Burt Bacharach, the popular composer and Oscar winner who delighted millions with unforgettable melodies such as Walk on By, Do You Know the Way to San Jose and dozens of other hits, has died aged 94.
abc.net.au/news/burt-bacharach-legendary-composer-of-pop-songs-dies-at-94/101955388Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer and Oscar winner who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of Walk on By, Do You Know the Way to San Jose and dozens of other hits, has died aged 94.
Dionne Warwick was his favourite interpreter, but Bacharach, usually in tandem with lyricist Hal David, also created prime material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Bacharach was both an innovator and throwback, and his career seemed to run parallel to the rock era. "It may be agreeable to listen to these songs, but there's nothing easy about them. Try playing them. Try singing them."He triumphed in many art forms. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, a prize-winning Broadway composer for Promises, Promises and a three-time Oscar winner.
Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was Republican or Democrat. He was married to his first wife, Paula Stewart, from 1953-58, and married for a fourth time, to Jane Hansen, in 1993. He once played a piece for piano, violin and oboe for Milhaud that contained a melody he was ashamed to have written, as 12-point atonal music was in vogue at the time. Milhaud, who liked the piece, advised the young man, "Never be afraid of the melody".Bacharach was essentially a pop composer, but his songs became hits for country artists , rhythm and blues performers , soul and synth-pop .
While still a minor, he would sneak into jazz clubs, bearing a fake ID, and hear such greats as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. When a friend who had been touring with Marlene Dietrich was unable to make a show in Las Vegas, he asked Bacharach to step in. In 1962, they spotted a backup singer for the Drifters, Warwick, who had a "very special kind of grace and elegance," Bacharach recalled.
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