Burt Bacharach R I P

Another one of the greats has left us.

American songwriter, arranger, performer past away at the end of this week aged 94.

Bacharach along with lyricist Hal David put together some of the best known songs to come out of the USA in the pop era.

Many, in fact most of their songs became hits for leading artists like Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, Tom Jones (What’s New Pussycat) and BJ Thomas to name just a few. These are songs you probably know backwards but didn’t realize that they were Bacharach-David songs.

His catalogue is long, rich and fruitful of simply magical songs that most of us know and can hum a long too, as I’ve already stated.

Some of his other tunes that Burt wrote or had a hand in writing are Arthur’s Theme ( The Best You Can Do) by Christopher Cross. Heartlight by Neil Diamond, On My Own by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald. The list is seemingly endless.

In the 1990s and 2000s Bacharach had cameo roles in Hollywood movies, including all three Austin Powers movies, inspired by his score for the 1967 James Bond parody film Casino Royale. (Wikipedia)

So what do we play to honour this great musician?  Here’s a couple of gems – BJ THomas’ Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and That’s What Friends Are For, Dionne Warwick and Friends.