He had a sophisticated partnership with Lyricist Hal David — “The Look of Love,”” “Walk On By,”” “Alfie” along with numerous others — inspired a sleek and modern age of romantic air.
Burt Bacharach, the debonair pop composer, arranger conductor record producer, and occasionally singer whose hits in the 1960s captured the romantic mood of that decade’s optimism, passed away on Wednesday in the home he shared with his wife located in Los Angeles. He was 94.
Publicist Tina Brausam confirmed the death. The cause of death was not specified.
A passionate romantic Mr. Bacharach fused the chromatic harmonies as well as long and angular tunes of the late 19th century orchestras with contemporary pop orchestration, and enriched the mix with a fast beat. His lively compositions exemplified elegant hedonism for a group of young adults several decades older than Beatles.
Due to the glossy and unpolitical nature of the songs that Mr. Bacharach wrote with his most frequent collaborator and Hal David, the lyricist Hal David, during an period of social and political conflict turmoil, they were frequently dismissed as merely background music by those who prefer the harder and slender edge of rock, or even the intimacy that comes with the genre of singer-songwriter. In hindsight, however the team of Bacharach and David has a place in the pantheon of songwriting for pop.
Songs by Bacharach-David such as “The Look of Love,”” Dusty Springfield’s romantic 1967 smash, which was featured in the film “Casino Royale”; “This Guy’s in Love with You,” a No. 1 song during the year 1968 by Herb Alpert; and “(They Want to Be) Close to You,”” the No. 1 hit in 1970 by the Carpenters that evoked a place of high-speed jet travel, sports cars, and elegant bachelor pad. Recognizing this mythology with an ode to the future and a smile, Bacharach was spotted smiling. Bacharach appeared as himself and sang his 1965 hit song “What the World Needs Now is the Love” for the 1997 film “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” which spoofed the retro ’60s vibe of the beginning James Bond films. The actor also appeared in the sequels.
He. Bacharach collaborated with many musicians over the years and even composed some of his own lyrics. His primary partner was his friend the late Mr. David, seven years his elder, whom had a meeting in the office of a music publisher in the year 1957. The team’s artistic chemistry grew stronger in 1962, with the first of the songs they wrote and recorded to Dionne Warwick. She was a talented young gospel singer born in East Orange, N.J.
He. Bacharach met Ms. Warwick during an recording session with the Drifters which included “Mexican Divorce” and “Please Stay,” two songs he composed with music director Bob Hilliard. When he heard the voice of Ms. Warwick, a backup singer and a backup singer, the. Bacharach realized he had discovered a rare vocalist who had the technical skills to navigate his complex, raging songs, complete with tricky time signatures as well as extended phrases that are asymmetrical.
The creative synergy between the trio of Mr. Bacharach, Mr. David and Ms. Warwick defined the voice of young, enthusiastic, and active Everywoman filled with romantic enthusiasm and vulnerability. Their urban style was the first forerunner of the more earthy Motown music of the mid and the late 1960s.
The Mr. Bacharach and Mr. David both worked at The Brill Building, which was the Midtown Manhattan music publishing hub and they’re often considered to be part of the younger writers from the Brill School of Building pop for teenagers such as the teams composed of Carole King and Gerry Goffin or Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. However, they did not write specifically to appeal to the teenager market. The more sophisticated songs they wrote were more reminiscent of Cole Porter, and Mr. Bacharach’s love for Brazilian rhythms was reminiscent of the songs that sounded like Porter classics such as “Begin with the Beguine.”
Hits and an Miss
Starting with “Don’t Let Me Over” In 1962, the group put into a steady stream of songs in support of the singer. Warwick, among them “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “I Say A Small Prayer” in 1962, and “Do you know the Road To San Jose.”
Mr. Bacharach’s popularity surpassed his place in the Top 40. He received 2 Academy Awards for best song for “Raindrops Keep falling’ in my Head,” written with Mr. David, in 1970 as well as “Arthur’s Theme (Best that You Can Do),” composed by Peter Allen, Carole Bayer Sager and Christopher Cross, in 1982. The original score he composed for the movie “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” which featured “Raindrops,” a No. 1 smash for B.J. Thomas He was awarded an Oscar for the best original score for a non-musical motion film. The Bacharach-David group ruled Broadway in December 1968 , with “Promises and promises.”
The show was adapted by Neil Simon from “The Apartment,” Billy Wilder’s 1960 film about erotic hanky panky at an Manhattan company “Promises Promises” was among the first Broadway productions to employ musicians as backups inside the orchestra pit, as well as pop-style amplifiers. Together with “Hair,” which opened on Broadway in the same year it was the precursor to popular musicals.
“Promises Promises” was on the air for 1,281 times it produced successes for Mrs. Warwick with the captivating but terribly difficult title song along with the ballad folk pop “I’ll Never Love Again”” as well as being nominated to win seven Tony Awards. Two of the cast members were awarded, but the show itself was not. Both “Promises Promises” as well as “Hair” were unable to win in the best-musical contest in favor of the more conventional “1776.” The show was revived successfully on Broadway in 2010.
He was a hit both in Hollywood as well as on Broadway and Broadway, as well as an extremely well-known movie-star spouse, Angie Dickinson, whom was married to in 1965 in the year 1965, Bacharach was able to make a name for himself. Bacharach entered the 1970s not as a songwriter who was a hit but also a glam actor on his own. He seemed like that he was invincible. But this soon changed.
In 1973 In 1973, the duo of Mr. Bacharach and Mr. David composed the music for the musical film “Lost Horizon”,” which was adapted from The 1937 Frank Capra film with the same title. The film was a complete fail. Shortly after that, the Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate, which had already begun to grow stale, split up acrimoniously amid a flurry of lawsuits.
In his reflections on his breakup from Mr. David in 2013 in his autobiography “Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music” composed together with Robert Greenfield, Mr. Bacharach admitted that “it was my responsibility, and I can’t imagine how many wonderful songs I could have composed with Hal during the time we weren’t.”
A New Partnership
Mr. Bacharach went through a few slumber times, both personally as well as professionalhis marriage to the actress. Dickinson was over long before their divorce in 1981. He saw a resurgence of his commercial career during the 1980s thanks to his collaboration with Lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, whom was married to in 1982.
Mr. Bacharach and Ms. Sager reached their peak in the commercial world in 1986 when they released two No. 1 songs: the Patti laBelle-Michael Michael McDonald duo “On My Own” and the AIDS song for fund-raising “That’s What Friends Are For,” which went on to receive the Grammy for the best song best of year. It was first composed by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of Ron Howard’s 1982 film “Night Shift” and then re-recorded by an all-star group named Dionne as well as Friends-the group comprised of The group included Ms. Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John. “That’s the Reason Friends Have For” is Mr. Bacharach’s final major smash. He and his wife. Sager divorced in 1991.
Burt Freeman Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Mo. on May 12 1928. His dad, Bert Bacharach, was an internationally syndicated columnist and men’s fashion journalist . He moved the family in Forest Hills, Queens, in 1932. The mother of his son, Irma (Freeman) Bacharach was an amateur musician and pianist who inspired Burt to pursue a musical education. He took lessons in the piano, cello and drums.
As a young man He snuck through Manhattan jazz clubs and was fascinated by the contemporary harmony that were the work of Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker, which would be a major influence on his music.
After graduation from Forest Hills High School, Burt took music classes at various schools which included McGill University in Montreal and the Mannes School of Music in New York. Some of his instructors were compositionists Henry Cowell and Darius Milhaud. While with the Army in the 1950s and playing piano, he was a dance band arranger, and even met the musician Vic Damone, with whom later, he toured as an accompanying musician.
The Mr. Bacharach became the German actor and singer Marlene Dietrich’s director of music in the year 1958. He performed with Marlene Dietrich for two years across Europe, the United States and Europe. Other artists he was a part of during the 1950s included The Ames Brothers, Polly Bergen, Georgia Gibbs, Joel Grey, Steve Lawrence and a lesser-known singer called Paula Stewart, who in 1953 was his wife for the first time. The couple divorced in the year 1958.
The Bacharach-David songwriting group had immediate success in the year 1957, with Marty Robbins’s “The The Story of My Life” and Perry Como’s “Magic Moments.” Mr. Bacharach’s distinctive melodic style was evident in early 1960s songs like The Chuck Jackson’s “Any day Now” (lyrics written by Hilliard). Hilliard) and “Make It Easy on Yourself” (lyrics by Mr. David), a hit in the hands of Jerry Butler in the United States as well as The Walker Brothers in Britain. The team’s Gene Pitney hits “(The Man who shot) Liberty Valance” and “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa,” the team adopt a swaggering western style.
The aspects that make up The elements that make up Mr. Bacharach’s style were incorporated into the music of Ms. Warwick’s albums that he co-produced together with the help of Mr. David and arranged himself. In the classic Warwick song her voice was surrounded by strings and backing vocalists and the arrangements were highlighted by trumpets that echoed herb alpert’s Tijuana Brass.
The other artists who were able to make a splash through the group’s music included Jackie DeShannon (“What the World requires now Is Love”), Dusty Springfield (“Wishin’ and Hopin'” “The look of love”), Tom Jones (“What’s the latest”Pussycat?”) and the 5th Dimension (“One Less Bell to Answer”). However, the most popular singer was Ms. Warwick was their definitive interpreter.
A Reunion
Following following the “Lost Horizon” scandal The late Bacharach’s career was in decline after the “Lost Horizon” scandal. Bacharach worked predominantly as concert conductor, directing his own suites of instrumentals as well as performing his songs in a relaxed voice that had a limited range. He released solo albums from time to time among them the most adventurous album was “Woman” (1979), which was primarily an instrumental song cycle that was recorded by his orchestra, the Houston Symphony. However, these albums had a little impact on the market.
The wounds were eventually healed that were left by Mr. Bacharach’s breakup with the Mr. David and Ms. Warwick and he returned initially along with. Warwick most notably for “That’s the Reason Friends Are for” and then later along with. David, for “Sunny Weather Lover” which was recorded by. Warwick in the early 1990s. He met his best interpreter in the years since Ms. Warwick in the pop-soul balladeer Luther Vandross, whose lush 1980s renditions of “A House Isn’t an”Home” and “Anyone who had a heart” changed them to dreamy arias that resembled operatic arias, adorned with dazzling gospel melismas.
The Mr. Bacharach married Jane Hansen the fourth wife of his in 1993. He is survived by her together with their son Oliver and their daughter Raleigh and their daughter, Cristopher, from his wedding to his wife. Sager. Nikki Bacharach, his daughter with Angie Dickinson, committed suicide in the year 2007.
In his 60s the late Mr. Bacharach found himself regarded as a hero by a new Generation of music artists. The bands like Oasis as well as Stereolab included his songs into their repertoire. They also included the British artist and singer Elvis Costello, a longtime admirer, teamed up with his for the ballad “God give me strength” in his 1996 movie “Grace of My Heart,”” loosely inspired by the story of Carole King. The two artists then teamed up on a whole albumcalled “Painted from memory” (1998) which was composed and directed with Mr. Bacharach, for which they also shared lyric and music credits.
A track from the album “I I Still Have That Girl” received an Grammy for the best singing collaboration with pop. This was the 6th Grammy during Mr. Bacharach’s career. he would also win another in 2006, after the album “At This Time” was called the best instrumental album of pop.
The Bacharach-David duo was admitted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. A quarter of a century later, shortly prior to the time David’s death. David died at age 91, the duo received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress.
The Mr. Bacharach remained in the spotlight until the very end. In December of 2011, “Some Lovers,” the musical in which he composed the music, and Steven Sater wrote the lyrics it premiered in the Old Globe in San Diego. “What’s it About? About? Bacharach Reimagined” an New York Theater Workshop production built around his songs, was first performed Off Broadway in December 2013. (An earlier show inspired by the Bacharach-David catalog “The Beauty of the Love” was a short Broadway show at the end of 2003.) In the year 2000 it was reported that the late Mr. Bacharach was still writing new songs, and was and releasing a song with music writer and performer Melody Federer.
In 2013 Mr. Bacharach began collaborating with Mr. Costello, Mr. Sater and the writer for television as well as producer Chuck Lorre on a stage musical based off the “Painted From Memory” album, while also incorporating new songs. This project didn’t come to fruition, though some of the new songs made it onto Mr. Costello’s latest albums. All of the songs of”Painted From Memory “Painted Through Memory” project is available within “The Songs of Bacharach and Costello,” a boxed set that also contains the Mr. Costello’s recording of Bacharach songs. It is scheduled to release next month.
When he reflected on his professional career in his autobiography Mr. Bacharach suggested that as a singer songwriter, he’d been “luckier than the majority of people.”
“Most composers are in a room all by them and nobody is aware of what they’re to be,” he wrote. “People might have heard a few of their music however, they don’t are able to experience them on stage or on TV.” Since that he was also a performer and a performer, he said, “I get to make an immediate connection with the audience.”
“Whether it’s a simple handshake or getting stopped on the street and demanded an autograph, or even getting someone to comment on the lyrics I’ve written,” Mr. Bacharach said, “that connection is really significant and meaningful in my eyes.”
