singles chart with his own performance of "Trains and Boats and Planes." He went on to release several popular solo albums, including 1967's Reach Out and 1969's Make It Easy on Yourself. In 1965, Bacharach wed actress Angie Dickinson and reached number four on the U.K. The duo also remained dominant in England, where Frankie Vaughan, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw, the Walker Brothers, and Herb Alpert all hit number one with Bacharach/ David compositions.
At an arranging session, he found the singer who became the ultimate vehicle for his songs: Dionne Warwick, who was working as a member of the Drifters' backup vocal group, the Gospelaires.īy late 1962, Bacharach and David began focusing most of their composing energy on Warwick, who was the recipient of 15 Top 40 singles from 1962 to 1968 (including the Top Tens "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Walk on By," "Message to Michael," "I Say a Little Prayer," "Valley of the Dolls," and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?"). Upon returning in 1961, he wrote several songs for the Drifters with Bob Hilliard (including "Mexican Divorce" and "Please Stay") before reuniting with Hal David. Bacharach's marriage dissolved in 1958, and he left for Europe to tour with Marlene Dietrich. chart-topper and a Top Five entry in the States. The Bacharach/ David team followed up in January 1958 with Perry Como's "Magic Moments," another U.K. The single was also notable for its co-writer, Hal David, who became Bacharach's songwriting partner and collaborated on most of his big hits. On returning to the U.S., he began writing songs for Lawrence, Patti Page, the Ames Brothers, and others, but his first hit came from Marty Robbins in late 1957 when Robbins took "The Story of My Life" to the American Top 20 and the number one spot in England. Bacharach was discharged in 1952, and he married Stewart on December 22 of the following year. He also performed in nightclubs and backed Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers, and Paula Stewart. A period in the Army interrupted his music study, but even while serving in Germany, Bacharach arranged and played piano for a dance band. Bacharach studied music theory and composition at the Mannes School in New York, at Berkshire Music Center, at the New School for Social Research (with Darius Milhaud), at Montreal's McGill University, and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.
The time spent in New York gave him a chance to sneak into clubs to watch his bebop heroes Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker he also played in several jazz bands during the 1940s. Still writing and recording in his nineties, he delivered Blue Umbrella, an EP with singer/songwriter Daniel Tashian, in 2020.īorn in Kansas City, Bacharach studied cello, drums, and piano as a child, and was later transplanted to New York City by his father, a syndicated columnist. In 2011, the Library of Congress awarded Bacharach and David the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Nearly 50 years after his first hit, he wrote his own lyrics for the first time for his Grammy-winning solo album At This Time, released in 2005. Some of Bacharach's other writing partners over the years included the likes of Bob Hilliard and Paul Anka. In 1998, the album Painted from Memory, a collaboration with Elvis Costello, launched another recurring partnership. "Arthur's Theme" won Bacharach a third Oscar. In the '80s, he teamed up with Carole Bayer Sager for a run of successful songs that included the number ones "Arthur's Theme" ( Christopher Cross, 1981, also with Peter Allen), and "On My Own" (Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald, 1986). Bacharach's work on that film resulted in two Academy Awards: best song and best score. Thomas) from the soundtrack to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Together, they reached the Top Five with tracks like "Magic Moments" ( Perry Como, 1958), "Only Love Can Break a Heart" ( Gene Pitney, 1962), "I Say a Little Prayer" ( Dionne Warwick, 1967), and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" ( B.J. Bacharach went on to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart over 80 times, the vast majority of which were the product of his long-running partnership with lyricist Hal David. After having his first Top 20 hit in 1957 with "The Story of My Life," performed by Marty Robbins, his lush, poignant songs virtually defined and ultimately transcended the Brill Building pop of the 1960s. One of the most important composers of popular music in the second half of the 20th century, Burt Bacharach's sophisticated yet breezy creations borrow from cool jazz, soul, Brazilian bossa nova, and traditional pop.
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