Songwriter extraordinaire – the incomparable Burt Bacharach
February 21st 2008 00:04
Recently I had the privilege of seeing one of the best and certainly most prolific songwriters of the past 50 years, Burt Bacharach, in concert. What an overwhelming and joyous experience it was. On hearing the opening bars “What the world needs now, is love sweet love….” I almost burst into tears, not because it’s one of my favourite songs, but because of its universality and relevance in today’s world. I don’t know how old the song is, but it’s certainly old enough, and it stands up, in spite of the almost cheesy lyrics. It was a journey of hit after hit after hit, and such STRONG song-writing – lovely melodies, strong harmonies and catchy rhythms. Many of the songs were sung as a medley, because had things not been done this way, it would have taken a week to hear them all. Bacharach himself did little singing, but relied on three singers, two ladies and a man, to be his voice. They did a more than competent job, although after hearing the likes of Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick singing these songs, it’s hard to imagine anyone else singing them. When he did sing, he could largely sell the song still, with the audience reverently listening for that familiar huskiness, willing him to continue AND joining in as if to help.
He charmed the audience with his humility and anecdotes about his Brill Building days. He felt he waited a long time for his first hit – 18 months. (Is he joking?!!!) He also spoke of rejection after rejection of his songs, of working alongside the likes of Goffin and King (and others), and his earliest hits were surprising – the theme song from the 1956 movie, “The Blob”, along with “Magic Moments” just to name a couple. He was pleasantly amused to be considered Mike Myers’ lucky charm in the Austinn Powers movies – why not include a winner in a series of winning movies?
The highlights for me were the singing of Anyone Who Had A Heart – the singer brought the house down with it, and the tenor saxophonist (one of Bacharach’s own musicians) played the solo with the appropriate level of “drunkenness” expected, and The Look Of Love, which Bacharach sang himself! Not quite the smokiness of Dusty Springfield, but in her absence, I’ll take the maestro singing it any day!
He wrote several new works for this Australian tour, including an orchestral piece called For The Children, so he was able to showcase his own band, along with the symphony orchestra. (And here’s something I could have added in yesterday’s post about what music gives us – something we can do irrespective of age.) He also wrote both the music and lyrics (his first attempt at lyric writing) for a song speaking out against the current US administration.
Within the following two days, his three children collected a well-earned lifetime achievement Grammy award for him. I had to go home after the concert and take a couple of painkillers for the tension headache this occasion caused me – I suppose I’m lucky it wasn’t a migraine!
Long live the great Burt!
He charmed the audience with his humility and anecdotes about his Brill Building days. He felt he waited a long time for his first hit – 18 months. (Is he joking?!!!) He also spoke of rejection after rejection of his songs, of working alongside the likes of Goffin and King (and others), and his earliest hits were surprising – the theme song from the 1956 movie, “The Blob”, along with “Magic Moments” just to name a couple. He was pleasantly amused to be considered Mike Myers’ lucky charm in the Austinn Powers movies – why not include a winner in a series of winning movies?
The highlights for me were the singing of Anyone Who Had A Heart – the singer brought the house down with it, and the tenor saxophonist (one of Bacharach’s own musicians) played the solo with the appropriate level of “drunkenness” expected, and The Look Of Love, which Bacharach sang himself! Not quite the smokiness of Dusty Springfield, but in her absence, I’ll take the maestro singing it any day!
He wrote several new works for this Australian tour, including an orchestral piece called For The Children, so he was able to showcase his own band, along with the symphony orchestra. (And here’s something I could have added in yesterday’s post about what music gives us – something we can do irrespective of age.) He also wrote both the music and lyrics (his first attempt at lyric writing) for a song speaking out against the current US administration.
Within the following two days, his three children collected a well-earned lifetime achievement Grammy award for him. I had to go home after the concert and take a couple of painkillers for the tension headache this occasion caused me – I suppose I’m lucky it wasn’t a migraine!
Long live the great Burt!
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