," a song Steve Tyrell believes is "more relevant now than it ever was." Bacharach's piano glues together the whole affair which features superguests Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Martina McBride and Dionne Warwick along with Tyrell.
The album debuts at # 3 of Billboard Top Jazz Albums and # 181 of The Billboard 200 (July 12, 2008)

Burt Bacharach's 60 Greatest Hit Songs
Back to Bacharach
Songs of Sinatra
Look of Love: Burt Bacharach Songbook
Who'll Speak for Love

1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing June 30, 2008
36 out of 54 found this review helpful

I am a huge Burt Bacharach fan, and used to be a Steve Tyrell fan - until this CD. Tyrell's voice has not mellowed over the years, it's gotten harder and raspier. Not charming when it comes to singing a Bacharach tune. I am used to lyrical, pleasing voices singing his hits - think Dionne Warwick and Karen Carpenter. Rather, the first song on this CD comes across as so harsh and brash, it loses all of its beauty. This CD may have been a bit of self indulgence for Tyrell, but it shouldn't have been released to the public.

2 out of 5 stars

Done before - over and over, and better. June 29, 2008
35 out of 51 found this review helpful

I had never heard of this guy before, I thought it would be jazzier with more of an edge. I don't like smooth jazz, but I've always loved Bacharach - In fact, Tyrell sounds like my landscaping guy singing in my backyard while he works. His range is very limited, which makes every song sound much the same. This is a guy who worked in the music business but should have stayed on the other side of the recording studio glass. Obviously he has a great history in music with many aquaintances and musician friends, but he is a non-singer who needs to realize where his strengths and weaknesses lie. Wish I could take it back to the store. I could use the money right now.

1 out of 5 stars

This CD sounds like a lounge lizard's vanity project - buy and hear Tyrell's true genius, producing the originals! July 20, 2008
21 out of 25 found this review helpful

This simply sounds like an lounge lizard with an average voice making a home recording on his computer. That being said, Tyrell's real talent lies back when he kept quiet and let his production talents show. For the real thing, get Dionne's, the Carpenters, and B.J.'s definitive recordings. Most of Dionne's original Scepter albums have now been released on CD, 2 albums per CD. I'd tell you where, but Amazon might not allow me to post that info. Those were great recordings of great songs, many produced by Tyrell, but sung by a world-class vocalist for the same price or less as this stuff, and you get two entire albums! I don't understand why so many people who grew up with these tremendous songs feel like they have to buy something newly recorded, regardless of quality, when the original recordings are still the best and need to be celebrated with your purchase, lest they go back out of print, which Scepter recordings are notorious for. And if I had met the guy in person, I'd truly feel that I met a great man, just like I felt when I met Herb Alpert after an intimate small club performance ten years ago. That is great that Tyrell is a nice guy, but he could be my father or brother, and I'd still like the original recordings better, because they are, and Tyrell's production expertise is obviously one of the reasons why, and also why this CD is so disappointing. One thing I have to admit is that he's making a killing doing what he loves, so I celebrate him for that, and for the fact that this CD contains great songs written by possibly the best writing team of the 1960's next to Lennon-McCartney. Also, I'm sure he appreciates passive rather than active listeners with good taste in performance, as they are the ones who buy CDs of similar people, lounge types they met in a third-tier Vegas venue or some hotel lounge somewhere. Again, he's a lucky man to have such marginal vocal talent and still be able to sell enough to get into the Amazon Top 100, but it doesn't change the fact that this CD only proves what anyone with connections can get away with.

3 out of 5 stars

Amost 5 stars... see my revised review! July 8, 2008
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

For reasons beyond the scope of this discussion, I decided to re-visit this CD to make sure I still agree with my original review. Sure as shootin', I was waaaaay off regarding the quality of the recording. While my original positive comments regarding the music & performances still apply, I've made a 180 degree turnaround regarding the recording quality. This thing sounds great .... especially in the areas of sonic clarity and soundstage/image placement... in particuler, but not necessairly limited to, track # 5. Anyone who really listens to music and utilizes a quality audio system will immediately appreciate the placement of the individual vocalists within the soundstage. Awsome. And to make things even better, this kind of care in engineering is evident throughout the recording. My rating is now a firm 4 9/10 stars (5 stars to me means perfect, but, to me, nothing in this world is perfect). Take a few minutes to read the liner notes.... I think they reflect the kind of love that is evident in this entire production.

BELOW IS MY ORIGINAL REVIEW

What a way to kill good music!! Come on... muddy, muffled, dull, soft, what ever. It's 2008... we've been doing better since the 1970's! But the music.... SUPERB!...especially Alphie, perhaps the best love song ever written. Too bad the audio quality is so poor... sounds like an AM radio. Steve... talk to me!!! You're destroying your image. Frank and Nelson would not approve. So it's 3 1/2 from me... sorry, if it sounds bad, I just can't listen to it.

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