![]() ![]() The interview is also notable in that it reunited him with David – the two had a much publicized split in 1973 after working on a failed movie. In an NPR “Fresh Air” interview in 2010 – when the musical was being revived on Broadway – Bacharach discusses the number of rhythmic meter changes in the title song, “Promises, Promises,” and the difficulties these rhythmic changes presented for singers and musicians in the show. The show contained a number of songs that topped the charts, most notably Warwick’s version of the show-stopping “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” The 1968 show “Promises, Promises” was groundbreaking in its use of amplification in the orchestra, which included a rock band. ![]() Bacharach also won the Oscar for best original score.Īdding to success on the charts and on screen, Bacharach also won acclaim for his work on Broadway. Thomas in the western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” won the Academy Award for best original song. In 1969, Bacharach and David’s “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” sung by B.J. The 1966 Michael Caine film “Alfie” is perhaps equally known today for the title track, with versions by Cher, Warwick and British singer Cilla Black all becoming hits on the back of the film. The music of David and Bacharach also worked on a different level – as the background to movie soundtracks. Years later, The White Stripes transformed “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” into a stripped-down, guitar-heavy slice of rock. In the hands of Isaac Hayes, the sweet refrains of “Walk on By” becomes a psychedelic funk classic. The songs were so well written that they could easily be reworked into different genres, and break the confines of “easy listening” – a genre often maligned as unhip. Through collaborators, Bacharach’s music was able to reach a fairly diverse audience. ![]() The list of artists who found success with Bacharach songs in that era is astonishing: Aretha Franklin, The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and The 5th Dimension, to name just a few. Others, like Perry Como, were already established singers. Some, like Warwick, were plucked from relative obscurity. Her warm tones and fluid phrasing made Warwick’s voice the perfect accompaniment to Bacharach’s music.īut she was one of many collaborators. The first single he produced with her, “Don’t Make Me Over,” was the first of 38 songs he and David produced with Dionne Warwick. Not long after they began working together, Bacharach came across a young backup singer at a recording session who seemed to have promise. Bacharach met David in 1957 in the storied Brill Building in New York City – a place where a young songwriter could perhaps catch a break. Indeed, they were a late product of Tin Pan Alley – the music industry centered around midtown Manhattan. In that way, they were a throwback to an earlier age of popular music, when the likes of Rodgers and Hart provided hit after hit for a roster of singers. They also stood apart from other notable songwriting partners of the age – Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards, for example – in that the songs were written for others to perform. While Bacharach’s musical counterparts were writing and performing music that responded to and reflected the political, social and cultural upheavals that defined the era, Bacharach and David’s songs focused on different themes: Theirs was music that dealt with relationships and matters of the heart. It was a time when rock ‘n’ roll and the British Invasion were at the forefront, with rhythm and blues, protest music and folk rock finding their way on the musical landscape. Bacharach began his long songwriting career in the 1950s, but it was the following decade that saw him come to prominence with a series of hit songs.īut with the 1960s as a backdrop – a time of immense innovation in popular music – Bacharach may not have been taken as seriously as many of his contemporaries. ![]()
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