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STORY BEHIND THE SONG:

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP

music by Burt Bacharach

lyric by Mari Falcone and Bill Cantos

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BURT & THE BUCKET LIST: I had the great fun and privilege of touring with Burt from 2011 until his last show at the end of 2019; but I'd always wondered if there'd be a way for Mari and I to collaborate with him on a song. Working on this album, the opportunity presented itself in the form of a crazy fun little instrumental from one of his solo albums called "Bond Street".

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LYRIC INSPIRATION: Me. I am the bull in a china shop. If there is something to run into or drop or break, I will find it. Mari is the girl from "Sensibility" -  elegant, unique, cool. I'm this guy. But I love how the lyric turned out - Mar even found a way to work the words 'Bond Street' in there....

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IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A REALLY SHORT SONG:  We cut the track with Eric Astor at The Hideaway studio - myself, Kevin Axt on bass and Grant Geissman on guitar.  The original "Bond Street" is all of two minutes long, but we slowed it down slightly and added a vamp at the end that just kept going...and going...and going. It became this wonderful dialogue between the three of us that was so good we couldn't bear to fade it out (Mike Shapiro added some percussion later). I took it home and overdubbed a whole bunch of bgvs.

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DID HE LIKE IT?: You can't release an existing instrumental with lyrics until you get the composer's approval - so we finished it and sent it off to Burt. I remember exactly where I was standing when we got the call - that gravelly voice saying "yeah, man, I love it!...." I'm so glad he got to hear it in its finished form, and I'm thrilled to share it with you.....enjoy!

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