Our Music World Remembers Bacharach: A Different Kind Of Composer

There were songwriters, and then, there was Burt Bacharach. Back in the 1950s, he didn't want to just write songs the way everybody else did. In an era where there were so many pioneers in different relationships of life, Bacharach proved that he was also one himself.

The quest for differentness in music took a few years. By 1960, he was settling in nicely after much of what he composed in the '50s was just null. Wasn't very Bacharach-esque. By that, I mean unconventional time signatures, phrasings, modulations, and the concept by which one note follows another. So, in the 1960s, here came some memorable hits and tunes, and he hit his stride. Oh, and the artists, Dionne Warwick, Jerry Butler, Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Herb Alpert, and so many more. And there were various musical productions such as "On The Flip Side", as well as Broadway musicals such as "Promises, Promises". Let's also not forget more movies than you can shake a director's clapboard at. This even includes some forgotten ones, but they are "Casino Royale", "After The Fox", "What's New, Pussycat?", "Promise Her Anything", "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid", "Lost Horizon", "Arthur", "Isn't She Great?", and "Night Shift".

His songs, which has to be in the thousands (and that's being fairly conservative), are too numerous for me to mention here. But you and I already know what they are. We can't stop listening to them, either. Burt has had different lyricists collaborate with him, but none more so than Hal David, his go-to guy from the late-1950s to when Stephanie Mills made her debut in 1975. It's true. Numerous songs, brilliant lyrics, and tunes anyone can hum, from "The Story Of My Life" to "Walk On By" to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" to "Wives And Lovers".

Time to get ready??

So, now, we mourn the loss of Burt Bacharach, who, at 94, lived the fullest of lives. He'd written thousands of songs for many folks in what spanned into a whopping eight --- count 'em, eight! --- different decades, a contribution that likely will never be surpassed. Longevity matters. He's rolled with so many changes in the music world as it has evolved over time. And you know something? The guy never really retired. Burt kept on going.

Last week, your writer was on his way to Waco, Texas, and parked at a rest area in nearby Hillsboro. I took my smartphone and sent an e-mail to Phlash Phelps telling him I was heading for a day trip. While I wrote that, Phlash broke the news of Bacharach's passing. I had to take pause but would eventually finish the e-message so I could send to Phlash over at SiriusXM. He'd eventually read it, but prior to that moment, he had a more important thing to announce and it became time to pay tribute and our condolences to Burt and his family.

Goodbye, Burt. Thanks for all the music, but thanks even more so for creating something different. You've made a difference.