Saturday, September 01, 2012

"Raindrops keep falling on my head" ... lyricist Hal David dead at 91

It was the music of my youth, those easy-to-sing songs written by a top team of composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. David passed away today at the age of 91 of complications from a stroke.

His songs will live on especially with the many Baby Boomers who bought records of the Top 40 songs recorded during the 1960s and 70s by Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, and Tom Jones.
From Wikipedia:
Bacharach and David hits included "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "This Guy's in Love with You", "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Do You Know the Way to San Jose", "Walk On By", "What the World Needs Now Is Love", "I Say a Little Prayer", "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", "One Less Bell to Answer", and "Anyone Who Had a Heart".

The duo's film work includes the Oscar-nominated title songs for "What's New Pussycat?" and "Alfie"; "The Look of Love", from Casino Royale; and the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In addition, "Don't Make Me Over", "(They Long to Be) Close to You", and "Walk On By" have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
There were more but my favorites were probably the Carpenters' version of (They Long to Be) Close to You that I saw them sing in concert at the Richmond Coliseum in the 1970s, and B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head that I saw him sing in concert somewhere ... maybe Kings Dominion around 1980? Everything Dionne Warwick sang was wonderful.

Great music ... great artists. RIP, Hal David ... and thanks for the memories.

No comments: