Burt Bacharach, sophisticated Jewish hitmaker of the ’60s and ’70s, dies at 94

Silow-Carroll, Andrew

Burt Bacharach, sophisticated Jewish hitmaker of the ’60s and ’70s, dies at 94

Publisher

Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)

Silow-Carroll, Andrew

Date

2023-02-09

URI

https://www.jta.org/2023/02/09/obituaries/burt-bacharach-sophisticated-jewish-hitmaker-of-the-60s-and-70s-dies-at-94

Abstract

Burt Bacharach was a prolific and influential songwriter and composer, who, often in collaboration with lyricist Hal David, wrote hundreds of popular hit songs. His music is widely credited with elevating Dionne Warwick to stardom with such hits as "Do You Know the Way to San Jose," "Walk on By" and "I Say a Little Prayer." Silow-Carroll quotes Jonathan Freedman, author of the book, "Klezmer America: Jewishness, Ethnicity, Modernity,” as saying that what made Bacharach 's music Jewish is his “wild play with time signatures; he is to time signatures what [George] Gershwin is to chord changes," and is an example of how Jewish musicians “enter popular forms and make them their own.” Click on the link to read the article.

Keywords

Bacharach, Burt, Music, Composers, Songwriters, United States, David, Hal

Collections

Music

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