The "quieter half" of one of the all-time great musical songwriting partnerships, Hal David of Bacharach and David, has died, aged 91.
Mr David began his long and admirable songwriting career in the 40s providing the lyrics for songs by the likes of Sammy Kaye and Guy Lombardo, before cementing the long partnership with Burt Bacharach in 1957. From their first hit in that year (
The Story of My Life by Marty Robbins) to their final collaboration in 1999 (
On My Way for the soundtrack to the Jaqueline Suzann biopic
Isn't She Great?), the duo were renowned as a predominant force in music - rarely was there a year when at least one Bacharach and David-penned song did not hit the charts in the 60s and 70s!
Artists fell over themselves to get to record their songs - including Bobby Vinton, Gene Pitney, the Shirelles, Keely Smith, Jack Jones, the Walker Brothers, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Bobbie Gentry, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Petula Clark, Jackie De Shannon, Sandie Shaw, Herb Alpert, Sergio Mendes, BJ Thomas, the Carpenters, the Fifth Dimension, and of course Dionne Warwick.
It was in fact
Miss Warwick, and an argument between her and Hal, that was the catalyst for the great partnership to break down in the late 70s. Subsequently the great duo had numerous hits, solo and in collaboration with others - Hal David wrote the lyrics for
To All the Girls I've Loved Before (with Albert Hammond) and my eternal fave tearjerker
We Have All The Time In The World (with John Barry).
From the BBC:
In 1974 he joined the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and served as president from 1980 to 1986. He was head of the Songwriters Hall of Fame from 2001 to 2011, and was Chairman Emeritus at his death.
The society's current president, Paul Williams, said in a statement: "As a lyric writer, Hal was simple, concise and poetic - conveying volumes of meaning in fewest possible words and always in service to the music.
"It is no wonder that so many of his lyrics have become part of our everyday vocabulary and his songs... the backdrop of our lives."
In 2011, David and Burt Bacharach were awarded the Gershwin Prize for popular song by the US Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team has been given the honour.
And here are just a few of those classics:
RIP, an outstanding man.
Hal David (25th May 1921 – 1st September 2012)
