Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music

by Burt Bacharach

  At eleven-thirty the next morning, we were driven to the Library of Congress on East Capitol Street for a congressional lunch in the Members Room for about eighty people. It was hosted by Buffy Cafritz, a terrific person who is a member of the board of the Kennedy Center. I had never been to the Library of Congress before, but it is so large that you would really have to spend five or six days there to see it all. The place was really overwhelming.

  I was sitting with Raleigh and Oliver and Jane when Nancy Pelosi, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, came in and spoke. I was very happy to see her because the two of us had met four years earlier when I had taken Oliver and Raleigh on a tour of the House.

  Dr. Billington also spoke at the luncheon, and then he presented me with the certificate for the Gershwin Award. Later on I was also given an engraved box holding an American flag that had actually flown over the Capitol, which I thought was stunning. The only sad part about the luncheon was that about six weeks earlier, Hal had gone into the hospital for surgery and had then suffered a stroke. He couldn’t come to Washington for the ceremony, so his wife, Eunice, was there to accept the award in his name.

  After the luncheon, Mark Horowitz, the senior music specialist at the Music Division of the Library of Congress, took us all downstairs. Set out on a long table for us to look at were original scores and music manuscripts by Beethoven, Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, Bernard Herrmann, Mozart, and Richard Rodgers. There was also an arrangement Benny Carter had done of “Alfie” from the Ella Fitzgerald Collection and original compositions by my three great teachers, Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů.

  I also got to look at the sheet music for what they told me was my first copyrighted composition, a song called “A Soldier’s Prayer,” which I had written with William Stephen Quigley when I was in the Army in 1951. I was clueless when I first saw it but then I remembered that Bill Quigley had been a chaplain and I must have written the song with him when I was playing piano on Governors Island. We were on a pretty tight schedule so it wasn’t like I had enough time to pick something up and say, “Let me see what’s going on in the fifth bar here.” I just had to keep on moving.

  Jane and I were then escorted to the Capitol, where we were to meet John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in his office. He smelled from cigarette smoke just like Hal used to do in our office in the Brill Building, but much worse. I was there for about fifteen minutes but we didn’t really talk about much. Boehner was trying to make a connection to the world of music so he asked me if I knew Tom Snow, who wrote “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” from Footloose as well as some other good songs. Tom Snow’s family is Republican so I guess that was how Boehner knew him. It was all very pleasant but I made sure to steer clear of any talk about politics.

  I was still really jet-lagged but I was also energized by what was going on because Jane and my three kids were there to share the whole experience with me. That made everything so much more powerful for me than if I had flown in to accept the award on my own.

  We were then taken back to the hotel so I could get ready for the show that night at the Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. Before we left, Jane ordered up some champagne so we could all have a toast in my suite. Then there was a small reception for us in Dr. Billington’s office, where we all had some more champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Once everyone had been seated in the theater, we were taken inside.

  The auditorium holds 485 people, and there were lots of dignitaries there that night as well as friends that Hal and I had invited. Jerry Moss and his wife, Anne, were there, and my cousin Frank Binswanger and his family came from Philadelphia. Phil Ramone and Sue Main had put the show together but they had kept it all so quiet that all I knew was that I was going to introduce Dionne to close the show.

  Mike Myers opened by doing “What’s New Pussycat?” and ended the number by standing there in a white Elvis Presley jumpsuit with my first name in big letters on a rhinestone belt buckle. After introducing Stevie Wonder, Mike walked off the stage, only to be told Stevie was in the bathroom. Coming back out, Mike had five minutes to kill so he started doing improv and he was brilliant.

  Then Stevie came out and did “Alfie.” Sheryl Crow sang “Walk on By,” Lyle Lovett did “Always Something There to Remind Me,” and Diana Krall played and sang “The Look of Love.” Michael Feinstein did “Close to You,” Rumer performed “A House Is Not a Home,” Sheryl Crow and Lyle Lovett did “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” and Shelea sang “Anyone Who Had a Heart.” Stevie came back on with Arturo Sandoval and did an up-tempo kind of reggae version of “Make It Easy on Yourself.” Then Mike introduced me, and I got up from my seat and walked onstage.

  I hadn’t made any notes or written anything down but I thanked everyone and said that while I had been on tour in Australia, a journalist from the Washington Post had called to ask what this award meant to me and how would I compare it to other awards I had received. I told him that with the Academy Award, someone opens an envelope and pulls out a card with your name on it and that sends a spike up your spine that is an unbelievable feeling. But the Academy Award is for just one song or one score. This award was for all of my work, and so for me, it was the best of all awards possible, and I meant that with all my heart.

  After people stopped applauding, I said, “I’m standing up here alone. I should be up here with Hal David and it’s so sad that Hal was unable to make this trip. You wait for something like this all your life and get one shot and then you don’t get to come to the dance and it’s sad. So it’s with a heavy heart that I feel kind of lonely up here tonight by myself. Hal is a great lyricist and he wrote great, great lyrics. And for Hal to write a lyric like ‘What’s it all about, Alfie? / Is it just for the moment we live? / What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie? / Are we meant to take more than we give? / Or are we meant to be kind?’—that’s one of the best lyrics anyone has ever written.”

  I talked about the different ways Hal and I had written songs together and how all I ever wanted in the beginning was for him to give me a word that would sound good on the note and how we were never very quick, except when it came to “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” Then I said, “I salute you, Hal. I was very careful on my Australian tour with every step and every shower I took because I was determined that one of us had to get here. I am deeply honored by this award, as Hal will be, and it is great to have my wife and my three kids here to share this with me.”

  Then they showed a short video with Paul Williams talking about Hal and an interview with Hal in which he said being a songwriter was the happiest thing anyone could do in the world. When the video ended, I introduced Dionne, who talked about having just seen Hal in Los Angeles and how strong he seemed. Then she closed the show with “This Girl’s in Love with You” and “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”

  All the artists then joined the invited guests for dinner upstairs in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, which looked spectacular with tables set all the way around. I sat with my family but I was up a lot and visiting people at different tables. After dinner ended, an elaborate dessert buffet was set up in the center of the room downstairs. They opened up the Reading Room so we could all go in there and take photographs. We were basically given the run of the place, which was pretty amazing.

  The next day, I went back to the Library of Congress at twelve-thirty so I could be interviewed by Mark Horowitz. We talked for about forty-five minutes on camera and tape and the interview went into the Library of Congress archives, where it will be accessible to anyone who might ever want to do research on me. Then Sue and I got into a black sedan that had been security-swept because we had to go to the White House so I could rehearse for the show that was being taped that night for PBS.

  The car dropped us off on Pennsylvania Avenue, and we had to get out and walk up to security so we could
let them know we had an appointment. That was when I saw Robin Roberts, the ABC TV journalist, coming the other way. There was a lot of tension in the air and I knew something important was happening. I later learned she had just done the interview with President Obama in which he had come out in favor of gay marriage.

  We went through security and then down the stairs into a room in the West Wing right below the residence. I only had about ten minutes to rehearse with the band before I had to go back to the hotel to get ready for the performance. Chairs had been set up so close to the stage that I knew it was going to be like playing a private show. I had played a lot of privates in my life but not with the president of the United States sitting right there in front of me. The setting felt a lot more intimate than when Carole and I had played for President Reagan.

  The show began at seven, so we had to leave the hotel at five-forty-five because it takes quite a long time to get into the White House. Cristopher, Oliver, Raleigh, Jane, and Sue and I were all in a van. After we had come up Pennsylvania Avenue and parked, they opened up the doors so the dogs could sniff everywhere while the guards swiped underneath the van.

  After they had cleared us, we went up to the gate and got out of the van and walked through security with our IDs. We were then taken into the White House through the main entrance and walked along the corridor beside the Rose Garden, where there were lots of photographs of President and Michelle Obama with their kids and their dog, Bo. Since we have Alfie, who is also a Portuguese water dog, we all had to look at those.

  We were then taken into the Men’s and Ladies’ Reading Rooms, which are very elegant and beautiful and filled with books that anyone from the residence or the staff can take out. Then we went upstairs into another holding area where there was a reception for the artists. We were all drinking champagne and the Marine sentries were there in their dress uniforms with white pants. Everyone was milling around and talking to one another and then they pulled me away to put a little powder on my nose so I wouldn’t look shiny at the show.

  We then went upstairs, where everyone was given a card so they could have their photograph taken with the president. Jane and I and the kids went in first. President Obama and Michelle were standing there and we all shook hands. The president was charming. I congratulated him on his decision to come out in favor of gay marriage, and then we had our picture taken together.

  As the next group started to come in, the president said, “You stay here with me. You’re in all the pictures.” And that was really a kick, man. Standing next to the president of the United States for picture after picture. The two of us really couldn’t talk to one another while this was going on, because it was all happening so fast.

  After we were done taking photographs, I walked with my family into the room with the stage. Jane and I sat down in the first row and the announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.” We all stood up as President and Mrs. Obama walked in. When they sat down, I realized I was sitting right next to the president. That created a nervous energy in me that lasted all through the show.

  The artists had all felt comfortable the night before while performing in front of the audience in a big theater, but this was completely different. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mike Myers so nervous. He was two feet away from the president and Michelle as he did his bumps and grinds but they loved it. Sheryl Crow was also really nervous, and when Diana Krall came on to do “The Look of Love,” I could see her hands shaking before she started to play. Once she got her fingers on the keyboard, the music pacified her because that was a place of comfort for her.

  When Stevie Wonder came onstage, he said, “I feel like I’m a regular here,” because he’d been to the White House so often. He started and stopped “Make It Easy on Yourself” three times because he didn’t like the way it was feeling. The night before at the Library of Congress, he had just gone straight through the song, but Stevie knew this was all going on tape and he didn’t like it so he started again. That was when the president leaned over to me and said in my ear, “He’s done this before.” And I said, “Yeah.”

  The great thing about the president was his body language. The fact that he was sitting next to me and reacting so physically to my music was overwhelming. That was when I said to him, “I’d really like to work for you and record you.” The president just smiled but I do think he can really sing.

  The show went really well and then the president got up to speak. He said, “Like the Gershwin brothers, Burt and Hal have never been limited to one genre, or one generation. Burt once said that all he looks for in writing a good melody is ‘to write something I like.’ Hal agreed, saying, ‘We just tried to write with as much integrity as we could.’ Above all, they stayed true to themselves. And with an unmistakable authenticity, they captured the emotions of our daily lives—the good times, the bad times, and everything in between. They have lived their lives on their own terms, and they’ve taught Americans of all ages to embrace their individual stories, even as we move forward together. So tonight, on behalf of a grateful nation, it is my privilege to present the nation’s highest prize for popular music to two kings of songwriting, Burt Bacharach and Hal David.”

  There was no way I was going to top that. When I accepted the award, I got really choked up and repeated what I had said the night before about this being the greatest award I had ever received. Then I sat down at the piano and led everyone in “What the World Needs Now.” It wasn’t until I settled in at the piano that I finally felt comfortable.

  After the show was over, the president and the First Lady got up onstage and went around and talked to every single musician. The president shook everybody’s hand and thanked all the staff. After they left, we all went to a champagne reception. President and Mrs. Obama could not attend because it was late, and the reason their daughters had not been at the show was that it was a school night.

  When we left the White House, it was pouring rain. We got back into the van and went to dinner. Then Jane and I went off for a little vacation in Puerto Rico. I had been to the White House before with Carole to play for President Reagan, but for me this experience was on an entirely different level.

  During the George W. Bush era, I had played a charity event in a hotel ballroom in Dallas. I was backstage waiting to go on when Laura Bush came back to see me with Cherie Blair, the wife of Tony Blair, the prime minister of England, and another woman who was a friend of theirs. The three of them started singing my songs to me like they were the Andrews Sisters and I thought that was wonderful.

  Less than a year later, I went to Washington for the Kennedy Center Honors, where Elizabeth Taylor was being honored, and I was going to play piano for Dionne as she sang “That’s What Friends Are For.” As we went into the White House to meet President and Mrs. Bush, I was telling Jane, “Laura Bush was singing my songs to me in Dallas so I know she’ll be happy to see me.” We were all standing in line and when she came up to me, Laura Bush didn’t have a clue who I was but the president said, “I like your music.”

  A couple of months after the Gershwin Prize ceremony, I went to a small fund-raiser in Los Angeles for President Obama, thrown by Ryan Murphy, who did the television show Nip/Tuck. There were about eighty people at Ryan’s house and I said to Jane, “We’re going to get our picture taken again with the president.” I was sitting there eating dinner and just before the president started to speak, I realized my knife had been taken away. Because the president had just come in the room, everyone’s knives suddenly disappeared.

  When the time came for Jane and me to have our picture taken with the president, I said to her, “Do you think he’ll remember me?” She said, “Of course he will.” We went back to see him and the president couldn’t have been nicer. He gave me a big hug and said, “How’s Hal? Is he out of the hospital?” I thought that was incredible. The man has great charisma and all I can say is that I am kind of in love with the gu
y.

  A couple of weeks after Jane and I came back from Puerto Rico, I talked to Hal on the phone. Then I did a benefit show at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood with five other composers, J. D. Souther, Sergio Mendes, and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds among them, for the Fulfillment Fund, a charity that helps about two thousand disadvantaged kids a year. I walked in and someone told me Hal was there. I went over and told him how happy I was that he was out of the hospital. Hal didn’t look that great but he could speak in short sentences, so I could communicate with him. When I got up onstage, I talked a lot about him before I sang “Alfie.”

  About a week and a half later, Jane and I were in the car on our way to Hollywood Park when I got a call from Dionne in London. Chuck Jackson had just gotten in touch with her because he’d heard Hal had died. I got on the phone right away and called Eunice, but I couldn’t even get through to her voice mail.

  I was now very concerned, so I called Phil Ramone on the west coast and asked him if he knew anything about it and he said he was going to try to find out. When I got in the car with Jane after leaving the track, the phone rang and it was Eunice. I was expecting really bad news but she said, “Hal and I were out at the Ahmanson Theater seeing Follies.”

  Not long after that, in June, Hal was in New York at the Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner. I talked to him and Eunice again after I came back from playing a show in Louisville, Kentucky, and she told me they were going there the following week for an eight-day boat cruise up the Ohio River. As it turned out, Hal never got to make that trip. Instead he got an infection and had to go into the hospital. He came back out, but was then hospitalized again.