Everyday Creation
Everyday Creation is about purpose, awe and good vibrations. The show's title refers to three types of creation: The ways we express ourselves (for example, with art, music and so many other pursuits fueled by purpose and passion); the parts of life that fill us with awe (birth, death, love, the big picture); and our personal power to create our best possible lives while also making the world a better place. Here, you’ll encounter interviews, essays and some episodes created simply for information and fun. I'm your host Kate Jones, welcoming you to Everyday Creation.
Everyday Creation
Burt Bacharach: A Hit-Making Musician and Songwriter
Songwriter Burt Bacharach had an impressive career with more than a thousand artists singing his songs and 70 Billboard Top 40 hits.
This tribute is one of 44 short yet illuminating episodes about significant figures in the music industry who passed away in 2023. My guest Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime writer and newspaper editor, wrote these tributes and recorded them.
To hear the featured song "Walk On By," which was a huge hit for Dionne Warwick, please go to this YouTube video of Bacharach on the piano and Warwick at the mic performing that song and others.
Sheldon also writes Song of the Day, a music-related story sent daily to an email list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
And, if you want to learn more about Bacharach, you can check out his memoir, "Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music," which he wrote with Robert Greenfield. In the thumbnail for this episode and in the chapters, you'll see an image of the cover of the book.
Also in the chapters, you can go right to the tribute by skipping my intro; feel free to skip my closing remarks too. Both are there to provide context for those who haven't listened to the other tributes.
Audio engineer/musician Mike Villegas edited all the audio for this series. Hope you enjoy these intriguing glimpses into the lives of the people who made some of the music we love.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Kate:
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.120
Hello, and welcome to Everyday Creation. This is
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.500
your host, Kate Jones, with one of 44
00:00:07.255 --> 00:00:07.755
tributes
00:00:08.135 --> 00:00:10.475
to significant figures in the music industry
00:00:10.855 --> 00:00:12.955
who passed away in 2023.
00:00:14.215 --> 00:00:15.915
My guest Sheldon Zoldan,
00:00:16.340 --> 00:00:18.600
a longtime writer and newspaper editor,
00:00:19.060 --> 00:00:20.520
wrote these short biographies
00:00:20.900 --> 00:00:22.040
and recorded them.
00:00:22.740 --> 00:00:24.840
Each one is an intriguing
00:00:25.485 --> 00:00:28.765
glimpse into the life and impact of someone
00:00:28.765 --> 00:00:29.665
who contributed
00:00:30.045 --> 00:00:32.845
to the soundtracks of our lives. Here's what
00:00:32.845 --> 00:00:34.705
Sheldon has to say in this tribute.
Sheldon:
00:00:36.110 --> 00:00:38.910
Burt Bacharach was more than prolific. He was
00:00:38.910 --> 00:00:41.950
damn good. More than a thousand artists sang
00:00:41.950 --> 00:00:42.690
his songs.
00:00:43.375 --> 00:00:46.415
Seventy of his songs became Billboard Top 40
00:00:46.415 --> 00:00:46.915
Hits.
00:00:47.855 --> 00:00:50.915
Bacharach died February 8th in Los Angeles.
00:00:51.295 --> 00:00:52.275
He was 94.
00:00:53.730 --> 00:00:56.310
Bacharach made music for seven decades.
00:00:56.930 --> 00:01:00.150
One of his earliest jobs was Marlene Dietrich's
00:01:00.290 --> 00:01:00.790
accompanist
00:01:01.645 --> 00:01:03.265
for her nightclub act.
00:01:04.045 --> 00:01:06.285
He wrote some country hits in the early
00:01:06.285 --> 00:01:06.785
1960s,
00:01:07.405 --> 00:01:09.920
including "Story of My Life" and "The Man
00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.780
Who Shot Liberty Valance."
00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:15.200
He and Hal David hooked up in the
00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.020
late 1950s.
00:01:16.875 --> 00:01:19.355
They wrote more than a hundred songs together
00:01:19.355 --> 00:01:20.575
in the early 1960s.
00:01:21.595 --> 00:01:22.735
They wrote 39
00:01:23.035 --> 00:01:26.010
straight songs that reached the singles chart over
00:01:26.010 --> 00:01:27.070
the next decade.
00:01:27.850 --> 00:01:30.430
They discovered Dionne Warwick in 1961.
00:01:31.930 --> 00:01:34.275
Bacharach and David quit their collaboration
00:01:34.735 --> 00:01:37.075
after disagreements led to lawsuits.
00:01:37.935 --> 00:01:40.755
Warwick filed a lawsuit saying they abandoned
00:01:41.215 --> 00:01:41.715
her.
00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:43.970
Carole Bayer Sager
00:01:44.350 --> 00:01:47.170
became his new writing partner and his wife.
00:01:47.390 --> 00:01:50.750
They wrote several hits, including Warwick's "That's What
00:01:50.750 --> 00:01:51.890
Friends Are For."
00:01:53.215 --> 00:01:53.715
Bacharach
00:01:54.495 --> 00:01:56.435
and David were a hot commodity
00:01:56.735 --> 00:01:58.335
when it came to writing for the movies.
00:01:58.335 --> 00:02:00.815
They won two Oscars for "Butch Cassidy and
00:02:00.815 --> 00:02:01.475
the Sundance
00:02:01.990 --> 00:02:02.490
Kid,"
00:02:02.870 --> 00:02:05.610
including "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
00:02:06.070 --> 00:02:08.550
The song reached number 1 on the Billboard
00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:10.090
Hot 100 chart.
00:02:11.075 --> 00:02:13.495
Bacharach wrote the music and David
00:02:13.955 --> 00:02:15.875
wrote the lyrics for our Song of the
00:02:15.875 --> 00:02:19.095
Day, "Walk On By," for Warwick in 1964.
00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.120
The song was the first time Bacharach used
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:24.740
two baby grand pianos
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:26.660
in a studio recording.
00:02:27.575 --> 00:02:29.495
The song was supposed to be the B
00:02:29.495 --> 00:02:31.995
Side to "Any Old Time of Day."
00:02:32.615 --> 00:02:33.115
Influential
00:02:33.655 --> 00:02:36.390
New York DJ Murray the K would only
00:02:36.390 --> 00:02:38.630
play the B side. He thought it was
00:02:38.630 --> 00:02:40.570
the hit. He was right.
00:02:40.950 --> 00:02:44.365
The song revived Warwick's career. It reached number
00:02:44.365 --> 00:02:45.425
6 on Billboard's
00:02:45.725 --> 00:02:46.625
Hot 100.
Kate:
00:02:47.885 --> 00:02:49.965
This is Kate again. Please go to the
00:02:49.965 --> 00:02:52.440
description for more information and to hear the
00:02:52.440 --> 00:02:53.900
song that Sheldon referenced.
00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.680
If you enjoyed this tribute, please check out
00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.520
the rest of them. Although some of the
00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.215
names are not as familiar as others, the
00:03:01.215 --> 00:03:01.715
biographies
00:03:02.255 --> 00:03:03.795
are equally intriguing.
00:03:04.655 --> 00:03:07.315
Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation.
00:03:07.775 --> 00:03:10.175
Please share this episode with anyone who might
00:03:10.175 --> 00:03:10.615
enjoy it.
