Love Sweet Love

Grammy winner composer Burt Bacharach and Grammy winner lyricist Hal David

BACHARACH & DAVID: WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW!

In 1957, composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David began a songwriting partnership that would create one of the most memorable bodies of popular music in American history. As the #1 hits, Grammy and Academy Award nominations and awards rolled in, the team of Bacharach and David left a mark on our popular culture that few creative geniuses have ever attained. We celebrate their brilliant work on the stage with the new musical LOVE SWEET LOVE.
Burt and Hal got their first career break as a team in the Fall of 1957, when their song "The Story of My Life" was recorded by Marty Robbins for Columbia Records. The record became a #1 hit on the U.S. Country charts and was followed by "Magic Moments," a more mainstream composition recorded by Perry Como. The team went on to write well over a hundred songs in the 1960s and 1970s, many of which still enjoy popularity today.

Bacharach and David met Dionne Warwick, one of the back-up singers on a recording session, in 1961. Taken with her voice, the duo began working with her on "demo" songs for other artists. When Burt and Hal realized that Warwick's demos were often better than the artists for whom they recorded the demos, they began writing for her. This lead to one of the most successful teams in popular music history, as thirty-eight Bacharach-David singles, including twenty-two Top-40 hits, reached the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Bacharach- David songs were made famous by a number of popular singers in addition to Warwick, including The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, B.J. Thomas, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, The Drifters, Jack Jones, Jackie DeShannon, Gene Pitney, Herb Alpert and Jerry Butler. Bacharach recorded many of the songs on his own LPs and singles.

In addition to mainstream pop, Bacharach-David compositions were covered by great jazz artists from Stan Getz to Wes Montgomery. Bacharach composed and arranged the soundtrack of the 1967 film Casino Royale. Expanding to the musical theater, Bacharach and David collaborated with playwright Neil Simon on the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises, which yielded several major hit songs (including the title tune) and spawned a hit London production and many national tours. The team’s 1969 hit "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", was prominently featured in the acclaimed film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, winning the Oscar for Best Song.

Contemporary artists continue to embrace the Bacharach- David oeuvre, like Naked Eyes' 1983 dance version of "(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me." Several B-D compositions may a hit of the film MY BEST FRIEND’s WEDDING. Current hitmakers Sheryl Crowe, Ben Folds and BareNaked Ladies, among many other, reaffirm the brilliance of this amazing songwriting team.

BACHARACH & DAVID HIT SINGLES

This is just a partial list of the team’s incredible pop music output from 1957 to the late 60s:

"The Story of My Life" (Marty Robbins, (US Country and Western no. 1, pop no. 15, 1957 - his first hit)
"Magic Moments" (Perry Como, US no. 4 / UK no. 1, 1957/1958 - his first big pop hit)
"(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" (Gene Pitney, 1962)
"Only Love Can Break A Heart" (Gene Pitney, (1962)
"Don't Make Me Over" (Dionne Warwick, 1962) (The Swinging Blue Jeans, 1966) (Sybil, 1989)
"Make it Easy On Yourself" (Jerry Butler, 1962, then a UK no. 1 for the Walker Brothers 1965)
Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" (Gene Pitney, 1963)
"Blue on Blue" (Bobby Vinton, 1963)
"Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Dionne Warwick, 1963, Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield, 1964, Luther Vandross in 1986, Linda Ronstadt in 1991, and Olivia Newton-John in 2004)
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" (Richard Chamberlain, 1963, then Dionne Warwick, 1965, Johnny Mathis and The Carpenters (US no. 1, 1970). In 1969 Grammy nominee Record of the Year.
"Wives and Lovers" (Jack Jones, 1963). Grammy nominee Record of the Year and Song of the Year
"Wishin' and Hopin'" (Dionne Warwick, 1963, then Dusty Springfield (who had a U.S. Top Ten hit with it), 1964, Stephanie McIntosh, 2006)
"Walk on By" Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Isaac Hayes, 1970 and The Stranglers in 1978) 1983 Jo Jo Zep, 1989 Sybil, 2006 Seal
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (Dusty Springfield, (UK no. 3 hit, 1964, Dionne Warwick, US no. 26 hit, 1966, then The White Stripes, 2003)
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (Dionne Warwick, Sandie Shaw, UK no. 1, 1964, then Naked Eyes, 1982)
"A House Is Not a Home" (Brook Benton, 1963, Dionne Warwick, 1964, then Luther Vandross, (1981)
"What the World Needs Now Is Love" 1965 Jackie DeShannon)US #7, then Daniel Johnston, 1988; Dionne Warwick and the Hip-Hop Nation United, 1998
"What's New Pussycat?" (Tom Jones, 1965, from the film What's New, Pussycat?, US #3) This song was nominated for the Academy Awards for Original Song in 1965.
"Alfie" (Cilla Black, 1966, then Cher, 1966, then Dionne Warwick, 1967, originally from the movie of the same name; this song was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Song in 1966, and won Bacharach a Grammy Award for instrumental arrangement in 1967).
"I Say a Little Prayer" (Dionne Warwick, 1967, then Aretha Franklin, 1968, then Diana King, 1997)
"The Look of Love" (Dusty Springfield, 1967, from the soundtrack of the movie Casino Royale, Dionne Warwick, then Sérgio Mendes & Brazil '66, 1968; this song was nominated for the Academy Awards for Original Song in 1967).
"One Less Bell to Answer" (Keely Smith, 1967, then The 5th Dimension, 1970 US #2)
"This Guy's in Love with You" (Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, US no. 1, (4 weeks, 1968)
"Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" (Dionne Warwick, 1968)
Promises, Promises" (Jill O'Hara, 1968, and Dionne Warwick, 1968; the Broadway soundtrack won Bacharach a Grammy Award in 1969)
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (B.J. Thomas, US no. 1, 1969, Johnny Mathis 1969 in Great Britain, from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; this song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1969. Bacharach also won the Academy Award and Grammy Award for Original Score for the movie. Grammy nominee Song of the Year )
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (Dionne Warwick (1969) then Bobbie Gentry (UK no. 1, 1969), originally from the musical Promises, Promises). Grammy nominee Song of the Year [competed against themselves in this category]