Burt Bacharach was a songwriting giant whose credits include “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
- Died: February 8, 2023 (Who else died on February 8?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
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The king of easy listening
Best known as one-half of a songwriting team along with Hal David (1921–2012), Bacharach, who was born May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, was the king of easy listening, with an infallible ear for a hook. That ear brought him hit after hit – in the U.S., 73 of his compositions landed in the Top 40. Another 52 did the same in the U.K.
Early career with Marlene Dietrich
The famous collaboration between Bacharach and David began when Bacharach was a young songwriter, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from McGill University in Montreal and served in the U.S. Army in the 1950s. But before he became part of a hit machine, Bacharach spent time in the background of some very storied careers – including that of the legendary chanteuse Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992).
In the latter days of Dietrich’s career, as she reinvented herself as a cabaret performer, she hired Bacharach in the mid-1950s as her musical arranger. He went on to tour with her for years, even as his songwriting career was taking off, and she came to rely on him as an integral part of her act. As for Bacharach, the exposure may have helped launch his own stardom, which was soon to soar.
Storied partnership with Hal David
Bacharach met David shortly after he began working with Dietrich, and the two clicked, the melodies and arrangements created by Bacharach blending seamlessly with David’s lyrics. They started working together in the Brill Building, a “songwriting factory” where many of the day’s greats combined words and music. Bacharach and David quickly found success – their 1957 song “The Story of My Life,” written for Marty Robbins (1925–1982), became a No. 1 country hit. “Magic Moments,” recorded by Perry Como (1912– 2001), soon followed, reaching the Billboard Top 10.
The team went on to craft a seemingly never-ending string of hits in the 1960s. It was that decade when they truly hit their stride, creating some of the most popular and enduring light hits of the day. Though they wrote for a wide variety of artists – Dusty Springfield (1939–1999), the Carpenters, Herb Alpert – some of their most notable work was produced for singers with whom they had ongoing relationships. The greatest of those relationships was the one they cultivated with Dionne Warwick.
Writing for Dionne Warwick
Bacharach discovered Warwick as he produced a session for the Drifters, for which the young singer was providing backup vocals. He knew he was hearing something special, and he arranged for her to sing a demo of his and David’s “Make It Easy on Yourself.” But the recording session was a disaster – Warwick was upset with the direction she was receiving, and she left the studio in tears, asserting, “Don’t make me over, man!” Bacharach and David were determined to work with Warwick – and they were inspired by her outburst. The next song they presented to her to record was “Don’t Make Me Over.”
The meaning of the phrase changed as they wrote the song, turning it into a lover’s plea, and it worked. Warwick recorded it, and it was released as her popular debut single. She would go on to record dozens upon dozens of the songwriting team’s compositions, 38 of which would chart, including 1963’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” 1967’s “I Say a Little Prayer,” and 1968’s “Do You Know the Way to San Jose.” Regarding Warwick’s immense importance to his career as well as his songwriting partnership, Bacharach called her “our artist and our flagship.”
Warwick remained a favorite collaborator for Bacharach even after his partnership with David ended and new ones began. He would co-write singles for her throughout the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, including her late-career hit, “That’s What Friends Are For,” though that, along with a number of others, was written with his songwriting partner – and wife – Carole Bayer Sager.
End of the Bacharach-David team
The partnership between Bacharach and David soured after more than a quarter-century of collaboration, as they worked on a score for the 1973 movie “Lost Horizon.” They had scored films before – notably, they created the award-winning music for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and they co-created the Broadway musical “Promises, Promises.”
But unlike those hits, “Lost Horizon” was a bit of a train wreck, and it affected their working relationship. Over the course of the movie’s disastrous production, the two disagreed so virulently that their working relationship ended – as did their friendship. Bacharach later told the Los Angeles Times, “Hal and I didn’t speak for 10 years except through our lawyers, and I will take the count for that one — my fault.”
Though the partnership ended acrimoniously, the list of musical successes it produced goes on and on: In addition to Warwick’s many hits, the team wrote “(They Long To Be) Close to You,” recorded by the Carpenters; “What’s New Pussycat?” recorded by Tom Jones; “Alfie,” recorded by Cilla Black (1943–2015); “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” recorded by Jackie DeShannon; “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” recorded by B.J. Thomas (1942–2021), and many, many others.
Other work
Even more hits were in store for Bacharach after he and David parted ways. With Bayer Sager, he wrote enduring tracks including “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” recorded by Christopher Cross, “Heartlight,” recorded by Neil Diamond, and “On My Own,” recorded by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald. He worked extensively as a producer throughout his career, and he created a large, though little-heard, catalog of solo recordings.
Bacharach began recording his own compositions in 1965, releasing the debut album “Hit Maker! Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits,” which was successful in the U.K. but scarcely noticed at home. He continued to release albums from time to time throughout his career, never reaching the heights as a recording artist that he did as a songwriter.
Honors and accolades
Bacharach was widely honored for his work, including the award he considered a career pinnacle, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The award, given to Bacharach and David by the Library of Congress in 2011, honored the breadth of their careers. Bacharach told the Los Angeles Times, “This is the whole conglomeration of my work that I’ve done. So it is the best of all awards possible. I mean that with all my heart.”
Yet it was far from Bacharach’s only highly notable accolade. He won three Academy awards – for “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “Arthur’s Theme,” and the score of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” He was a six-time Grammy winner and a two-time Golden Globes winner, and he was a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Though Bacharach was known best for his songwriting skills, he was perhaps most notorious for his love life. He was married four times – first, to actress Paula Stewart, from 1953 until their divorce in 1958. At the height of his career in 1965, he married actress Angie Dickinson, who was herself hitting high notes in her career. The pair divorced in 1980, and in 1982, he married Sager. His third marriage lasted nine years, ending in divorce in 1991. Bacharach married his fourth wife, Jane Hansen, in 1993. She survives him.
Bacharach on how he and David wrote together
“Our writing process was very interesting. We would sit in a room in the Brill Building and maybe Hal would have an idea — a couple of lines, a title — or I would have a music fragment. And we would go from there. It wasn’t like we would sit in that room and finish a song. That never happened. Hal would take his story, get on the train, and go home to Roslyn out in Long Island. And I would take whatever music I had and go back to my apartment. Then we’d meet a day or two later, or maybe talk it through on the phone.” —from a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times
Tributes to Burt Bacharach
Full obituary: The New York Times
