Reach Out

Includes liner notes by Derek Taylor.
1967's REACH OUT was the first of Burt Bacharach's classic string of albums for A&M Records, and the first album to focus on his brilliance not as a composer, but a producer and arranger. Featuring mostly instrumental or choir-vocal renditions of 11 of Bacharach's greatest songs, the lush arrangements, featuring brass, strings and woodwinds under Bacharach's graceful jazz-influenced piano solos, are the album's focal point.
On most songs, an anonymous female choir sings only occasional snatches of Hal David's often-remarkable lyrics, so as not to distract from the beauty of the instrumental performances. This approach also makes sense when one considers that over half of these songs had already been recorded by the great Dionne Warwick, whose irresistible, inimitable voice had already made hers the definitive vocal renditions. REACH OUT is, in its way, the equal to Warwick's classic Bacharach/David sides.