Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LOS ANGELES: Burt Bacharach, one of pop music’s greatest composers and songwriters, died on Wednesday at 94 in Los Angeles.
Among his timeless hits are I Say A Little Prayer, Walk on by, and What the World Needs Now Is Love. He co-wrote numerous movie themes with lyricist Hal David, including what’s New Pussycat? Dusty Springfield’s big hit was Alfie and The Look of Love. Another collaborator, Dionne Warwick, said that the songwriter’s death was like “losing a family member”.
Bacharach died naturally on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his publicist Tina Brausam. Bacharach was one of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century and was known for his airborne melodies and sumptuous orchestral arrangements. Throughout his career, he had more than 50 chart hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, with artists such as Warwick, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Costello recording his songs.
Greatest songwriter
Bacharach was termed the “greatest living composer” when he decided to accept the Grammy for lifetime achievement in 2008. He received two Golden Globes, three Academy Awards, and six Grammy nominations.
In her tribute, Warwick stated, “the words I’ve been asked to write are being written with grief over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner.” On the lighter side, we had our disagreements and laughed a lot, but we always found a way to let each other know that our family-like roots were the most crucial component of our relationship.
Other musicians expressed their feelings about Bacharach. The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson said he was “a hero to me and very influential on my work”. He claimed to be a music industry titan. His songs will live on in perpetuity. Oscar-winning songwriter Diane Warren said the field had “lost its Beethoven”. At the same time, film and television composer David Arnold agreed he was “one of the finest songwriters of all time”.
Bacharach was described as “probably one of the most impactful songwriters of our time” and “a true inspiration” by The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies. Bacharach left “one of the greatest songwriting legacies in music history forever,” according to Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess.
‘Songs you can whistle’
Bacharach’s music ranged from cool jazz and rhythm and blues to bossa nova and traditional pop, but they all had one thing: you could recognise them within a couple of notations. His tutor, French jazz musician Darius Milhaud, influenced his style.
Bacharach was born in Missouri and raised in New York City, where he began studying cello, drums, and piano as a child. Enthralled by jazz and be-bop, he would frequently sneak out to see his heroes Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker perform, and he began playing in his own jazz bands in the 1940s. He studied music theory and composition after graduating from high school. Even when his education was interrupted by a spell in the military, he performed as a uniformed concert pianist on army bases.
After returning home, he toured with Marlene Dietrich, eventually becoming her personal conductor, but he admitted that his early success was entirely due to luck.
In the 1950s, he was recruited to work in New York’s Brill Building, the epicentre of the music industry, and began writing country-rock hits for Gene Pitney such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Only Love Can Break A Heart.
In 1957, he had his first UK number-one with Michael Holliday’s sweet-but-charming The Story of My Life, a song originally recorded by Marty Robbins in the United States. That was also his first collaboration with Hal David, with whom he formed one of the most successful songwriting collaborations of the 1960s.
The musician married four times, first to Paula Stewart in 1953, then to actress Angie Dickinson in 1958, to Carole Bayer Sager, his frequent musical friend and colleague, in 1982, and finally to Jane Hansen in 1993.
