In 1970, Burt Bacharach, whose papers have just been donated to the Library, could sit down at a piano and seem like the coolest cat in the room. Any room.
The once-upon-a-time quiet, skinny Jewish kid from Queens, New York — the one who graduated dear old Forest Hills High School ranked 360th out of 372 kids in his senior class, the one who hated taking piano lessons, the kid his parents called “Happy” — seemed like an L.A. natural by then.
The 42-year-old songwriter and composer was rich and famous, lived in Beverly Hills, owned a stable of racehorses and was married to Angie Dickinson, one of the most glamorous actresses on the planet. His music lived at the top of charts. He scored hit movies. He composed a smash Broadway musical. His television specials did great business. He was admired across the musical spectrum, from the Beatles’ Paul McCartney to Broadway legend Richard Rodgers. His concerts were sellouts, drawing everyone from kids to grandparents.
“Burt Bacharach is the prince of popular music,” Newsweek wrote in the summer of 1970, putting him on the cover.
More than half a century after that glitzy zenith, Bacharach and his music seem fixed in the nation’s musical canon, for his musical writing, compositions and arrangements amounted to a Rolex watch of musical construction and complexity. They didn’t sound like anything else on the radio. He wrote catchy melodies marked by technically challenging arrangements, shifting time signatures and atypical chords. The songs walked and then ran, paused, swooped and bounced along with odd accentuations, retreated to a single instrument before pounding back in with a full orchestra.
The list of his hits (many written with lyricist partner Hal David) that have endured is stunning. “Walk on By,” “Alfie,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “This Guy’s in Love With You” and on and on.
He won three Academy Awards for his work in films; six Grammys for his pop music; two Tonys (for cast members) for that Broadway hit, “Promises, Promises”; a primetime Emmy for a television special; and a Drama Desk Award.
Bacharach was awarded the Library’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (along with David) in 2012 and considered it the pinnacle of his career. “… it was incredible news,” he wrote in his memoir, “Anyone Who Had a Heart.” “This award was for all of my work, and so for me, it was the best of all awards possible.”
He died in 2023, at 94. By then, he was considered one of the greatest writers, composers and arrangers of popular music in the nation’s history.
“Burt Bacharach’s timeless songs are legendary and are championed by artists across genres and generations,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “The Library is proud to be entrusted with ensuring his music and legacy will remain accessible for future generations.”
Newsweek, it has to be said, had him pegged way back in 1970. The magazine didn’t compare Bacharach to his contemporaries — the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson — but to the composers of the American songbook. “He’s the latest in a distinguished line of American popular composers which includes Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, a line that goes back to Stephen Foster and beyond,” they wrote.
Bacharach’s papers were donated by his wife, Jane Straus Bacharach, earlier this year. The collection, still being processed, includes 28 boxes full of musical compositions, sketches and scores; nearly 200 photographs; correspondence and other personal papers.
“Burt poured his heart and soul into his music, and we are so proud that the Library will give others the opportunity to visit and enjoy his legacy,” the Bacharach family said in a statement.
One of the many finds in the collection is Bacharach’s handwritten score for one of his most popular hits, “The Look of Love.” Composed for “Casino Royale,” a spoof James Bond film in 1967 and first recorded by Dusty Springfield, it since has become a seductive jazz standard. That vibe was intentional; one of Bacharach’s notes in the score was for the musicians to play a passage as “languid and sexy.”
His was an inspiring story about innate talent, hard work and perseverance rather than a tale of a born musical prodigy. His mother had great taste in the arts and played piano by ear; his father was in the men’s clothing business before becoming a well-known syndicated newspaper columnist.
Bacharach started piano lessons at 8 but didn’t really come alive musically until hearing jazz great Dizzy Gillespie as a teenager. He trained at the music conservatory at McGill University in Montreal, studied under Darius Milhaud and avant-garde composer Henry Cowell.
His real-life musical education? Touring with the legendary Marlene Dietrich as her accompanist while beginning his songwriting career in the Brill Building in Manhattan.
Then, after spotting eventual muse Dionne Warwick as a backup singer at a recording session and settling in with David as his songwriting partner, he went on a hit-making run for decades.
He wrote or co-wrote six No. 1 Billboard pop hits and had dozens in the Top 40. He was enshrined in every relevant hall of fame, made delightful cameos in the three “Austin Powers” movies and saw more than 1,000 artists around the world record his songs. His work was so universal that country star Ronnie Milsap had one of the biggest hits with “Any Day Now,” while rhythm and blues crooner Luther Vandross made “A House is Not a Home” one of his signature pieces.
Linda Moran, president and CEO of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, likes to point out that Bacharach was given their Johnny Mercer Award — a further honor for hall of fame inductees who set “the gold standard.”
“Nothing better describes the magic Bacharach created with every song he wrote,” she said.
Several of his songs have been hits in multiple decades.
Consider “Walk on By,” an early collaboration with David.
Warwick had the first hit with it in 1964. Soul icon Isaac Hayes put it back on the charts in 1969. Several others had minor hits with it in the U.S., the U.K. or Europe over the decades, including the Average White Band, the Stranglers, Melissa Manchester, Sybil and Gabrielle. Then, in 2023, rapper Doja Cat took it to No. 1 in 19 countries by sampling it heavily in “Paint the Town Red,” which has been streamed more than 730 million times on Spotify and another 286 million on YouTube.
Burt Bacharach? It’s almost like he’s still the coolest cat in the room.
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Comments (3)
Thank you for this great article – we are thrilled that Burt’s papers will join Ella’s music.
Cool … Thanks for the article
As the daughter of a police officer who met Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson while he was on the job and had to provide protection while they were being harassed in New York, I am so happy that Burt’s papers will be available at the Library of Congress for all to admire. I was brought up listening to his music and had the pleasure of seeing him perform in California a few years ago. His music will live forever!