The score for 'Lost Horizon' (1973) signaled the end of his most prolific songwriting period, and he withdrew exhausted to a beach house, alienating both David and Warwick.īacharach's marriage to second wife Angie Dickinson did not survive the period of relative inactivity that ensued, and his relationship with next wife lyricist Carole Bayer Sager mixed romance and art. That same year, he also earned a second Grammy for Best Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television ('Butch Cassidy').

Though they provided memorable title songs for 1966's 'Alfie' (sung by Cher) and 'The Owl and the Pussycat' (1970), for which Bacharach also composed the score, they gained perhaps their greatest acclaim (filmwise), winning two Oscars for their work on 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969), which included the infectious 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head.' At the same time, the Bacharach-David musical 'Promises, Promises,' based on the 1960 Billy Wilder movie 'The Apartment' and featuring the hit 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again,' had begun its three year run on Broadway, earning a 1969 Grammy for Best Score From an Original Cast Album. Eight of them would make it into the Top 10, and though Warwick has sang Bacharach infrequently since the early 70s, she remains the chief interpreter of his work.īacharach-David tunes began to adorn films beginning with 'Lizzie' and 'The Sad Sack' (both 1957). The Bacharach-David-Warwick triumvirate would go on to have 39 chart records in 10 years, beginning with 'Don't Make Me Over,' which climbed to Number 21 in 1962.

Bacharach gained considerable attention touring Europe and America as musical director for Marlene Dietrich from 1958 to 1961 and then worked extensively with the Drifters, arranging horn and string parts and collaborating with lyricist Bob Hilliard on their 1961 singles 'Mexican Divorce' and 'Please Stay.' After meeting a backup singer named Dionne Warwick, whose voice seemed particularly well-suited to his music, Bacharach began writing songs with David by day and recording them with Warwick until 2 AM.

Within a year, the pair had their first Number 1 hit, the country tune 'The Story of My Life' (1957), recorded by Marty Robbins, which they followed with Perry Como's 'Magic Moments' (1958). Following his discharge from the Army, Burt Bacharach first served as Vic Damone's accompanist before later working with such performers as the Ames Brothers, Imogene Coca, Joel Grey and Paula Stewart (his first wife), but his career did not take off until he met lyricist Hal David one day in 1957 at the historic Brill Building in NYC.

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