| Burt
Bacharach, with a hit-single track
record spanning four decades, became one
of the most important composers of
popular music in the 20th century,
almost equal to such classic tunesmiths
as George Gershwin or Irving Berlin. His
sophisticated yet breezy productions
borrowed from cool jazz, soul, Brazilian
bossa nova, and traditional pop to
virtually define and undoubtedly
transcend the staid forms of Brill
Building adult pop during the 1960s.
Born May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, he
studied cello, drums, and piano as a
child, and was later transplanted to New
York City by his father, a syndicated
columnist. The time spent in New York
gave him a chance to sneak into clubs to
watch his bebop heroes Dizzy Gillespie
and Charlie Parker; he also played in
several jazz bands during the 1940s.
Bacharach studied music theory and
composition at the Mannes School in New
York, at Berkshire Music Center, at the
New School for Social Research (with
Darius Milhaud), at Montreal's McGill
University, and at the Music Academy of
the West in Santa Barbara, CA. A period
in the Army interrupted his
concentration of music study, but even
while serving in Germany, Bacharach
arranged and played piano for a dance
band. He also played in nightclubs and
backed Steve Lawrence, the Ames
Brothers, and Paula Stewart. Bacharach
was discharged in 1952, and he married
Stewart on December 22nd of the
following year.
On returning to the U.S., he began
writing songs for Lawrence, Patti Page,
the Ames Brothers, and others, but his
first hit came from Marty Robbins in
late 1957 when Robbins took "The Story
of My Life" to the American Top 20 and
the number one spot in England. The
single was also notable for its
co-composer, Hal David, who became
Bacharach's songwriting partner and
collaborated on most of his big hits.
The Bacharach/David team followed up in
January 1958 with Perry Como's "Magic
Moments," another U.K. chart-topper and
a Top Five entry in America. Bacharach's
marriage dissolved in 1958, and he left
for Europe to tour with Marlene
Dietrich. He returned in 1961, and wrote
several songs for the Drifters with Bob
Hilliard (including "Mexican Divorce"
and "Please Stay") before reuniting with
Hal David. At an arranging session, he
found the singer who became the ultimate
vehicle for his songs: Dionne Warwick
who was working as a member of the
Drifters' backup vocal group, the
Gospelaires.
By late 1962, Bacharach and David
began focusing most of their composing
energy on Warwick, who was the recipient
of 15 Top 40 singles from 1962 to 1968
(including the Top Tens "Anyone Who Had
a Heart," "Walk on By," "Message to
Michael," "I Say a Little Prayer,"
"Valley of the Dolls," and "Do You Know
the Way to San Jose?"). The duo also
remained dominant in England, where
Frankie Vaughan, Cilla Black, Sandie
Shaw, the Walker Brothers, and Herb
Alpert all hit number one with
Bacharach/David compositions. As if
their schedule wasn't busy enough
throughout the '60s, the songwriters
contributed film scores for What's New
Pussycat?, Alfie, and Casino Royale. The
film featuring their most celebrated
score, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid (1969), won Oscars for Best Original
Score and Best Theme Song for "Raindrops
Keep Fallin' on My Head" (plus two
non-musical Academy Awards). Bacharach
and David began working on the musical
Promises, Promises in the late '60s; it
won a Tony and a Grammy Award (for cast
album) during a popular three-year
Broadway run. Bacharach hit the charts
himself in 1969, with the show's "I'll
Never Fall in Love Again" reaching the
Top 100. Surprisingly, this was not his
only foray into recording; Bacharach had
reached number four in the U.K. charts
in May 1965 with "Trains and Boats and
Planes," and he released several popular
solo albums during the late '60s.
The beginning of the '70s looked
bright for Burt Bacharach, as the
Carpenters took "(They Long to Be) Close
to You" to number one in the U.S. in
July 1970. The forecast was premature,
though, as three of his closest partners
-- Hal David, Dionne Warwick, and his
second wife Angie Dickinson -- left him.
He gathered several accolades for an
eponymous 1971 album featuring
renditions of his previous hit
compositions, but later albums were
disappointing and Bacharach's next hit
was over a decade in coming. Finally in
1981, he collaborated with Christopher
Cross, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter
Allen on the Oscar-winning "Arthur's
Theme." Bacharach married Bayer Sager
just one year later, and together they
wrote Roberta Flack's Top 20 hit "Making
Love," as well as "Heartlight" which
Neil Diamond took to number five.
Once Bacharach resumed composing he
began to hit, and 1986 was one of his
finest years, with two American number
ones: "That's What Friends Are For" (by
an all-star group including Warwick,
Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie
Wonder) and a duet by Patti LaBelle and
Michael McDonald titled "On My Own." He
divorced Sager in 1991, but worked with
Dionne Warwick again two years later on
"Sunny Weather Love," from her Friends
Can Be Lovers album. Also in 1993,
Bacharach contributed songs to James
Ingram, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Tevin
Campbell. Around the same time, many
alternative bands began name-checking
the hitmaker as an influence, and Oasis
frontman Noel Gallagher joined him on
the stage of the Royal Albert Hall as
well as including a picture of him on
the cover of Oasis' Definitely Maybe.
BBC-TV focused on Bacharach in a January
1996 documentary, and a three-disc
retrospective of his compositions was
released by Rhino in 1998. That same
year he collaborated with Elvis Costello
on the acclaimed Painted From Memory,
and was celebrated at an all-star
concert at Radio City Music Hall which
later formed the basis for the LP One
Amazing Night. |
