Bacharach, Burt

views updated May 14 2018

Burt Bacharach

Composer, songwriter, pianist, and singer

For the Record

Compositions

Selected discography

Sources

A unique love song may be the hardest project for any contemporary composer, but Burt Bacharach has been able to create over two hundred ballads, tunes, and themes that make contact with the emotions of his stage, screen, and recording audiences. From Walk On By to Thats What Friends Are For, the Bacharach sound has been on the airwaves for over thirty astoundingly succesful years.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1929, Bacharach grew up in Queens, New York, where his father served as a fashion industry journalist. He learned to play the piano and spent his adolescence listening to a wide range of musical styles. Bacharachs formal studies in composition and form were under three experimenters in flexible rhythms and free-flowing melodies who were willing to support his developing personal styleDarius Milhaud, at the New School for Social research in New York; Boleslav Martineau at the Mannes School of Music there; and Henry Cowell at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. He later told ASCAP Today that his early influences had also included Maurice Ravel, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker. Bacharachs music, with its shifting rhythms, wide melodic jumps and unusual structures, owe much to all six of these teachers.

Military service in Korea and Germany brought Bacharach experience with performing as a concert pianist and as an accompanist for popular vocalists. After returning to New York, he played for Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, the Ames Brothers, and many others, most memorably Marlene Dietrich, with whom he toured as conductor and arranger from 1958 to 1961. He has since consigned to oblivion his first published song, The Night Plane to Heaven, and many others from the early 1950s. But his meeting with lyricist Hal David at the Paramount Music Corporation in 1957 brought their two first succesful songs, Magic Moments and The Story of My Life. After his three years with Dietrich, he returned to a partnership with David that lasted until 1976.

That long-lasting partnership included over 200 individual songs (most written for Dionne Warwick), title songs for major Hollywood films, and a musical comedy, Promises, Promises, that was a hit on Broadway and in London. Their collaborative works represent a combination of both the American popular love song tradition and the experiments of Bacharachs mentors. They have been compared to the best of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Rodgers and Harts conversational ballads because the lyrics are set as if they were spoken. Lines are seldom broken in mid-sentence, but instead flow throughout a vast melodic range. Bacharach has always denied that his music is other than normal

For the Record

Born May 29, 1929, in Kansas City, Mo.; son of Bert (a garment industry journalist) and Irma (a portrait painter; maiden name, Bacharach; married Paula Stewart (a singer); married Angie Dickinson (an actress), 1965 (divorced, 1981); married Carole Bayer Sager (a lyricist), March 30, 1982; children: (second marriage) Lea Nikki; (third marriage) Christopher Elton. Education: Attended McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Religion: Jewish.

Performed as concert pianist and accompanist while serving in U.S. Army in Korea and Germany during 1950s; piano accompanist for popular vocalists, including Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, and The Ames Brothers during mid-1950s; composer, 1957, with lyricist Hal David, 1957-76, and with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, 1979; accompanist, conductor, and arranger for Marlene Dietrich, 1958-61; producer of numerous award-winning and top-selling musical scores and individual popular songs; performed as pianist, singer, and conductor during 1970s; has headlined own musical-variety television specials.

Awards: Winner of numerous awards, including Oscar Awards for best original score for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and (with Hal David) for best song for Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head, both 1970; Grammy Award for best soundtrack album, 1970, for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Emmy Award for best variety special, 1970, for The Burt Bacharach Special; Grammy Award for original soundtrack recording of musical play, Promises, Promises; Oscar Award (with Carole Bayer Sager) for best song, 1983, for The Best That You Can Do.

Addresses: Office c/o Ernst Whinney, 1875 Century Park East, Century City, Los Angeles CA 90067.

songwriting, as he did to Newsweek at the height of the collaboration: I look back at songs and wish I could have simplified them. Its not done to be clever. Youve got less than two minutes in a song and you want every second to count. Forget rules. Just listen and feel. My trouble is that these so-called abnormalities seem conventional and normal to me.

Bacharach was able to hear his songs at all because singer Dionne Warwick had become a third member of the partnership with Hal David. He had met Warwick when one of his early songs, Mexican Divorce, was recorded by the drifters for Scepter Records in 1960. Warwick was a member of the Gospelaires, the backup group for that recording session. In 1962, she recorded their Dont Make Me Over for Sceptersoon reaching the top ten on the pop charts. Over the next five years, Warwick made hits out of Bacharach and Davids Anyone Who Had a Heart, Walk On By, Reach Out for Me, The Look of Love, This Guys in Love With You, Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, and What the World Needs Now.

At first, writers questioned Bacharachs experiments with the popular love song and analyzed their hits as oddities, such as the fourteen time signatures in Anyone Who Had a Heart. But Warwick proved the singability of the tunes by selling over 12.5 million copies of Bacharach/David songs by 1970. They soon became popular with a wide variety of performers. Whats New Pussycat, for example, was recorded by Warwick, Tom Jones, and The Chipmunks. Other artists who included Bacharach/David songs on their albums were rockers Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder, and Issac Hayes; jazz stylists Bill Evans and Billy Vaughn; vocalists Barbra Streisand and Vic Damone; and Bacharach himself. The uncredited author of a 1965 Newsweek article praised Bacharachs inventiveness and stated that he was not afraid of melodies has the soft touch and sets up his songs for surprising explosions or dramatic fadeouts a witty composer who kids his own melodies with tinny pianos and punctuates tender tunes with sudden bumps and grinds.

With Hal David, Bacharach was also becoming known for scores and title songs for Hollywood films, many of them contemporary comedies, including Send Me No Flowers and Promise Her Anything, that required an upto-date theme song as an advertising lure. The Look of Love was created for the James Bond thriller Casino Royale (1967) and their Oscar-winning Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head was written for the Paul Newman/Robert Redford cowboy film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1970). The former song way outshone its film, but both Raindrops (as performed by B.J. Thomas) and Butch Cassidy were enormously popular for years. Raindrops was also recorded by Perry Como, guitarist Buddy Merrill, Andy Williams, and Dionne Warwick. Among their many other film themes that became popular as individual songs were the title songs for Whats New Pussycat and Alfie, for which Bacharach won a Grammy for best instrumental arrangement. Bacharach has also provided complete scores for many films, most notably The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. For the latter film, he won a Grammy for best original soundtrack recording and an Oscar for best original score.

Bacharach and David next took on the challenge of creating a full score of characterizational solos, duets, and ensembles for a plotted Broadway musical, Promises, Promises. An adaptation by Neil Simon of the Billy Wilder film The Apartment, the musical amassed a very succesful 1281 performances on Broadway before moving to London (for 560 performances) and a fourteen-month national tour. The title song and Ill Never Fall in Love Again both acheived top ten status as singles for Warwick. Critical response was favorable, with Brendan Gill of the New Yorker telling two hundred millions of my fellow citizens to go and see it as quickly as possible. Promises, Promises was one of the first musicals on Broadway to adapt the technology of the recording studio to the live theatre, as well as adapting the totally contemporary sound of Bacharach and Davids songs to the requirements of a plot. The show was scored for electric organ, guitar, and organ and Broadways first pit chorus of four women was installed in the Shubert Theater. The original cast recording of the show was honored by NARAS as the best of 1969.

With hit films, a hit show, and songs all over the play list, Bacharach returned to the concert tour in 1970this time as the composer, conductor, and featured performer. Since, as fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn put it succinctly, he is the only composer who doesnt look like a dentist, Bacharach enjoyed the status of a celebrity sex symbol. He appeared with his father in a well-received series of print advertisements endorsing Jim Beam Bourbon. He performed his own songs on successful albums for A&M under a long-term contract and starred in television specials devoted to his work. In 1971, in fact, his first television special, The Burt Bacharach Special (CBS, 1970) beat his second, Another Evening with Burt Bacharach (NBC, 1970), for an Emmy.

Bacharachs professional and personal lives changed in the late 1970s when he and David split their partnership. This led to a rift with Warwick, who had been guaranteed by contract songs for one album per year for another three years. Her suit against Bacharach and David was eventually settled out of court. Bacharachs solo projects included Women, a recording with the Houston Symphony, and songs for Carly Simon and Libby Titus. The score for the re-make of Lost Horizon was praised, but the film was not succesful. His second marriage, to actress Angie Dickenson, ended.

In 1979, however, he began a new collaboration (and, eventually, marriage) with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager. Their romantic ballads, such as Easy to Love Again on the Sometimes Late at Night album, are markedly less complex than his works with David and more fitted to Sagers less-vernacular lyrics and personal singing style. Sager described it as a concept album, a song cycle in which each track ties into the next, in People magazine. Their most succesful colaborative song, Thats What Friends are For, was created in 1985 as a benefit recording for a medical charity that promoted AIDS research. As performed by Dionne Warwick, it has earned millions for its cause.

Compositions

Composer (with lyricist Hal David, 1957-76; and with Lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, 1979) of numerous songs, including Alfie, Always Something There to Remind Me, Any Day Now, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Baby, Its You, Blue on Blue, (They Long to Be) Close to You, Do You Know the Way to San Jose?, Dont Make Me Over, I Just Dont Know What To Do with Myself, Ill Never Fall in Love Again, I Say a Little Prayer, The Look of Love, Make It Easy on Yourself, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Message to Michael, One Less Bell to Answer, Only Love Can Break a Heart, Promises, Promises, Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head, This Guys in Love with You, Tower of Strength, Trains and Boats and Planes, Twenty-four Hours from Tulsa, Walk on By, What the World Needs Now is Love, Whats New, Pussycat?, Whos Been Sleeping in My Bed?, Wishin and Hopin, and Wives and Lovers.

Selected discography

Promises, Promises, Liberty/Capitol, 1968.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, A&M, 1969.

Burt Bacharachs Greatest Hits, A&M, 1987.

Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1988.

Sources

ASCAP Today, August 1970.

New York Times, December 2, 1968; May 11, 1971; June 10, 1985.

New Yorker, December 7, 1968.

Newsweek, August 2, 1965; June 22, 1970.

People, June 1, 1981.

San Francisco Chronicle, July 30, 1975.

Barbara Stratyner

Bacharach, Burt

views updated May 11 2018

Burt Bacharach

Songwriter

Begins Life of Show Business

The Classic Bacharach Years

Career Falls Into Limbo

A Newfound Hero

Selected discography

Sources

In a career spanning over five decades, songwriter Burt Bacharach has attained a virtual star status usually reserved for those on the other side of the recording process. After firmly establishing himself as a highly original tunesmith by the early 1960s, Bacharach soon became not only a household name, but even a publicly visible persona. As Francis Davis noted in Atlantic Monthly, by the early 1970s, Bacharach had been acknowledged by critics and listeners as a national idola celebrity songwriter who was to his day what Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter had been to theirs. Crafting a distinct style of melody, notably in collaboration with lyricist Hal David, Bacharach provided vocalists with the music for a vast list of hits, as well as for numerous acclaimed film soundtracks. While Bacharachs separation with David in the early 1970s was followed by a period of general stagnation, by the 1990s the composer was celebrated anew by a young generation of musicians who found great artistry in Bacharachs body of easy listening works.

Bacharach was born on May 12, 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri before his parents relocated to New York City. Although he strived to become a football star, the young Bacharach was limited to a steady diet of cello, drum, and piano lessons at his mothers behest. Taking the study of music to heart, Bacharach exposed himself to jazz and classical performance through formal training, as well as by sneaking into local jazz clubs where he witnessed legends such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. After serving in the armed forces from 1950 to 1952, Bacharach immersed himself in music theory and composition study at the Mannes School of Music in New York City; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the Music Academy of the West, in Santa Barbara, California, where he received a scholarship; and at the New School for Social Research. It was at the New School where Bacharach benefitted from the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, of whom many claim to have sharply influenced Bacharachs style.

Begins Life of Show Business

Throughout the 1950s, Bacharach cut his teeth as a musician by serving as a piano accompanist and arranger to a number of performers before making his first attempts at songwriting. After meeting crooner Vic Damone in Germany, Bacharach worked alongside the singer for several years, leading to engagements with a virtual pantheon of club circuit celebrities including the Ames Brothers, Joel Grey, Steve Lawrence, and Paula Stewart, who married Bacharach in 1953. While acting as musical director to legendary German actress and chanteuse Marlene Dietrich, Bacharachs first steps in

For the Record

Born on May 12, 1929 in Kansas City, MO, son of columnist Bert Bacharach; married Paula Stewart (a singer), 1953 (divorced in 1958); married Angie Dickinson (an actor), 1965 (divorced, 1981); married Carol Bayer Sager (a writer), 1982 (divorced, 1991); married Jane Hanson, 1991; children: Lea Nikki (second marriage), Christopher Elton (third marriage). Served in U.S. Army, 19501952. Education: Attended Mannes School of Music in New York, NY; the Berkshire Music Center, in New York; the New School for Social Research; McGill University, in Montreal, Canada; and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA.

Worked as a nightclub conductor and pianist for Vic Damone and other entertainers in early 1950s; became member of ASCAP, 1955; formed partnership with Hal David, 1957; had first million-seller with Perry Como, Magic Moments, 1958; began composing for Dionne Warwick with Dont Make Me Over, 1962; scored first film, Whats New Pussycat?, with a hit Tom Jones title song, 1965; released debut album, Reach Out, for A&M, 1967; wrote music for Promises, Promises, 1969; scored the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1968; dissolved partnership with David, 1973; started collaboration with Carol Bayer Sager, 1978; scored the film Arthur, 1981; produced AIDS benefit single Thats What Friends Are For, 1986; co-wrote God Give Me Strength with Elvis Costello over a fax machine, 1995.

Awards: Tony and Grammy Awards for Promises, Promises, 1969; Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Song (Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head), 1970; Academy Award for Best Song, Arthurs Theme (The Best That You Can Do), 1981.

Addresses: Record company A&M Records, 1416 North La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90028.

songwriting led him into a collaboration with lyricist Mack David, with whom Bacharach wrote the kitschy theme song to the science fiction film The Blob. Despite the fact that the song was actually a hit record, Bacharach quickly ended his partnership with David, but not before meeting his younger brother Hal David. Bacharach hit the Top Forty for the first time with the lyrical accompaniment of the junior David, providing country performer Marty Robbins with The Story of My Life in 1957 and crooner Perry Como with Magic Moments in 1958. Although it would take several years before the duo began working with each other exclusively, these first chart hits mark the start of one of the most fertile partnerships in popular music history.

As the 1960s began, so did the salad days of Bacharachs career, whereupon the composer cemented his most successful partnerships and developed a sophisticated, recognizable style. The onset of the decade found the songwriter supplying tunes for singers such as Gene Pitney and Chuck Jackson, and extensively for the group The Drifters, including Mexican Divorce and Please Stay, both of which were created with lyricist Bob Hilliard. By 1962, with the release of Bacharach and Davids Make It Easy On Yourself by pop/soul singer Jerry Butler, the composer had written, according to Atlantic Monthly writer Francis Daviss words, the first Bacharach song to sound vaguely like a Bacharach song All these years later whats remarkable about the song is how grown up it soundsas much a reflection of Bacharachs elegant melodic line as of the stoicism conveyed by Butlers vocal and Davids lyrics. Bacharach and David had finally struck a delicate balance of songwriting, while not a formula. However, it was the discovery of vocalist Dionne Warwick, then a highly trained session vocalist for The Drifters, that rounded out the Bacharach/David team, illustrated by Dont Make Me Over, released in 1962. Warwicks extreme versatility and range allowed Bacharach to indulge in the untraditional meter shifts and other devices which are his signature. With an ideal vocalist, the composer found a perfect match for melodies that were sophisticated and yet deceptively simple. Despite what the ear thinks its hearing, noted Davis, they rarely change key; what often accounts for their oddity is Bacharachs refusal to modulate into an easier key where another songwriter might, in order to give the singer a break.

The Classic Bacharach Years

From 1962 to 1970, the Bacharach/David/Warwick relationship became an institution in popular music, producing 39 charting singles, including eight which entered the Top Ten. In addition to the many Warwick pieces, among them Walk On By, 1964; Trains and Boats and Planes, 1966; I Say A Little Prayer, 1967; and Do You Know The Way to San Jose, 1968, a number of Bacharachs compositions also found success with other vocalists. To name only a few, Jack Joness 1963 version of Wives and Lovers; Jackie DeShannons classic 1965 recording of Bacharachs What the World Needs Now Is Love; trumpet virtuoso Herb Alperts This Guys In Love with You, 1968; and The Fifth Dimensions One Less Bell to Answer, recorded in 1970, were all chart toppers. As various Bacharach songs were re-recorded by a roster of diverse performers, it grew apparent that while the composers work was sometimes captured in a definitive recording, as was the case with many Warwick cuts, the songwriting itself transcended any single version. Bacharach had established an identity, even an image, with popular audienceshe had even appeared in a fittingly romantic television vermouth advertisement with his then wife, actress Angie Dickinsona feat almost unheard of for the usually invisible role of composer. However, Bacharach did not easily slip into his newly accrued public persona. I found it a hard transition moving to the center of the stage, he recalled in a New Musical Express interview in 1996. A lot of my musical life had been spent in the back or conducting for singers, and suddenly I was doing concerts by myself as the star, as the attraction. I had to talk to the audience but I could hardly get a word out because I was so nervous. It was tough.

By the early 1970s, Bacharach had achieved not only the appreciation of mass audiences, but also critical appreciation and even scholarly attention. Critics such as Popular Music and Societys Bruce A. Lohof publicly acknowledged the complexity and innovation in Bacharachs body of work, and ranked him among other giants of American songwriting. In 1970 the composer was awarded two Academy Awards for his musical contributions to the previous years film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which boasted the song Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head in addition to Bacharachs original score. Although this was the first time Bacharach had secured the Oscar, he had been nominated several times for his impressive film scores and songs, including Whats New, Pussycat? in 1965, the theme song from Alfie in 1967, and The Look of Love, written for the James Bond spoof Casino Royale, also in 1967. In addition, the Bacharach/David score for the long-running stage musical Promises, Promises, launched in 1969, garnered a Tony Award as well as a Grammy for its cast album.

Career Falls Into Limbo

Given the success of Bacharach and Davids film collaborations, it was surprising that their score for the 1973 remake film Lost Horizon was a resounding failure. Besides being generally condemned by audiences and critics alike for its histrionically romantic overtures, Lost Horizons production also resulted in feuding between Bacharach and David. Their differences finally heated into lawsuits, and one of the most celebrated partnerships in popular music dissolved. The bitter breakup cut both David and Bacharachs careers to the quick, and for the rest of the decade the unhinged duo floundered in vain to find teamings with comparable chemistry. At this point, Bacharach turned to performing his own established material, both live and on record, but it was clear that his music was most successful when vitalized by other vocalists. With the exception of Bacharachs solo album Reach Out, released in 1967, the composers self-recorded output was devoid of the charisma that made his songs popular, and albums such as Living Together (1972) and Woman (1979) are largely forgettable.

The pairing of Bacharach with lyricist Carol Bayer Sager marked the advent of a decidedly adult-oriented turn in the composers career. After developing a work relationship with Sager in the early 1980s, resulting in the Academy Award winning tune Arthurs Theme (The Best That You Can Do), recorded by Christopher Cross for the 1981 film Arthur, Bacharach married his new partner in 1982he had divorced Dickinson the previous yearand continued to compose with his new wife. While Bacharachs work with Hal David tended to be popular with audiences of all ages, his work throughout the 1980s is characterized by its easy listening, middle-aged appeal that most critics see as falling below his standards of the 1960s. Nonetheless, Bacharach returned to the charts with Sager collaborations such as On My Own, an emotive soul duet recorded in 1986 by vocalists Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, and Thats What Friends Are For, also recorded in 1986 as a fund raiser for AIDS research. The latter song featured vocals by Elton John and Dionne Warwick, and marked the reunion of Bacharach with his most celebrated interpreter. In addition to work with Sager, Bacharach expanded his portfolio with other writers, including R&B singer/songwriter James Ingram. Still, none of his later work recaptured the timeless quality achieved with David in past decades.

A Newfound Hero

Although Bacharachs own work had entered a period of relative stagnation, by the early 1990s the composers career received an unexpected boost. After years of confinement to an adult listening constituency, Bacharachs classic work of the 1960s became treasured anew by young fans and songwriters, many of whom had ironically come from polarly opposite music traditions such as punk rock and new wave. Some of Bacharachs newfound exposure is credited to subcultural ironic appreciation, by critics such as Davis, among fans of what is variously called cocktail, bachelor pad, and E-Z listeningthose strange young record collectors with an overdeveloped (or underdeveloped?) sense of kitsch, wardrobes of Rat Pack leisurewear, and too many good albums in their collections already. Although this kind of keenly postmodern appreciation ultimately devalued Bacharachs talent, many contemporary listeners truly found mastery in records found in parents collections. Why is this happening? asked critic Lorraine Ali rhetorically in the Los Angeles Times. It may reflect the maturation of the musically involved. Kids who were bombarded for most of their lives with noise and anti-melody are finding sensory relief in songs that go down smooth and easy. As a result, many young rock bands began to cite Bacharach as an influence as well as to perform his pieces, including the experimental French/British outfit Stereolab, American folk-rockers REM, and Englands Oasis, just to name a few.

Accordingly, the Bacharach revival has included a number of tributes and retrospectives. In 1996, Bacharachs longtime label A&M released a career spanning compilation album, The Look of Love: The Classic Songs of Burt Bacharach, which was to be followed by an exhaustive three CD portrait by Rhino Records a year later. British television made the composer the subject of a documentary/tribute entitled Burt Bacharach: This Is Now, which was subsequently shown on American airwaves. Bacharach launched a European tour with Dionne Warwick to favorable reviews and also performed at New Yorks Rainbow Room for a New Years Eve television special. In addition, the flattered Bacharach fully endorsed the attention of his new generation of fans, collaborating with British songwriter Elvis Costello on the song God Give Me Strength in 1995 and performing his own This Guys In Love with You alongside Oasis vocalist Noel Gallagher at Londons Royal Festival Hall in June of 1996. The composer even made an amusing cameo appearance in the 1997 spoof film Austin Powers, another example of the blurry line between irony and adoration. Whether ironically motivated or in earnest, and regardless of future compositions, Bacharach has undeniably earned a place in the canon of popular music.

Selected discography

Reach Out, A&M, 1967.

Promises, Promises, Liberty/Capitol, 1968.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (soundtrack), A&M, 1969.

Living Together, A&M, 1972.

Woman, 1979.

Arthur (soundtrack), 1981.

Burt Bacharachs Greatest Hits, A&M, 1987.

Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1988.

(Various artists) The Look of Love: The Classic Songs of Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1996.

Sources

Periodicals

Atlantic Monthly, June 1997.

Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1995.

New Musical Express, April 13, 1996.

Online

http://~mark/bacharach/bacharach_bio.htm/

Shaun Frentner

Bacharach, Burt 1928(?)–

views updated May 29 2018

BACHARACH, Burt 1928(?)–

(Burt P. Bacharach, Burt and the Backbeats)

PERSONAL

Born May 12, 1928 (some sources cite 1929), in Kansas City, MO; raised in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, NY; son of Bert (a columnist) and Irma (maiden name, Freeman) Bacharach; married Paula Stewart (a singer and actress), 1953 (divorced, 1958); married Angie Dickinson (an actress), 1965 (some sources cite 1966; divorced, 1980); married Carole Bayer Sager (a songwriter), March 30, 1982 (divorced, 1990); married Jane Hanson, 1993; children: (second marriage) Lea Nikki; (third marriage) Cristopher Elton; (fourth marriage) Oliver, Raleigh. Education: Attended McGill University, New School for Social Research, Berkshire Music Center, Mannes School of Music, and Music Academy of the West; studied with composers Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinu. Religion: Judaism.


Addresses: Agent—William Morris Agency, One William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 and 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Manager—Kraft–Engel Management, 15233 Ventura Blvd., Suite 200, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.


Career: Composer, conductor, arranger, performer, and producer. Dance band arranger, Germany, 1952; accompanist for Vic Damone, 1952; performer at restaurants, nightclubs, and concert halls, and as an accompanist for various performers, including Polly Bergen, Joel Grey, Georgia Gibbs, Steve Lawrence, Paula Stewart, and the Ames Brothers, beginning 1952; musical director for Marlene Dietrich, European and U.S. cities, c. 1958–61; composer of theme music for the Twenty–Third Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1984; also performed at resorts and other venues. Frequent collaborator with Hal David, Mack Davis, Bob Hilliard, Carole Bayer Sager, and Jack Wolfe. Appeared in advertisements. Owner of race horses. Military service: U.S. Army, 1950–52.

Member: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).


Awards, Honors: Academy Award nomination, best song, 1965, and Golden Laurel Award nomination, best song, Producers Guild of America, 1966, both with Hal David, both for "What's New, Pussycat?," from the film of the same name; Academy Award nomination, best song, 1966, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song in a motion picture, 1967, and Golden Laurel Award nomination, best song, 1967, all with Hal David, all for "Alfie," from the film of the same name; Grammy Award, best arrangement on an instrumental, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1967, for "Alfie"; Academy Award nomination (with Hal David), best song, 1967, for "The Look of Love," from Casino Royale; Grammy Award nomination, best original score written for a motion picture or television show, 1968, for Casino Royale; Drama Desk Award, 1968, Antoinette Perry Award (with others), best score for a musical, 1969, and Grammy Award, musical cast show—best album, all for Promises, Promises; Entertainer of the Year (with Hal David), Cue magazine, 1969; Grammy Award, best album or original instrumental score for a motion picture or television, 1969, Academy Award, best original score for a motion picture (not a musical), Golden Globe Award, best original score, 1970, Golden Laurel Award, music man, 1970, and Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1971, all for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Academy Award, best song, 1970, Golden Globe Award nomination, best original song, 1970, and ASCAP Award, most preformed feature film standards, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1988, all with Hal David, all for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," from the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Emmy Award, outstanding variety special, 1971, for Singer Presents Burt Bacharach; Academy Award, best original song, 1981, Golden Globe Award, best original song—motion picture, 1982, and ASCAP Award, most performed feature film standards, 1991, all with Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross, and Peter Allen, all for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," from the film Arthur; Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1982, for Arthur; Golden Globe Award nomination (with Carole Bayer Sager and Bruce Roberts), best original song—motion picture, 1983, for Making Love; Grammy Award (with others), song of the year, 1986, for "That's What Friends Are For"; Grammy Award nomination (with others), record of the year, 1986, for That's What Friends Are For; Johnny Mercer Award (with Hal David), Songwriters Hall of Fame, 1996; Golden Satellite Award nomination (with Elvis Costello), outstanding original song, International Press Academy, 1997, for "God Give Me Strength," from Grace of My Heart; Trustees Award (with Hal David), National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1997; Grammy Award (with Elvis Costello), pop, 1999, for "I Still Have That Other Girl"; Polar Music Prize, Royal Swedish Academy of Music, 2001; Hank Award, Henry Mancini Institute, 2004.


CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Himself, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, New Line Cinema, 1997.

Himself, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (also known as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me), New Line Cinema, 1999.

Himself, Listen with Your Eyes, Universal, 2000.

Himself, Jazz Seen: The Life and Times of William Claxton (documentary), EuroArts Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Austin Powers in Goldmember (also known as Austin Powers: Goldmember), New Line Cinema, 2002.

Himself, The Road, 2004.


Film Conductor:

After the Fox (also known as Caccia alla volpe), United Artists, 1965.

Casino Royale (also known as Charles K. Feldman's "Casino Royale"), Columbia, 1967.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1969.

Lost Horizon, Columbia, 1973.


Film Song Producer:

Arthur, Orion, 1981.

Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Warner Bros., 1988.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (also known as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me), New Line Cinema, 1999.

Stuart Little, Sony Pictures Releasing, 1999.


Film Work; Other:

Music director, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1969.

Singer ("I'll Never Fall in Love Again"), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (also known as Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me), New Line Cinema, 1999.


Television Appearances; Specials:

Host, The Bacharach Sound, Granada Television, 1965.

The Dionne Warwick Special, CBS, 1969.

Movin', CBS, 1970.

Himself, Singer Presents Burt Bacharach, 1971.

Host, The Burt Bacharach Special, CBS, 1971.

Himself, Chevrolet Presents Burt Bacharach, ABC, 1972.

Host, Burt Bacharach!, ABC, 1972.

Host, Burt Bacharach: Close to You, ABC, 1972.

Host, The Magical Music of Burt Bacharach, syndicated, 1972.

Himself, Burt Bacharach in Shangri–La, ABC, 1973.

Himself, Burt Bacharach: Opus No. 3, ABC, 1973.

Himself, Bacharach 74, 1974.

Host, The Burt Bacharach Special, NBC, 1974.

American Bandstand's 33 1/3 Celebration, 1985.

"Just a Regular Kid: An AIDS Story," ABC Afterschool Specials, ABC, 1987.

Evening at Pops, PBS, 1988.

That's What Friends Are For: AIDS Concert '88, Showtime, 1988.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame 20th Anniversary ... The Magic of Music, CBS, 1989.

That's What Friends Are For, CBS, 1990.

Himself, Burt Bacharach ... This Is Now (documentary), PBS, c. 1996.

Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters (documentary), PBS, 1997.

Himself, Bacharach: One Amazing Night, TNT, 1998.

Himself, Definitely Dusty (documentary), PBS, 1999.

The Rhythm of Life (documentary), PBS, 2000.

Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (documentary), TCM, 2001.

Words and Music by Lieber & Stoller (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies, CBS, 2004.

Himself, There We Were ... Now Here We Are: The Making of "Oasis" (documentary), Channel 4 (England), 2004.

Himself, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile (documentary), Showtime, c. 2004.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

Himself, The 42nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1970.

Presenter, The 43rd Annual Academy Awards, NBC, 1971.

Presenter, The 46th Annual Academy Awards, NBC, 1974.

Presenter, The 48th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1976.

Himself, The 54th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1982.

The 24th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1982.

Himself, The 25th Annual Grammy Awards, 1983.

The 29th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1987.

America's All–Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, ABC, 1989.

Presenter, The 39th Annual Grammy Awards, CBS, 1997.

The 1997 Billboard Music Awards, Fox, 1997.

The 26th Annual American Music Awards, 1999.

The 72nd Annual Academy Awards Presentation, ABC, 2000.


Television Appearances; Episodic:

Himself, Ready, Steady, Go! (also known as Ready Steady Goes Live!), Associated Rediffusion, 1964, 1965.

Himself, The Hollywood Palace, ABC, 1967.

Himself, The Andy Williams Show, NBC, 1968.

Himself, "The Sound of Burt Bacharach," The Kraft Music Hall, NBC, 1969.

Himself, The Kraft Music Hall, NBC, multiple episodes in 1970.

This Is Tom Jones, ABC, 1970.

Himself, "The Cantor Show," The Nanny, CBS, 1995.

Himself, Karen Carpenter: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 1997.

Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, 1997, 1998.

Himself, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, NBC, 1998, 2003.

"Angie Dickinson: Tinseltown's Classiest Broad," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1999.

Himself, "Atlantic Crossing," Walk on By: The Story of Popular Song (documentary), 2001.

Himself, "Burt Bacharach," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, "Producer Pop," Walk on By: The Story of Popular Song (documentary), BBC and ABC, 2001.

Popular Song: Soundtrack of the Century, Bravo, 2001.

Himself, Intimate Portrait: Angie Dickinson (documentary), Lifetime, 2003.

Celebrity guest, American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (also known as American Idol and American Idol 2), Fox, 2003.

Himself, Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (also known as Ellen and The Ellen DeGeneres Show), syndicated, 2004.

Himself, Intimate Portrait: Dionne Warwick (documentary), Lifetime, 2004.


Also appeared in Soundstage, PBS; and Sessions at West 54th, PBS.


Television Work; Specials:

Conductor and arranger, Magic of Marlene, Seven Network, 1965.

Music arranger, Marlene Dietrich: I Wish You Love, CBS, 1973.

Song performer, music arranger, and executive producer, Bacharach: One Amazing Night, TNT, 1998.

Orchestrator and music director, The 72nd Annual Academy Awards Presentation, ABC, 2000.


Stage Appearances:

Appeared at various venues, including Royal Festival Hall, London, 1996.


Stage Work:

Arranger and conductor, Marlene Dietrich (series of concerts), Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1967, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1968.


RECORDINGS

Singles:

(As Burt and the Backbeats) "Move It on the Backbeat," Big Top, 1963.

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"/"Trains and Boats and Planes," Kapp, 1965.

"What's New, Pussycat?"/"My Little Red Book," Kapp, 1965.

"Nikki"/"Juanita's Place," Liberty, 1966.

"Alfie"/"Bond Street," A&M, 1967.

"The Bell That Wouldn't Jingle"/"What the World Needs Now Is Love," A&M, 1968.

"Message to Michael"/"Are You There (with Another Girl)," A&M, 1968.

"Come Touch the Sun"/"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," A&M, 1969.

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"/"Pacific Coast Highway," A&M, 1969.

"Any Day Now"/"A House Is Not a Home," A&M, 1970.

"All Kinds of People"/"She's Gone Away," A&M, 1971.

"Freefall"/"One Less Bell to Answer," A&M, 1971.

(With Barbra Streisand) "(They Long to Be) Close to You," Columbia, 1971.

"Something Big"/"Living Together, Growing Together," A&M, 1973.

"Living Together, Growing Together"/"Reflections," A&M, 1974.

"Futures"/"No One Remembers My Name," A&M, 1977.

"I Took My Strength from You"/"Time and Tenderness," A&M, 1977.

"New York Lady"/"Riverboat," A&M, 1979.


Albums:

Hit Maker, The Man! Burt Bacharach and His Songs (also known as Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits!), Kapp, 1965.

What's New, Pussycat? (soundtrack), Rykodisc, 1965.

After the Fox (soundtrack), United Artists, 1966.

Reach Out, A&M, 1967.

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (soundtrack), A&M, 1969.

Make It Easy on Yourself, A&M, 1969.

Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1971.

Living Together, A&M, 1973.

Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits (also known as Greatest Hits), A&M, 1974.

In Concert, A&M, 1974.

Futures, A&M, 1977.

Woman, A&M, 1979.

Classics, Vol. 23, A&M, 1987.

Walk on By, Universal, 1987.

I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Spectrum Music, 1993.

Songbook, Alex, 1995.

The Best of Burt Bacharach, PolyGram, 1996.

Easy Loungin' Collection, Universal, 1996.

The Look of Love: The Classic Songs of Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1996.

The Magic of Burt Bacharach, Charly, 1996.

Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits, MCA, 1997.

I'll Never Fall in Love Again, PolyGram, 1998.

The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Rhino, 1998.

A Man & His Music, Spectrum Music, 1998.

One Amazing Night, N2K, 1998.

(With Elvis Costello) Painted from Memory (includes song "I Still Have That Other Girl"), Mercury, 1998.

The Instrumental Side, Varese Sarabande, 1999.

(With Elvis Costello and Bill Frisell) The Sweetest Punch, Decca, 1999.

The Greatest Hits of Burt Bacharach, Metro, 2001.

What the World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach Classics, A&M, 2003.


Album Work:

Orchestra director, What Now My Love, Phonodisc, Ltd., 1962.

Arranger and conductor, Blue on Blue, Epic, 1963.

Producer, Lost Horizon (soundtrack), Bell, 1973.

Conductor, The Best of Bacharach, I.J.E., 1977.


Song Work:

Arranger of horns and strings, "Mexican Divorce," Atlantic, 1962.

Arranger of horns and strings for the song "Please Stay," Atlantic.


Videos:

Himself, Behind the Scenes of "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (documentary short), New Line Home Video, 1999.

Himself, The Songmakers Collection (documentary), Arts and Entertainment Home Video, 2001.


WRITINGS

Film Scores:

Forever My Love, Paramount, 1962.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Paramount, 1962.

Wives and Lovers, Paramount, 1963.

A House Is Not a Home, Embassy Pictures, 1964.

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, Paramount, 1964.

Casino Royale (also known as Charles K. Feldman's "Casino Royale"), Columbia, 1967.

The April Fools, National General, 1969.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1969.

The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Robert L. Crawford Productions, 1970.

Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You, 1970.

Bang, Bang, 1973.

(American version) Together? (also known as I Love You, I Love You Not and Amo non amo), 1979.

Night Shift, Warner Bros., 1982.

Best Defense, Paramount, 1984.

Baby Boom, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1987.

Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Warner Bros., 1988.

Love Hurts, Vestron Video, 1992.

Isn't She Great? (also known as Ist sie nicht grossartig?), Universal, 2000.

Peluca (short film), 2003.


Film Songs:

"I Cry More," Don't Knock the Rock (also known as Hi Fi and Rhythm and Blues), Columbia, 1956.

Title song, Sad Sack (also known as The Sad Sack), Paramount, 1957.

(As Burt P. Bacharach) "Warm and Tender," Lizzie, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1957.

(Uncredited) Title song, The Blob (also known as The Glob, The Glob That Girdled the Globe, The Meteorite Monster, The Molten Meteorite, and The Night of the Creeping Dead), Paramount, 1958.

Country Music Holiday, Paramount, 1958.

Title song, Love in a Goldfish Bowl, Paramount, 1961.

"Another Tear Falls," Ring–a–Ding Rhythm, 1962.

Title song, Send Me No Flowers, Universal, 1964.

Title song, What's New, Pussycat? (also known as Quoi de Neuf, Pussycat?), United Artists, 1965.

Title song, After the Fox (also known as Caccia alla Volpe), United Artists, 1966.

Title song, Alfie, Paramount, 1966.

Title song, Made in Paris, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1966.

Title song, Promise Her Anything, Paramount, 1966.

Title song, Something Big, National General, c. 1967.

Title song, Long Ago Tomorrow (also known as The Raging Moon), 1971.

Title song, Lost Horizon, Columbia, 1973.

(With others) "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur, Orion, 1981.

Theme song, Making Love, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1982.

Title song, Baby It's You, Paramount, 1983.

"They Don't Make Them Like They Used To," Tough Guys, Buena Vista, 1986.

"Everchanging Times," Baby Boom, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1987.

"Love Is My Decision," Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Warner Bros., 1988.

"Windows of the World," 1969, Atlantic Releasing, 1988.

(With Elvis Costello) "God Give Me Strength," Grace of My Heart, Gramercy Pictures, 1996.

Various songs, My Best Friend's Wedding, Columbia/TriStar, 1997.

"2Wicky," Permanent Midnight, Artisan Entertainment, 1998.

(With Tim Rice) "Walking Tall," Stuart Little, Sony Pictures Releasing, 1999.

"Alfie (What's It All About, Austin?)," Austin Powers in Goldmember (also known as Austin Powers: Goldmember), New Line Cinema, 2002.


Bacharach's music and songs have been featured in films, television broadcasts, and videos.


Film Lyrics:

Sad Sack (also known as The Sad Sack), Paramount, 1957.

(With others) "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur, Orion, 1981.


Television Scores; Series:

Mont–Joye, Societe Radio–Canada (Canada), 1970–75.

Any Day Now, Lifetime, 1998–2002.


Television Theme Songs; Series:

Any Day Now, Lifetime, 1998–2002.


Television Scores; Specials:

"On the Flip Side," Stage 67 (also known as ABC Stage 67), ABC, 1967.

Singer Presents Burt Bacharach, 1971.

Burt Bacharach in Shangri–La, ABC, 1973.

Burt Bacharach: Opus No. 3, ABC, 1973.

Bacharach 74, 1974.

Himself, Burt Bacharach ... This Is Now (documentary), PBS, c. 1996.

Bacharach: One Amazing Night, TNT, 1998.


Television Songs; Episodic:

"Rome Will Never Leave You," Dr. Kildare, NBC, 1964.


Stage Composer:

Marlene Dietrich (series of concerts), Lunt–Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1967, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1968.

Promises, Promises, Shubert Theatre (some sources cite Majestic Theatre), New York City, 1968–72, also produced at other venues.

(With others) Harlem Nocturne (revue; also known as Andre DeShield's "Harlem Nocturne"), Latin Quarter, New York City, 1984.

Back to Bacharach and David, Club 53, New York City, 1993.

The Look of Love: The Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (revue; also known as What the World Needs Now: The Look of Love), Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 2003, also produced at other venues.

Additional music, The Boy from Oz (musical), Imperial Theatre, New York City, 2003–2004.


Song Composer:

"Another Time, Another Place," 1956.

"I Cry More," Coral, 1956.

"Sad Sack," Decca, 1957.

"The Story of My Life," Columbia, 1957.

"Warm and Tender," Columbia, 1957.

"The Bell That Wouldn't Jingle," Kapp, 1957, Epic, 1964, A&M, 1980.

"The Blob," Columbia, 1958.

"Christmas Day," Columbia, 1958.

"Sittin' in the Tree House," Columbia, 1958.

"Magic Moments," RCA, 1958, also recorded in 1995.

"Faithfully," Columbia, 1959.

"Heavenly," Columbia, 1959.

"With Open Arms," 1959.

"And This Is Mine," Warner Bros., 1961.

"I Wake Up Cryin'," Wand, 1961.

"Loneliness or Happiness," Atlantic, 1961.

"Love in a Goldfish Bowl," Capitol, 1961.

"One Part Dog, Nine Parts Cat," Jamie, 1961.

"Tower of Strength," Liberty, 1961, Musicor, 1962.

"Baby It's You," Scepter, 1961, Parlophone UK, 1963, Dunhill, 1969, also recorded in 1984.

"Anonymous Phone Call," Liberty, 1962.

"Don't Make Me Over"/"I Smiled Yesterday," Scepter, 1962.

"Don't You Believe It," Columbia, 1962.

"It's Love That Really Counts (in the Long Run)," Scepter, 1962.

"Keep away from Other Girls," Columbia, 1962.

"The Love of a Boy," Liberty, 1962.

"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," Musicor, 1962.

"Mexican Divorce," Atlantic, 1962.

"Make It Easy on Yourself," Veejay, 1962, Smash, 1965.

"Another Tear Falls," Liberty, 1962, Smash, 1966.

"Only Love Can Break a Heart," Musicor, 1962, also recorded in 1967 and 1977.

"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself," Scepter, 1962, also recorded in 1966 and 1970, Stiff, 1978.

"Any Day Now," Wand, 1962, also recorded in 1966, RCA, 1969, 1982, and 1984.

"Don't Make Me Over," Columbia, 1962, also recorded in 1970, Next Plateau, 1989.

"Be True to Yourself," Liberty, 1963.

"Big Top"/"(They Long to Be) Close to You," Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1963.

"Blue on Blue," Epic, 1963.

"The Breaking Point," Wand, 1963.

"Call off the Wedding (without a Groom There Can't Be a Bride)"/"Keep away from Other Girls," Kapp, 1963.

"If I Never Get to Love You," Big Top, 1963.

"Let the Music Play," Atlantic, 1963.

"Make the Music Play"/"Please Make Him Love Me," Scepter, 1963.

"Move It on the Backbeat"/"A Felicidade," Big Top, 1963.

"Reach out for Me"/"Magic Potion," Big Top, 1963.

"Saturday Sunshine"/"And So Goodbye My Love," Kapp, 1963.

"This Empty Place"/"Wishin' and Hopin'," Scepter, 1963.

"True Love Never Runs Smooth," Wand, 1963.

"Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa," Musicor, 1963.

"Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?," Congress, 1963.

"Wives and Lovers," 1963.

"Look in My Eyes, Maria," United Artists, 1963, Columbia, 1965.

"Anyone Who Had a Heart," Capitol, 1964.

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"/"Love of a Boy," Scepter, 1964.

"Forever Yours I Remain," Epic, 1964.

"From Rocking Horse to Rocking Chair," RCA, 1964.

"Here Comes the Forgotten Man," Musicor and Liberty, 1964.

"A House Is Not a Home," Mercury, 1964.

"I Cry Alone," Wand, 1964, Kapp, 1964.

"Kentucky Bluebird (Send a Message to Martha)"/"The Last One to Be Loved," Big Hill, 1964.

"Long after Tonight Is Over," Imperial, 1964.

"Message to Martha," Veejay and Amy, 1964.

"Reach out for Me"/"How Many Days of Sadness," Scepter, 1964.

"Rome Will Never Leave You," Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1964.

"Send Me No Flowers," Columbia, 1964.

"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"/"Magic Potion (Instrumental)," Big Hill, 1964.

"To Wait for Love"/"Accept It," Epic, 1964.

"Walk on By"/"Any Old Time of Day," Scepter, 1964.

"Wishin' and Hopin'," Philips, 1964.

"You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)-"/"A House Is Not a Home," Scepter, 1964.

"To Wait for Love," United Artists, 1964, A&M, 1968.

"Love Was Here before the Stars," Kapp, 1964, Parrot, 1969.

"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me," Reprise, 1964, also recorded in 1970, EMI America, 1983.

"Me, Japanese Boy I Love You" (also known as "Me, Japanese Boy"), United Artists, 1964, Matador, 1994.

"Are You There (with Another Girl)"/"If I Ever Make You Cry," Scepter, 1965.

"Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So," Scepter, 1965.

"Fool Killer," Musicor, 1965.

"Here I Am," Scepter, 1965.

"A Lifetime of Loneliness," Imperial, 1965.

"Live Again," Imperial, 1965.

"Looking with My Eyes"/"Only the Strong, Only the Brave," Imperial, 1965.

"Trains and Boats and Planes," Imperial, 1965.

"What's New, Pussycat?," Parrot, 1965.

"What's New, Pussycat?"/"My Little Red Book," Kapp, 1965.

"What the World Needs Now Is Love," Imperial, 1965.

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"/"Trains and Boats and Planes," Kapp, 1965, Scepter, 1966.

"My Little Red Book," Kapp, 1965, Elektra, 1966.

"After the Fox," United Artists, 1966.

"Alfie," Imperial, 1966.

"Another Night"/"Go with Love," Scepter, 1966.

"Come and Get Me," Imperial, 1966.

"Made in Paris," Reprise, 1966.

"Message to Michael"/"Here Where There Is Love," Scepter, 1966.

"Nikki"/"Juanita's Place," Liberty, 1966.

"Promise Her Anything," Parrot, 1966.

"Windows and Doors"/"So Long Johnny," Imperial, 1966.

"Alfie"/"The Beginning of Loneliness," Scepter, 1967.

"Alfie"/"Bond Street," A&M, 1967.

"Casino Royale," A&M, 1967.

"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"/"In between the Heartaches," Scepter, 1967.

"Reach out for Me"/"The Look of Love," A&M, 1967.

"The Windows of the World"/"Walk Little Dolly," Scepter, 1967.

"The Look of Love," Philips, 1967, A&M, 1968, also recorded in 1971.

"I Say a Little Prayer," Scepter, 1967, Atlantic, 1968, also recorded in 1977, Rhythm King/Mute, 1988.

"The Bell That Wouldn't Jingle"/"What the World Needs Now Is Love," A&M, 1968.

"Do You Know the Way to San Jose"/"Let Me Be Lonely," Scepter, 1968.

"Message to Michael"/"Are You There (with Another Girl)," A&M, 1968.

"Promises, Promises"/"Whoever You Are, I Love You," Scepter, 1968.

"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"/"Who Is Gonna Love Me?," Scepter, 1968.

"This Guy's in Love with You," A&M, 1968.

"The April Fools," Scepter, 1969.

"Come Touch the Sun"/"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," A&M, 1969.

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"/"Pacific Coast Highway," A&M, 1969.

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"/"What the World Needs Now is Love," Scepter, 1969.

"I'm a Better Man," Parrot, 1969.

"In the Land of Make Believe," Atlantic, 1969.

"Odds and Ends"/"As Long as There's an Apple Tree," Scepter, 1969.

"This Girl's in Love with You"/"Dream Sweet Dreamer," Scepter, 1969.

"Walk on By," 1969 and 1975, Epic, 1978, Polydor, 1989, Next Plateau, 1990.

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Scepter, 1969, also recorded in 1995.

"Any Day Now"/"A House Is Not a Home," A&M, 1970.

"Everybody's out of Town," Scepter, 1970.

"The Green Grass Starts to Grow"/"They Don't Give Medals (to Yesterday's Heroes)," Scepter, 1970.

"I'll Never Fall in Love Again," Scepter, 1970.

"Let Me Go to Him"/"Loneliness Remembers (What Happiness Forgets)," Scepter, 1970.

"Make It Easy on Yourself"/"Knowing When to Leave," Scepter, 1970.

"One Less Bell to Answer," Bell, 1970.

"Paper Mache"/"The Wine Is Young," Scepter, 1970.

"Send My Picture to Scranton, PA," Scepter, 1970.

"(They Long to Be) Close to You," A&M, 1970, Columbia, 1971, also recorded in 1972, 1976, and 1993, A&M, 1994.

"All Kinds of People"/"She's Gone Away," A&M, 1971.

"Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So," Warner Bros., 1971.

"Freefall"/"One Less Bell to Answer," A&M, 1971.

"Long Ago Tomorrow," Scepter, 1971.

"Something Big," Columbia, 1971.

"I Just Have to Breathe," Warner Bros., 1972.

"All Kinds of People," Bell, 1973.

"Living Together, Growing Together," Bell, 1973.

"Lost Horizon," A&M, 1973.

"Something Big"/"Living Together, Growing Together," A&M, 1973.

"The Windows of the World," 1973.

"You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)," Avco, 1973.

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart," Atlantic, 1974.

"I Might Frighten Her Away," A&M, 1974.

"Living Together, Growing Together"/"Reflections," A&M, 1974.

"Futures"/"No One Remembers My Name," A&M, 1977.

"I Took My Strength from You"/"Time and Tenderness," A&M, 1977.

"New York Lady"/"Riverboat," A&M, 1979.

"I Don't Need You Anymore," RCA, 1980.

"Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Warner Bros., 1981.

"Just Friends," Boardwalk, 1981.

"Stronger Than Before," Boardwalk, 1981.

"Heartlight," Columbia, 1982.

"Making Love," Atlantic, 1982.

"That's What Friends Are For," Warner Bros., 1982, Arista, 1985.

"Maybe," Capitol, 1983.

"Finder of Lost Loves," Arista, 1984.

"Sleep with Me Tonight," Columbia, 1984.

"Love Always," Gordy, 1986.

"They Don't Make Them Like They Used To," RCA, 1986.

"On My Own," MCA, 1986, also recorded in 1995.

"Love Is Fire (Love Is Ice)," MCA, 1987.

"Love Power," Arista, 1987.

"Overnight Success," MCA, 1987.

"Love Light," Columbia, 1988.

"One More Time Around," Columbia, 1988.

"Need a Little Faith," MCA, 1989.

"Take Good Care of You and Me," Arista, 1989.

"Are You There with Another Girl," RCA, 1991.

"Everchanging Times," Arista, 1991.

"Hang Your Teardrops up to Dry," Amherst, 1991.

"A Higher Place," 1991.

"Someone Else's Eyes," Arista, 1991.

"Anyone Who Had a Heart"/"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself," Elektra, 1993.

"Don't Say Goodbye," Warner Bros., 1993.

"Once before You Go," Solar/Epic, 1993.

"Sing for the Children," Warner Bros., 1993.

"This Doesn't Feel Like Love," Solar/Epic, 1993.

"This Is the Night," Warner Bros., 1993.

"Two Hearts," Reprise, 1993.

"If I Want To," Word Incorporated/Epic, 1994.

"This Girl's in Love with You," Teen Beat, 1994.

"Knowing When to Leave"/"Promises, Promises," Varese Sarabande, 1995.

"Please Stay," Warner Bros., 1995, also appears on an Atlantic recording.

(With Elvis Costello) "God Give Me Strength," 1996.

Composer of other songs, including "Tick Tock Goes the Clock," "Turkey Lurkey Time," and "What am I Doing Here." Bacharach's songs have been recorded numerous times.


Album Composer:

What Now My Love, Phonodisc, Ltd., 1962.

Blue on Blue, Epic, 1963.

Presenting Dionne Warwick, Scepter, 1963.

Anyone Who Had a Heart, Scepter, 1964.

Make Way for Dionne Warwick, Scepter, 1964.

Here I Am, Scepter, 1965.

Hit Maker, The Man! Burt Bacharach and His Songs (also known as Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits!), Kapp, 1965.

The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick, Scepter, 1965.

What's New, Pussycat? (soundtrack), Rykodisc, 1965.

After the Fox (soundtrack), Rykodisc, 1966.

Are You Ready for This?, Imperial, 1966.

Dionne Warwick in Paris, Scepter, 1966.

Here Where There Is Love, Scepter, 1966.

Casino Royale (soundtrack), Colgems, 1967.

Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits, Part One, Scepter, 1967.

On Stage and in the Movies, Scepter, 1967.

On the Flip Side, Decca, 1967.

Reach Out, A&M, 1967.

"The Windows of the World," The Windows of the World, Scepter, 1967.

The Valley of the Dolls, Scepter, 1968.

Promises, Promises, Scepter, 1968, soundtrack released by United Artists, 1969.

The April Fools (soundtrack), 1969.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (soundtrack), A&M, 1969.

Dionne Warwick's Golden Hits, Part Two, Scepter, 1969.

Dionne Warwick's Greatest Motion Picture Hits, Scepter, 1969.

Film Festival, Colgems, 1969.

Make It Easy on Yourself, A&M, 1969.

Very Dionne, Scepter, 1970.

Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1971.

The Dionne Warwick Story, Scepter, 1971.

Dionne, Warner Bros., 1972.

Ellis Larkins Plays the Bacharach and McKuen Songbook, Stanyan Records, 1972.

Living Together, A&M, 1973.

Lost Horizon (soundtrack), Bell, 1973.

Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits (also known as Greatest Hits), A&M, 1974.

In Concert, A&M, 1974.

Live in Japan, A&M, 1974.

The Best of Bacharach, I.J.E., 1977.

Futures, A&M, 1977.

Together? (soundtrack), RCA, 1979.

Woman, A&M, 1979.

Arthur (soundtrack), 1981.

Night Shift (soundtrack), Warner Bros., 1982.

That's What Friends Are For, 1986.

Reservations for Two, Arista, 1987.

Walk on By, Universal, 1987.

Arthur 2: On the Rocks (soundtrack), A&M, 1988.

Friends Can Be Lovers (includes song "Sunny Weather Love"), Arista, 1989.

The Dionne Warwick Collection, Her All–Time Greatest Hits, Rhino, 1993.

I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Spectrum Music, 1993.

Aquanetta de Brasil, Arista, 1994.

Songbook, Alex, 1995.

Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach, 1997.

My Best Friend's Wedding (soundtrack), Work, 1997.

(And author of liner notes) The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Rhino, 1998.

A Man & His Music, Spectrum Music, 1998.

One Amazing Night, N2K, 1998.

(With Elvis Costello) Painted from Memory (includes song "I Still Have That Other Girl"), Mercury, 1998.

(With Elvis Costello and Bill Frisell) The Sweetest Punch, Decca, 1999.

The Greatest Hits of Burt Bacharach, Metro, 2001.

What the World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach Classics, A&M, 2003.


Composer of other albums, including Burt Bacharach and Friends and Superpak—The Best of Burt Bacharach, Rhino.


Songbooks:

(With Hal David) What the World Needs Now is Love: The Burt Bacharach–Hal David Songbook, Polydor, 1972.


Poetry:

(With Hal David) What the World Needs Now Is Love: Poetic Selections from the Songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, edited by Susan Polis Schutz, Blue Mountain Press, 1979.


OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Musicians, Volume 49, Gale Group, 2005.

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 22, Gale Group, 2002.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists, Fourth edition, St. James Press, 2000.


Periodicals:

Boston Phoenix, August, 1997.

Entertainment Weekly, April 16, 1993, p. 31; May 23, 1997, p. 65; August 8, 1997, pp. 42–45; December 26, 1997, p. 65.

Guitar Player, September, 1999, p. 20.

Interview, February, 1996, pp. 84–87.

Newsweek, October 5, 1998, pp. 80–81.

New York Times, July 24, 1997.

NME, October 3, 1998, pp. 23–24.

People Weekly, November 13, 1995, p. 31; May 10, 1999, p. 126; December 15, 2003, p. 41.

Playbill, May 31, 2003, p. 18.

Time, September 9, 1996, p. 75; July 21, 1997, p. 72.

TV Guide, April 11, 1998, pp. 5–6.

Bacharach, Burt

views updated May 21 2018

Burt Bacharach


Songwriter, pianist


In a career spanning nearly six decades, songwriter Burt Bacharach has attained a virtual star status usually reserved for those on the other side of the recording process. After firmly establishing himself as a highly original tunesmith by the early 1960s, Bacharach became not only a household name, but even a publicly visible persona. As Francis Davis noted in the Atlantic Monthly, by the early 1970s, Bacharach had been acknowledged by critics and listeners as "a 'national idol'—a celebrity songwriter who was to his day what Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter had been to theirs." Crafting a distinct style of melody, notably in collaboration with lyricist Hal David, Bacharach provided vocalists with the music for a vast list of hits, as well as for numerous acclaimed film soundtracks. While Bacharach's separation with David in the early 1970s was followed by a period of general stagnation, by the 1990s the composer was celebrated anew by a young generation of musicians who found great artistry in Bacharach's body of easy listening works.

Bacharach was born on May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, before his parents relocated to New York City. Although he strived to become a football star, the young Bacharach was limited to a steady diet of cello, drum, and piano lessons at his mother's behest. Taking the study of music to heart, Bacharach exposed himself to jazz and classical performance through formal training, as well as by sneaking into local jazz clubs where he witnessed legends such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. After serving in the armed forces from 1950 to 1952, Bacharach immersed himself in music theory and composition study at the Mannes School of Music in New York City; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the Music Academy of the West, in Santa Barbara, California, where he received a scholarship; and at the New School for Social Research. It was at the New School where Bacharach benefitted from the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, of whom many claim to have sharply influenced Bacharach's style.

Throughout the 1950s, Bacharach cut his teeth as a musician by serving as a piano accompanist and arranger to a number of performers before making his first attempts at songwriting. After meeting crooner Vic Damone in Germany, Bacharach worked alongside the singer for several years, leading to engagements with a virtual pantheon of club circuit celebrities including the Ames Brothers, Joel Grey, Steve Lawrence, and Paula Stewart, who married Bacharach in 1953. While acting as musical director to legendary German actress and chanteuse Marlene Dietrich, Bacharach's first steps in songwriting led him into a collaboration with lyricist Mack David, with whom Bacharach wrote the kitschy theme song to the science fiction film The Blob. Despite the fact that the song was actually a hit record, Bacharach quickly ended his partnership with David, but not before meeting his younger brother Hal David. Bacharach hit the top forty for the first time with the lyrical accompaniment of the junior David, providing country performer Marty Robbins with "The Story of My Life" in 1957 and crooner Perry Como with "Magic Moments" in 1958. Although it would take several years before the duo began working with each other exclusively, these first chart hits mark the start of one of the most fertile partnerships in popular music history.

Early Success with Hal David

As the 1960s began, so did the salad days of Bacharach's career, whereupon the composer cemented his most successful partnerships and developed a sophisticated, recognizable style. The onset of the decade found the songwriter supplying tunes for singers such as Gene Pitney and Chuck Jackson, and extensively for the group The Drifters, including "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay," both of which were created with lyricist Bob Hilliard. By 1962, with the release of Bacharach and David's "Make It Easy On Yourself" by pop/soul singer Jerry Butler, the composer had written, in Atlantic Monthly writer Francis Davis's words, "the first Bacharach song to sound vaguely like a Bacharach song… All these years later what's remarkable about the song is how grown up it sounds—as much a reflection of Bacharach's elegant melodic line as of the stoicism conveyed by Butler's vocal and David's lyrics." Bacharach and David had finally struck a delicate balance of songwriting, while not a formula. However, it was the discovery of vocalist Dionne Warwick, then a highly trained session vocalist for The Drifters, that rounded out the Bacharach/David team, illustrated by "Don't Make Me Over," released in 1962. Warwick's extreme versatility and range allowed Bacharach to indulge in the untraditional meter shifts and other devices which are his signature. With an ideal vocalist, the composer found a perfect match for melodies that were sophisticated and yet "deceptively simple." Despite what the ear thinks its hearing, noted Davis, "they rarely change key; what often accounts for their oddity is Bacharach's refusal to modulate into an easier key where another songwriter might, in order to give the singer a break."

For the Record …

Born on May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, MO; son of Bert Bacharach (a columnist); married Paula Stewart, 1953 (divorced; 1958); married Angie Dickinson, 1965 (divorced, 1981); married Carol Bayer Sager, 1982 (divorced, 1991); married Jane Hanson, 2003; children: four. Education: Attended Mannes School of Music, NY; the Berkshire Music Center, NY; the New School for Social Research; McGill University, in Mont real, Canada; and the Music Academy of the West, CA.

Worked as a nightclub conductor and pianist for Vic Damone and other entertainers in early 1950s; became member of ASCAP, 1955; formed partnership with Hal David, 1957; had first million-seller with Perry Como, "Magic Moments," 1958; began composing for Dionne Warwick with "Don't Make Me Over," 1962; scored first film, What's New Pussycat?, 1965; released debut album, Reach Out, for A&M, 1967; wrote music for Promises, Promises, 1969; scored the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969; dissolved partnership with David, 1973; started collaboration with Carol Bayer Sager, 1978; scored the film Arthur, 1981; produced AIDS benefit single "That's What Friends Are For," 1986; co-wrote "God Give Me Strength" with Elvis Costello over a fax machine, 1998; recorded version of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, 1998; appeared in Austin Powers in Goldmember, 2002; recorded Here I Am, 2003.

Awards: Grammy Awards, Best Instrumental Arrangement, Alfie, 1967; Best Score From An Original Cast Show Album, Promises, Promises, 1969; Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969; Song of the Year, "That's What Friends Are For," 1986; Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, "I Still Have That Other Girl," 1998; Academy Award, Original Score for a Motion Picture [not a musical], Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969; Academy Award, Original Song for the Picture, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," 1969; Academy Award, Original Theme, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," 1981; Swedish Polar Prize, 2001.

Addresses: Record company—A&M Records, 1416 North La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Website—Burt Bacharach Official Website: http://www.bacharachonline.com.

From 1962 to 1970, the Bacharach/David/Warwick relationship became an institution in popular music, producing 39 charting singles, including eight which entered the top ten. In addition to the many Warwick pieces, among them "Walk On By," 1964; "Trains and Boats and Planes," 1966; "I Say A Little Prayer," 1967; and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose," 1968, a number of Bacharach's compositions also found success with other vocalists. To name only a few, Jack Jones's 1963 version of "Wives and Lovers;" Jackie DeShannon's classic 1965 recording of Bacharach's "What The World Needs Now Is Love;" trumpet virtuoso Herb Alpert's "This Guy's In Love With You," 1968; and The Fifth Dimension's "One Less Bell To Answer," recorded in 1970, were all chart toppers. As various Bacharach songs were re-recorded by a roster of diverse performers, it grew apparent that while the composer's work was sometimes captured in a definitive recording, as was the case with many Warwick cuts, the songwriting itself transcended any single version. Bacharach had established an identity, even an image, with popular audiences—he had even appeared in a fittingly romantic television vermouth advertisement with his then wife, actress Angie Dickinson—a feat almost unheard of for the usually invisible role of composer. However, Bacharach did not easily slip into his newly accrued public persona. "I found it a hard transition moving to the center of the stage," he recalled in a New Musical Express interview in 1996. "A lot of my musical life had been spent in the back or conducting for singers, and suddenly I was doing concerts by myself as the star, as the attraction. I had to talk to the audience but I could hardly get a word out because I was so nervous. It was tough."

By the early 1970s, Bacharach had achieved not only the appreciation of mass audiences, but also critical appreciation and even scholarly attention. Critics such as Popular Music and Society's Bruce A. Lohof publicly acknowledged the complexity and innovation in Bacharach's body of work, and ranked him among other giants of American songwriting. In 1970 the composer had been awarded two Academy Awards for his musical contributions to the previous year's film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which boasted the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" in addition to Bacharach's original score. Although this was the first time Bacharach had secured the Oscar, he had previously been nominated several times for his impressive film scores and songs, including What's New, Pussycat? in 1965, the theme song from Alfie in 1967, and "The Look of Love," written for the James Bond spoof Casino Royale, also in 1967. In addition, the Bacharach/David score for the long-running stage musical Promises, Promises, launched in 1969, garnered a Tony Award as well as a Grammy for its cast album.

The End of an Era

Given the success of Bacharach and David's film collaborations, it was surprising that their score for the 1973 remake film Lost Horizon was a resounding failure. Besides being generally condemned by audiences and critics alike for its histrionically romantic overtures, Lost Horizon's production also resulted in feuding between Bacharach and David. Their differences finally heated into lawsuits, and one of the most celebrated partnerships in popular music dissolved. The bitter breakup cut both David and Bacharach's careers to the quick, and for the rest of the decade the unhinged duo floundered in vain to find teamings with comparable chemistry. At this point, Bacharach turned to performing his own established material, both live and on record, but it was clear that his music was most successful when vitalized by other vocalists. With the exception of Bacharach's solo album Reach Out, released in 1967, the composer's self-recorded output was devoid of the charisma that made his songs popular, and albums such as Living Together (1972) and Woman (1979) are largely forgettable.

The pairing of Bacharach with lyricist Carol Bayer Sager marked the advent of a decidedly adult-oriented turn in the composer's career. After developing a work relationship with Sager in the early 1980s, resulting in the Academy Award winning tune "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)," recorded by Christopher Cross for the 1981 film Arthur, Bacharach married his new partner in 1982—he had divorced Dickinson the previous year—and continued to compose with his new wife. While Bacharach's work with Hal David tended to be popular with audiences of all ages, his work throughout the 1980s is characterized by its easy listening, middle-aged appeal that most critics see as falling below his standards of the 1960s. Nonetheless, Bacharach returned to the charts with Sager collaborations such as "On My Own," an emotive soul duet recorded in 1986 by vocalists Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, and "That's What Friends Are For," also recorded in 1986 as a fund raiser for AIDS research. The latter song featured vocals by Elton John and Dionne Warwick, and marked the reunion of Bacharach with his most celebrated interpreter. In addition to work with Sager, Bacharach expanded his portfolio with other writers, including R&B singer/songwriter James Ingram. Still, none of his later work recaptured the timeless quality achieved with David in past decades.

Although Bacharach's own work had entered a period of relative stagnation, by the early 1990s the composer's career received an unexpected boost. After years of confinement to an adult listening constituency, Bacharach's classic work of the 1960s became treasured anew by young fans and songwriters, many of whom had ironically come from polarly opposite music traditions such as punk rock and new wave. Critics such as Davis credit some of Bacharach's newfound exposure to subcultural ironic appreciation,, "among fans of what is variously called 'cocktail,' 'bachelor pad,' and 'E-Z listening'—those strange young record collectors with an overdeveloped (or under-developed?) sense of kitsch, wardrobes of Rat Pack leisurewear…, and too many good albums in their collections already." Although this kind of keenly postmodern "appreciation" ultimately devalued Bacharach's talent, many contemporary listeners truly found mastery in records found in parents' collections. "Why is this happening?" asked critic Lorraine Ali rhetorically in the Los Angeles Times. "It may reflect the maturation of the musically involved. Kids who were bombarded for most of their lives with noise and anti-melody are finding sensory relief in songs that go down smooth and easy." As a result, many young rock bands began to cite Bacharach as an influence as well as to perform his pieces, including the experimental French/British outfit Stereolab, American folk-rockers REM, and England's Oasis, just to name a few.

A New Generation of Fans

Accordingly, the Bacharach revival has included a number of tributes and retrospectives. In 1996, Bacharach's longtime label A&M released a career spanning compilation album, The Look of Love: The Classic Songs of Burt Bacharach, which was followed by an exhaustive three CD portrait by Rhino Records a year later. British television made the composer the subject of a documentary/tribute entitled Burt Bacharach: This Is Now, which was subsequently shown on American airwaves. Bacharach launched a European tour with Dionne Warwick to favorable reviews and performed at New York's Rainbow Room for a New Year's Eve television special. In addition, the flattered Bacharach fully endorsed the attention of his new generation of fans, collaborating with British songwriter Elvis Costello on the song "God Give Me Strength" in 1995 and performing his own "This Guy's In Love With You" alongside Oasis vocalist Noel Gallagher at London's Royal Festival Hall in June of 1996. The composer even made an amusing cameo appearance in the 1997 spoof film Austin Powers, another example of the blurry line between irony and adoration.

With the retro movement, Bacharach's songs began appearing regularly in motion pictures, including two additional Austin Powers movies, Two Weeks Notice, the re-make of The In-Laws, and Catch Me if You Can.

In July of 2000, A Tribute to Burt Bacharach & Hal David was held at Royal Albert Hall in London. It was later released on CD and DVD in 2001. Then, in 2002, a musical based on the careers of Bacharach and David called What the World Needs Now opened in Sydney, Australia. A musical based on Bacharach and David opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theater on Broadway in New York City. In December of 2003, a television special, McCormick Presents Burt Bacharach: Tribute on Ice, with superstar skaters Brian Boitano, Ilia Kulik, and Nicole Bobek. Bacharach craze was everywhere.

Bacharach shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, he appears to be speeding up, continuing to make appearances and play with music. Whether ironically motivated or in earnest, and regardless of future compositions, Bacharach has undeniably earned a place in the canon of popular music.

Selected discography

What's New Pussycat?, Rykodisc, 1965.

After the Fox, Rydodisc, 1966.

Reach Out, A&M, 1967.

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, A&M, 1969.

Make It Easy on Yourself, A&M, 1969.

Burt Bacharach, Polydor, 1971.

Living Together, A&M, 1972.

In Concert, A&M, 1974.

Greatest Hits, A&M, 1974.

Burt Bacharach's Greatest Hits, A&M, 1974.

Futures, MVP Japan, 1977.

Classics, Vol. 23, A&M, 1987.

Walk on By, Universal, 1987.

Songbook, Alex, 1995.

The Magic of Burt Bacharach, Charly, 1996.

Easy Loungin' Collection, Universal, 1996.

The Look of Love: The Classic Songs of Burt Bacharach, A&M, 1996.

The Best of Burt Bacharach, Polygram, 1996.

Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits, MCA, 1997.

I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Polygram, 1998.

The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, Rhino, 1998.

One Amazing Night, N2K, 1998.

A Man & His Music, Spectrum, 1998.

The Greatest Hits of Burt Bacharach, Metro, 2001.

What the World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach Classics, A&M, 2003.

Sources

Periodicals

Atlantic Monthly, June 1997.

Billboard, May 26, 2001, p. 12.

Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1995.

New Musical Express, April 13, 1996.

Online

"Burt Bacharach," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Website, http://www.awardsdatabase.oscars.org (April 25, 2004).

"Burt Bacharach," All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (April 25, 2004).

Burt Bacharach Official Website, http://www.bacharachonline.com (April 25, 2004).

Recording Academy Grammy Awards, http://www.grammy.com (April 25, 2004).

—Shaun Frentner and

Sarah Parkin

Burt Bacharach

views updated Jun 11 2018

Burt Bacharach

Composer/arranger Burt Bacharach (born 1928) established himself in the 1960s as one of America's premier pop songwriters. After achieving considerable success with recordings by Dionne Warwick and B.J. Thomas, among many others, he found his style of music out of fashion during the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1990s, he returned to active composing as a new generation discovered his music.

The sophisticated melodies of Burt Bacharach were among the defining sounds of American popular music in the 1960s and early 1970s. In an era when rock gained ascendancy, his elegant compositions echoed the heyday of the great Broadway and Tin Pan Alley songwriters. In tandem with lyricist Hal David, Bacharach created songs graced with complex rhythms and fresh harmonic patterns that were rich in color and mood. The Bacharach/ David team produced a remarkable body of work for the stage and screen as well as for the record-buying market. The Carpenters, Tom Jones, B.J. Thomas, Dusty Springfield and, most of all, Dionne Warwick were among the artists who popularized Bacharach's songs. The start of the 21st century found him increasingly productive, working with new collaborators and releasing retrospectives of his best work.

Early Years

Burt Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 12, 1928. His father, Bert Bacharach, was a syndicated columnist and men's fashion journalist. His mother, Irma, was an amateur singer and pianist who encouraged her son to study music. Moving with his family to Forest Hills, New York, Bacharach studied cello, drums and piano as a child. His first strong interest was in sports. However, by the time he reached high school his piano playing abilities began to make him popular at school functions and local dances. Beyond his classical training, Bacharach found inspiration by sneaking into Manhattan jazz clubs and absorbing the sounds of such bebop innovators as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. After high school, he studied music at McGill University in Montreal and at New York's Mannes School of Music. It was at the latter school that he came under the influence of composer Darius Milhaud, who encouraged his young student to develop his melodic talents.

During a stint in the armed services from 1950 through 1952, Bacharach was kept busy performing at army bases as part of a dance band. Back in civilian life, he became a New York nightclub pianist and arranger, working with such singers as Vic Damone, Steve Lawrence and the Ames Brothers. In 1953, he married vocalist Paula Stewart and began to find work in Las Vegas. His horizons broadened further when he signed on as actress/singer Marlene Dietrich's musical director in 1958. Bacharach began to become more serious about songwriting during this time. Exposure to the music of Brazilian bossa nova composersAntonio Carlos Jobim and Dori Caymmi helped him develop his style further.

First Recordings

Bachrach's first hit recordings included Marty Robbins' "The Story of My Life" (1957) and Perry Como's "Magic Moments" (1958). Undoubtedly his oddest early tune was "The Blob" (1958), the novelty theme song from the horror film of the same title. His songwriting partnership with lyricist Hal David was beginning to solidify, paving the way for the exceptional songs that would come out of them a few years later. David and Bacharach worked together in New York's legendary Brill Building, a haven for hardworking songwriters. Increasingly, Bacharach was taking chances with his music. Some of his more unusual melodic and harmonic ideas met resistance from record companies. "All those so-called abnormalities seemed perfectly normal to me," he commented in the liner notes to The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, a CD retrospective released by Rhino Records in 1998. "In the beginning, the A and R [Artist and Repertoire] guys, who were like first lieutenants, would say, 'You can't dance to it' or 'That bar of three needs to be changed to a bar of four,' and because I wanted to get the stuff recorded, I listened and ended up ruining some good songs. I've always believed if it's a good tune people will find a way to move to it." His unorthodox but appealing work began to reach a wider audience with such tunes as "Baby It's You" (recorded by the Shirelles and, later, by the Beatles) and "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" (a 1962 hit for Gene Pitney).

The elements that would define the Bacharach sound began to fall into place in the early 1960s. "Make It Easy On Yourself," released as a single by pop/rhythm and blues singer Jerry Butler in 1962, displayed the melodic grandeur and bittersweet lyric sentiments that would become the hallmarks of later hits. An even more significant release that same year was "Don't Make Me Over," the first Bachrach/ David song recorded by Dionne Warwick. Her delicate phrasing and ability to convey both strength and vulnerability made her the ideal interpreter of the duo's songs. Warwick was able to handle the intricacies of Bacharach's demanding music with ease. The result was a series of enduring hit singles, among them "Anyone Who Had A Heart" (1963), "Walk On By" (1964), "I Say A Little Prayer" (1967) and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose" (1968). Bacharach arranged and co-produced his hits with Warwick, surrounding her voice with elegant strings, muted trumpets, tastefully-used background singers and other touches that became his trademarks.

Numerous other artists in both America and Britain found success with Bacharach/David songs, including Jackie DeShannon ("What the World Needs Now is Love"), Dusty Springfield ("Wishin' and Hopin"'), Herb Alpert ("This Guy's in Love With You"), and Sandie Shaw ("(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me"). Such films as What's New, Pussycat? Alfie, and Casino Royale featured the duo's material on their soundtracks. Bacharach and David made yet another leap when they wrote the score for the 1969 stage musical Promises, Promises, which enjoyed a long Broadway run and earned both a Tony and a Grammy Award.

In an era when songwriter/performers became the norm, Bacharach remained largely behind the scenes. His limited singing abilities were not seen as the best vehicles for his music. That being said, he did release a series of albums on his own, among them 1965's Hit Maker and 1967's Reach Out. These and subsequent efforts emphasized his arranging abilities as much or more than his vocal talents. The 1970s began on a high note for Bacharach when his score for the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid won an Academy Award, with the Bacharach/David song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" chosen as best theme song as well. The success of "One Less Bell to Answer" by the 5th Dimension" and "(They Long to Be) Close to You" by the Carpenters (both 1970) continued the songwriting team's winning streak into the new decade.

Collaboration with David Ended

Unfortunately, the chemistry between Bacharach and David began to sour after their music for the 1973 film Lost Horizon proved to be a critical and commercial failure. The songwriters sued each other over a publishing dispute and their years of collaboration ended. Bacharach's career went into decline and he was largely absent from the record charts for the remainder of the 1970s. He remained a familiar enough figure to appear in television advertisements for Martini and Rossi vermouth with his then wife, actress Angie Dickinson.

It wasn't until the early 1980s that Bacharach began to emerge from his career doldrums. A working relationship with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager led to the pair's marriage in 1982. Among the Bacharach/Sager songs of note from this period was "Arthur's Theme (The Best that You Can Do)," recorded by Christopher Cross for the 1981 film Arthur. Another tune of theirs, "That's What Friends Are For," was released as an AIDS research benefit recording in 1986 and featured vocals by Dionne Warwick and Elton John, among others. The song became a hit and led to further recordings with Warwick in the early 1990s.

Revival in 1990s

Remarkably, a Bacharach revival began in the mid-1990s, when a younger generation discovered the so-called "easy listening" music of the 1960s. Such notable young rock acts as Oasis and Stereolab began to perform Bacharach songs, reworking his classic melodies in a modern context. The composer was the subject of a British television documentary and his recordings were reissued in several CD anthologies. British singer/songwriter Elvis Costello, a long-time fan, collaborated with Bacharach on a song for the 1996 film Grace of My Heart, which led to an album's worth of songs together, Painted From Memory two years later. Bacharach and Costello went on a concert tour in 1998 as well. Enjoying his renewed celebrity, Bacharach shared the stage with Oasis at a 1996 London concert and made a cameo appearance in the 1997 film comedy Austin Powers.

Bacharach continued to remain active into the new century, performing occasional shows with symphony orchestras and working on stage musicals. In May 2001, he accepted the Royal Academy of Music award, presented by King Carl Gustav XVI in Stockholm. Such recognition confirmed Bacharach's stature as one of popular music's most distinctive and enduring songwriting talents.

Books

Contemporary Musicians, Gale, 1997.

Gammon, Peter. Oxford Companion to Popular Music, Oxford University Press, 1991.

Stambler, Irwin, Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul, St. Martin's Press, 1977.

Online

"Burt Bacharach Biography," Rolling Stone. com,http:www.rollingstone.com (November 15, 2001). □

Bacharach, Burt

views updated May 29 2018

BACHARACH, Burt



Composer. Nationality: American. Born: Kansas City, Missouri, 12 May 1928; son of the syndicated columnist Bert Bacharach; brought up in New York. Education: Studied musical theory at the Mannes School of Music in New York City; Berkshire Music Center; New School for Social Research, studying under Darius Milhaud, Bohuslav Martinu, and Henry Cowell; further study McGill University, Toronto; scholarship to study at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. Military Service: U.S. Army, 1950–52. Family: Married 1) Paula Stewart, 1953 (divorced 1958); 2) the actress Angie Dickinson, 1965 (divorced 1982); 3) the singer-songwriter Carole Bayer Sager, 1982 (divorced 1990); 4) Jane Hanson, 1991. Career: 1955—became member of ASCAP; 1957—teamed up with lyricist Hal David; 1958–61—toured America and Europe as musical director for Marlene Dietrich; 1962—Bacharach and David started to write for the singer Dionne Warwick; composed music for TV series Any Day Now. Awards: Academy Award for Best Song, for Butch Cassidyand the Sundance Kid, 1969, and Arthur, 1981. Address: 10 Ocean Park Boulevard, Suite #4, Santa Monica, CA 90405–3556, U.S.A.


Films as Composer:

1965

What's New, Pussycat? (C. Donner)

1966

After the Fox (De Sica)

1967

Casino Royale (Huston, Hughes, Parrish, McGrath, and Talmadge)

1969

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Hill)

1972

Lost Horizon (Jarrott)

1981

Arthur (Gordon)

1982

Night Shift (R. Howard)

1988

Arthur 2: On the Rocks (Yorkin)

1992

Love Hurts (Yorkin)

1996

Grace of My Heart (Anders)

2000

Isn't She Great

Films as Songwriter:

1957

Lizzie (Haas); The Sad Sack (George Marshall)

1958

The Blob (Yeaworth Jr.); Country Music Holiday (Ganzer)

1961

Love in a Goldfish Bowl (Sher)

1962

Forever My Love (Marischka)

1963

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (Daniel Mann); Wives and Lovers (Rich)

1964

Send Me No Flowers (Jewison); A House Is Not a Home (Rouse)

1965

Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (Mazursky)

1966

Alfie (L. Gilbert)

1969

April Fools (Rosenberg)

Other Films:

1997

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Roach) (ro as himself)

1999

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (Roach) (ro as himself)

Publications


On BACHARACH: book—

Karlin, Fred, and Rayburn Wright, On the Track, New York, 1990.

On BACHARACH: articles—

Film Dope (London), March 1973.

Ecran (Paris), September 1975.

Fistful of Soundtracks, May 1981.

Film Dope (London), March 1990.

Interview (New York), February 1996.

Mojo, March 1996.

Q, July 1996.

New Yorker, 19 October 1998.


* * *

Burt Bacharach has achieved a singular place in the history of twentieth-century popular music. During the sixties, when pop music was becoming rock, Bacharach and lyricist Hal David wrote a string of hit records that were both melodically complex and seductive, romantic and suave. It is surprising that Bacharach has not composed scores for more films—so much of his work seems cinematic—the sound track, perhaps, of some romantic, sophisticated urban comedy in his head. Describing his compositional technique, he said "I was thinking in terms of miniature movies. . . . Three and a half minute movies with peak moments and not just one intensity level the whole way through."

Burt Bacharach's musical education began at an early age, studying cello, drums, and later piano. Being a music student in New York exposed himself to a variety of influences: "I liked Berg and I liked Webern. . . . I hung out in New York watching Cage and Lou Harrison. I was aware of the angular side of music but I liked tunes too." His main influence, however, was Darius Milhaud, whom he studied under at the New School for Social Research, and who, Bacharach claims, taught him, "Never to be ashamed to write something people can whistle." From 1958 to 1961 he was musical director for Marlene Dietrich, touring Europe and the United States with her. He teamed up with lyricist Hal David in 1957, and in 1962 they began to write for the singer Dionne Warwick, a three-way partnership that yielded 39 hit records.

Bacharach's involvement with film began in 1958, with the title song—written with veteran songwriter Mack David (Hal David's older brother)—for the low-budget horror film The Blob. This set a pattern for a significant amount of his writing for films, lending the Bacharach touch by furnishing individual songs rather than the creating an entire score. In some cases the songs have proved more memorable than the films in which they appeared. He has written title songs for Whose Been Sleeping in My Bed?, Wives and Lovers, Send Me No Flowers, and A House Is Not a Home. He has also contributed the song "What the World Needs Now" to Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. Sometimes Bacharach's role can be confusing—"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," the hit he wrote for Gene Pitney is inspired by John Ford's film of the same name but is not featured in it. And for many the aching Bacharach ballad "Alfie," used over the credit sequence in the American version of Lewis Gilbert's film, is more identified with Alfie than Sonny Rollins's coolly elegant modern jazz score.

Bacharach's first complete score for was Clive Donner's frantic sex comedy, scripted by Woody Allen, What's New, Pussycat." Because of Bacharach's relative inexperience with film composition most of the music used in the film was drawn from the buoyant title song: "They took that one title theme, the title song, and one or two of the cues I'd written, and (producer) Charlie Feldman put them all through the movie because he fell in love with them." The result was a score that provided a perfect complement to the on-screen antics. Less successful was his score for the dire James Bond spoof Casino Royale, which does little more than underline the film's heavy-handed humor. It did, however, yield one classic Bacharach/David song, "The Look of Love."

Bacharach's greatest success as a film composer was with George Roy Hill's Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where Bacharach's score was crucial to the feel and the success of the film. The subject of the film was bleak: two middle-aged gunfighters, involved with one woman, unable to come to terms with the shrinking frontier, make a break for South America, where death instead of freedom awaits them. Thematically the film blends elements of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch with François Truffaut's Jules et Jim. Bacharach adds a defiantly upbeat and sunny score that, along with William Goldman's witty script, deflects much of the story's fatalism. The music nods towards period with occasional passages of pastiche ragtime, otherwise it is modern in tone, action choreographed with light scat choruses. In the film's most celebrated sequence Paul Newman and Katharine Ross careen across a meadow on a bicycle accompanied by "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," one of Bacharach's most compulsively tuneful songs, perfectly matched by Hal David's nonsense lyrics. As if to emphasize the inspired incongruity, the sequence takes place in bright sunlight.

At the end of the sixties Bacharach and David and the playwright Neil Simon created the Tony award-winning Broadway show Promise Her Anything, based on Billy Wilder's film The Apartment. Bacharach provided music and songs for Lost Horizon Charles Jarrott's unsuccessful musical remake of the Frank Capra classic. After the partnership with Hal David foundered, Bacharach began a collaboration with his then wife, the singer/songwriter, Carole Bayer Sager. During the eighties Bacharach's most successful film score was for Arthur. The featured song, "The Best that You Can Do," written by Bacharach, Sager, Christopher Cross, and Peter Allen, won an Academy Award for best song.

—Dominic Power

Bacharach, Burt

views updated May 18 2018

Bacharach, Burt

Bacharach, Burt, 1960s tunesmith of frothy pop ballads, b. May 12, 1928, in Kansas City, Mo. Burt Bacharach grew up in N.Y. and studied music theory and composition at McGill Univ. in Montreal in the early 1950s. He later worked as a pianist and arranger and served as Marlene Dietrich’s music director from 1956 to 1958. He subsequently teamed with lyricist Hal David (b. N.Y., May 25, 1921), who had been writing song lyrics since 1943. Early successful collaborations included “The Story of My Life” for Marty Robbins and “Magic Moments” for Perry Como. Initially, the two often worked separately. They were associated with a number of hits, such as Sarah Vaughan’s “Broken-Hearted Melody” (by David and Sherman Edwards), Gene McDaniels’ “Tower of Strength” (by Bacharach and Bob Hilliard), and The Shirelles’ “Baby, It’s You” (by Bacharach, Mack David and Barney Williams).

In the early 1960s, Bacharach arranged and scored sessions for The Drifters, meeting Dionne Warwick. He wrote The Drifters’ “Mexican Divorce” (with Bob Hilliard) and Chuck Jackson’s smash R&B and major pop hit “Any Day Now.” Bacharach and David began working together regularly in 1962, collaborating on many smash hits. These included Gene Pitney’s “Only Love Can Break a Heart” and “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa,” Dusty Springfield’s “Wishin’ and Hopin, ’” and Jackie DeShannon’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” Into the 1970s, the duo provided Dionne Warwick with more than 30 chart records, among them being “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Walk on By,” “Message to Michael,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”

Throughout the 1960s, Bacharach and David composed for films, providing the title songs to What’s New Pussycat? (performed by Tom Jones, 1965) and Alfie (performed by Dionne Warwick, 1967), as well as “The Look of Love” (by Dusty Springfield, 1967) from Casino Royale, and the top hit “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (by B. J. Thomas, 1969) from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In the late 1960s, the two collaborated on the successful Broadway musical Promises, Promises, from which Dionne Warwick scored two hits, the title song and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”

Bacharach and David provided smash hits for The Carpenters (”Close to You”) and The Fifth Dimension (”One Less Bell to Answer”) in 1970, after which they ended their partnership. Bacharach and Dionne Warwick also ended their professional relationship in the early 1970s. During the 1970s, he performed in public to enthusiastic audiences, both live and on television. Having embarked on his own recording career in 1966, Bacharach recorded the symphonic suite, Woman, with the Houston Symphony in 1979.

In 1981, Bacharach began collaborating with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, (b. N.Y.C., March 8, 1946). She had provided the lyrics for a number of smash hit songs, including “Groovy Kind of Love” (The Mindbenders, 1966), “Midnight Blue” and “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (Melissa Manchester, 1975 and 1978, respectively), “When I Need You” (Leo Sayer, 1977), and “Nobody Does It Better” (Carly Simon, 1977). Their first collaboration, with Peter Allen and Christopher Cross, yielded the top hit “Best That You Can Do” as the theme to the film Arthur for Cross in 1981.

The couple married in 1982 and soon composed the hits “Making Love” for Roberta Flack and “Heartlight,” with and for Neil Diamond. In 1986, they supplied the top hits “On My Own” to Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald, and “That’s What Friends Are For” to Dionne Warwick with Stevie Wonder and others. The profits to “That’s What Friends Are For,” over $1.5 million were donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The following year, Bacharach toured with Warwick, and he and Sager provided Warwick and Jeffrey Osborne with the major hit “Love Power.” The couple divorced in 1991. In 1995, he collaborated with British musician Elvis Costello on “God Give Me Strength” from the Grace of My Heart soundtrack. Later, the two worked together on 1998’s Painted from Memory.

With Hal David, Bacharach formed one of the most successful professional songwriting teams in popular music history, writing literally dozens of hit songs. Their compositions featured David’s Tin Pan Alley--style lyrics and Bacharach’s uncommon rhythms and distinctive melodies, bridges and modulations. In arranging horn and string parts for The Drifters in the early 1960s and for Dionne Warwick throughout the 1960s, Bacharach helped change the sound of contemporary rhythm-and-blues and soul music. After a fallow period during the 1970s, Bacharach reemerged in the 1980s with a number of huge hit compositions in collaboration with lyricist, and ex-wife, Carole Bayer Sager, including Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For.”

Discography

Man! His Songs (1966); Casino Royale (soundtrack) (1967); Reach Out (1967); Make it Easy on Yourself (1969); Plays His Hits (1969); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (soundtrack) (1969); Burt Bacharach (1971); Living Together (1974); Greatest Hits (1974); Futures (1977); Burt Bacharach (1987). Houston Symphony: Woman (1979). Elvis Costello: Painted from Memory (1998).

—Brock Helander

Bacharach, Burt

views updated Jun 08 2018

BACHARACH, BURT

BACHARACH, BURT (1928– ), composer and pianist. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Bacharach studied cello, drums, and piano from an early age. He studied music at the Mannes College of Music in New York, at the New School of Social Research, and at McGill University in Montreal. Among his composition teachers were Darius *Milhaud, Bohuslav Martinů, and Henry Cowell. He subsequently worked as an accompanist for several popular singers such as Polly *Bergen, Steve *Lawrence, Paula Stewart, and Marlene Dietrich from 1958 to 1961. He began composing popular songs in the mid-1950s, collaborating with the lyricist Hal David and later writing hit songs for Dionne Warwick. Bacharach's style includes heterogenous elements such as variable meter, pandiatonic and jazz harmonies, rhythmic ostinatos, and effects from black American styles. He won two Academy Awards for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) with the well-known song "Raindrops Keep Failing on my Head." In the 1990s he collaborated with Elvis Costello. His compositions include the musicals Promises, Promises (1968) and Lost Horizon (1973), the film score for Alfie, and many popular songs

bibliography:

Grove online; B.A. Lohof, "The Bacharach Phenomenon: a Study of Popular Heroism," in: Popular Music and Society, i (1972), 73–82.

[Israela Stein (2nd ed.)]

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