Burt Bacharach

[Newman]

Rest in peace.

Burt Bacharach dead: Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin composer was 94 (usatoday.com)

His stuff wasn't my style, but his oeuvre is simply awesome, and this obit is a good refresher.

I always considered his songs over-produced, sort of John Williams in the Top 40. (Yes, an anachronistic image). I leaned toward the raw edges of the Rolling Stones, my favorite Rock & Roll band, and the amazing economy of sound in Prince's "Kiss." Bacharach used a lot more harmonies and sectional variety than almost anyone else.

He certainly followed his own muse.

“I knew I was doing things different but at the same time, I was doing things that were very natural for me,” he told PopEntertainment.com in 2006. “I wasn’t trying to break any rules. But I wrote the way I heard things.”

[phillygirl]

His talent truly was awesome. I’m feeling my age when I see his age at death. His songs were the background to my childhood in many ways.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I didn't know he wrote The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I hadn't thought about Gene Pitney in decades.

Most of Bacharach's stuff was kind of saccharine. The ones I do like (mainly for the memories they call up) were, in fact, sung by Gene Pitney.

And I kind of thought Bacharach was already dead. But RIP anyway. He was part of that era, exemplified part of it.

[scott]

He was someone I never appreciated until I was 30. Not my thing, but wow was he talented!

[Newman]

I suppose one could post dozens of examples. This one from 1964 is quintessential Bacharach to me. Remember that the top hits of that year included the Beatles "I want to hold your hand," and Roy Orbison "Pretty Woman." ("Anyone who had a heart" is way down at number 72, though it did make the top ten at some point.)

But the shifting meter (in a pop song!), the transposed sections, the lush orchestration, all to me are fat, juicy Bacharach fingerprints.

[scott]

One of the dozens of "deathbed" conversations I had with Mom when she was in the ICU was a nice exploration into music and how I thought it was "so different" when I was young and "now" I get it, that there are shared hooks, rhythms, and themes. "So why did Lawrence Welk suck so much and why did you try to force me to watch it?"

"Exposure.... I wanted you to be exposed to it."

Smart lady. Mom loved Burt. She played bingo and blackjack with him in Vegas a few times. She said because he could never forget a woman nicknamed "Beaver" which might be true, but Mom was also smokin'

[Michele]

I suppose one could post dozens of examples. This one from 1964 is quintessential Bacharach to me. Remember that the top hits of that year included the Beatles "I want to hold your hand," and Roy Orbison "Pretty Woman." ("Anyone who had a heart" is way down at number 72, though it did make the top ten at some point.)

But the shifting meter (in a pop song!), the transposed sections, the lush orchestration, all to me are fat, juicy Bacharach fingerprints.

They were quite the team.

[phillygirl]

One of the dozens of "deathbed" conversations I had with Mom when she was in the ICU was a nice exploration into music and how I thought it was "so different" when I was young and "now" I get it, that there are shared hooks, rhythms, and themes. "So why did Lawrence Welk suck so much and why did you try to force me to watch it?"

"Exposure.... I wanted you to be exposed to it."

Smart lady. Mom loved Burt. She played bingo and blackjack with him in Vegas a few times. She said because he could never forget a woman nicknamed "Beaver" which might be true, but Mom was also smokin'

So cool. I feel like our moms would have really gotten on well. My mother also loved Burt. Although I am not someone who is into music, my mother was. Some of my fondest childhood memories are playing records on that giant stereo console in the living room with my mother. One of those times is when she told my sister she had so much rhythm, just like Cher. I asked her "what about me, Mommy"...and she replied "oh, you dance just like Sonny, dear". She wasn't wrong.

[Lady Marva]

Many many of his tunes will live on and on. RIP.

[scott]

So cool. I feel like our moms would have really gotten on well. My mother also loved Burt. Although I am not someone who is into music, my mother was. Some of my fondest childhood memories are playing records on that giant stereo console in the living room with my mother. One of those times is when she told my sister she had so much rhythm, just like Cher. I asked her "what about me, Mommy"...and she replied "oh, you dance just like Sonny, dear". She wasn't wrong.

Yes, our moms would have loved each other. Both nurses, smarter than the doctors they worked for, funny, and simply loved to have a good time.