Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer and Oscar winner who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of B次元官网网址淲alk on By,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淒o You Know the Way to San JoseB次元官网网址� and dozens of other hits, has died at 94.
Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, publicist Tina Brausam said Thursday.
Over the past 70 years, only Lennon-McCartney, Carole King and a handful of others rivaled his genius for instantly catchy songs that remained performed, played and hummed long after they were written.
He had a run of top 10 hits from the 1950s into the 21st century, and his music was heard everywhere from movie soundtracks and radios to home stereo systems and iPods, whether B次元官网网址淎lfieB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淚 Say a Little PrayerB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l Never Fall in Love AgainB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭his GuyB次元官网网址檚 in Love with You.B次元官网网址�
Dionne Warwick was his favorite interpreter, but Bacharach, usually in tandem with lyricist Hal David, also created prime material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra were among the countless artists who covered his songs, with more recent performers who sung or sampled him including White Stripes, Twista and Ashanti. B次元官网网址淲alk On ByB次元官网网址� alone was covered by everyone from Warwick and Isaac Hayes to the British punk band the Stranglers and Cyndi Lauper.
Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was breaking into the business in the 1950s. His sensibility often seemed more aligned with Tin Pan Alley than with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other writers who later emerged, but rock composers appreciated the depth of his seemingly old-fashioned sensibility.
B次元官网网址淭he shorthand version of him is that heB次元官网网址檚 something to do with easy listening,B次元官网网址� Elvis Costello, who wrote the 1998 album B次元官网网址淧ainted from MemoryB次元官网网址� with Bacharach, said in a 2018 interview with The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淚t may be agreeable to listen to these songs, but thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing easy about them. Try playing them. Try singing them.B次元官网网址�
He triumphed in many artforms. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning Broadway composer for B次元官网网址淧romises, PromisesB次元官网网址� and a three-time Oscar winner. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of B次元官网网址淏utch Cassidy and the Sundance KidB次元官网网址� and for the song B次元官网网址淩aindrops Keep FallinB次元官网网址� on My HeadB次元官网网址� (shared with David). In 1982, he and his then-wife, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, won Oscars for B次元官网网址淏est That You Can Do,B次元官网网址� the theme from B次元官网网址淎rthur. His other movie soundtracks included B次元官网网址淲hatB次元官网网址檚 New, Pussycat?B次元官网网址�, B次元官网网址淎lfieB次元官网网址� and the 1967 James Bond spoof B次元官网网址淐asino Royale.B次元官网网址�
Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. And in 2012, he was presented the Gershwin Prize by Barack Obama, who had sung a few seconds of B次元官网网址淲alk on ByB次元官网网址� during a campaign appearance.
In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. Fellow songwriter Sammy Cahn liked to joke that the smiling, wavy-haired Bacharach was the first composer he ever knew who didnB次元官网网址檛 look like a dentist. Bacharach was a B次元官网网址渟winger,B次元官网网址� as they called such men in his time, whose many romances included actor Angie Dickinson, to whom he was married from 1965-80, and Sager, his wife from 1982-1991.
Married four times, he formed his most lasting ties to work. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write B次元官网网址淎lfieB次元官网网址� and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. Sager once observed that BacharachB次元官网网址檚 life routines essentially stayed the same B次元官网网址� only the wives changed.
It began with the melodies B次元官网网址� strong yet interspersed with changing rhythms and surprising harmonics. He credited much of his style to his love of bebop and to his classical education, especially under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud, the famed composer. He once played a piece for piano, violin and oboe for Milhaud that contained a melody he was ashamed to have written, as 12-point atonal music was in vogue at the time. Milhaud, who liked the piece, advised the young man, B次元官网网址淣ever be afraid of the melody.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hat was a great affirmation for me,B次元官网网址� Bacharach recalled in 2004.
Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists (Marty Robbins), rhythm and blues performers (Chuck Jackson), soul (Franklin, Luther Vandross) and synth-pop (Naked Eyes). He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others. Mike Myers would recall hearing the sultry B次元官网网址淭he Look of LoveB次元官网网址� on the radio and finding fast inspiration for his B次元官网网址淎ustin PowersB次元官网网址� retro spy comedies, in which Bacharach made cameos.
In the 21st century, he was still testing new ground, writing his own lyrics and recording with rapper Dr. Dre.
He was married to his first wife, Paula Stewart, from 1953-58, and married for a fourth time, to Jane Hansen, in 1993. He is survived by Hansen, as well as his children Oliver, Raleigh and Cristopher, Brausam said. He was preceded in death by his daughter with Dickinson, Nikki Bacharach.
Bacharach knew the very heights of acclaim, but he remembered himself as a loner growing up, a short and self-conscious boy so uncomfortable with being Jewish he even taunted other Jews. His favorite book as a kid was Ernest HemingwayB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Sun Also RisesB次元官网网址�; he related to the sexually impotent Jake Barnes, regarding himself as B次元官网网址渟ocially impotent.B次元官网网址�
He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but soon moved to New York City. His father was a syndicated columnist, his mother a pianist who encouraged the boy to study music. Although he was more interested in sports, he practiced piano every day after school, not wanting to disappoint his mother. While still a minor, he would sneak into jazz clubs, bearing a fake ID, and hear such greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie.
B次元官网网址淭hey were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before,B次元官网网址� he recalled in the memoir B次元官网网址淎nyone Who Had a Heart,B次元官网网址� published in 2013. B次元官网网址淲hat I heard in those clubs turned my head around.B次元官网网址�
He was a poor student in high school, but managed to gain a spot at the music conservatory at McGill University in Montreal. He wrote his first song at McGill and listened for months to Mel TormeB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Christmas Song.B次元官网网址� Music also may have saved BacharachB次元官网网址檚 life. He was drafted into the Army in the late 1940s and was still on active duty during the Korean War. But officers stateside soon learned of his gifts and wanted him around. When he did go overseas, it was to Germany, where he wrote orchestrations for a recreation center on the local military base.
After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. He had little success at first as a songwriter, but he became a popular arranger and accompanist, touring with Vic Damone, the Ames Brothers and Polly Stewart, who became his first wife. When a friend who had been touring with Marlene Dietrich was unable to make a show in Las Vegas, he asked Bacharach to step in.
The young musician and ageless singer quickly clicked and Bacharach traveled the world with her in the late B次元官网网址�50s and early B次元官网网址�60s. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: B次元官网网址淚 would like you to meet the man, heB次元官网网址檚 my arranger, heB次元官网网址檚 my accompanist, heB次元官网网址檚 my conductor, and I wish I could say heB次元官网网址檚 my composer. But that isnB次元官网网址檛 true. HeB次元官网网址檚 everybodyB次元官网网址檚 composer B次元官网网址� Burt Bacharach!B次元官网网址�
Meanwhile, he had met his ideal songwriter partner B次元官网网址� David, as businesslike as Bacharach was mercurial, so domesticated that he would leave each night at 5 to catch the train back to his wife and children on Long Island. Working in a tiny office in BroadwayB次元官网网址檚 celebrated Brill Building, they produced their first million-seller, B次元官网网址淢agic Moments,B次元官网网址� sung in 1958 by Perry Como. In 1962, they spotted a backup singer for the Drifters, Warwick, who had a B次元官网网址渧ery special kind of grace and elegance,B次元官网网址� Bacharach recalled.
The trio produced hit after hit, starting with B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 Make Me OverB次元官网网址� and continuing with B次元官网网址淲alk on By,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚 Say a Little Prayer,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淒o You Know the Way to San Jose,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭rains and Boats and Planes,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淎nyone Who Had a HeartB次元官网网址� and more. The songs were as complicated to record as they were easy to hear. Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on B次元官网网址淲alk on By,B次元官网网址� their performances just slightly out of synch to give the song B次元官网网址渁 jagged kind of feeling,B次元官网网址� he wrote in his memoir.
Besides Warwick, the Bacharach-David team was producing winners for other performers. Among them: B次元官网网址淢ake It Easy on YourselfB次元官网网址� for Jerry Butler, B次元官网网址淲hat the World Needs Now Is LoveB次元官网网址� for Jackie DeShannon and B次元官网网址淭his GuyB次元官网网址檚 in Love with YouB次元官网网址� for Herb Alpert.
The partnership ended badly with the dismal failure of a 1973 musical remake of B次元官网网址淟ost Horizon.B次元官网网址� Bacharach became so depressed he isolated himself in his Del Mar vacation home and refused to work.
B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 want to write with Hal or anybody,B次元官网网址� he told the AP in 2004. Nor did he want to fulfill a commitment to record Warwick. She and David both sued him.
Bacharach and David eventually reconciled. When David died in 2012, Bacharach praised him for writing lyrics B次元官网网址渓ike a miniature movie.B次元官网网址� Meanwhile, he kept working, vowing never to retire, always believing that a good song could make a difference.
B次元官网网址淢usic softens the heart, makes you feel something if itB次元官网网址檚 good, brings in emotion that you might not have felt before,B次元官网网址� he told the AP in 2018. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a very powerful thing if youB次元官网网址檙e able to do to it, if you have it in your heart to do something like that.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擧illel Italie, The Associated Press
