Dionne Warwick’s favorite composer had also worked with Tom Jones, the Beatles and Elvis Costello. He is the author of great hits like I Say A Little Prayer, le tube d’Aretha Franklin.
Burt Bacharach, legendary American composer of hits I say a little prayer for you or Raindrops keep fallin’ on my headdied at the age of 94, American media announced on Thursday.
Take Burt Bacharach’s titles off the sales charts of the 1960s, and what’s left? Not much: he and his eternal lyricist Hal David have signed songs so famous and so often used in TV commercials that it has become difficult to identify the original performer. For his muse Dionne Warwick, Bacharach created Don’t Make Me Over or I’ll Never Fall In Love Again. But the elegant Burt did not compose only for sexy singers: The Look Of Love of Dusty Springfield it’s him again, just like I Say A Little Prayer d’Aretha Franklin, le Make It Easy On Yourself des Walker Brothers, Magic Moments for Perry Como (his very first hit) or ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head‘, covered in French by Sacha Distel.
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The Bacharach touch is easily recognizable: distinguished arrangements. Seemingly simple –“I only have one rule: don’t make it difficult for the listener”, he said- his compositions are in fact peppered with asymmetrical bars and complex chord progressions. Burt, handsome and athletic during the 60’s, will gradually disappear from circulation, existing only through the tributes of his many admirers, the most famous being Elvis Costello with whom he collaborated in 1996 for the soundtrack of movie Grace Of My Heart. Burt Bacharach made his comeback in 2005 with the album At This Time fruit of numerous collaborations, notably with Rufus Wainwright and… Dr Dre. American critics hailed this new album using the formula What the world needs now is Burt.
Pianist passionate about jazz, born May 12, 1928 in Kansas City (Missouri), Burt Bacharach studied the art of composition at several American universities. After his military service, he was hired by Marlène Dietrich as an arranger and musical director for her tours. In 1957, he met lyricist Hal David (who died in 2012), with whom he would form one of the most successful duos in the music industry. Between 1962 and 1968, they will rank together 15 titles in the American Top 40, including Walk on by, Anyone who had a heart or Do you know the way to San José?. The author duo is also acclaimed by Hollywood. In 1973, a financial dispute arose between the two men. For ten years, they only speak to each other through lawyers and will never work together again.
Nicknamed “the playboy of the western world” in the 1960s, the musician with an athletic look and a broad smile, married four times, with Paula Stewart (1953-58), Angie Dickinson (1965-1980), Carole Bayer Sager (1982-91) and Jane Hansen (in 1993). “I was in love with my music. And the passion to make it perfect is such that it drives you crazy,” he said to explain his tumultuous love life. Burt Bacharach’s life was also marked by a tragedy, the autism of the daughter born of his union with actress Angie Dickinson, Nikki. She committed suicide in 2007, at the age of 40. Burt Bacharach had three more children.