In October of 2020, during the dark days of COVID, WaPo National Arts reporter Geoff Edgers interviewed a very frail Burt Bacharach for his Instagram series. Bacharach was slumped over slightly in his chair and his voice was weak, but he wouldn't stop talking. He shared everything from working with Elvis Costello, his favorite singers (he loved Dusty Springfield) and his left leaning politics. It was a fantastic hour, albeit somewhat difficult to watch. He was only 90 then, weak, but still very on the money.
94 is a nice life. He was still working as recently as last year, going over some new vault tracks for the upcoming Bacharach/Costello boxed set. While he was in the studio working on Costello's "Look Now" sessions, producer Sebastian Krys said, "Burt ran the session, we were all in awe. He was engaged, played beautifully and directed Elvis and The Imposters masterfully." I believe it. You can hear that masterwork in every song. Every three minute pop tune embraced as if writing a concerto.
I was listening to "Moon Safari" yesterday, an album by French electronic duo Air, and I played one track over two more times. That track "Ce Matin La" reminded me of Burt Bacharach, with its soft melody being played on a French horn. Bacharach couldn't have been the first to use brass so effectively in pop music, yet, when I hear a soft horn, I always think "This is a nod to Burt," regardless of who I am listening to. It's a distinct sound, almost used as a lead voice, found on just about every one of his countless masterpieces. That's when you know you made your mark. When you have a "sound."
14 comments:
Great observation about the soft horn Bacharach sound. I have never thought about that sound but as soon as you mentioned it I so clearly heard it in my head from a couple of Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield recordings.
Those 1960's recording are pretty magical.
Captain Al
In addition to playing a lot of different Burt songs yesterday--including the theme song to the Blob!--I listened to Painted From Memory twice. It really is a great album, even when Costello reaches for heights he can't really get to. Toledo is a top ten Elvis song for me.
Requiescat in pace.
Bill
The foundation was the songs. Who would of thought Herb Alpert on lead vocals having a hit?
lol i lipsynced to Herb's hit many times in my elementary school years. One of my recent Bacharach go-to's is Rumer's album of B&D covers.
Upon hearing the news of his passing, I pulled up my copy of a fantastic 3 cd set of his work entitled, The Look of Love - The Burt Bacharach Collection. Its the most comprehensive overview of his career that I found, but its now out of print and not on any of the streaming services (as best as I can tell). His music is just so consistently good, from the early 60s, all the way till his most recent collaborations with Costello. It was really getting to me, and then right toward the end of the box set, the opening piano riff of "This Guy's In Love with you" hits. Man, talk about a massive gut punch. I haven't felt so damn sad over a musician's passing since Allen Toussaint died. For us boomers, Bacharach was an endearing soundtrack to our lives. From static driven AM radio of the 60s, all the way through cds and streaming of the 2000s. Timeless music.
Rip, Mr. Bacharach. This guy's in love with you.
Beautifully stated pmac. I put on that same 3 cd set as well. Burt Bacharach was, as my dad would say, "A class act." I saw him several years ago in concert playing hit after hit , either him singing or one of the fantastic surprise guest singers, and reminiscing. It was one of the finest evenings of music that I have ever experienced.
Thank you again, Sal. Burning Wood is also a class act.
What a talent. His work with Dionne W. is hard to beat.
Randy
One of the greatest songwriters ever. As you said, each song was a mini-concerto, full of varying tempos, keys, and time signatures, all held together by beautiful melodies. A true giant.
I'm recalling an npr segment some (many) years ago about the expensive high-end equipment that audiophiles were using to listen to music. And during their interview with a guy who was demonstrating his turntable and speakers to the reporter, he put on a record that he said was 'the perfect recording': Dusty Springfield singing The Look of Love. I know next to nothing about what makes a perfect recording, but it's damn close to a perfect song.
Thanks for bringing up Til Thursday. I had completely blanked them out and I'm an Aimee Mann fan.
Nice tribute. I became most aware of Burt's genius in 1998 when I had a cable access TV show with a buddy called "CD Keepers & Weepers" in which we reviewed 3 albums each show.
We aspired to be like Siskel & Ebert, which admitting our production values were like Wayne's World. (It was cable access, so everyone was a volunteer and learning.)
On our very first show in January 1998 the Bacharach tribute album "Great Jewish Music" was one of the three we reviewed.
Get your hands on that record if you don't have it - it's so good. Among other things, it showed me what a dark, spooky song "Walk On By" really is, and how much sunlight is in "Close To You," among many other revelations.
Musicians like Bacharach who are songwriter / producers first and [limited] performers second are frequently underappreciated. [A guy like Jimmy Webb comes to mind, and there are other the same.]
Burt Bacharach's contributions to Pop music shouldn't be underrated, but I believe it is by many music listeners.They may know the songs, but not who wrote them. That's a shame.
RIP. Mr Bacharach, and thank you,
Just read this tribute by Carole King:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/10/carole-king-burt-bacharach-songwriting/
Carole King mentions the "flugelhorn," which is of course, what I was referring to when I said "French Horn."
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