Various Artists – ‘Rare Bacharach: The Early Years 1958-1965′ (Rare Rockin Records)

Just as the 1998 box set The Look Of Love proved that Burt Bacharach didn’t magically burst into being just in time to write smash hits for Dionne Warwick, et al, this collection — which focuses exclusively on Bacharach’s 1958-’65 work as a Brill Building tunesmith — goes one step further, presenting largely unknown Bacharach compositions for a wide variety of pop vocalists. A few of the artists here are well known (Jack Jones, Connie Stevens, Paul Anka), but most of the names found here will be unfamiliar to those who haven’t examined the pop esoterica of the era with a microscope (Tina Robin, Sam Fletcher, Babs Tino, etc.). It’s obvious that Bacharach was already a remarkably flexible craftsman, capable of writing classic crooner-style pop ballads, soul-tinged, groove-conscious numbers, and more, as the situation demanded. It should be noted that by the end of the period encompassed by this collection, Bacharach had already written some of his legendary tunes for Warwick, so the tracks that hail from those years are especially fascinating, pulling the curtain back a bit to reveal more of the man pulling the strings. While there’s nothing here that equals Bacharach’s biggest success, that’s pretty much the point, showing not only that the iconic songwriter didn’t hit a home run every time, but that even his unspectacular base hits had something compelling about them.