Hal David, songwriting foil to Burt Bacharach on an array of classic songs that created the soundtrack to the 1960s, has died aged 91. He may now have entered the Kingdom of Heaven, but on Earth Hal David was an equal half of a Marriage made in Heaven!!

Burt Bacharach and Hal David were among the most successful songwriting teams in the last 50 years, with hits such as “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”, “Walk On By” “Do you know the way to San Jose?”, “Anyone who had a Heart” and “I Say a Little Prayer”. Although the Bacharach & David partnership was most closely associated with Dionne Warwick, their music was recorded by many leading artists, including Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black. Bacharach and David won an Oscar for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” (from the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid”), as well as Grammys and Tonys for songs from the hit Broadway musical “Promises, Promises”

Hal David and Burt Bacharach met when both worked in the Brill Building, New York’s legendary Tin Pan Alley song factory where writers mass produced songs and sold them on to music publishers. They achieved their first big hit with “Magic Moments”, a million-selling record for Perry Como, which of course led to many more magic moments over the next 15 years..

In 1962 they began writing for a young singer named Dionne Warwick, whose versatile voice communicated the emotion of Hal David’s lyrics and did total justice to Burt Bacharach’s melodies, spawning classics such as “Don’t Make Me Over”, “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?”, “Trains And Boats And Planes”, “Anyone Who Has a Heart”, “Walk On By” and “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me”.

Bacharach and David also wrote hits for numerous other singers ie “This Guy’s In Love With You” for Herb Alpert, “Make It Easy On Yourself” for the Walker Brothers and the author’s favourite “What The World Needs Now Is Love” for Jackie De Shannon.

Following the end of his partnership with Burt Bacharach in the early 1970s, Hal David continued to write songs with limited success. The pinnacle of his songwriting career came in 1984 when Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson recorded “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”. He also collaborated with John Barry on the title song for the 1979 James Bond film “Moonraker” and with Henry Mancini on “The Greatest Gift” in “The Return of the Pink Panther”. But by then Hal David’s place in the Pantheon of Great Songwriting Teams was cemented and assured.

Lennon and McCartney apart, Bacharach and David are virtually peerless as songwriters in the second half of the 20th Century, perhaps only matched by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. If Burt Bacharach and Elton John were the glamorous brides as the musical composers, then lyricists Hal David and Bernie Taupin were very much the bridegrooms. A wedding is not complete without the bridegroom and a subsequent successful marriage needs a balanced partnership…..And the world is grateful for the union of Burt Bacharach and Hal David!!

Here’s a Top Ten Songs by the songwriting partnership of Bacharach & David –

Bacharach & David’s Top Ten Best Songs

1)  Jackie De Shannon – What The World Needs Now is Love

2)  Cilla Black – Anyone Who Had A Heart

3)  Dionne Warwick – Walk On By

4)  Sandie Shaw – Always Something There To Remind Me

5)  Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Prayer

6)  Herb Alpert – This Guy’s In Love With You

7)  Dusty Springfield – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself

8)  BJ Thomas – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head

9)  Walker Brothers – Make It Easy On Yourself

10)  Cilla Black – Alfie

Celebrate the career of Hal David and immortalise the Bacharach David partnership in your own home or office, by ordering your favourite Bacharach & David vinyl record; single, album or album cover; framed and mounted as a picture disc souvenir. You can also personalise it with an inscribed / engraved plaque……

ORDER NOW…….. www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

Framed vinyl records with a personalised plaque, make a unique present or original gift for a special celebration  ie a Wedding ( Wedding First Dance Song ), an Engagement Party ( Our Song ), a House Warming Party ( New Home ), a 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th Birthday, a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Father’s or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!!  THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!! 

Other nostalgic products available from MyFirstRecord are your favourite childhood comics ( masthead & front cover ), TV cartoons and pop idol posters. If you would like any of these framed ( with a personalised , engraved plaque, if you wish ) as a lasting memento to your childhood ……… Please E-mail  info@MyFirstRecord.co.uk