Burt Bacharach - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
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Burt Bacharach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach#Discography Burt Bacharach From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Burt Freeman Bacharach (/ˈbækəræk/ BAK-ə-rak; born May 12, 1928) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and pianist. A six-time Grammy Award Burt Bacharach winner[1] and three-time Academy Award winner,[2] he is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many with lyrics written by Hal David as part of the duo Bacharach and David. Most of Bacharach & David hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick, but earlier associations (from 1957 - 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels, and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert, B.J. Thomas, The Carpenters, among numerous other, now world famous artists. As of 2014, Bacharach has written 73 US and 52 UK top-40 hits.[3] Contents 1 Life and career 1.1 Origins 1.2 Early songwriting work 1.3 Style During 1972 ABC-TV special 1.4 1970s and 1980s 1.5 1990s and beyond Background information 1.6 Film and television Birth name Burt Freeman Bacharach 1.7 Personal life 2 Television and film appearances Born May 12, 1928 3 Discography Kansas City, Missouri, United States 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles Genres Pop, vocal 3.3 Broadway works Occupation(s) Composer, pianist, singer, 3.4 Other recordings songwriter 4 References 5 External links Instruments Vocals, piano, keyboards Years active 1950–present Associated Hal David, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Life and career acts Springfield, Cilla Black, Carol Bayer Sager Origins Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Forest Hills section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. He is the son of Irma M. (née Freeman) and Mark Bertram "Bert" Bacharach, a well-known syndicated newspaper columnist,[4][5] His family was Jewish, he writes in his biography, and adds that "no one in my family went to synagogue or paid much attention to being Jewish. but the kids I knew were Catholic. I was Jewish but I didn't want anybody to know about it."[6] Bacharach showed a keen interest in jazz as a teenager, disliking his classical piano lessons, and often using fraudulent identification to gain admission into 52nd Street nightclubs such as Spotlite to see bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, who were a major influence on him.[7] Bacharach studied music at McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, and at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California. During this period he studied a range of music, including jazz harmony, which has since been important to songs which are generally considered pop music. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell,[8] and Bohuslav Martinů. Bacharach cites Milhaud as his biggest influence and has said, "Before I went into the service during the Korean War I studied with Milhaud at the Music Academy of the West which was a summer program. I wrote a 'Sonatina for Violin, Oboe and Piano.' There were five in the class, and we were writing in a modern style. I had been hanging out in New York with John Cage. The middle section of my piece was very melodic, and I worried that it was too melodic. Milhaud said, 'Never be afraid to be melodic.'"[7] Following a tour of duty in 1 of 9 2015-07-01, 10:33 PM Burt Bacharach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach#Discography the United States Army, Bacharach worked as a pianist, both as a soloist and as an accompanist for singers such as Vic Damone, Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers and Paula Stewart (who became his first wife). For some years, he was musical arranger for Marlene Dietrich, as well as touring as her musical director. Early songwriting work In 1957, Bacharach and lyricist Hal David were introduced while at the Brill Building (which Bacharach described as a "music factory") in New York City, and began their writing partnership.[9] Almost a year later, they received a significant career breakthrough when their song "The Story of My Life" was recorded by Marty Robbins for Columbia Records, becoming a number 1 hit on the U.S. country music chart and reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1957.[8] Soon afterwards, "Magic Moments" was recorded by Perry Como for RCA Records, and became a number 4 U.S. hit in February of that year. These two songs were back-to-back No. 1 singles in the UK ("The Story of My Life" in a version by Michael Holliday), giving Bacharach and David the honor of being the first songwriters to have written consecutive No. 1 UK singles. Bacharach also worked with other lyricists at first, including Bob Hilliard and Hal David's brother, Mack David, but he and Hal David decided to form an exclusive writing partnership together in 1963. In the early and mid-1960s, Bacharach wrote well over a hundred songs with David. He produced a number of songs on New York soul singer Lou Johnson, including the original recordings of "Always Something There To Remind Me", "Kentucky Bluebird (Message To Martha)" and "Reach Out For Me", but the two were mainly associated throughout the decade with Dionne Warwick, a conservatory-trained vocalist.[8] Bacharach and David started writing a large Bacharach with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s portion of their work with Warwick in mind, leading to one of the most successful teams in popular music history.[10] Over a 20-year period, beginning in the early 1960s, Warwick charted 38 singles co-written or produced by Bacharach and David, including 22 Top 40, 12 Top 20 and nine Top 10 hits on the American Billboard Hot 100 charts. During the early 1960s, Bacharach also collaborated with Bob Hilliard on a number of songs, including "Please Stay" and "Mexican Divorce" for The Drifters, "Any Day Now" for Chuck Jackson, "Tower of Strength" for Gene McDaniels, and "Dreamin' All the Time" and "Pick Up the Pieces" for Jack Jones. Bacharach released his first solo album in 1965 on the Liberty Records label. "Hit Maker! Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits" was largely ignored in the US but rose to #3 on the UK album charts, where his version of "Trains And Boats and Planes" had become a top 5 single. In 1967, Bacharach signed as an artist with A&M Records, recording a mix of new material and re-arrangements of his best-known songs. He recorded for A&M until 1978. Other singers of Bacharach songs in the '60s and '70s included Bobby Vinton ("Blue on Blue"); Dusty Springfield ("The Look of Love" from Casino Royale), (a cover of Dionne Warwick's "Wishin' and Hopin' "); Cilla Black (a cover of Dionne Warwick's "Anyone Who Had a Heart"), the Delfonics, and Cher ("Alfie" - originally recorded by Cilla Black); The Shirelles, The Beatles ("Baby, It's You"); The Carpenters ("(They Long to Be) Close to You"); Aretha Franklin ("I Say a Little Prayer"); Isaac Hayes ("Walk on By", from the Hot Buttered Soul album); B. J. Thomas ("Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", "Everybody's Out of Town"); Tom Jones ("What's New, Pussycat?"); Engelbert Humperdinck ("I'm a Better Man"); Sandie Shaw ("Always Something There to Remind Me"); Jack Jones ("Wives and Lovers"); Jackie DeShannon ("What the World Needs Now Is Love"); Gene Pitney ("Only Love Can Break a Heart", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "24 Hours from Tulsa" and "True Love Never Runs Smooth"); Herb Alpert, ("This Guy's in Love with You");[8] Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 ("The Look of Love"); The Stylistics, ("You'll Never Get To Heaven If you Break My Heart"); Jerry Butler, the Walker Brothers ("Make It Easy on Yourself"); and the Fifth Dimension ("One Less Bell to Answer"). Although Bacharach's compositions are typically more complex than the average pop song, he has expressed surprise in the fact that many jazz musicians have sought much inspiration from his works, saying "I've sometimes felt that my songs are restrictive for a jazz artist. I was excited when [Stan] Getz did a whole album of my music (What The World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays The Burt Bacharach Songbook, Verve, 1968) but you're never 100 percent sure of how good you are even after you've had success. But one night I had dinner with Miles Davis and he said, '"Alfie," that's a great song.'"[7] Bacharach songs were adapted by jazz artists of the time, such as Stan Getz, Cal Tjader and Wes Montgomery. The Bacharach/David composition "My Little Red Book", originally recorded by Manfred Mann for the film What's New, Pussycat?, and promptly covered by Love in 1966, has become a rock standard; however, according to Robin Platts' book "Burt Bacharach and Hal David", the composer did not like Love's version.[11] The title of the song is likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to Mao Zedong's Little Red Book, which was first published by the Communist Party of China in April 1964. Bacharach composed and arranged the soundtrack of the 1967 film Casino Royale, which included "The Look of Love", performed by 2 of 9 2015-07-01, 10:33 PM Burt Bacharach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Bacharach#Discography Dusty Springfield, and the title song, an instrumental Top 40 single for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.