· Third in El's series of Burt Bacharach composer anthologies following The First Book of Songs 1954-58 (ACMEM166CD) and Long Ago Last Summer 1959-61 (ACMEM233CD)

· All of these recordings were released in 1962, a time in which Bacharach was at last - after years of unhappy compromise - beginning to be able to exert some control over the arranging and recording and finished presentation of his compositions

· The advantages of Bacharach's personal supervision was evidenced by such memorable hits as Jerry Butler's 'Make It Easy on Yourself' which reached number 20 on the Billboard Top100, Chuck Jackson's ‘Any Day Now’, and the first recording of the beautiful ‘I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself’ performed by former Flamingos vocalist Tommy Hunt. ‘Love of A Boy’ by Timi Yuro, The Shirelles, ‘It's Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run)’ and ‘Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)’ by Babs Tino, were other Burt Bacharach - Hal David compositions that charted that year.

· Beside the hits, our edition also contains a number of Bacharach rarities; the only known recording of Marlene Dietrich performing a Bacharach song, ‘Kleine Treue Nachtigall’ (Small True Nightingale), soon to be more widely known as ‘Message to Michael’; a French version of ‘Too Late to Worry’ (Donne-Moi Ma Chance), sung by Sophia Loren, and the Drifters' ‘Mexican Divorce’, a classy but obscure flip-side session, where, among the backing singers, Bacharach encountered for the first time a certain Dionne Warrick (Warwick).

· 1962 found the duo that would revolutionise popular songwriting, establishing their style and getting into their stride. Within months they would commit to working together exclusively...

· Third in El's series of Burt Bacharach composer anthologies following The First Book of Songs 1954-58 (ACMEM166CD) and Long Ago Last Summer 1959-61 (ACMEM233CD)

· All of these recordings were released in 1962, a time in which Bacharach was at last - after years of unhappy compromise - beginning to be able to exert some control over the arranging and recording and finished presentation of his compositions

· The advantages of Bacharach's personal supervision was evidenced by such memorable hits as Jerry Butler's 'Make It Easy on Yourself' which reached number 20 on the Billboard Top100, Chuck Jackson's ‘Any Day Now’, and the first recording of the beautiful ‘I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself’ performed by former Flamingos vocalist Tommy Hunt. ‘Love of A Boy’ by Timi Yuro, The Shirelles, ‘It's Love That Really Counts (In The Long Run)’ and ‘Forgive Me (For Giving You Such a Bad Time)’ by Babs Tino, were other Burt Bacharach - Hal David compositions that charted that year.

· Beside the hits, our edition also contains a number of Bacharach rarities; the only known recording of Marlene Dietrich performing a Bacharach song, ‘Kleine Treue Nachtigall’ (Small True Nightingale), soon to be more widely known as ‘Message to Michael’; a French version of ‘Too Late to Worry’ (Donne-Moi Ma Chance), sung by Sophia Loren, and the Drifters' ‘Mexican Divorce’, a classy but obscure flip-side session, where, among the backing singers, Bacharach encountered for the first time a certain Dionne Warrick (Warwick).

· 1962 found the duo that would revolutionise popular songwriting, establishing their style and getting into their stride. Within months they would commit to working together exclusively...