TV and Movies

[Judaline]

He was so handsome. So talented. He and Angie Dickenson - what a beautiful couple. I wonder what happened. I've seen interviews with her and she never said a bad word about him. 

[qbetzforreal]

He did write the songs the whole world sings.  So talented. Great musician.

He even wrote the theme song to The Blob!

[vsm]

Burt, Hal David, and Dionne -- a match made in heaven.

[Oznell]

@sabatini--  what great taste you have!   That famous clip you posted, of Bacharach conducting, while Cilla Black belted "Alfie" is one of my favorites too.

The cherubic Liverpudlian Cilla, in her Sasson-esque cut, delivers such a deep, tender, wistful "Alfie"--

"I believe in love,  Alfie....Without true love we just exist."

It's an incredible clip, with Bacharach swaying as he conducts, Cilla pleading and soaring.  I get a chill watching that historic session on Abbey Road, and at one point, they cut to producers or something, and while Cilla's emoting, one of the producers widens his eyes and looks startled, like he got a chill also from just the magic of it, too-- fabulous.

Cilla Black is my favorite "Alfie",  and Dionne Warwick is my favorite "Walk On By".   Dionne's inimitable voice, lithe, American athleticism and heart-broken but slightly cheeky attitude so perfect for the inspired bravado of a brush-off song like "Walk On By".

  

Bacharach and lyricist Hal David are in the pantheon!

[golding76]

About the process of writing his music -- and  "Alfie," in particular -- Burt Bacharach shared the following with writer/interviewer Geoff Edgers:

“It happens in different ways with different writers,” he told me before relating how he came up with “Alfie” for the 1966 film starring Michael Caine.

“Those lyrics were going to have to say what was going on in that motion picture, without giving everything away,” he said. “So Hal David wrote all the lyrics first, and then I wrote the music. It was a very difficult song to write: Six-bar phrase. Eight-bar phrase. Twelve-bar phrase and all rules are off. You know, you just follow where those words take you. So it took me three weeks of writing the melody on that. I am very hard on myself when I’m working because it’s inch by inch.”

Bacharach had an outward ease about him, a suave breeziness befitting someone who won Grammys, Oscars, an Emmy, the Gershwin Award for Popular Song, which he and Hal David received in 2012. But there were also the marriages that didn’t work, the suicide of his first child, Nikki, and other struggles that Bacharach spoke openly about in his later years.

Tashian remembers meeting Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music Entertainment and a longtime friend of Bacharach’s.

“Rob said there’s a lot of darkness in him,” Tashian says. “If you can tap into that …”

David did that for decades, the lyricist partnering with Bacharach to write 38 charting singles with Warwick between 1961 and 1981, including “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Walk On By.”

[goldensrbest]

He was married 4 times, did not know that.

[sabatini]

@golding76 and @Oznell, I so appreciate the posts that you've shared here on these boards.

 I'm one of those who in the written word are unable to articulate how I feel, and you both frequently do it for me. Thank you.

@Oznell, the first time I saw that video of Cilla and Mr. Bacharach, I watched it over and over, and cried through all of it.

About the movie Alfie.

We were visiting family in Pittsburgh, & the grownups had said they were going to the movies that evening to see "Alfie".

That afternoon, my sister and I walked into town to buy an ice cream, and saw the movie theater's marquee.

Alfie was rated X, & we were shocked that our parents were going to see an X-rated movie!

When I asked my mom about it, she said that there are some movies that are important, and she felt that this was one of them.

[Oznell]

Oh, exactly, @sabatini ,   that clip bears watching multiple times!

Neat story about the movie,  and parents' attitudes toward it--  it was considered to be for "adults" only, wasn't it?   I've never seen it, but I gather it's a serious look at a caddish London lad, who is careless about the women he hurts?   Or something along that line...   I can see how the song fits so well with that.

Just brilliant Bacharach music and Hal David lyrics coming together in a profound, timeless song.  

[KailaS]

I was lucky enough to see him in concert twice, once in a big open outside venue and the second time with Dionne Warwick. Not many ever will equal his ability.

[sabatini]

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@Oznell wrote:

Oh, exactly, @sabatini ,   that clip bears watching multiple times!

Neat story about the movie,  and parents' attitudes toward it--  it was considered to be for "adults" only, wasn't it?   I've never seen it, but I gather it's a serious look at a caddish London lad, who is careless about the women he hurts?   Or something along that line...   I can see how the song fits so well with that.

Just brilliant Bacharach music and Hal David lyrics coming together in a profound, timeless song.  

---

Hi, @Oznell. Yes, the 1966 movie is about a cad, & Michael Caine plays Alfie. There was a Jude Law remake of the film, which completely veered away from the message of the original.

Why?

Because the 1966 movie would never be made today.

Yes, Alfie is a cad, but the film not only shows us Alfie's hedonistic lifestyle, but the tragic devastation that follows its wake.

There's an abortion scene, which is why the movie obtained an X rating. (1966!)

It plainly displayed the raw reality of abortion, & the heartbreaking, vicious, destruction of life.

I don't know if any such scene exists in any other movie....which is why my mother said it was "important".

In the end, Alfie sees himself and his life for what it was and is, and we hope that maybe he'll make a change.

I think that the song "Alfie", which mentions 'true love', isn't only about a romantic love, but love for oneself, humanity, family, and ultimately life itself.