A black-and-white photograph of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach in a recording studio, Warwick singing into a microphone and Bacharach smiling while gesturing, capturing a candid moment of musical collaboration.
▪ Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach early in their hit-making collaboration. Music Division

Something there to remind us

Papers chronicle the work of one of history’s great pop songwriters, Burt Bacharach.

By NEELY TUCKER
In 1970, Burt Bacharach could sit down at a piano and seem like the coolest cat in the room. Any room.

The once-upon-a-time quiet, skinny Jewish kid from Queens, New York — the one who graduated Forest Hills High School ranked 360th out of 372 kids in his senior class, the one who hated taking piano lessons, the kid his parents called “Happy” — seemed like an L.A. natural by then.

The 42-year-old songwriter and composer was rich and famous, lived in Beverly Hills, owned a stable of racehorses and was married to Angie Dickinson, one of the most glamorous actresses on the planet. His music lived at the top of charts. He scored hit movies. He composed a smash Broadway musical. His television specials did great business. He was admired across the musical spectrum, from the Beatles’ Paul McCartney to Broadway legend Richard Rodgers. His concerts were sellouts, drawing everyone from kids to grandparents.

“Burt Bacharach is the prince of popular music,” Newsweek wrote in the summer of 1970, putting him on the cover.

▪ President Barack Obama speaks at the Gershwin Prize event honoring Burt Bacharach at the White House in 2012.
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More than half a century after that glitzy zenith, Bacharach and his music seem fixed in the nation’s musical canon, for his compositions and arrangements amounted to a Rolex watch of musical construction and complexity. They didn’t sound like anything else on the radio. He wrote catchy melodies marked by technically challenging arrangements, shifting time signatures and atypical chords.

The list of his hits (many written with lyricist partner Hal David) that have endured is stunning. “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “This Guy’s in Love With You” and on and on.

He won three Academy Awards for his work in films; six Grammys for his pop music; two Tonys (for cast members) for that Broadway hit, “Promises, Promises”; a Primetime Emmy for a television special; and a Drama Desk Award.

Bacharach was awarded the Library’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (along with David) in 2012 and considered it the pinnacle of his career.

“… [I]t was incredible news,” he wrote in his memoir, “Anyone Who Had a Heart.” “This award was for all of my work, and so for me, it was the best of all awards possible.”

A close-up of a sheet of musical notation, featuring handwritten annotations in red and black ink, including notes for "Wood Winds tacit till end" and other performance markings on aged paper.
▪ Bacharach’s handwritten score for “The Look of Love” contains his detailed notes for performance. Music Division, photo by Shawn Miller
He died in 2023, at 94.

“Burt Bacharach’s timeless songs are legendary and are championed by artists across genres and generations,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “The Library is proud to be entrusted with ensuring his music and legacy will remain accessible for future generations.”

Bacharach’s papers were recently donated by his wife, Jane Hansen Bacharach. The collection, still being processed, includes 28 boxes full of musical compositions, sketches and scores; nearly 200 photographs; correspondence and other personal papers.

“Burt poured his heart and soul into his music, and we are so proud that the Library will give others the opportunity to visit and enjoy his legacy,” the Bacharach family said in a statement.

One of the many finds in the collection is Bacharach’s handwritten score for one of his most popular hits, “The Look of Love.” Composed for “Casino Royale,” a spoof James Bond film in 1967, and recorded by Dusty Springfield, it since has become a seductive jazz standard. That vibe was intentional; one of Bacharach’s notes in the score was for the musicians to play a passage as “languid and sexy.”

His was an inspiring story about hard work and perseverance rather than a tale of a born musical prodigy. Bacharach started piano lessons at 8 but didn’t come alive musically until hearing jazz great Dizzy Gillespie as a teenager. He trained at the music conservatory at McGill University in Montreal, studied under Darius Milhaud and avant-garde composer Henry Cowell.

A collage of items related to music history, including a photograph of a man holding a microphone, a vintage magazine cover with the title "The Music Man 1970," handwritten letters, and sheet music notes.
▪ Clockwise from top left: Bacharach sketched an early version of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” on this record sleeve; Bacharach at the Gershwin Prize concert in 2012 (inset); Bacharach’s copy of Newsweek featuring him on the cover in 1970; a copy of “The Look of Love” signed by Bacharach; and a note of appreciation from composer Richard Rodgers. Music Division, Gershwin Prize photo by Abby Brack Lewis
His real-life musical education? Touring with the legendary Marlene Dietrich as her accompanist while beginning his songwriting career in the Brill Building in Manhattan.

Then, after spotting eventual muse Dionne Warwick as a backup singer at a recording session and settling in with David as his songwriting partner, he went on a hit-making run for decades.

He wrote or co-wrote six No. 1 Billboard pop hits and had dozens in the Top 40. He was enshrined in every relevant hall of fame, made delightful cameos in the three “Austin Powers” movies and saw more than 1,000 artists around the world record his songs.

A black-and-white photo of a young Burt Bacharach at the piano, glancing back while seated, with open sheet music displayed on the piano in a vintage setting.
▪ A young Burt Bacharach at the piano. Music Division
▪ Burt Bacharach discusses his work with Mark Horowitz of the Library’s Music Division.
Several of his songs have been hits in multiple decades. Consider “Walk On By,” an early collaboration with David.

Warwick had the first hit with it in 1964. Soul icon Isaac Hayes put it back on the charts in 1969. Several others had minor hits with it in the U.S., the U.K. or Europe over the decades. Then, in 2023, rapper Doja Cat took it to No. 1 in 19 countries around the world by sampling it heavily in “Paint the Town Red,” which has been streamed more than 730 million times on Spotify and another 286 million on YouTube.

Burt Bacharach? It’s almost like he’s still the coolest cat in the room.

—Neely Tucker is a writer-editor in the Office of Communications.
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