Burt Bacharach has written countless hits for dozens of singers, created unforgettable film soundtracks and is considered one of the most important pop composers of the 20th century: the US songwriter and musician Burt Bacharach has died at the age of 94. While its smooth melodies like "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" are considered "easy listening," the compositions behind them, and sometimes the lyrics, are anything but easy.
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| Burt Bacharach |
Bacharach, who was born in Kansas and reared in New York, had an early interest in jazz. He began his career as a pianist and band leader for vocalist Vic Damone after studying music.
Then, in the mid-1950s, he met two persons who would permanently alter his career. He received his first substantial fame as the arranger and musical director of Marlene Dietrich's lengthy tours in 1956. In 1957, he met songwriter Hal David, who would become his long-term collaborator on numerous songs.
Hits non-stop for Dionne Warwick
The very next year their song "The Story of My Life" in the version by Michael Holliday landed at number one in the British charts - and was followed by another song together, "Magic Moments" by Perry Como.
Songs for Gene Pitney, The Drifters and many others followed. The big success came with her musical partnership with singer Dionne Warwick. Between 1962 and 1968 alone, 15 tracks made the top 40 in the US charts, including "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "Reach Out for Me", "Message to Michael", "You'll Never Get to Heaven", " Walk On By” and “What the World Needs Now is Love”.
At the same time, Bacharach and David also caused a sensation in another genre: They wrote soundtracks for films - and also produced hits non-stop: For "What's new, pussy?" the title track "What's new pussycat" sung by Tom Jones became the Classic. The soundtrack for Casino Royale included the song "The Look of Love" by Dusty Springfield, followed by "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1969, sung by B.J. Thomas, who performed a legendary scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.
The soundtrack won two Oscars and a Grammy. A third Oscar would follow in 1981 for Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do). There were a total of six Grammys – including the one for lifetime achievement in 2008. In 2001 he also received the Polar Music Prize, which is something like the Nobel Prize for music.
His list of flops is short; and yet there was one who, as he later wrote in his autobiography, almost ended his musical career. The 1973 film Lost Horizon, for which he and Hal David contributed the soundtrack, became an artistic and commercial fiasco. Bacharach, David and Warwick parted in dispute. Years later, Bacharach would work with the singer again, but the relationship with the lyricist could never be completely cemented.
Around 1,000 singers performed Bacharach compositions. He often released songs twice, once for the USA and once for Great Britain - each with a performer from the corresponding country. Cilla Black's version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" reached number one in the UK. So did Sandie Shaw with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" and Frankie Vaughan with "Tower of Strength".
Some songs were successfully reinterpreted years later. "That's What Friends Are For", originally sung by Rod Stewart in 1982, became a hit three years later with Dionne Warwick and guest stars. The Warwick songs "I Say a Little Prayer" and "Walk On By" were taken to even higher spheres by Aretha Franklin and Isaac Hayes respectively. A sample of the 12-minute version by Hayes made it onto Beyonce's Lemonade album.
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" was sung by Tommy Hunt in 1962, by Dusty Springfield two years later, and by The White Stripes in 2003.
The White Stripes version in particular expressed that many modern rock bands also valued the influence of Barachach highly. Faith No More covered "This Guy's In Love With You". And Oasis commemorated Bacharach by featuring his image prominently on the cover of their debut album, Definitely Maybe.
As soft and light as Bacharach's songs sound, they are actually quite complex. Influenced by jazz harmony, he often used unusual chord progressions. He also incorporated pop and bossa nova into his compositions. Bacharach also relied on unusual combinations and changes when it came to rhythm and meters – his pieces are often considered a challenge for singers. With their own arrangements and instrumentation, such as flutes, flugelhorns and glockenspiel, a high recognition factor emerged, which was soon referred to as the Bacharach sound.
From the end of the 1980s things got a little quieter around Bacharach – but he did not remain idle. He gave a cameo appearance around the turn of the millennium in all films of the spy slapstick trilogy "Austin Powers".
He worked on an album with the British singer Elvis Costello in 1998 ("Painted from Memory") and 2018 ("Look Now"). In 2005, after a long absence, he released another solo album, "At This Time", which surprised with political lyrics about the state of the USA.
There were acclaimed performances at the famous Glastonbury Festival in 2015 and a year later at the Vienna Jazz Festival. In 2016 he again composed an entire soundtrack - he chose the film "A Boy Called Po" because it tells the story of a boy with autism. His own daughter Nikki committed suicide in 2007 - her Asperger's syndrome had gone undiagnosed for the longest time.
Bacharach married four times, first to actresses Paula Stewart and Angie Dickinson, then to singer and writer Carole Bayer Sager, with whom he also collaborated on songs. He married Jane Hansen, whom he met as a ski instructor, in 1993. The marriage resulted in two children, one of whom, Oliver, accompanied him as a pianist.
Bacharach progressively committed himself to another love in his later years: breeding racehorses. He purchased his first horse in 1968 and went on to become a prominent breeder and racing stable owner throughout the United States.