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List Price: $17.98 | | Label: Varese Sarabande
Salesrank: 8143
Released: April 12, 2005 |
| Our Price: $11.99 |
| Used Price: $12.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Promises, Promises (1968 Original Broadway Cast) Track Listing:
1. Overture - The Orchestra
2. Half as Big as Life - Jerry Orbach
3. Upstairs - Jerry Orbach
4. You'll Think of Someone - Jill O'Hara, Jerry Orbach
5. Our Little Secret - Jerry Orbach, Edward Winter
6. She Likes Basketball - Jerry Orbach
7. Knowing When to Leave - Jill O'Hara
8. Wanting Things - Edward Winter
9. Turkey Lurkey Time - Baayork Lee, Donna McKechnie, Margo Sappington
10. Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing - Marian Mercer, Jerry Orbach
11. Grapes of Roth - The Orchestra
12. Whoever You Are - Jill O'Hara
13. Where Can You Take a Girl? - Dick O'Neill, Paul Reed, Norman Shelly
14. Christmas Day - Neil Jones, Neil Jones, Rita O'Connor, Kay Oslin, , Edward Winter
15. Young Pretty Girl Like You - Jerry Orbach
16. I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Jill O'Hara, Jerry Orbach
17. Promises, Promises - Jerry Orbach
Editorial Review:
In the late '90s, Burt Bacharach--thanks to a boxed set, new collaborations, and numerous reissues--just keeps popping up. And for good reason: his music is nostalgic, filled with great melodies, and instantly recognizable. For many, he's the essence of pop. Promises, Promises, the composer's 1968 Broadway collaboration with lyricist Hal David, is based on the 1960 Billy Wilder film, The Apartment, written by Neil Simon. Jerry Orbach's performance as Chuck Baxter is powerful (it also won him a Tony Award), and though some of the music in Promises, Promises is dated, it's simply infectious. As Fran Kubelik, Jill O'Hara (Hair) performs reflective numbers such as "Whoever You Are" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again." Bacharach's title theme (a hit for Dionne Warwick) sounds better than ever here--both performed instrumentally and sung by Orbach. At 45 minutes, it's a short listen, but for fans of Bacharach or Broadway, it's highly recommended. --Jason Verlinde
Promises, Promises (1968 Original Broadway Cast) Reviews:
Good CD, Bad seller 
2009-06-16 - CD was fine. Paid full price and got a damaged CD case. If they sell junk, it should be at a discount, and they shouldn't pass it off as "new" condition. Did I mention that the seller was Amazon?
Wow 
2009-06-05 - I love both Burt Bacharach and Law and Order, so when I found this in a dollar bin, it was a no-brainer.
This is not the hippie rock of Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar, nor is it the old school musical work of Rogers and Hammerstien. Bacarach here creates a pop/torch song based on some traditional broadway sounds, but also on bossa nova and light jazz. There is no straight rock here, but the vibrancy of some of the music (She Likes Basketball, When To Leave) is definately informed by rock energy. Rock was flooding all kinds of music in 1968, and in turn, a lot of the songs on Promices Promices would have worked well on Top 40 Radio. The title track did.
Now, I only know Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe, so hearing him sing here is a real treat. He really seems to be having fun with these songs, especially "She Likes Basetball." It is refeshing to see this great actor in a whole other context (not looking over a corpse). His voice is a lot higher than i would have thought--I would have never pegged him as an alto.
Either way, all the music is great--no one except for Jimmy Webb uses chords like Bacharach-- and it is wonderful to hear the 60s opptimism that radiates from a lot of this album. There is a touching nievete' about the way love, relationships and, implicitly, sex, are dealt with in this material. It provides a great contrast to the meaness and spite we see on reality TV today. I'll take the former, any day.
Bacharach fan, Law and Order Fan, or just plain music fan, you gotta hear this.
Promises, Promises By Burt Bacharach, Hal David & Neil Simon, Testimony What A Little Hard Work, Pain And Sacrifice Can Achieve
2009-01-26 - Knowing When To Leave. Wanting Things. Whoever You Are I Love You. I'll Never Fall In Love Again.
Dynamic themes.
Promises, Promises
Big Broadway Musical.
Giant hit.
Book by Neil Simon. Music By Burt Bacharach. Lyrics Hal David.
Opened December 1, 1968, Shubert Theater.
1,281 performances.
Nominated for 8 Tony Awards.
One of the first shows to introduce a sound board at the back of the orchestra pit at the Composer's insistence.
A common practice nowdays.
It's all in the liner notes of the wonderful re-issue featuring the original Broadway Cast.
Burt Bacharach, Hal David, and Neil Simon.
My people.
A scenario anyone can relate to.
Young men competing with older established figures.
The allure of power and prestige.
Under the table negotiations.
The glass ceiling for women in the marketplace.
Broken dreams.
Building up a resistance, drawing on inner reserves.
Avoiding peer pressure, forging new alliances.
Great expectancy. True love.
Fireworks!
Most ambitious.
Entertaining Overture. Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.
Grapes Of Roth is one Burt Bacharach's prettiest instrumentals.
Upstairs featuring Jerry Orbach is intoxicating.
Jill O'Hara shines.
Knowing When To Leave and Whoever You Are.
Hallmarks of the Great American Songbook.
"Tomorrow we do the cast album and then it's all over and I'll be in Palm Springs by Wednesday".
Promises, Promises
One of the first albums I purchased when I signed onto Amazon.
A big event to recieve in the mail.
One of the main albums in my collection.
Looking forward to pull up on Amazon MP3.
It's all about Jerry 
2008-11-27 - Televiewers who know Jerry Orbach only from "Law & Order" are not aware of his many contributions to the world of stage musicals. From "The Fantastiks," to "Carnival," to "Forty-Second Street," and on to "Chicago," he has shined (shone?)
Orbach does not have the most musical voice; but his clear enunciation and his true pitch make him a standout. And, in "Promises, Promises," add his ability to shift rhythms in the middle of a number.
This show, and this recording, are all about Jerry.
I agree with several other reviewers the almost uniqueness of the overture, with the use of a pit chorus as an instrument. I agree, also, with those who find Jill O'Hara's voice strident.
While I cannot go full steam ahead, as some have, about Bararach's score, it is certainly well above many others of his time. For those like me, who were introduced to musicals in the days of "Oklahoma," "Brigadoon, and "Call Me Madam," this is a noticeable change in style. But it signals a new era and a new taste in music.
"Promises, Promises" has earned its place in Broadway musical history.
This is one of Bacharach and David's greatest achievements
2008-07-10 - Every song in the show still holds up as far as having that unique Bacharach/David style. Orchestrator Jonathan Tunick did his usual outstanding magic of creating the "Bacharach" sound in his orchestrations. The CD is ADD so the sound is quite clean and clear (much better than the original LP). It is too bad that this was Burt and Hal's only foray into the musical theater.
