Burt Bacharach

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Biography

Bacharach studied music at McGill University and the Mannes School of Music. In the 1950s and the early 1960s he was the pianist, arranger and bandleader for Marlene Dietrich with whom he toured. He teamed with lyricist Hal David and others to write many popular songs in the 1960s and 1970s.

Bacharach’s music has been sung by a number of popular singers including The Beatles,The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Luther Vandross and The Drifters. He met Dionne Warwick, with whom he would form a famed collaboration. His songs are characterized by (1) the use of unexpected harmonic changes and (2) unusual rhythmic patterns and time signatures. He employs times such as 5/4 or 3/2, and frequently goes from one time signature to another in the same song, often after each measure. He also changes keys frequently. An excellent example of his style is “Promises, Promises”, from his score to the musical of the same name. He has a total of 52 Top 40 hits. In addition, many of his songs were adapted by jazz artists of the time, such as Stan Getz 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 1965, has become a rock standard. He composed and arranged the soundtrack of the 1967 film Casino Royale.

He has been married four times, to Paula Stewart (1953-1958), to actress Angie Dickinson (1965-1980), to lyricist Carole Bayer Sager (1982-1991) - with whom he collaborated on a number of pieces - and (since 1993) Jane Hanson. He has a total of four children, two girls and two boys.
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  • Aserikoth

    Austin Powers

    2 Feb 7:41am Reply

  • fabioestefano

    Mexican Divorce ♥

    5 Jan 6:27pm Reply

  • LarkCGN

    What would I do without Burts music and Hals Lyrics? I would be totally lost... in times of need, they are simply priceless!!!

    26 Oct 2012 Reply

  • lagondola

    y divorcio mexicano?? nadie lo conoce a ese tema

    29 Sep 2012 Reply

  • richardneal

    RIP Hal David. The songs you and Burt wrote together made our world better and, as yet, have not been equaled. "What the World Needs Now is Love" = "All You Need is Love"

    6 Sep 2012 Reply

  • SoulJazzsterInc

    RIP Hal David. His lyrics associated with Burt Bacharach's melodies created such an incredible match, one of the best ever in music songwriting actually

    2 Sep 2012 Reply

  • enzinho

    WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE ... • R.I.P. HAL DAVID :( • #BurtBacharach #HalDavid

    2 Sep 2012 Reply

  • Nyasa_Lake

    TURKEY LURKEY TIME!!!!

    7 Jul 2012 Reply

  • VivianReis

    the most romantic man of all time.

    2 Jul 2012 Reply

  • Retinend

    New picture! http://www.last.fm/music/Burt+Bacharach/+images/78215800 Btw does anyone know of any good compilations of Bacharach and David's early 60s work together? Me Japanese Boy, Story of My Life and stuff like that.

    1 Jun 2012 Reply

  • britishboy1976

    For anyone who is interested EMI release on 23 April 2012 'Completely Cilla: 1963-1973' - a 5CD boxset of material by the British singer Cilla Black who began her career alongside The Beatles in Liverpool / signed also to manager Brian Epstein. The set of 139 recordings (all produced by George Martin) features most of the songs she recorded by Burt Bacharach and Hal David ("Anyone Who Had A Heart", "Alfie", "The April Fools", "You'll Never Get To Heaven" etc). It also comes with a bonus Region 0 / NTSC DVD of many previously unreleased BBC TV music performances.

    19 Apr 2012 Reply

  • 2Serenity

    Amen, Crustclock!! xo

    6 Nov 2011 Reply

  • violetchild

    Legend! [2]

    25 Aug 2011 Reply

  • Crustclock

    The problem is that history is written by the victors. The alternative to rock music in the late 60s was quickly deposed and died a slow, marginalised death, so the derogatory term 'easy listening' is the only one that means anything to a large number of people. Obviously it's a pretty reactionary label. Anyone who's seriously listened to any of Bacharach's own albums or work with Dionne Warwick would know there's nothing sedate or blandly mood-setting about his compositions or arrangements.

    28 Jul 2011 Reply

  • applecloud

    Genious!!

    13 Feb 2011 Reply

  • funkatram

    this "man" is a reptilian shapeshifter

    8 Feb 2011 Reply

  • applecloud

    Larga Vida para Burt Bacharach!!

    28 Jan 2011 Reply

  • MamaLuigi

    I wish he did more soundtracks.. Swanky and classy. :)

    9 Jan 2011 Reply

  • MamaLuigi

    Yes.

    21 Oct 2010 Reply

  • ihavesoldout

    Dude is still alive?

    11 Oct 2010 Reply
    • All 99 shouts

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