Burt Bacharach has died. He was 94.
Elevators should be silent everywhere in respect.
Anybody notice that most elevators are silent these days?
Anyway, happy rest to him after a nice long life.
One of the giants.
My personal favorites are:
“Any Day Now” (Ronnie Milsap and others)
“My Little Red Book” (Love)
“The Look of Love” (Dusty Springfield)
“Promises, Promises” (Dionne Warwick)
“Baby, It’s You” (Smith, Beatles, Shirelles)
“Always Something There to Remind Me”
“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney)
“24 Hours From Tulsa” (Gene Pitney)
(Baby, It’s You)
What a corpus. What a legend. A classic case of “Oh. I didn’t know he wrote that one, too!”
But he did.
Rest in peace…
At his best…
While I don’t know that I’ve ever been a fan, per se, of Bacharach’s music, he, and his songs, were a huge part of the fabric of my early life, as they were so ubiquitous in the late '60s and early '70s.
The first song that I can ever remember being my “favorite” song (when I was 4 or 5 years old) was one of his: “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.”
This.
I never knew he wrote “Three wheels on my wagon” !! A favourite in BBC
Children’s Choice !
Bacarach’s music was always lyrical, and usually pretty, back in the day when prettiness was one of the top virtues for popular song. “The Look of Love” is on my list of prettiest 60s songs, and so is “Wives and Lovers” by Jack Jones. That one is spoiled by Hal David’s sexist lyrics, which are often problematic today, but the melody is hypnotic.
Music changed, and Bacharach didn’t, so he wrote lots of inane pop after the 60s. Nobody was more perfect for the non-rock half of popular music before then. He was the best.
Yeah, Hal David was A Pro who rarely elevated the songs, and sometimes damaged them. However: a girlfriend of mine greatly liked “The Look of Love” and asserted that such a look was A Very Real Thing. I could understand what she meant.
Someone once wrote that Bacharach’s melodies tended to limit a singer’s improv opportunities — there were rhythmic hooks that had to be closely followed to retain the essence of the tune. I’m not musically literate enough to assess that claim, but it generally feels true to me if I try to casually sing a Burt B song.
His personal sound certainly defined the entire era while he was big.
I just don’t know what to do with myself.
j
Aw, damn. I just love his collaborations with Elvis Costello.
Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach - Toledo - YouTube
mmm
Yeah, Elvis did a fine version as well. Great song, great songwriter.
j
One of my giants
The Richard Matheson of pop music
He wrote one of my favorite Herb Alpert tracks
That’s a boombastic one! The Look of Love was from the same movie.