Burt Bacharach
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
He was named CUE Magazine's Entertainer of the Year (1969).
Bacharach and collaborator Hal David received the 1996 Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Biography
Following his discharge from the Army, Burt Bacharach first served as Vic Damone's accompanist before later working with such performers as the Ames Brothers, Imogene Coca, Joel Grey and Paula Stewart (his first wife), but his career did not take off until he met lyricist Hal David one day in 1957 at the historic Brill Building in NYC. Within a year, the pair had their first Number 1 hit, the country tune "The Story of My Life" (1957), recorded by Marty Robbins, which they followed with Perry Como's "Magic Moments" (1958). Bacharach gained considerable attention touring Europe and America as musical director for Marlene Dietrich from 1958 to 1961 and then worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on their 1961 singles "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay." After meeting a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed particularly well-suited to his music, Bacharach began writing songs with David by day and recording them with Warwick until 2 AM. The Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate would go on to have 39 chart records in 10 years, beginning with "Don't Make Me Over," which climbed to Number 21 in 1962. Eight of them would make it into the Top 10, and though Warwick has sang Bacharach infrequently since the early 70s, she remains the chief interpreter of his work.
Bacharach-David tunes began to adorn films beginning with "Lizzie" and "The Sad Sack" (both 1957). Though they provided memorable title songs for 1966's "Alfie" (sung by Cher) and "The Owl and the Pussycat" (1970), for which Bacharach also composed the score, they gained perhaps their greatest acclaim (filmwise), winning two Oscars for their work on "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), which included the infectious "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head." At the same time, the Bacharach-David musical "Promises, Promises," based on the 1960 Billy Wilder movie "The Apartment" and featuring the hit "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," had begun its three year run on Broadway, earning a 1969 Grammy for Best Score From an Original Cast Album. That same year, he also earned a second Grammy for Best Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television ("Butch Cassidy"). The score for "Lost Horizon" (1973) signaled the end of his most prolific songwriting period, and he withdrew exhausted to a beach house, alienating both David and Warwick.
Bacharach's marriage to second wife Angie Dickinson did not survive the period of relative inactivity that ensued, and his relationship with next wife lyricist Carole Bayer Sager mixed romance and art. They wrote (along with Peter Allen and Christopher Cross) the Oscar-winning theme for "Arthur" (1981), and the following year, Ron Howard's "Night Shift" introduced "That's What Friends Are For." Old friend Dionne Warwick and a few friends (like Gladys Knight) scored a Number 1 hit in 1985 with the song, which served as a rallying cry for AIDS awareness and brought Bacharach his last Grammy to date. The 90s have seen a resurgence of vintage Bacharach as a new generation led by the likes of Oasis' Noel Gallagher and REM's Michael Stipe have discovered his music and paid homage to him in interviews and through recordings. Elvis Costello co-wrote with Bacharach (via fax and answering machine) the show-stopper "God Give Me Strength" for Allison Anders' "Grace of My Heart" (1996), and five classic Bacharach-David tunes brightened the film comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997). Though "Promises, Promises" proved too dated to revive, it has been staged at NYC's "Encores!" and L.A.'s "Reprise! Broadway's Best in Concert" Director-choreographer Gillian Lynne conceived "What the World Needs Now" (1998) a stage musical combining Bacharach-David songs with a book by Kenny Solms telling a 90s romance story.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Producer (Special)
Music (Special)
Music (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1950
Served with US Army, playing piano at the officer's club on Governor's Island (NYC) and giving concerts at Fort Dix (New Jersey), also spent time overseas
1952
Met Vic Damone and toured with him as accompanist following discharge from the military
1955
Became a member of ASCAP
1957
First Number 1 hit (with David), the country song "The Story of My Life", recorded by Marty Robbins
1957
Met lyricist Hal David at NYC's Brill Building
1957
First film as composer of title (theme) song only, "The Sad Sack"
1957
First film credit, pre-composed song for "Lizzie"
1958
Perry Como scored a big hit with the Bacharach-David tune "Magic Moments"
1961
Met a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed well-suited to his material; Bacharach and David wrote songs by day and recorded them at night with her, resulting ultimately in eight Top 10 hits
1961
Worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on the group's singles "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay"
1962
First hit with Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over", climbed to Number 21 on the charts
1965
First film as composer, "What's New, Pussycat?"; title song was a Top 5 hit for Tom Jones
1968
Composed score for Broadway musical, "Promises, Promises", which ran for three years and 1,281 performances
1969
Had one of his biggest successes with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", written for the feature "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; won first two Academy Awards for Best Score and Best Original Song
1973
Burned out after rushing to finish the score of the musical film "Lost Horizon", retreated to beach house and reneged on a Warwick album, leading her and David to file lawsuits (eventually settled out of court)
1981
Co-wrote with Carole Bayer Sager, Peter Allen and Christopher Cross the hit theme from the film "Arthur"; won third Oscar
1982
Composed the music for Ron Howard's "Night Shift", which introduced "That's What Friends Are For" (co-written by Sager)
1985
Dionne (Warwick) and Friends score Number 1 hit with "That's What Friends Are For", earning him last Grammy to date; proceeds of the recording were donated to AIDS research
1993
Reunited with Warwick on the song "Sunny Weather Love", included on her album "Friends Can Be Lovers"
1996
Appeared at London's Royal Festival Hall, where Oasis' Noel Gallagher joined him to croon "This Guy's In Love with You"
1996
Co-wrote with Elvis Costello (via fax and answering machine) the show-stopping tune "God Give Me Strength" for Allison Anders' "Grace of My Heart", proving that his return was not just a rehabilitation of reputation but a creative renaissance as well
1997
Five vintage Bacharach-David tunes brightened the film comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding"
1997
Appeared as himself in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"
1998
A stage musical utilizing Bacharach-David songs, "What the World Needs Now", bowed at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre
1999
Collaborated with Tim Rice on the song "Walking Tall" for the film "Stuart Little"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
He was named CUE Magazine's Entertainer of the Year (1969).
Bacharach and collaborator Hal David received the 1996 Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Ira Gerswin once signed a piece of sheet music to him: "For Burt, the 5th 'B'--in no particular order--Beethoven, Brahams, Berlin, Bach & Bacharach."
"I was working so hard, I didn't allow myself the luxury of basking in the success that was going on. It's like, I'd finish one thing and be into the next. I cared so much in that moment about my work. It was like winning the horse race, and you don't even savor that moment in the winner's circle as much as you should. You're off to win the next race. I should have enjoyed it a little more." --Burt Bacharach, The New York Times, July 24, 1997.
"I remember playing it ['What the World Needs Now Is Love'] for Dionne [Warwick], because she got first crack at just about anything. She didn't like it. And I thought if she didn't like it, the song mustn't be very good. Invalidated it. So I put it away. Hal had way more confidence in it. He said, 'Play it for Jackie DeShannon.' Worked out fine." --Burt Bacharach, Entertainment Weekly, August 8, 1997.
