WAIT: That Spotify list I embedded can't be right! Be Bop a Lula?! Here's Wikipedia's list of his songs. I'll try to find a better playlist to embed.
There are some on that list I've never heard of, like "Me Japanese Boy I Love You" (a 1964 Bobby Goldsboro hit with a hilariously politically incorrect headline).
My favorite on that list is the 1965 Jackie DeShannon recording, "What the World Needs Now Is Love," so memorably played in one of my favorite movies, "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice." Didn't we all leave the theater rededicated to love?
And there's "The Look of Love," the 1967 Dusty Springfield hit.
PLUS: Here's my son John's Facebook post with a long excerpt from the NYT obituary and some personal comments, including something about "What the World Needs Now": "used in an unusual, almost surreal scene in the movie 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,' in a way I find very moving."
AND: I love the original The Shirelles version of "Baby It's You." It embedded itself into my 10-year-old mind. You can hear Burt himself singing in the "sha la la la la" part. But this song has the great distinction of also having been recorded by The Beatles and The Carpenters. And there's a beautiful version by Bette Midler.
ADDED: An hour ago, I wrote "there's nothing to cry about. Let's talk about the beauty of the songs," but I've been playing the music all this time, and I have cried over the beauty of the songs.
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Only Love Can Break A Heart, recorded by Gene Pitney.
So many delightful songs!
An important part of the soundtrack to my life.
The Dionne Warwick ones were definitely my favorite, but "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" has always enjoyed a lot of mind space with me. "When you know the truth, but everybody believes the legend, go with the legend."
A Genius romantic!
R.I.P. Bert
Brilliantly Powered by Dionne
Her biopic Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over
What a list! Marty Robbins, Gene Pitney, The Drifters, Frankie Avalon, The Shirelles? I would never guessed he had written some of these.
Dusty Springfield and Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Lani Hall on vocals, both did beautiful versions of The Look of Love.
RIP to a titan of popular music.
Guilty secret: I loved Bacharach and David, along with Jimmy Webb, in high school. I had barely heard of the Stones, I knew people who turned me on to the Who. Top 30 radio was pop-rock, and I liked quite a bit of it; I knew there were serious rockers who had contempt for quite a bit of it.
I've been seeing videos of Bacharach again recently. His ex-wife Carol Bayer Sager interviewed him about his memoirs, praising him for his honesty and for letting ex-wives among other people have their say about him, in their own words. She added a funny story; on her way to do this interview, she ran into ex-wife Angie Dickinson at another event, and Angie agreed with her in praise of Burt's book. Video from 2013, posted in 2022. Here.
"Promises, Promises." The one attempt at a Broadway show by B and D. I think it's pretty good. One funny story is that Burt got to see the show, after it ran for a while, with a celebrity, I believe Richard Rodgers. There were some obvious cacked notes in the orchestra. Burt was supposedly naive enough to ask what was going on. Eight performances a week, six nights plus two matinees, there's no way to have the same group of musicians every time. So the union provides "subs." Sometimes they have mastered the music, sometimes they haven't. This was so different from the control Burt had in a recording studio, or even when he conducted a live orchestra, that he couldn't believe it, and didn't really want to repeat the experience.
Quite a list of distinguished songs by a wide range of artists. It's all good, but the high water mark is with Dionne Warwick....He seems to have achieved just the right amount fame, talent, and hot women in his life
Do You Know the Way to San Jose is a beautiful song. Melancholy, sweet, wistful art. Kind of a sad pairing with On Broadway.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I've been away so long
I may go wrong and lose my way
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose
LA is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas
You can really breathe in San Jose
They've got a lot of space
There'll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose
Fame and fortune is a magnet
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you're never alone
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You park your car and ride away
I've got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?
RIP Burt
RIP Burt. Let's not forget the great Hal David, who wrote the lyrics we all remember from so many of those songs, including the classic (sexist?) "Wives and Lovers," in which wives are reminded that there are hotties at the office competing for their husbands' affections, so don't get complacent.
My favorite is "Anyone Who Had a Heart", I didn't know or remember there was a Dionne Warwick hit of the song. But I have loved it since I found it on an underrated Linda Ronstadt album called Winter Light. One of these days I should listen to the Burt Bacharach/Elvis Costello album. That always struck me as a weird combo. But Elvis is married to Diana Krall so maybe she influenced the pairing.
Walk on By.
Look of Love.
I still get all gooey and nostalgic (in a good way) each time I hear both of those.
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose?"
This Guy's in Love With You has always been my favorite, though it took many years before I realized the lyrics were not "the Sky's in love with you" (I still prefer the lyrics I was hearing). Also glad I never saw the music video growing up. Very cringe-inducing. There is a charming video from the Andy Williams Show of AW video a BB medley while BB plays piano.
He rhymed 'Pneumonia' and 'Phone ya.'
Legend.
'Close to you.'
One of the most romantic songs ever written...
Bacharach with Elvis Costello. Bacharach singing on top of a red double decker with Austin Powers. He made himself relevant to younger generations.
"What the World Needs Now" played on the radio when I was a kid. Mixed in was live audio from the assassinations. The Tom Clay version. I'm sure I've mentioned it before because it had so much impact on me. Lounging around the living room, playing with toys, and hearing footage of someone being shot and the aftermath will do that.
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
The version sung by Elvis Costello in the Austin Powers movie.
Another vote for Walk on By here. Great, great song.
Back in the day. I bought every album by Burt Bacharach and his orchestra, after seeing him and Hal David on a TV special. I was fascinated by the whole songwriting and arranging process. Burt started out as an arranger for Marlene Dietrich, then did pop music in the Brill Building where he teamed with Hal David, a songwriter in his own right, and with other collaborators. His compositions were unconventional musically and rhythmically, and I have to imagine there was a lot of back and forth between him and Hal as they crunched through revisions of the tune and words, but at their best. They were stellar. I'll miss him.
I had no idea that he had co-written one of my favorite synth pop records.
"Wishin' and Hopin" by Dusty was a great record. So was "Look of Love" by Sergio Mendez.
He was a great guy. When he was married to Angie Dickinson, her mother was in the hospital and they visited. Everybody loved his music then (1972) and he was really nice to everyone. No big ego got in the way of being polite and human.
"Close to You".
"24 Hours From Tulsa" Ian & Sylvia
I like Say a Little Prayer and One Less Bell to Answer, but the best is Alfie.
“ Are we meant to take more than we give?
Or
Are we meant to be kind?”
I usually tear up when I sing this…speaking of which, of course you were crying as you listened to his songs. It is a grief when beauty passes on.
“Walk on by” Dionne Warwick
“Little Red Book”
by Arthur Lee & Love
At age 16 in 1970, a buddy of mine and I drove from Detroit to New York (using our fairly new drivers licenses). Among the things we did was spend a day seeing two hot plays of the day: "1776" and "Promises, Promises". Both were outstanding, with great stars. And that memory makes me always remember Burt Bacharach and his music fondly. So many good songs in that play, and so many more over years of writing. One of the greats.
Point of order: Burt Bacharach was not a songwriter, he was a melodist. As some of the above comments show, many people assume he wrote lyrics, but he almost never did. Most of his best-known songs had lyrics from Hal David or Carole Bayer Sager. Bacharach’s melodies were unique and beautiful, but many of them came with great lyrics written by others.
"Magic Moments" does have the Dylanesque distinction of rhyming "cheering a touchdown" with "putting the clutch down," but it was only the B-side of "Catch a Falling Star." My memory is that New York City radio stations played mainly the A-side (for which Como ultimately won a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance). We usually got to hear "Magic Moments" only when Como performed it on his weekly NBC variety show. The 45 was, however, a double-sided hit that made #7 on Billboard's year-end Top 100 list, nestled somewhere between David Seville's "Witch Doctor" and Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater."
I really like a lot of his songs. One of my favorites is "This Guy's in Love With You" performed by Noel Gallagher (Oasis). He sang it in the mid-'90s at some tribute event for Bacharach. Herb Alpert had a #1 hit with the song, but I prefer Gallagher's version.
BB wrote lots of stupid, insipid stuff. Yet I hum a lot of it every day. And he became wealthy. But here's the important thing, at least as far as he's concerned, did he know and appeal to Jesus?
He rhymed 'Pneumonia' and 'Phone ya.'
Hal David did that.
In the '80s, my wife and I had dinner in Eden Gardens, Solana Beach CA. We were seated in a booth next to one occupied by Bert and Angie and overheard an interesting but at times heated conversation between them. Such a beautiful but doomed couple.
Bert was a master of emotional songwriting and a skillful producer who matched song to singer.
He and Hal David had so many marvelous songs… true legends.
Nothing against Dionne Warwick, other performers, and the many great comments here. But I just stumbled on Burt on piano/singing, Dusty Springfield singing. Dusty a trouble soul from troubled Ireland, neither "Dusty" nor "Springfield" her real name. If Burt tried, he may have discovered she was gay. But she knocked a few songs out of the park.
"A House is Not a Home." .Some of the B and D songs reflect a world of lots of splitting up, divorce. Like the isolated, often frightened child in Spielberg movies. Maybe in the old days people were often married when they didn't want to be, but surely we now have many people who are single when they don't want to be.
Walk on By (among so very many gorgeous choices). He was just . . . . .great . . . .
Oddly, I saw a review once of the lovely REM song, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong". The reviewer wrote that it sounded like an REM song produced by Burt Bacharach. I thought . . . . .you know, it does! - I'd hope they each take that as a compliment, but I'm not sure that they would.
From a quick perusal, my favorites are "Walk on By", "Arthur's Theme" and the Naked Eyes version of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me".
To be honest, if you added all the notable songs into a playlist, I would get bored with it within the hour. There are a lot of very good songs here, but I think they work better mixed in with non-Bacharach tunes with a bit more energy.
Can't resist linking to this incredible performance of Bacharach & David's "Turkey Lurkey Time" from the Broadway musical "Promises, Promises." Never released as a single, so not widely known (and anyway, it really needs the dancing--choreographed by Michal Bennett--to be fully appreciated). It's been claimed that the amount of head-snapping the dancers had to do provided a huge financial bonanza for NYC chiropractors for the run of the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izgG6C_J33s
My favorite song is probably "A house is not a home". The Spotify list version is not the best (a little screechy) Favorite vocal version is Luther Vandross, best instrumental is by Joe Sample.
I really appreciated his more innocent depictions of love. A far cry from today's music, from artists like Sam Smith.
A great, great talent.
Joe Smith said...
"'Close to you.'
One of the most romantic songs ever written..."
Agreed. In the Karen Carpenter story, there's an account of Richard and Karen at a party with Burt in attendance. They sang Richard's arrangement that blew Burt's mind. I think that's how they got signed on with A&M Records.
I had the same reaction the first time I heard it on the car radio. It was so different from a lot of the early Seventies dreck, but beyond that it was brilliant, even though now it sounds a bit overproduced. Even so, still brilliant.
Joe Smith said...
"'Close to you.'
One of the most romantic songs ever written..."
Agreed. In the Karen Carpenter story, there's an account of Richard and Karen at a party with Burt in attendance. They sang Richard's arrangement that blew Burt's mind. I think that's how they got signed on with A&M Records.
I had the same reaction the first time I heard it on the car radio. It was so different from a lot of the early Seventies dreck, but beyond that it was brilliant, even though now it sounds a bit overproduced. Even so, still brilliant.
Joe Smith said...
"'Close to you.'
One of the most romantic songs ever written..."
Agreed. In the Karen Carpenter story, there's an account of Richard and Karen at a party with Burt in attendance. They sang Richard's arrangement that blew Burt's mind. I think that's how they got signed on with A&M Records.
I had the same reaction the first time I heard it on the car radio. It was so different from a lot of the early Seventies dreck, but beyond that it was brilliant, even though now it sounds a bit overproduced. Even so, still brilliant.
One of the four ears of the 60's:
Smokey Robinson, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach.
I was first exposed to Burt Bacharach music at my first drive in movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, around 1970. Great and IMO underrated soundtrack. All the others mentioned above are also great, but this soundtrack was the first for me (first Burt, first drive in movie) and so has a special place in my mind and heart. May he rest in peace.
'Hal David did that.'
Close enough!
"Beware of the Blob" by the Four Blobs, "My Little Red Book" by the (extremely groovy) group Love, and "I Say a Little Prayer" are my faves.
"This Guy's in Love." I think that's the title. My favorite but I must say, Burt B. had a lot of good songs.
I've not heard a Burt Bacharach song I didn't love.
I love everything Bacharach and David did. It gets stuck in my head, and not just the great stuff.
I love "After the Fox" sung by The Hollies and Peter Sellers in the credits for that movie. That has been stuck in my head for half a century.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbFFdvXIta0
And Hal David was a great lyricist. I'm not so pleased by Sager/Costello/etc.
Class.
His music is all so beautiful with an effortless complexity…if that makes sense. The number of people performing Anyone Who Had a Heart is fascinating. Cilla Black did it and also Alfie, another good one. She sang with sheer power. Dionne more nuanced, as was Dusty.
I could listen to his music all day,
A number of these I'm not familiar with.
As others have pointed out, that was really the lyricist, not Bacharach, but my favorite is probably San Jose, partly because of the cynical note: "And all the stars/that never were . . . "
Depends to some extent on the performer, but some were a bit treacly for me. Some I do like: "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (another touch of the cynicism); maybe "Arthur's Theme"; "I Say a Little Prayer" (was it in My Best Friend's Wedding that they had the group sing?); "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"; maybe "Alfie"; "Baby, It's You," of course (I was and still am a Beatle Freak).
Raindrops kinda makes me retch, just because it was so overplayed.
Finally, I'm surprised Althouse never heard of "Me Japanese Boy." I remember it well from "wonderful WLS" in Chicago when I was about 10. I can sing (if you call what i do that) pretty much the whole song from memory after nearly 60 years.
--gpm
A number of these I'm not familiar with.
As others have pointed out, that was really the lyricist, not Bacharach, but my favorite is probably San Jose, partly because of the cynical note: "And all the stars/that never were . . . "
Depends to some extent on the performer, but some were a bit treacly for me. Some I do like: "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (another touch of the cynicism); maybe "Arthur's Theme"; "I Say a Little Prayer" (was it in My Best Friend's Wedding that they had the group sing?); "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"; maybe "Alfie"; "Baby, It's You," of course (I was and still am a Beatle Freak).
Raindrops kinda makes me retch, just because it was so overplayed.
Finally, I'm surprised Althouse never heard of "Me Japanese Boy." I remember it well from "wonderful WLS" in Chicago when I was about 10. I can sing (if you call what i do that) pretty much the whole song from memory after nearly 60 years.
--gpm
"Message to Michael" (along with Alfie, Walk on By, and at least a half a dozen others.) It's a song that is all over the place. Love it.
"I love "After the Fox" sung by The Hollies and Peter Sellers in the credits for that movie."
I don't remember that song, but I love that movie, which I remember with the line "You are running! Running!" Ha ha. I've remembered that for half a century.
Listening to "After the Fox" now.
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