Burt Bacharach

The songwriter and singer, who cemented his prominence with hits like "Say A Little Prayer" and "Walk on By," died Wednesday of natural causes.

"His observation was 'Never be ashamed of something that's melodic, that one could whistle,'" Bacharach said of his teacher. "Never went with a friend — not that I had many friends to go with." Even though Bacharach became something of a playboy as an adult, and married four times, he also knew loneliness. But there's also a tinge of melancholy in his music. He was a songwriter, bandleader, trumpet player and co-founder of A&M Records. 1 hit on the singles chart was the vocal number "This Guy's In Love With You" — by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. "Sometimes, people will take liberties with the melody." Soon, Bacharach was writing melodies that millions of people could whistle. His mother was a musician. Bacharach's songs must have been a kind of salve from the day's news. It was Milhaud who encouraged Bacharach to follow the kind of music he felt compelled to write. His father was a columnist.

Burt Bacharach, the acclaimed composer and songwriter behind dozens of mellow pop hits from the 1950s to the 1980s, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My ...

The Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles of natural causes, publicist Tina Brausam said Thursday. Over the past 70 ...

Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on “Walk on By,” their performances just slightly out of sync to give the song “a jagged kind of feeling,” he wrote in his memoir. He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: “I would like you to meet the man, he’s my arranger, he’s my accompanist, he’s my conductor, and I wish I could say he’s my composer. 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. 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. After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. 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. In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write “Alfie” and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was breaking into the business in the 1950s. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (shared with David).

I Say a Little Prayer,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head,” were among dozens of his chart-summiting songs.

Mr. An admittedly “selfish” man much of his life, he invited his ex-wives — Stewart, Dickinson and Sager — to contribute to provide their perspective. The songwriters split bitterly the next year after working on “Lost Horizon,” a musical remake of the Frank Capra-directed classic about Shangri-La. He was “the only songwriter who didn’t look like a dentist,” lyricist Sammy Cahn once observed. “You start working with non-White singers and it’s a different tone, there’s a soulful thing about it,” he told the Daily Telegraph. The next year, Mr. [“I Still Have That Other Girl”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOPXvtZvb7g&list=PLrRAIyyy9JUlPUqAF2STTI-Eq4qCl-dkc); Costello had previously partnered with Mr. Bacharach and Sager also wrote [“That’s What Friends Are For”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQGihrUwsH0) for the 1982 film “Night Shift,” a number that became an anthem of the AIDS-awareness movement. [Jerry Leiber](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/2011/08/23/gIQAOhd9ZJ_story.html?utm_term=.eda5e63be27d&itid=lk_inline_manual_45), a Brill Building stalwart, as a seminal moment in his growth as a tunesmith. [theme song for “Arthur”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMdwFkO8xA0) (1981) with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, his future wife, and singer Christopher Cross. It was one of Mr. When he and David wrote the song, Mr.

Para garantizar que el San Diego Union-Tribune en Español continúe sano y robusto, su donación, en cualquier medida, es ahora más importante que nunca.

El célebre compositor, cantante y productor estadounidense escribió éxitos perdurables como I Say A Little Prayer, The Look of Love y What The World Needs Now ...

"Así que esa fue una lección valiosa que aprendí de él. A lo largo de su carrera, tuvo 73 éxitos Top 40 en EE.UU. Muere a los 94 años Burt Bacharach, el legendario compositor de "Say a little prayer" y "The look of love"

Burt Bacharach, el talentoso compositor popular que iluminó los arreglos estrafalarios y melodías inolvidables de “Walk on By”, “Do You Know the Way to San ...

El compositor consiguió 73 éxitos en el 'top 40′ de EE UU y 52 en Reino Unido, además de seis Grammy y tres premios Oscar.

Burt Bacharach no dejó de publicar en los sesenta y setenta varios álbumes en solitario con las versiones en primera persona de sus propios éxitos, pero la acogida de estos trabajos siempre fue muy discreta. En la consolidación de Bacharach como un melodista mayúsculo emerge la figura de Dionne Warwick, una cantante que se ganaba la vida como corista para los Drifters y que Burt escogió como la destinataria prioritaria de sus páginas. De hecho, muchos de los grandes del jazz han acabado abrazando y recreando su obra, sobre todo a partir de que Stan Getz abriese esa puerta en 1968 con el álbum monográfico [What The World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays The Burt Bacharach Songbook.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Xpn4KHAmY) El cataclismo, salpicado por acusaciones y querellas cruzadas, fue estruendoso y doloroso, pero Burt Bacharach encontraría una nueva media naranja para la composición en Carole Bayer Sager, con quien además acabó contrayendo matrimonio en 1982. [Brill Building, el emblemático edificio de oficinas de Broadway](https://blogs.elpais.com/ruta-norteamericana/2009/09/oda-a-ellie-greenwich-y-el-brill-building.html) que concentraba a las grandes editoriales musicales estadounidenses y en el que escribían los temas originales, a la espera de encontrar intérprete, algunos de los mejores equipos de compositores del siglo XX: Carole King y Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber y Mike Stoller, Barry Mann y Cynthia Weil, Neil Diamond, Sonny Bono, Bert Berns, Phil Spector y un larguísimo etcétera. Esa es, de hecho, una constante en la biografía del fallecido: sus páginas han adquirido la dimensión de clásicos, son objeto de docenas de lecturas renombradas y pasan a formar parte del acervo popular de los últimos 60 años, aunque muchos no conozcan el nombre de su firmante original. Warwick era dueña de una voz dúctil y misteriosa, más sofisticada que deslumbrante, y ese equilibrio resultaba perfecto para unas canciones de estructuras mucho más complejas y elaboradas de lo que se estilaba en la época, y no digamos ya en la actualidad. Durante años no le faltaron críticos que le tenían por un músico atildado, relamido, demasiado engolado y petulante para los estándares de la música popular, pero el tiempo no ha hecho sino agrandar la valía de un legado que comprende su buen medio millar de partituras. Esa intersección entre melodía clásica, jazz ligero, aires de bossa nova y romanticismo orquestal era insólita en un universo, el de la música pop, en el que solo tres acordes (tónica, dominante y subdominante) bastaban para sustanciar un porcentaje abrumador de sus títulos. Pero pronto tuvo claro que su gran baza creativa era la escritura, más aún tras conocer a Hal David, el letrista con el que firmaría la inmensa mayoría de sus temas icónicos. Hablamos de un hombre que en mayo habría celebrado su 95 cumpleaños y al que lloran todos los amantes del pop con pajarita desde que se comunicó que había fallecido, por causas naturales, este miércoles, 8 de febrero, en su casa de Los Ángeles. Excepción flagrante en un mundo, el de la música popular, trufado por el culto a la primera persona, el compositor de Kansas fue el raro paradigma del creador que permaneció entre bambalinas mientras su obra no paraba de brillar, una y otra vez, en las posiciones más elevadas de las listas de ventas.

Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer and Oscar winner who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies ...

Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on “Walk on By,” their performances just slightly out of sync to give the song “a jagged kind of feeling,” he wrote in his memoir. He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others. "I didn't want to write with Hal or anybody," he told the AP in 2004. 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. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: “I would like you to meet the man, he’s my arranger, he’s my accompanist, he’s my conductor, and I wish I could say he’s my composer. 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. After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write “Alfie” and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and for the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (shared with David). He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was breaking into the business in the 1950s.

A lo largo de su carrera, compuso canciones para artistas de la talla de Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones y Aretha Franklin. Bacharach nació el 12 ...

Tras completar su educación en la Universidad McGill en Montreal (Canadá), la Escuela de Música Mannes de Nueva York y la Academia de Música del Oeste de Santa Bárbara (California), sirvió en el Ejército entre 1950 y 1952 como pianista. Sú música marcó la cultura pop de las décadas de 1960 y 1970 con canciones como “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, por la que ganó 2 premios Óscar en 1969, además su éxito le valió 6 premios Grammy. Bacharach nació el 12 de mayo de 1928 en Kansas City (Missouri), pero su pasión por la música creció cuando se mudó a Queens (Nueva York), visitando clubs de jazz.

Burt Bacharach, el talentoso compositor popular que iluminó los arreglos estrafalarios y melodías inolvidables de “Walk on By”, “Do You Know the Way to San ...

Su música para otras películas incluía “What’s New, Pussycat?” (“¿Qué tal, pussycat?”), “Alfie” (“Alfie, el seductor irresistible”) y la película de parodia de James Bond de “Casino Royale” de 1967. En 1982, él y su entonces esposa, la letrista Carole Bayer Sager, ganaron el Oscar por “Best That You Can Do”, el tema de “Arthur” (“Arthur, el soltero de oro”). Recibió dos Premios de la Academia en 1970 por la música de “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (“Dos hombres y un destino”) y por la canción “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (que compartió con David).

Singer and performer, who had 73 Top 40 hits in the US and 52 in the UK, died at home in Los Angeles of natural causes.

They scored back to back UK No 1s with two of their earliest songs, The Story of My Life by Marty Robbins (Michael Holliday in the UK hit version) and Magic Moments by Perry Como. Together, he and David created a string of all-time classics: I Say a Little Prayer, sung by Aretha Franklin, What’s New Pussycat? He also worked as an arranger and conductor for Marlene Dietrich when she toured Europe in the late 50s and early 60s. He was a giant in the music business. [Burt Bacharach](https://www.theguardian.com/music/burt-bacharach), the songwriter and performer who turned easy listening into high art, has died at 94. Burt was a hero of mine and very influential on my work.

Burt Bacharach, the acclaimed composer and songwriter behind dozens of mellow pop hits from the 1950s to the 1980s, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My ...

He also wrote “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the 1969 western starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. “Farewell Burt Bacharach, you were a king.” “Burt’s transition is like losing a family member,” Warwick said in a statement to CNN on Thursday. And yet Bacharach, with longtime collaborator Hal David, churned out many of the catchiest songs of the era. Many of his songs were classified, perhaps unfairly, as “easy listening” – a gentle, old fashioned style of music with few rough edges. He wrote hit songs for a wide range of artists, including Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, the Carpenters and Christopher Cross.

He first got into horse racing in 1968, the year in which he co-wrote hits “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” by Dionne Warwick and “This Guy's in Love with You ...

He could talk the talk if he was involved with a bunch of horsemen.” Ever the optimist, Bacharach wanted the song to reach No. “Winning was a bonus.” The song got to No. “He was like a cat, light on his feet.” “I'm sure if he had something to say (today) he'd say it was a great life.” He definitely had a knowledge of horse racing, breeding, all aspects of the game. [Soul of the Matter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIDjueaVvqQ) finished fifth in the Derby and fourth in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Classic. “He was just a great owner. An injury forced Soul of the Matter to be retired to the breeding shed. [In the 1996 Dubai World Cup](https://www.google.com/search?q=1996+dubai+world+cup+video&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1026US1026&oq=1996+dubai+world+cup+video&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512j0i390l4.4379j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5a91c06b,vid:ER5-uGMCQHo), Soul of the Matter battled the legendary Cigar in the final furlong. LOS ANGELES — (AP) — Not all of Burt Bacharach's hits were on the charts.

Songwriter whose hits, including I Say a Little Prayer and Walk On By, became classics of easy-listening pop.

He continued to tour past his 90th birthday, with [concerts in the UK](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/08/burt-bacharach-review-masterclass-in-melody-by-pop-maverick), US and Europe in 2018 and [2019](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/17/burt-bacharach-review-hammersmith-apollo-london-joss-stone). His autobiography, [Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/21/burt-bacharach-anyone-heart-review), was published in 2013, and in 2015 he performed at the [Glastonbury festival](https://www.theguardian.com/music/glastonbury). In 1997, an all-star cast including Costello, Warwick, [Chrissie Hynde](https://www.theguardian.com/music/chrissie-hynde), [Sheryl Crow](https://www.theguardian.com/music/sheryl-crow) and [Luther Vandross](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jul/04/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries2) banded together at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, for a serenade of Bacharach’s songs called One Amazing Night, and the Rhino label issued The Look of Love, a three-disc compilation of his music. In 1986, Bacharach enjoyed one of his best ever years, achieving two US No 1s with [That’s What Friends Are for](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iXlyRa47A), recorded by Warwick with [Elton John](https://www.theguardian.com/music/elton-john), [Gladys Knight](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/gladys-knight-review-a-masterclass-in-enduring-talent) and [Stevie Wonder](https://www.theguardian.com/music/steviewonder) as a charitable fundraiser for Aids, and the Patti LaBelle/Michael McDonald recording of the lachrymose [On My Own](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsH63qJlIMM). [Cilla Black](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black) – whose version of [Anyone Who Had a Heart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUxn6JLwdDY) was her breakthrough hit – [Sandie Shaw](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/may/29/sandie-shaw-this-much-i-know), the Walker Brothers and [Frankie Vaughan](https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/sep/18/guardianobituaries). In 1995 he co-wrote [God Give Me Strength](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLwyvIf-TmA) with [Elvis Costello](https://www.theguardian.com/music/elviscostello) for Allison Anders’ film about the Brill Building era, Grace of My Heart, and this resulted in the Costello-Bacharach album Painted from Memory (1998). [Mike Myers’s](https://www.theguardian.com/film/mike-myers) 60s-spoofing Austin Powers films. [Aretha Franklin](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/16/aretha-franklin-obituary) a US Top 10 hit and [her biggest solo hit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8y0onSG3kg) in Britain, where it reached No 4. [The Carpenters](https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2017/aug/02/the-carpenters-10-of-the-best) ushered in the 70s with [(They Long to Be) Close to You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT86AoSGEL8), a US No 1 which also reached No 6 in the UK, but although Bacharach’s 1971 album (called just Burt Bacharach) became a sought-after collector’s item, the decade would prove disappointing. A cover version by Michael Holliday reached No 1 in the UK the following year, and [Perry Como](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/may/14/guardianobituaries) brought them another smash with his recording of [Magic Moments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ND3oghPL5M), which spent eight weeks at No 1 in Britain. [Tom Jones](https://www.theguardian.com/music/tom-jones) never particularly liked [What’s New, Pussycat?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQvIAs-nPSo), the Oscar-nominated theme from the 1965 film of the same name, but acknowledged its enduring popularity. Bacharach was an Oscar-winner for a third time in 1982, with [Arthur’s Theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOBHXxiZyZM) from the film Arthur.

10 Best Burt Bacharach songs from the peerless pop composer, from "What's New Pussycat" to "I Say a Little Prayer."

[Listen here.](https://open.spotify.com/track/4HjwGX3pJKJTeOSDpT6GCo?si=87bc50a036b34ed0) Subtlety is the key here, even amidst the strings and horns in Dionne Warwick’s original (and definitive) recording. [Steve-Martin-in-an-attic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXpPWwgATAg) sing-along. A song so good it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 twice in less than a year — first with Warwick’s original take and then in 1968 when Aretha Franklin put her pipes behind it for her Aretha Now album. Though first recorded (as “That Guy’s in Love”) by British singer Danny Williams, Albert’s version boasts a start-and-stop dynamic for a gentle drama that serves the tune well. You could take most any track from Bacharach’s Painted From Memory collaboration with Elvis Costello, but this one stands out as a sublime contemporization of classic Bacharach templates. Either way it’s a great listen, sophisticated in its jazzy bossa nova veneer (it was originally written by Bacharach as an instrumental) and showcasing one of Dusty Springfield’s most nuanced vocal performances. It was originally done by Keely Smith, but it was Marilyn McCoo who ultimately sold it best, with her groupmates’ answer vocals giving the song its heart and heft. Thomas originally) expresses determination that “it won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me.” The joy in hearing the song is immediate, however — and was for Academy Award voters, too, who gave it an Oscar for best original song. Put it on and you’re in a guaranteed sports stadium-sized sing-along. But here’s our 10, which we recommended being merely a gateway to his legendary catalog. There’s a lot of it.

Sofía Benavides. (CNN) — Burt Bacharach, aclamado compositor y autor de canciones detrás de docenas de éxitos pop suaves de las décadas de 1950 a 1980, ...

Los éxitos de Bacharach incluyen “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, “(They Long to Be) Close to You” y el tema de la película “Arthur”. Muere a los 94 años Burt Bacharach, escritor de éxitos clásicos del pop como “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (CNN) — Burt Bacharach, aclamado compositor y autor de canciones detrás de docenas de éxitos pop suaves de las décadas de 1950 a 1980, murió este jueves, según confirmó un familiar a CNN.

Director Jay Roach enlisted composer Burt Bacharach for a running gag in the "Austin Powers" movies and said they cried when he played the final scene.

The classic 1967 song found its way to new listeners when Rupert Everett dutifully performed it for Julia Roberts in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and initiated the romantic comedy’s memorable impromptu sing-along. We felt so lucky to get to collaborate with the maestro.” They also became one of the best running gags in the “Austin Powers” franchise. Bacharach returned for the 1999 sequel to perform “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” with Elvis Costello and made a brief appearance in the closing credits of “Austin Powers in Goldmember” (2002) — both also directed by Roach. Burt’s love — which the world does desperately need — will live on through his music, as will our love for Burt.” We only stopped when the sun came up,” he added.

You need to hear only a few bars of a Bacharach song to sense his singular gift.

Henry](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/are-all-short-stories-o-henry-stories) story, “The Gift of the Magi.” Congratulating him on his body of work, one sensed a just detectable wince at hearing his sixties music praised all over again, in the predictable way of such things. Whereas Irving Berlin and [Paul McCartney](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/18/paul-mccartney-doesnt-really-want-to-stop-the-show) are fountains of music of many kinds, a smaller group make music that sounds like that of no one else on earth. “Painted from Memory” and “This House Is Empty Now” and the haunting “In the Darkest Place” will live on as recordings. [Ishtar](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/elaine-may-talks-about-ishtar),” it has never had a rescue operation attempted on its behalf—remained the singular painful trauma in Bacharach’s career. David and Bacharach, with Warwick as an incidental casualty, broke apart in 1973 with the car-crash production of a single Hollywood film. (One of his early songs, “Baby, It’s You,” made a memorable appearance in

The composer died of natural causes at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday (02.08.23), aged 94, and Sheryl has taken to social media to heap praise on him. The 60 ...

Recording with Hal David, Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin, the late songwriter's discog includes some of the best pop songs ever written.

Proof that Bacharach’s melodies were strong enough to be carried even by people who couldn’t really sing came when the trumpeter Herb Alpert sighed his way through This Guy’s in Love With You – and sounded perfectly suited to it, like someone wandering through a park in the afternoon sun, unable to believe his good fortune. The next three might be the best pop songs ever written, and in the case of this one, Bacharach and David were definitely served by having Aretha Franklin sing it (if Warwick was the pair’s definitive interpreter, she couldn’t get near Franklin on I Say a Little Prayer). First recorded by the actor Richard Chamberlain in 1963, but brought to perfection in 1970 by the Carpenters, Close to You highlights one of Bacharach’s preferred tricks – an instrumental melody line that’s jaunty and melancholy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of ...

Bacharach liked to experiment with time signatures and arrangements, such as having two pianists play on “Walk on By,” their performances just slightly out of sync to give the song “a jagged kind of feeling,” he wrote in his memoir. These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner,” Warwick wrote in a statement Thursday. He reached a new generation of listeners in the 1990s with the help of Costello and others. “I didn’t want to write with Hal or anybody,” he told the AP in 2004. During each performance, she would introduce him in grand style: “I would like you to meet the man, he’s my arranger, he’s my accompanist, he’s my conductor, and I wish I could say he’s my 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. 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. After his discharge, he returned to New York and tried to break into the music business. He was a perfectionist who took three weeks to write “Alfie” and might spend hours tweaking a single chord. In his life, and in his music, he stood apart. He received two Academy Awards in 1970, for the score of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (shared with David). 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 sophisticated collaborations with the lyricist Hal David — “The Look of Love,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie” and many more hits — evoked a sleek era of airy ...

Mr. Costello, Mr. [Marty Robbins’s “The Story of My Life”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrHZCmVQnNA) and [Perry Como’s “Magic Moments.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_hWTuSYSk) Mr. In his 60s, Mr. Hilliard) and [“Make It Easy on Yourself”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvuk9KddXb8) (lyrics by Mr. Bacharach and Mr. [“On My Own”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-SQRJbtMqs) and the AIDS fund-raising anthem [“That’s What Friends Are For,”](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=that%27s+what+friends+are+for+dionne+warwick) which went on to win the Grammy for song of the year. In 1973, Mr. [title song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpKAnp5Klzw) and the folk-pop ballad [“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzQBOBoPg04) and was nominated for seven Tony Awards. [“Mexican Divorce”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UwQjkmQ5KM) and [“Please Stay,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iY2UpSz9Vs) two songs he wrote with the lyricist Bob Hilliard. And the Bacharach-David team conquered Broadway in December 1968 with [“Promises, Promises.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNwOVUFec-E&list=PL7BF367F005988986) [“The Look of Love,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf1d65OHYXo) Dusty Springfield’s sultry 1967 hit, featured in the movie “Casino Royale”; [“This Guy’s in Love With You,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYnbbu1OmA) a No.

And while he is incredibly well known for hits like “Walk on By” by Dionne Warwick and “I Say A Little Prayer,” which was first recorded by Warwick and then ...

This one is both critically acclaimed and beloved. While it may not be one of his most famous songs, it was consequential in that it was during the recording session he met a young backup singer named Dionne Warwick. This song which tells the tale of a couple post a heartbreaking split, was a smash after it was released in 1986.

Did anybody claim that when George Gershwin or Cole Porter died? Reading some of what's been written about Bacharach over the past day, you'd think he carpooled ...

I want the listener to be not be loving it for five days and then not be loving it because they get beat up. I don’t do anything to make it hard for the listener. “So Hal David wrote all the lyrics first, and then I wrote the music. They sat by the pool and talked, had a family dinner (wine and crab legs) cooked by Jane, Bacharach’s wife since 1993. Bacharach had an outward ease about him, a suave breeziness befitting someone who won Grammys, Oscars, an Emmy, the Gershwin Award for Popular Song, which he and Hal David received in 2012. We chatted about Fauci and face masks, his bedtime (late) but soon got to the heart of the conversation. “Those lyrics were going to have to say what was going on in that motion picture, without giving everything away,” he said. The box documents the collaboration that began with 1996’s “God Give Me Strength” — [my own interaction with Bacharach in 2020](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/qanda-with-burt-bacharach-how-the-92-year-old-composer-has-kept-working-during-the-pandemic/2020/10/08/dea735f2-07f3-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_13) when he agreed to do his first Instagram Live on The Washington Post show I hosted during the pandemic. Reading some of what’s been written about Bacharach over the past day, you’d think he carpooled to Muzak headquarters with Mitch Miller and Seals and Crofts. After we talked on the phone Thursday about Bacharach, songwriter and producer Daniel Tashian texted me a homemade video showing the two working on a new song in Bacharach’s living room. They talked only two weeks ago to discuss keys for a pair of new songs.

Bacharach forged a new sonic landscape, one that felt sophisticated but not alienating, accessible but not stupid.

(Also see: “One Less Bell to Answer,” “A House Is Not a Home,” “Walk on By”…) I had turned to it often in moments of indefinite unease. It’s a plaintive one, about a love that only seems to justify itself when no one else is looking (“They don’t know that in between the heartaches, you hold me here in your arms and say you love me…”). That morning, apropos of nothing but the vaguely sad Thursday feeling of wishing it were Friday, I’d had the urge to hear “In Between the Heartaches,” the ballad that opened Dionne Warwick’s 1965 album Here I Am.

Elvis Costello, at the opening of his 10-night stand in New York the day after Burt Bacharach died, performed three of his longtime friend's songs.

Even when he first recorded “Baby, It’s You” with Lowe in the ’80s, Costello was no johnny-come-lately to the work of Bacharach. Look here also for a coming conversation with Costello about why he settled on doing a no-repeats run at the Gramercy where upwards of 200 different songs will be performed over the next two weeks. But in hindsight, the Bacharach-David team ranks high in the pantheon of pop songwriting.”) He covered three songs that Bacharach had hits with as a songwriter in the 1960s, with the promise of getting to some of the many songs they wrote together later in the run. “I read an extraordinary and, I have to say, not tremendously insightful article in the New York Times… He stretched that to include a few songs others had written prior to that date, including a couple by Van Morrison.

The songwriting juggernaut behind 32 Top 10 Billboard hits pays tribute to the late composer: 'He was on his own mountain'

Or “Always Something There to Remind Me.” Dionne has a hit with it, and then Naked Eyes, which was [a great record](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVrELhxOFnM&ab_channel=ChrysalisRecords) too. That’s the beauty of the songs. Or “ [A House Is Not a Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk7CNHHIuH4&ab_channel=DionneWarwick-Topic).” Think about how genius that is. [One Less Bell to Answer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy2YOL8wdBA&ab_channel=FifthDimensionVEVO)” — what a great way of saying, I’m really happy that I don’t have this guy in my life, but oh wait, that’s kind of a bummer too. And with Bacharach, the songs were always great. The trick to writing a great song is looking at if from an angle that no one’s looked at it before. He was very methodical: “Let’s go to this part again.” I have no attention span, so I remember that being hard for me. [I Say a Little Prayer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlGmMLfWsqM&ab_channel=DionneWarwick-Topic).” You’re not thinking, Wow, this has a 5/4 bar. “And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie / What will you lend on an old golden rule?” It’s so simple but so profound. Look at Herb Alpert, who wasn’t really known as a singer before “This Guy’s in Love With You.” [Alfie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPAz8-O29U&ab_channel=DionneWarwick-Topic)” is maybe my favorite of all time. There’s nothing that’s ever been written by anyone in the history of people writing songs that’s as good as that.

In a tribute to longtime collaborator Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello sang "Baby, It's You," "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and “Please Stay” during his Gramercy ...

“I can’t wait to share our entire story with the world on March 3rd.” He recorded Yeah, [but] it’s never time to say goodbye to somebody if you love ’em. And people say, when somebody leaves you who’s a great age, they say, well, it was a good ending. And I’m not ashamed to say I did love this man. [four-CD box set](https://variety.com/2023/music/news/elvis-costello-burt-bacharach-boxed-set-collaborations-songs-1235483711/) [ “The Songs of Bacharach and Costello” in March,](https://variety.com/2023/music/news/elvis-costello-burt-bacharach-boxed-set-collaborations-songs-1235483711/) highlighting the musicians’ decades-long oeuvre and friendship.

Elvis Costello paid tribute to his longtime friend and collaborator Burt Bacharach Thursday following the songwriter's death at the age of 94.

Never would I have imagined that my admiration for him would grow into a 25-year collaboration and friendship,” Costello tweeted of the collaboration in January. These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner.” “We will, of course, be delving into the songbook that Burt and I assembled over 30 years,” Costello said. Bacharach died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. And when somebody reached a great age, people say, ‘Well, it was a good ending.’ Yeah, it’s never time to say goodbye to somebody if you love them. “A really great man left us yesterday.

Elvis Costello paid tribute to his late friend and musical partner Burt Bacharach with three poignant covers during his New York show on Thursday.

And I’m not ashamed to say I did love this man. it’s never time to say goodbye to somebody if you love ‘em. [Elvis Costello](https://www.billboard.com/artist/elvis-costello/) kicked off his 10-night series at New York’s Gramercy Theatre on Thursday night (Feb 9) by paying paid tribute to his dear friend and collaborator [Burt Bacharach](https://www.billboard.com/artist/298548/burt-bacharach/chart) a day after the beloved [pop](https://www.billboard.com/t/pop/) composer [passed away at 94](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/burt-bacharach-dead-pop-composer-lyricist-dies-7333151/) due to natural causes.

Costello played the Bacharach songs “Baby, It's You” and “Anyone Who Had a Heart”

[The Songs of Bacharach & Costello](https://pitchfork.com/news/elvis-costello-and-burt-bacharach-announce-new-box-set/), a box set collecting their collaborative material through the years. Bacharach [died](https://pitchfork.com/news/burt-bacharach-master-tunesmith-dies-at-94/) at his home in Los Angeles on February 8, and Costello took a moment to pay tribute to the songwriter as part of the first performance of [his 10-night residency](https://pitchfork.com/news/elvis-costello-details-10-night-residency-in-new-york-city/) at New York’s Gramercy Theater. It was later recorded by the Beatles and featured on their debut album, Please Please Me, in 1963.

Bacharach's career spanned seven decades and was noted for his collaborations with Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones and many others.

Bacharach penned more than 70 Top 40 hits - among them, "I Say A Little Prayer," "Walk On By" and "What The World Needs Now Is Love." Burt Bacharach, one of the world's most accomplished songwriters, has died. His career spanned seven decades and was noted for his collaborations with Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones and the Carpenters, among many others.