Profile of Burt Bacharach on Famous Like Me

Burt Bacharach (born May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri) is a Jewish-American pianist and composer.

Biography

Bacharach studied music at McGill University and 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 Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Luther Vandross, and especially Dionne Warwick, who recorded his demos. His music, which is mostly classified as Easy listening has been praised for its distinctive melodies, sophisticated style, and light classical feel. 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", written for Manfred Mann in 1965, has become a rock standard.

He has been married four times, to Paula Stewart, actress Angie Dickinson, lyricist Carole Bayer Sager (with whom he collaborated on a number of pieces), and currently (as of 2003) Jane Hanson.

In 1998 he collaborated on an album called Painted From Memory with singer/songwriter Elvis Costello.

Bacharach has had cameo roles in a number of Hollywood movies including all three Austin Powers movies. His music is also credited as providing inspiration for these movies.

Known albums

• Hitmaker! Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits (1965)
• What's New Pussycat Soundtrack (1965)
• Reach Out (1967)
• Casino Royale Soundtrack (1967)
• Make it Easy on Yourself (1969)
• Butch Cassidy & The Sundace Kid Soundtrack (1969)
• Promises, Promises Soundtrack (1969)
• Burt Bacharach (1971)
• Living Together (1974)
• Futures (1977)
• Woman (1979)
• One Amazing Night (1998)
• Painted From Memory with Elvis Costello (1998)
• Isley Meets Bacharach: Here I Am With Ronald Isley (2003)*
• At This Time (2005)

Hits

• "Baby, It's You" (The Shirelles, 1962)
• "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (Gene Pitney, 1962, from the movie of the same name)
• "Don't Make Me Over" (Dionne Warwick, 1962)
• "Make it Easy On Yourself" (Jerry Butler, 1962)
• "Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa" (Gene Pitney, 1963)
• "Blue on Blue" (Bobby Vinton, 1963)
• "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Dionne Warwick, 1963)
• "Wives and Lovers" (Jack Jones, 1963)
• "Walk On By" (Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Isaac Hayes,1970)
• "Wishin' and Hopin' " (Dusty Springfield, 1964)
• "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (Sandie Shaw, 1964, then Naked Eyes, 1982)
• "A House is Not a Home" (Brook Benton, 1963, Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Luther Vandross, (1981)
• "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (Jackie DeShannon 1965)
• "What's New Pussycat?" (Tom Jones 1965, from the movie of the same name)

This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1965.

• "Alfie" (Cilla Black, 1966, originally from the movie of the same name)

This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1966, and won Bacharach a Grammy in 1967.

• "My Little Red Book" (Love, 1966)
• "This Guy's in Love With You" (Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass 1967)
• "I Say a Little Prayer For You" (Dionne Warwick, 1967, then Aretha Franklin, 1968)
• "The Look of Love" (Dusty Springfield 1967 in the movie Casino Royale, then Sergio Mendes 1968)

This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1967.

• "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" (Dionne Warwick, 1968)
• "Promises, Promises" (Jill O'Hara, 1968 and Dionne Warwick, 1968)

The Broadway soundtrack won Bacharach a Grammy in 1969.

• "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" (B.J. Thomas 1969, from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

This song won the Academy Award for Original Song in 1969. Bacharach also won the Academy Award and Grammy for Original Score for the movie.

• "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (Dionne Warwick 1969, originally from the musical Promises, Promises)
• "Close to You" (Carpenters 1970)
• "One Less Bell to Answer" (the 5th Dimension 1970)
• "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" (Christopher Cross, 1981, from the movie Arthur)

This song won the Academy Award for Original Song in 1981.

• "On My Own" (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald (1986)
• "That's What Friends Are For" (1982)

This song was originally written for the movie Night Shift and performed on the soundtrack by Rod Stewart. In 1986, a cover version by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Elton John became an enormous hit, raising millions for AIDS charities. The song also won the Grammy for Song of the Year.

• "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" (The White Stripes, 2003)

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