Song:The Look Of Love
Album:What The World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach Classics
Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest songwriters of all time usually with lyricist Hal David. He has also recorded mostly instrumental music since the 60s. He sings but he's not much of a singer. The Look Of Love was written for the 1967 film Casino Royale and it was a smash hit for Dusty Springfield. Bacharach also recorded an instrumental version. He was born May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, MO. His dad was syndicated newspaper columnist Bert Bacharach. Bacharach took piano lessons but he didn't like classical music. He liked jazz and would go to see bebop musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker at local clubs. Bacharach studied at a few schools but he says that French composer Darius Milhaud was his biggest influence. After a stint in the US Army, he was musical director for Marlene Dietrich. He made his way to the Brill Building in New York and that's where he met Hal David. Their first hit was The Story Of My Life for Marty Robbins in 1957 and then they wrote Magic Moments for Perry Como. Of course Bacharach & David wrote many hits in the 60s but they are probably most closely associated with Dionne Warwick. By the mid 60s, Bacharach started recording his own music and composing film music. He composed the music for What's New Pussycat, After The Fox and the 1967 film Casino Royale. Though Casino Royale was a flop, the soundtrack album featuring The Look Of Love by Dusty Springfield was a big hit. The song was supposed to be an instrumental but David wrote the lyrics at the recording session. Bacharach signed with A & M Records and recorded an instrumental version of The Look Of Love on his 1967 album Reach Out. That's the version on this comp CD. Bacharach's recordings are easy listening as opposed to jazz. Bacharach and David continued to have a lot of success until the failure of the 1973 film Lost Horizon split them up. Bacharach continued to compose music for films like Arthur. He also wrote songs with Carole Bayer Sager when they were married in the 80s. In recent years, he recorded a highly acclaimed CD with Elvis Costello and also did a PBS special with Ronald Isley. His latest CD with Boyzone lead singer Ronan Keating When Ronan Met Burt was released in 2011. I'm not crazy about his recordings but Burt Bacharach is worthy of discussion as a songwriting legend. Here's Burt Bacharach with The BBC Orchestra performing The Look Of Love.
Frank, Thank-you so very much. I love Burt Bacharach. I grew up listening to his music. It brings back a lot of great memories. I know you are not a fan of his. But thank-you so much for this post. Yours Defshepard.
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