Anyone Who Had a Heart: My Life and Music
Page 27
Hal was ninety-one years old when he died on September 1, 2012. I knew it was coming, so it wasn’t a sudden shock. I just felt really sad. I also thought Hal got the worst break possible because he had been able to go to that event at the Geffen Playhouse two weeks after the Gershwin Prize ceremony but he couldn’t be there in Washington for the greatest honor he had ever been given. I just thought that was so cruel.
I got a lot of condolence calls from people who said to me, “You lost your partner.” The truth was that it had been a long time since Hal and I had sat down in a room to write a song together. I had written with other people and so had he. But even though we were no longer partners, the real truth is that the guy was simply brilliant.
I was down in Del Mar when I heard the news on Saturday. Then the Los Angeles Times asked me if I would write a piece about Hal. I wrote it in longhand on a yellow pad the next day, and my son Oliver typed it up for me. The piece had to run on Monday, so I didn’t have that much time to get it done. The last line was “Hal, we had a great run and I’m so grateful we ever met.” And that’s the way I still feel about him.
Epilogue
Happy
It’s hard for me to describe how much I appreciate having a family at this time in my life. It is a little bit unusual for someone my age to have two children who are still teenagers and sometimes somebody will say something to me about my “grandkids.” When I say, “No, that’s my son and that’s my daughter,” they think they have to apologize.
I’m very proud of my son Cristopher, who is a fine young man working really hard to make it on his own. Cris is now twenty-six years old and lives in Los Angeles. He worked for a couple of years up in Seattle for the Seattle Sounders and the Seattle Seahawks, and then came back to Southern California. He worked at Warner-Chappell just to get a taste of what that the music publishing business is like. He didn’t love it so now he’s over at Warner Bros. Television.
I’m also lucky enough to have been able to take both Raleigh and Oliver out on the road with me. Raleigh was fourteen when we went through Italy together a couple of years ago. She has the kind of intensity about getting things done perfectly that reminds me of myself when I used to go into the studio to cut a record. She can also be a little shy, but not when she gets on a horse.
Oliver was eighteen when I took him on the road in Europe and he worked for me on the tour. We stayed together in castles in Italy and I got the kind of connection with him I would never have had in any other way. Oliver is so outgoing that he was like the mayor of whatever town we were in. At the end of the tour I said to him, “You know, I would have done this for no money just because of what I’ve gotten from you.” And he said he felt the same way.
The band I play with now didn’t even exist in my mind until Jane came up with the idea for me to get people together who could really sing and play my songs so they sound the way I want them to, instead of my just going out there to perform them by myself. On my own, I would never have thought of this, so that was all Jane’s doing.
Jane and Oliver and Raleigh and I were on a little vacation this past summer on the Greek isle of Mykonos and I was late getting ready. I certainly don’t get dressed as quickly as I used to because of my back, but I kept everybody waiting. They were all pissed off but nobody said anything. When we walked into the restaurant I kind of fell apart. I was in tears at the table, and I said, “You don’t know how much you all mean to me, and I can’t stand disappointing you.”
It was a full-out confession of my love for them, and I’m really glad I said it because, thanks to Cristopher, Jane, Oliver, and Raleigh, I am now finally truly happy.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Eric Lax, who did the initial interviews with Burt and was kind enough to make them available for use in this book.
Thanks to “The Doc” at www.oldtimetv.pizco.com for copies of Burt’s television specials.
Thanks to Paula Stewart for her personal photographs and the copy of the sheet music for “Night Plane to Heaven.” Thanks to Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Myers for photographs from their personal collections as well.
Thanks to Joel Selvin for providing us with the manuscript of his forthcoming book, Here Comes the Night: The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues, published by Counterpoint Press.
Thanks to Amy Schiffman, Brian Lipson, and Joel Gotler at the Intellectual Property Group. Thanks to Jonathan Burnham, Claire Wachtel, and Elizabeth Perrella at HarperCollins.
Thanks to Paul Conroy and Richard Havers for finding Paul Jones. Thanks to Jeff Ayeroff and Ryan Null for helping us look for a cover photograph for this book. Thanks to David Riva for his help with interior photographs.
Thanks to Herb Alpert, Jane Hanson Bacharach, Frank Binswanger, Slim Brandy, Elvis Costello, Hal David, Angie Dickinson, Lee Grant, Paul Jones, Mike Myers, Richard Kirschman, Jerry Moss, Phil Ramone, Carole Bayer Sager, Joel Selvin, Gary Smith, Paula Stewart, and Dionne Warwick for finding the time to talk about Burt.
Thanks to Sue Main, without whose never-ending help this book would not have been possible.
Sources
Much of what Angie Dickinson says about Nikki in this book comes from an article titled “Autism: A Struggle in Black and White,” by Angie Dickinson as told to Ed Leibowitz, which appeared in Los Angeles magazine on September 1, 2010. Many thanks to Ed Leibowitz for his kind permission to quote from it at length here.
Marlene Dietrich’s comments about Burt come from her autobiography, Marlene, which was published by Grove Press in 1989.
Cilla Black’s comments about Burt come from her autobiography, What’s It All About?, which was published by Ebury Press in 2004, as well as the 1996 BBC documentary about Burt titled This Is Now.
Hal David’s comments about “Anyone Who Had a Heart” come from an interview he did with Johnny Walker of BBC Radio in 2000, as quoted in Burt Bacharach: Song by Song, by Serene Dominic, published by Schirmer Books in 2003.
The comments by Richard Carpenter and Noel Gallagher come from This Is Now as well as a 2001 A&E biography of Burt. The material from all the other speakers comes from original interviews done with them for this book.
Index
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A&M Records, 42, 77, 129, 143
Abner, Ewart, 76
Academy Awards, 124, 147, 178, 270
Adams, Neile, 37
Afternoon Deelites (horse), 216–17
Aldon Music, 42
“Alfie,” 1–2, 115–19, 126, 175, 183, 236, 237, 257, 259, 260, 268, 269, 270, 276
“Alison,” 228
Allen, Peter, 178
Allen, Woody, 97
Alpert, Herb, 42, 77, 123, 127–29, 143, 148
“Always Something There to Remind Me,” 89, 269
American Symphony Orchestra, 141
Ames Brothers, 37–38, 249
Ammons, Albert, 18
Anders, Allison, 221–22
Andress, Ursula, 122, 230
Anka, Paul, 72, 111–12, 172
“Any Day Now,” 53, 62, 69
“Any Old Time of Day,” 88
“Anyone Who Had a Heart,” 84, 85–87, 94, 97, 129, 270
Arcaro, Eddie, 212
Arlen, Harold, 50, 56
Armstrong-Jones, Antony, Lord Snowdon, 95
Army, U.S., 25–29
Arnaz, Desi Jr., 169
Arthur, Brooks, 176
“Arthur’s Theme,” 177–78
ASCAP, 212
Ashe, Arthur, 169–70
Atkins, Chet, 129
At This Time, 258–59
“Baby, It’s You,” 66–67, 227
Bacharach, Bertram (fath
er), 5–11, 92, 161, 191
Bacharach, Burt: birth and early years, 5–11, 13–15, 17–19, 22
Bacharach, Cristopher Elton (son), 201–3, 207, 239, 254–55, 267, 279
Bacharach, Irma (mother), 5, 6–7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 33, 139, 141, 150, 190–92, 249
Bacharach, Jane Hanson (wife), 203–11, 215–17, 233, 247, 251–52, 267, 269, 273, 275, 280
Bacharach, Max (grandfather), 8
Bacharach, Nikki (daughter), 1–4, 121, 161–67, 193–200, 242–48, 264
Bacharach, Oliver (son), 210, 246, 251, 265, 267, 279–80
Bacharach, Raleigh (daughter), 211, 251, 255, 267, 279–80
Banderas, Antonio, 232
Barbirolli, Sir John, 57
Barefield, Eddie, 17
Barnes, Clive, 139
Barris, Chuck, 107
Barry, Jeff, 42
Basie, Count, 16, 82
Bassey, Shirley, 85
Battle Royal (horse), 213–14, 217
Bayer, Anita, 178–80
Beatles, 60, 61, 67, 85
Bennett, Michael, 133, 135, 136
Benton, Brook, 88–89, 156
Berg, Alban, 25
Bergen, Polly, 39–40
Bergman, Alan and Marilyn, 202
Berklee College of Music, Boston, 259
Bernstein, Leonard, 11–13
“Beware of the Blob,” 49
Billington, James, 266, 267, 269
Black, Cilla, 1, 85–87, 116–19
Blaine, Hal, 149
Blair, Cherie, 275
“Blue on Blue,” 80–81
Blume, Helmut, 22–23, 144
Boehner, John, 268–69
Bogart, Neil and Joyce, 176, 179
Bono, Sonny, 2
Booker T. & the M.G.s, 129
Bowen, Jimmy, 207
“Boys in the Back Room, The,” 55
Bracken, James, 75
Brandt, Willy, 55
Brandy, Slim, 35–36, 70–73, 75, 90, 119–20, 167
Brasil ’66, 124
Breakaways, 94, 117
Brewer, Teresa, 44
Bricusse, Tony and Leslie, 170
Brill Building, 42–45, 64, 69, 75, 113, 220
Brooks, Garth, 235, 238
Brown, Bobby, 236
Brown, James, 129
Brubeck, Dave, 25
Burnett, T-Bone, 219
Burt Bacharach in Shangri-La, 158
Burton, Richard, 186
Bush, Laura, 275
Bushkin, Joe, 18, 19–20
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 144–47
Butler, Artie, 87
Butler, Jerry, 75, 78
Cafritz, Buffy, 267
Cage, John, 30
Cahn, Sammy, 34, 44
Cain, Marvin, 34
Callas, Maria, 169
Campbell, Glen, 207
Carpenters, 148–49
Carter, Benny, 268
Carter, Calvin, 75
Carter, Vivian, 75
Casino Royale, 122–24, 131, 230, 250
Cassidy, Jack, 37
Cassini, Oleg, 169
Chamberlain, Richard, 148, 149
Charles, Ray, 235, 236, 238
Cher, 1–2
Clark, Dick, 80
“Close to You,” 128, 148–49, 269
Coca, Imogene, 39
Cole, Natalie, 229
Coleman, Cy, 43
“Come Touch the Sun,” 146
Como, Perry, 46
Conn, Jack, 17
Conniff, Ray, 46
Cosby, Bill, 168, 169
Costello, Elvis, 60–61, 80, 86, 219–29, 231, 233–34, 258, 259, 261–63, 265
Cowan, Irv and Marge, 171
Coward, Noël, 50
Cowell, Henry, 30, 268
Crane, Norma, 50, 91, 93
Crittenberger, Willis, 27, 28
Cross, Christopher, 177–78
Crow, Sheryl, 269, 273
Crystals, 79
Damone, Vic, 33–35, 36, 37, 44, 82, 150, 249, 257
“Dancing Fool, The,” 172
David, Hal, 40–46
and Academy Awards, 124, 147
breakup with, 156–57, 159–60
and Gershwin Prize, 266, 268, 270–71, 274, 277
illness and death of, 268, 276–77
less attention paid to, 112–14, 139, 160
lyrics by, 45, 83, 84, 101, 115, 132, 135, 138, 145, 146, 248
partnership with, 67–68, 81, 113, 122–29, 131, 154–55, 158–59, 212, 225, 270
songs written with, 45, 46, 49, 64, 69, 74, 77–81, 82–89, 94, 99, 102, 104–5, 115–16, 134–35, 143, 145, 148, 160, 183
David, Mack, 44, 49, 64, 66
Davis, Clive, 188, 235
Davis, Marvin, 206, 207–8
Davis, Miles, 118–19
Davis, Sammy Jr., 168
DeShannon, Jackie, 105
Diamond, Neil, 179–80, 182–83, 216, 224, 260
Dickinson, Angie, 91–93, 95, 96–97, 98–101, 103, 105–11, 113, 139, 140, 147, 150, 154, 204, 208, 213, 264
marriage to, 24, 106–9, 110, 119, 153, 159, 160, 165, 172
and Nikki, 1–4, 120, 121, 122, 132, 161–67, 193–200, 242–48
Dietrich, Marlene, 46, 49, 50–63, 66–67, 71, 89, 91, 93, 106, 108–11, 240, 249
Dixon, Luther, 65, 66, 75
“(Don’t Go) Please Stay,” 67
“Don’t Make Me Over,” 78–79, 85, 93, 94, 97, 220
Douglas, Illeana, 222
Douglas, Mike, 172
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” 127, 175
Dr. Dre, 258
Drifters, 67, 74, 87
Dylan, Bob, 190
Eastman, Lee, 113
Ebert, Roger, 158
Edmonds, Kenny “Babyface,” 264, 265, 276
Ellington, Duke, 82
Emanuel, Rahm, 259
Epstein, Brian, 85, 116–17
E.T., 182
“Ever Changing Times,” 190
Evert, Chris, 157–58
Fain, Sammy, 189
“Falling in Love Again,” 52, 55
Famous Music, 38, 42, 43–45, 46, 49, 69, 88
Feinstein, Michael, 269
Feld, Norman, 17
Feldman, Charlie, 96–98, 103, 122
Ficks, Bill, 37
Fiedler, Arthur, 129
Fields, Freddy, 141
Fifth Dimension, 99
Fillol, Jaime, 169
Finch, Peter, 155–56
Finder of Lost Loves, 184
Fiondella, Jay, 92
Fishell, Dick, 10
Fisher, Marvin, 48
Fisher, Tracy, 48
Fitzgerald, Ella, 82, 89, 129
Ford, John, 69, 70
Foster, David, 176
Francis, Connie, 43
Franco, Francisco, 57
Franklin, Aretha, 206
Frasier, Ian, 170
Friedman, Edith, 212
Gallagher, Noel, 129–30
Garland, Judy, 52
Garrett, Snuff, 65
Garson, Mort, 44
Gazzara, Ben, 37
Geissman, Grant, 263
Gelbart, Larry, 141
Gershwin, George, 30, 139, 140
Gershwin, Ira, 139–40
Gershwin Prize, 266–75, 277
Getz, Stan, 82
Gibbs, Georgia, 39
Gielgud, John, 177
Gilbert, Lewis, 116, 119
Gillespie, Dizzy, 16, 23, 228
Gingold, Her
mione, 37
“God Give Me Strength,” 221–23, 229
Goffin, Gerry, 42
Goldberg, Wendy and Leonard, 205
Goodman, Benny, 20
Gordon, Steve, 177
Gould, Morton, 12
Grace, Princess (Monaco), 169
Grace of My Heart, 219–23
Granada Television, 95, 96
Grant, Lee, 90–91
Granz, Norman, 55
Greenberg, Florence, 65, 74–75, 78–79, 80, 87, 113
Greenwich, Ellie, 42
Grey, Joel, 39, 40
Griffin, Merv, 47, 169
Griffin, Paul, 87
Guber, Peter, 156
Haley, Bill, and His Comets, 43, 228
Hamlisch, Marvin, 141, 173, 184
“Happy and His One Man Band,” 49
Harlem Globetrotters, 40
Harrison, Lou, 30
Hartman, Ena, 93, 94
Hawks, Howard, 96
Hayes, Isaac, 88, 235
“Heartlight,” 182
Heartlight No. 1 (horse), 215–16
Heath, Ted, 94
Helen, Princess (France), 169
Hemion, Dwight, 147, 157–58
Hendrix, Jimi, 94
“Here I Am,” 99
Here I Am, 257–58
Herman, Charlie, 47, 210
“He’s a Rebel,” 80
Hill, Faith, 237–38
Hill, George Roy, 144, 145, 146
Hilliard, Bob, 44, 49, 53, 64, 65, 67, 69, 74
Hindemith, Paul, 23, 144
Hitmaker, The, 94–95, 143
Hoffs, Susanna, 234
Hollaender, Friedrich, 55
Hope, Bob, 98
Horne, Lena, 82
Horowitz, Mark, 268, 271
Horowitz, Vladimir, 31, 32
“House Is Not a Home, A,” 88–89, 156, 175, 257, 260, 269
Houston, Cissy, 74, 84–85, 105
Houston, Whitney, 235–39
Howard, Ron, 187
Hullabaloo (TV), 111–13
Hunt, Tommy, 69, 80
Hunter, Ross, 154, 157, 158
Hurley, Elizabeth, 231
Hussey, Olivia, 155
“If I Could Go Back,” 155–56
“I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself,” 80
“I’ll Cherish You,” 66
“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” 134–35, 141, 233, 269, 270
“I Say a Little Prayer,” 125, 126, 234