94-year-old American composer Burt Bacharach passes away

By Bill Trott; Edited by News Gate Team

Reuters, February 9 – Burt Bacharach, a composer whose successes like “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” gave rock and roll in the 1960s and 1970s a mellow alternative soundtrack, has passed away at the age of 94, his publicist informed Reuters on Thursday.

Bacharach passed away on Wednesday at his Los Angeles-area home from natural causes as his loved ones were by his side.

His songs weren’t purely pop or rock; several were written over the course of a 16-year relationship with writer Hal David. In the 1960s and early 1970s, they were as often played on American radio and featured in big-budget films as the music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.

More than 500 songs were written by Bacharach, many of which had tinkling pianos and seductively alluring horn hooks. He wrote popular songs for artists like Dionne Warwick and the Carpenters. His tunes, which had more than 1,200 performances, were nominated for six Grammys and three Oscars. In the 1960s alone, Bacharach and David scored 30 Top-40 singles.

David once said to a reporter, “He was just unusual.” “innovative, unique I felt moved by his songs. His tunes and lyrics would play for me. I would almost instantly begin to hear rhymes and concepts.”

Bacharach’s gift was straightforward: “I’m a person that constantly attempts to deal with music,” he said.

Bacharach was dubbed “the only songwriter who doesn’t look like a dentist” by songwriter Sammy Cahn because to his dapper good looks and cool manner. His four wives included actress Angie Dickinson and fellow songwriter Carole Bayer Sager.

A-Z of artists, literally, from Aretha (Franklin) to Zoot, recorded Bacharach’s tunes (Sims).

The Carpenters had a worldwide hit with the Bacharach-David song “(They Long to Be) Close to You” in 1970, and Jackie DeShannon’s original recording of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” was covered more than 150 times.

Warwick’s songs “Walk on By,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “In Between the Heartaches,” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” were all written by Bacharach and David, who repeatedly showed their magic touch for her.

Cilla Black had a hit with Bacharach’s “Alfie” for the Michael Caine film of the same name, while Tom Jones sang his title song for Woody Allen’s “What’s New Pussycat?” The song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” composed by Bacharach and David, won two Academy Awards and a Grammy for best score. Bacharach also composed music for other motion pictures.

Elvis Costello, Perry Como, Gene Pitney, and the Beatles all covered his song “Baby, It’s You.”

Christopher Cross’ “Arthur’s Theme” from the Dudley Moore comedy “Arthur” won Bacharach his third Oscar. It was a joint effort with Bayer Sager, who in 1982 became his third wife. They were divorced in 1991 and had a son named Christopher in 1986.

Bacharach and David received two Tony Awards and a Grammy for their score to the Neil Simon Broadway musical “Promises, Promises.”

Together with musicians like British rocker Elvis Costello, he continued to compose. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he collaborated on a number of songs with Nashville songwriter Daniel Tashian. In September 2020, Bacharach and Tashian gave a Tiny Desk (at-home) concert for National Public Radio, with Bacharach playing the piano from his Los Angeles home and Tashian singing from his Nashville garage.

In an interview conducted following the YouTube-posted concert, Bachrach remarked, “I’m really glad to have been in my house in Los Angeles when this lockdown happened. “When the epidemic broke out, we were supposed to be on tour.”

Bachrach also worked with Seattle-based artist Melody Federer when he was 92 years old.

When asked about working with a lyricist who was 60 years younger than him, he responded that “you are supposed to grow and expe

While serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Bacharach performed on the piano in officers’ clubs all throughout the country while donning a tuxedo rather than fatigues.

He then performed in clubs in New York and worked as a pianist-arranger for artists like Marlene Dietrich, Vic Damone, the Ames Brothers, Polly Bergen, and Paula Stewart, who later became his first wife. He eventually came to the conclusion that he could compose songs that were superior to those being presented to the performers he worked with.

cted to get better as time goes on…. Age only has a part if you’ve lost your edge, your sharpness, or your writing.”

Born Burt Freeman Bacharach in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 12, 1928, he learned to play the piano – he hated it at first but his mother insisted – after his family moved to New York.

While serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Bacharach performed on the piano in officers’ clubs all throughout the country while donning a tuxedo rather than fatigues.

He then performed in clubs in New York and worked as a pianist-arranger for artists like Marlene Dietrich, Vic Damone, the Ames Brothers, Polly Bergen, and Paula Stewart, who later became his first wife. He eventually came to the conclusion that he could compose songs that were superior to those being presented to the performers he worked with.

He worked in the renowned Brill Building in New York early in his career alongside other songwriters. In a 2016 Huffington Post interview, he reflected, “Those were exciting times because the Brill Building contained seven floors of music publishers. “I did not become successful overnight. You must also have the stomach for rejection because I endured it for a very long time.”

Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of Love” for the film “Casino Royale” and Herb Alpert’s “This Guy’s in Love With You,” their first No. 1 single, were among the numerous hits composed by Bacharach and David. After a rare failure—the remake of the Frank Capra film “Lost Horizon”—the couple split up in 1973.

In 1993, Bacharach wed ski instructor Jane Hanson, who would become his fourth wife.

Nikki, his daughter from his marriage to Angie Dickinson, who had lived her entire life with autism, committed herself in 2007 at the age of 40. He composed the song and the soundtrack for the film “Po,” which is about a dad who is raising an autistic daughter, in his late 80s.

Bacharach stated he also preferred performing personally and establishing a personal connection with smaller audiences, even though great artists made his music popular.

He recalled a cancer survivor who stated his song “House Is Not A Home” helped her cope with the misery of chemotherapy in the Huffington Post interview. “What I strive to do… is to get on stage and meet people via music,” he said. You receive it from individuals no matter where you are. You receive a positive response from an audience.

U.S. composer Burt Bacharach dies at age 94 https://t.co/1AWk2AHfw8 pic.twitter.com/tUye4yrecP

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 9, 2023

By Bill Trott; Edited by News Gate Team