Burt Bacharach: A Life in Song

APPLAUSE

# Love, sweet love

# It's love, sweet love

# It's the only thing... #

Wow! Good evening.

Welcome to the Festival Hall where, tonight, we are celebrating

a songwriting legend.

In the 1960s, he turned popular music on its head.

His unique style broke many musical boundaries

and he composed some of the most recognisable and lasting melodies

ever created.

Walk On By, I Say A Little Prayer, The Look Of Love,

What's New Pussycat?, That's What Friends Are For,

Alfie, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,

I'll Never Fall In Love Again.

The list goes on and on and on.

And tonight, these songs and many others

will be performed by a host of stars, including Alfie Boe.

# And this all can be mine? #

Sophie Ellis-Bexter.

# No, no, I'll never fall in love again. #

Shaun Escoffery.

# And a house is not a home without two of us. #

Rebecca Ferguson.

# Forever, forever You'll stay in my heart

# And I will love you. #

Justin Hayward.

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love. #

Michael Kiwanuka.

# The windows of the world are covered with rain. #

Laura Mvula.

# Do you know the way to San Jose? #

And Joss Stone.

# In between the heartaches

# You hold me here in your arms. #

APPLAUSE

Our guest of honour was nicknamed "Happy".

This was curious, since he was a self-confessed, insecure loner.

He had endless battles with his mother over his piano lessons,

he'd rather have been playing ball.

But, happily for us, he went on to become one of popular music's

most gifted and accomplished composer-performers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the legend himself,

the maestro, Mr Burt Bacharach!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Always something there to remind me

# There's always something there to remind me... #

Thank you.

# ..There's always something there to remind me... #

One of the things I wanted to ask you to begin with is,

at what point in your life,

did you give up football and take music seriously?

Because it was a good decision, I'll tell you now.

It was a hell of a good decision.

I think I was too small.

I got kicked around, you know, playing football. American football.

Not your football.

Did you like music as a very young kid?

I did not like music.

As a matter of fact, I really objected

to being forced to take piano lessons by my mother,

who bought me a Steinway grand,

and coming home from school,

I'd have to practise for a half an hour and hated it.

-But we wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for my mother.

-Really?

Yeah.

Because she came into my bedroom one night,

you know, to say good night to me.

I was maybe 24. No!

25. 25.

She came into my bedroom to say good night,

probably when I was 14,

13 or 14,

and said...

"You know, we've tried, I've pushed.

"I don't want to push you any more.

"I feel you don't really like doing this.

"You don't like taking lessons.

"You don't like practising.

"So it's your choice.

"If you want to stop, you can stop now."

And I thought, "I am free.

"I'm out."

You know?

I went to bed and somewhere at about four in the morning,

it occurred to me,

maybe the Jewish guilt or something that came about,

"I can't do this to my mother!"

LAUGHTER

So... "To my mother!"

This is the reason we're sitting here, you know, actually.

OK.

Early musical influences.

You give up the football and you start to take music seriously

and it starts to take you seriously.

Early influences - bebop,

Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker,

Dizzy Gillespie,

the Count Basie Big Band.

Somebody told me that you had a copy

of Ravel's Daphnis And Chloe under your desk at school.

Yeah, because the other choice

was what I was learning in high school

was total disinterest for me.

We need to get now to

your first sight or your first hearing of Dionne Warwick.

There was something about her that was star-like,

maybe, potentially.

She came in to sing for Hal and me

maybe six weeks after the recording in Mexican Divorce.

And we said,

"Phew, this girl is unbelievable."

I think it's time we heard some music

and we're going to hear one of Burt and Dionne's

most famous collaborations - Walk On By.

Please welcome the wonderful Rebecca Ferguson!

APPLAUSE

# If you see me walking down the street

# And I start to cry

# Each time we meet

# Walk on by

# Walk on by

# Make believe

# That you don't see the tears

# Just let me grieve

# In private

# Because each time I see you

# I break down and cry

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Well, I just can't seem to get over you

# And so if I seem

# Broken and blue

# Walk on by

# Walk on by

# Foolish pride

# Is all that I have left

# So let me hide

# The tears and the sadness you gave me

# When you said goodbye

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Ah-ha

# Ha-ah

# Walk on by

# Foolish pride

# Is all that I have left

# So let me hide

# The tears and the sadness you gave me

# When you said goodbye

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Walk on by

# Don't stop

# Now you really gotta go So walk on by

# Don't stop

# Babe, believe, you'll never see the tears I cry

# Don't stop

# Now you really gotta go So walk on by

# Don't stop

# Babe, believe, you'll never see the tears I cry

# Walk on by. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you.

Burt, there's a fateful moment where you meet somebody

who's to play a big part in your career,

which is Hal David writing lyrics.

Where did you meet?

We were just a part of a whole group in the Brill Building.

The Brill Building?

Famous. 1619 Broadway, like the Music Factory.

-And it was all music publishers and writers?

-Yes.

And Hal was hanging around like you were hanging around?

Hal had been writing and had a couple of hits.

-And had you had any hits at this point?

-No.

-Nothing?

So you meet him and what was the first song you wrote with him?

Can you remember?

We wrote some early songs that were really terrible.

MICHAEL CHUCKLES

There's a song called Peggy's In The Pantry. You'll never hear that.

-Peggy's In The Pantry?

-Right.

Underneath The Overpass was another song that we wrote.

These were unrecordable songs, you know?

How did you and Hal work?

Did you sit in a room together, all different ways?

It was an office. It was like a...

Not a very pretty office.

The window didn't open.

The air conditioning didn't work.

Hal smoked a lot.

But you had a piano?

-A bad piano.

-A bad piano!

A kind of beat-up upright.

But we wrote there and we...

Actually, Mike, we never finished a song in one day.

Because he would like to go home to Long Island

and I would want to go back to my apartment

and work on what we were working on

and maybe finish it the next day or the day after that.

So, you know,

you don't get awards for writing five songs a day.

I think it's time for another song.

So our next performer's sound

has been likened to hearing Billie Holiday with the Beach Boys.

Please welcome the amazing Laura Mvula!

APPLAUSE

# Do you know the way to San Jose?

# I've been away so long

# I may go wrong and lose my way

# Do you know the way to San Jose?

# I'm going back to find

# Some peace of mind in San Jose

# LA is a great big freeway

# Put a hundred down and buy a car

# In a week, maybe two

# They'll make you a star

# Weeks turn into years

# How quick they pass

# And all the stars that never were

# Are parking cars or pumping gas

# You can really breathe in San Jose

# They've got a lot of space

# There'll be a place where I can stay

# I was born and raised in San Jose

# I'm going back to find

# Some peace of mind in San Jose

# Fame and fortune is a magnet

# It can pull you far away from home

# With a dream in your heart you're never alone

# Dreams turn into dust and blow away

# And there you are without a friend

# You pack your car and ride away

# I've got lots of friends in San Jose

# Do you know the way to San Jose?

# LA is a great big freeway

# Put a hundred down and buy a car

# In a week, maybe two

# They'll make you a star

# Weeks turn into years

# How quick they pass

# And all the stars that never were

# Are parking cars and pumping gas

# Do you know the way to San Jose?

# Can't wait to get back to San Jose

# Ah-ooooh

# Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh-oh Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh

# Oh, oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh Oh-oh, oh. #

APPLAUSE

It must have been quite difficult to get artists like Dionne Warwick,

getting people like that to understand

that these songs had value,

that they were new and that the audience would listen to them?

Well, Michael, I never intended to break rules.

You know?

It never was my intention to make things difficult.

But, you know, sometimes I wouldn't know, until I wrote the music out,

that it was not an eight-bar phrase,

it was a ten-bar phrase.

Which is very unusual.

Well... But it felt right.

And my voice really got to be heard

when somebody let me get into a recording studio

and record the artists.

Up until then, you know, I'd had songs recorded

and some were pretty good.

We're going to hear an amazing song,

which everybody will know immediately.

And since 1965,

What The World Needs Now has been covered by more than 100 artists.

And tonight, we have the great pleasure

of introducing another singer-musician-songwriter,

the voice of the Moody Blues,

please welcome Mr Justin Hayward!

APPLAUSE

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# It's the only thing

# That there's just too little of

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# No, not just for some but for everyone

# Lord, we don't need another mountain

# There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb

# There are oceans and rivers enough to cross

# Enough to last until the end of time

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# It's the only thing

# That there's just too little of

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# No, not just for some but for everyone

# Lord, we don't need another meadow

# There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow

# There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine

# Oh, listen, Lord

# If you want to know

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# It's the only thing

# That there's just too little of

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# No, not just for some

# Oh, but just for everyone

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# What the world needs now

# Is love, sweet love

# No, not just for some

# Oh, but just for everyone... #

APPLAUSE

I want to talk now about I Say A Little Prayer.

You weren't sure that this ought to be released for Dionne, were you?

You weren't absolutely certain it was going to be a hit.

No, I tried to keep it from coming out.

Did you? Why?

Well, I wrote the arrangement, produced the record.

I didn't think I'd got it.

I didn't think I'd got it in the studio.

I thought the tempo maybe was too fast.

Got overruled by the label.

They put it out.

And it was a hit.

-Well, it was one of her biggest hits, wasn't it?

-Biggest hits.

But then, you know, Aretha covered it,

Aretha Franklin covered it,

and made a seamless record,

a much better record than I made.

And it was one of my favourite records.

Did you ever doubt your own judgment after that, or...

-Constantly.

-..you'd go with your instincts?

Constantly. I don't write quickly.

And maybe I'll wind up with,

after two, three weeks,

with exactly what I started.

Maybe make one slight change. Maybe.

But I'm very difficult on myself that way.

I'm very hard on myself.

Well, let's hear the song.

Please welcome, singing I Say A Little Prayer, Rebecca Ferguson!

APPLAUSE

# Oh, when I wake up

# Before I put on my make-up

# I say a little prayer for you

# I'm combing my hair now

# And wondering what dress to wear now

# I say a little prayer for you

# Forever, forever You'll stay in my heart

# And I will love you forever and ever

# We never will part

# Oh, how I love you

# Together, together That's how we must be

# To live without you

# Will always be heartbreak for me

# I run for the bus, dear

# Oh, I ride and I think of us, dear

# I say a little prayer for you

# At work, I just take time

# And all through my coffee break time

# I say a little prayer for you

# Forever, forever You'll stay in my heart

# And I will love you

# Forever and ever We never will part

# Oh, how I love you

# Together, together That's how we must be

# To live without you

# Will always be heartbreak for me

# I say a little prayer for you

# I say a little prayer for you

# Forever, forever You'll stay in my heart

# And I will love you

# Forever and ever We never will part

# Oh, how I love you

# Together, together That's how we must be

# To live without you

# Would only be heartbreak for me

# My darling, believe me

# For me, there is no-one

# But you

# Please, love me, too

# Cos I love you

# Answer my prayers, babe

# And say you love me, too

# Answer my prayers, baby

# Just answer my prayers, baby

# Oooh-ooooh-hooooh. #

APPLAUSE

I've got this picture, Burt, of you and Hal sitting

facing a blank sheet of manuscript and a blank sheet of paper for him.

Where on earth do you...

How do you decide what the subject is for a song?

You've got the world to choose from.

Maybe I have a melodic fragment,

something that I've come in with four bars of music.

Maybe he's got a title.

And it's a building process from there.

You know, it's sort of snowballs.

Right. Right.

When you did Windows Of The World and generally...

So this is the question you always get asked

and it's such a cliched question, but it's so interesting,

music or lyrics first?

In this particular case, Windows Of The World, the lyrics came first?

I think so.

To my memory, they did come first.

-But it doesn't matter to you, does it, which way round...

-No.

..the inspiration comes?

No, I prefer sometimes to write with the lyrics first and set it.

It takes me into different places

that I might take myself just going with the music.

I think, with Windows Of The World,

the first record on that song was with Dionne.

And it's a record that I blew.

I mean, I really wrote the wrong arrangement, wrong concept.

It was too happy.

It should have been just with a guitar.

It should have just had...

So I missed, you know?

And that's one of the nice things

about having control of your songs in the studio.

You can kind of say,

"I will take the blame.

"I take the blame if it didn't work

"and I'll take the credit if it worked."

So, first recorded by Dionne, as we've talked about.

But covered by artists including Isaac Hayes, the Pretenders,

Luther Vandross.

Here tonight, to perform The Windows Of The World,

please welcome singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka!

APPLAUSE

# The windows of the world

# Are covered with rain

# Where is the sunshine

# We once knew?

# Everybody knows

# When little children play

# They need a sunny day

# To grow straight and tall

# Let the sun shine through

# The windows of the world

# Are covered with rain

# What is the whole world coming to?

# Everybody knows

# When men cannot be friends

# Their quarrel often ends

# Where some have to die

# Let the sun shine through

# The windows of the world

# Are covered with rain

# There must be something we can do

# Everybody knows

# Whenever rain appears

# It's really angel tears

# How long must they cry?

# Let the sun shine through. #

APPLAUSE

Now, you and Hal are a hit factory at this point, in huge demand.

And the Broadway stage comes calling.

Were you tempted?

I know you were, because you wrote a fabulous show.

But how did that happen? And tell us what the show was.

Well, it was so easy.

I mean, you had David Merrick, who was the producer.

The number-one producer in our country.

And you had Neil Simon to write the book.

We should say at this point the show, of course,

everybody knows we're talking about Promises, Promises.

-Promises, Promises, yeah.

-It's a whole different discipline, isn't it?

Because you're writing to a very strict template.

You've got a story, you've got characters.

And there, Michael, it's very important

that you write the music to the words that are given to you.

Because Hal's words had come off the script, you might say,

to sort of be seamless, coming from what Neil Simon had written.

So it wouldn't sound abrupt.

And that's why it never was a good idea for me to say,

"Well, I see what this swansong is, so I'll write the melody."

Well, it doesn't work that way.

Now, there's a word in one of the lyrics

that I suspect that you must have bet him a lot of money

that he couldn't get into a song and that's "pneumonia",

which is the most unlikely word to find.

And that song that lyric is from

is the fastest song that we ever wrote.

The one song that we wrote in one day.

Because I had gotten sick in Boston,

I got pneumonia, wound up in the hospital.

-Oh, you got pneumonia?

-I got pneumonia.

And Hal said, "I can use that!"

"What do you get when you kiss a girl?

"You catch enough germs to catch pneumonia.

"If you do, she'll never phone ya."

LAUGHTER

Let's hear the song.

And I'm happy to say that, to perform this enduring classic,

the lady with the unmistakable voice...

Sophie Ellis-Bexter!

APPLAUSE

# What do you get when you fall in love?

# A guy with a pin to burst your bubble

# That's what you get for all your trouble

# I'll never fall in love again

# I'll never fall in love again

# What do you get when you kiss a guy?

# You get enough germs to catch pneumonia

# After you do, he'll never phone ya

# I'll never fall in love again

# Don't you know that I'll never fall in love again?

# Don't tell me what it's all about

# Cos I've been there and I'm glad I'm out

# Out of those chains Those chains that bind you

# That is why I'm here to remind you

# What do you get when you fall in love?

# You only get lies and pain and sorrow

# So for at least until tomorrow

# I'll never fall in love again

# No, no, I'll never fall in love again

# I'm out of those chains Those chains that bind you

# That is why I'm here to remind you

# What do you get when you fall in love?

# You only get lies and pain and sorrow

# So for at least until tomorrow

# I'll never fall in love again

# Don't you know that I'll never fall in love again?

# I'll never fall in love again. #

APPLAUSE

The next song we're going to hear is In Between The Heartaches.

Now, if you were around in the '60s, which I was,

this was so different to anything

you could hear or buy in the record store.

Where does it come from,

something that breaks the mould as much as this song did?

To me, it's partly tonal.

So, in other words, there are two chords that our existing...

..playing off one another.

So there is one chord in the lower register

and another chord in the upper register.

And it just kind of...

It just kind of...

A very kind of magical thing...

Are we back to Ravel here, or something?

Yes, you might say. You might say.

This is very French in its influence.

And it's a song I always loved.

Let's now hear In Between The Heartaches.

And to sing it, we're so thrilled to welcome to the stage...

Joss Stone!

APPLAUSE

# In between the heartaches

# You hold me here in your arms

# And say you love me

# In between the heartaches

# The way you kiss

# I can tell you're thinking of me

# I know you love me

# And that makes up for all of the heartache

# And the sadness

# And the tears

# Everyone keeps asking me

# Why I stay with you

# The way you hurt me

# They can see

# How many times I'm alone and blue

# When you desert me

# You come and go

# Without a letter

# And they say

# That I should get up and go

# But they don't know

# They don't know that in between the heartaches

# You hold me here in your arms

# And say you love me

# In between the heartaches

# The way you kiss

# I can tell you're thinking of me

# I know you love me

# And that makes up for all the heartache

# And the sadness

# And the tears

# They don't ever see us

# In between the heartaches

# You hold me here in your arms

# And say you love me

# In between the heartaches

# The way you kiss

# I can tell you're thinking of me

# I know you love me

# And that makes up for all the heartache

# And the sadness

# And the tears

# The heartache

# The sadness

# And the tears

# Oh, the heartache

# The sadness

# And the tears. #

APPLAUSE

Wow!

Anybody remember Dr Kildare?

Yes, a great big hit television medical series of years ago.

And the big star of that was Richard Chamberlain.

He recorded Close To You, I see.

-Were you involved in that?

-Very involved.

I was very involved with the recording.

They brought me out from New York to record Richard.

And it was...an impossibly bad record.

I think we'll leave it there.

-Also...

-I'll take the blame on that, too. Yeah.

And I'll let Richard take some of the blame, too!

Tell me about the Carpenters and Close To You.

-Did you have a hand in that?

-No.

Were you surprised when they recorded it?

It was a totally different concept.

They got into it a different feel, rhythmically,

than I had done with straight eight notes, and it was kind of boring.

But from the minute I heard on the phone...

Jerry Moss called me up and said,

"Let me play you something."

And he played me this.

The Carpenters had worked with me.

They actually opened for me in St Louis, you know?

They were first starting out.

And they were very, very good.

And Karen had this magical voice.

There's nobody quite like Karen Carpenter, you know?

It cannot be replaced.

Singing Close To You, let's welcome back Sophie Ellis-Bexter.

APPLAUSE

# Why do birds suddenly appear

# Every time you are near?

# Just like me, they long to be

# Close to you

# Why do stars fall down from the sky

# Every time you walk by?

# Just like me, they long to be

# Close to you

# On the day that you were born the angels got together

# And decided to create a dream come true

# So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair

# Of gold and starlight in your eyes so blue

# And that is why all the girls in town

# Follow you

# All around

# Just like me, they long to be

# Close to you

# On the day that you were born the angels got together

# And decided to create a dream come true

# So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair

# Of gold and starlight in your eyes so blue

# And that is why all the girls in town

# Follow you

# All around

# Just like me, they long to be

# Close to you

# Just like me, they long to be

# Close to you

# Close to you. #

APPLAUSE

Now, Burt,

the Burt Bacharach-Hal David consortium,

mammoth consortium,

was not just a success in America.

The British public fell in love with your music very, very, very quickly.

And so did a lot of British stars.

And one particular one was the great and wonderful

and late-lamented Dusty Springfield, who you worked with.

APPLAUSE

Yes, I love Dusty.

I actually was only in the studio once with her,

and that was to do The Look Of Love for Casino Royale.

And, erm...

But I'd known her before

and I'd heard her different versions of songs of mine.

I mean, when we talk about singers, you know, you could say...

Aretha, you know her immediately.

Dionne, know immediately.

Dusty, immediately, you know who it is.

She was very hard on herself.

When you listened to a playback with Dusty,

she wanted to go into another control room

and have it played in there

so she could hear it without you being in there.

So we had something in common.

We both beat ourselves up.

Great result, though, wasn't it?

Great result, you know, but you had to convince her it was great.

Cilla Black had a huge hit with Anyone Who Had A Heart.

APPLAUSE

That was a really tricky song, wasn't it?

That was a tricky song, yes.

What was...the mechanics of the song?

I think we started with...

I started something musically

and then Hal built upon that

and then what it became, Michael, was...

Until I wrote it out,

I didn't know that it was changing constantly time signature.

-Time signatures?

-Yeah.

Stop there. Come and show me. Come and show me.

-Willingly.

-Let's go to the piano.

-OK.

APPLAUSE

Well, you see, until I wrote it out...

Ordinarily, you would start a song in four-four.

You would have the first bar in four-four.

But this is in five, five-four.

So it's...

-So, you see...

-Can you play it in four-four?

No.

LAUGHTER

I wouldn't know how to do that, Michael.

And also, at the end...

The musicians had not seen anything...

You know, my studio musicians that I worked with

had not ever seen a seven-eight bar.

At the end of the song, it's...

APPLAUSE

So it is very hard to explain to the musicians to not count...

not count five beats to the...

Or at the end, in the seven-eight bar,

to just feel it, instead of counting.

You know?

I think we should hear this song.

Yeah.

Let's hear Anyone Who Had A Heart.

Burt Bacharach and the wonderful orchestra.

APPLAUSE

# Anyone who ever loved

# Could look at me

# And know that I love you

# Anyone who ever dreamed

# Could look at me

# And know I dream of you

# Knowing I love you so

# Anyone who had a heart

# Would take me in his arms

# And love me, too

# You couldn't really have a heart

# And hurt me like you hurt me

# And be so untrue

# What am I to do?

# Every time you go away

# I always say

# This time it's goodbye, dear

# Loving you the way I do

# I take you back

# Cos without you I'd die, dear

# Knowing I love you so

# Anyone who had a heart

# Would take me

# In his arms and love me, too

# You couldn't really have a heart

# And hurt me like you hurt me

# And be so untrue

# What am I to do?

# Knowing I love you so

# Anyone who had a heart

# Would take me

# In his arms and love me, too

# You couldn't really have a heart

# And hurt me like you hurt me

# And be so untrue

# Anyone who had a heart would love me, too

# Anyone who had a heart

# Would surely take me in his arms

# And always love me

# Why won't you?

# Hey, anyone who had a heart would love me, too

# Oh, yeah, anyone who had a heart

# Would surely take me in his arms

# And always love me

# Why won't you?

# Hey, anyone who had a heart would love me, too

# Oh-oh, anyone who had a heart

# Would surely take me in his arms

# And always love me

# Why won't you? #

Now, I don't want the world to think that everything

for the last 40, 50 years

has been plain sailing for you.

You had one major movie setback, which was Lost Horizon,

which was a huge disappointment to everybody, I think.

-Not least the audience, I think.

-Yeah.

Lost Horizon, in its original form, was a treasured motion picture,

and to turn it into a musical was kind of, like, weird.

It was just the wrong idea from the start, really?

-I think so.

-Yeah.

The fallout from the picture

was also that you began to have a disagreement with Hal, did you not?

Yeah. You know, I had kind of...

I was still working on this picture. Hal had written the lyrics.

He was off in Mexico and he was kind of playing tennis every day.

And it was difficult, because I was still teaching

George Kennedy and Sally Kellerman

and little kids how to sing these songs.

And it was a never-ending process in scoring the film.

So, actually, it was, you know, my fault.

But, eventually, you were reconciled, weren't you?

Yeah, but years went by.

One great thing came out of the movie, which is another great song,

if I'm not mistaken.

And this Bacharach and David song is perfectly suited

to the distinctive voice of our next guest.

Performing If I Could Go Back from the soundtrack of Lost Horizon,

please welcome Britain's favourite tenor...

Mr Alfie Boe!

APPLAUSE

# How do I know this is part of my real life?

# If there's no pain can I be sure I feel life?

# And would I go back

# If I knew how to go back?

# What good is time when you're sure of tomorrow?

# Can there be joy where there has been no sorrow?

# And would I go back

# If I knew how to go back?

# Will I find

# There is really such a thing

# As peace of mind?

# And what I thought was living

# Was really just confusion

# The chance to live for ever

# Is really no illusion

# And this all can be mine

# Why can't I make myself believe it?

# Can I accept what I see around me?

# Have I found Shangri-la or has it found me?

# And would I go back

# If I knew how to go back?

# Will I find

# There is really such a thing

# As peace of mind?

# And what I thought was living

# Was truly just confusion

# The chance to live for ever

# Is really no illusion

# And this all can be mine?

# Why can't I make myself believe it? #

APPLAUSE

We're going to stay on the movie theme,

because I want to talk about Alfie,

which was a very British picture.

Lewis Gilbert, the director, and my late father, bless him,

put out that film together.

And you got a call from some unknown English producer saying,

"Will you come and write a song for this little British picture

"with an unknown actor called Michael Caine?"

Why did you take the job?

Because I believed in Howard Koch, who was running Paramount Pictures.

I believed in the film, when I saw the film.

And it was a chance to really write an important song, I thought.

It needed an English voice, though, didn't it?

Lewis Gilbert wanted Alfie to be sung in the film by Cher.

-By Cher?

-Yes. You figure that out.

So I came over here to record it with Cilla.

That was an experience because, you know,

any of you who have ever seen the video

of me conducting at Abbey Road with Cilla...

Exasperation as she was up to the 41st take.

By my request.

And so George Martin was wonderful.

He just said, "Burt, I think you have it on the fourth take."

LAUGHTER

But I liked the record we made

and she sang her butt off, she really did.

Burt, would you mind going back to the piano, if that's OK with you?

APPLAUSE

We're going to hear a spectacular medley

of some of Burt's best-known songs from his work in the movies.

So please welcome back the man himself

and the brilliant band with a fabulous movie medley.

APPLAUSE

# I can hardly wait to hold you

# Feel my arms around you

# How long I have waited

# Waited just to love you

# Now that I have found you

# You've got the look of love... #

APPLAUSE

# ..It's in your eyes

# A look

# That time can't disguise

# Be mine

# Tonight

# Let this be just the start

# Of so many nights like this

# Let's make a lovers' vow

# And we'll seal it with a kiss

# I can hardly wait to hold you

# Feel my arms around you

# How long I have waited

# Waited just to love you

# Now that I have found you

# Once in your life you find him

# Someone that turns your heart around

# And next thing you know

# You're closing down the town

# Wake up and he's still with you

# Even though you left him way across town

# Wondering to yourself

# Hey, what have I found?

# When you get caught between the moon and New York City

# I know it's crazy

# But it's true

# If you get caught between the moon and New York City

# The best that you can do

# The best that you can do is fall in love

# When you get caught between the moon and New York City

# I know it's crazy

# Oh, but it's true

# If you get caught between the moon and New York City

# The best that you can do

# The best that you can do

# Is fall in love... #

# You and your pussycat

# What's new, Pussycat? Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh

# What's new, Pussycat? Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh

# Pussycat, Pussycat

# I've got flowers

# And lots of hours to spend with you

# So go and powder your cute little pussycat nose

# Pussycat, Pussycat, I love you

# Yes, I do

# You and your pussycat nose

# What's new, Pussycat? Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh

# What's new, Pussycat? Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh... #

# The world is a circle without a beginning

# And nobody knows where it really ends

# Oh-oh-oh Everything depends on

# Where you are in the circle

# That never begins

# Nobody knows where the circle ends

# Ah-ah-ah

# Ah-ah-ah-ah-a-ah... #

# Are we just

# April fools

# Who can't see

# All the danger around us?

# If we're just

# April fools

# I don't care...

# We'll find our way somehow... #

# Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

# And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed

# Nothing seems to fit

# Those raindrops keep fallin' on my head

# They keep fallin'

# So I just did me some talking to the sun

# I said I didn't like the way he got things done

# Sleeping on the job

# The raindrops keep fallin' Keep on fallin'

# But there's one thing

# I know

# The blues they send to meet me

# Won't defeat me

# It won't be long

# Till happiness steps up to greet me

# Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

# But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red

# Crying's not for me

# Cos I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining

# Because I'm free

# See nothing's worrying me. #

APPLAUSE

# When Liberty Valance rode to town

# The womenfolk would hide

# They'd hide

# When Liberty Valance walked around

# The men would step aside

# Cos the point of a gun was the only law

# That Liberty understood

# And the man who shot Liberty Valance

# He shot Liberty Valance

# He was the bravest of them all... #

# Mmm...

# Ah-ah, mm-mm-mm...

# Here

# Close to our feelings

# We touch again

# We love again

# Remember when we thought

# Our hearts would never mend?

# And we're all

# The better for each other

# Oh-oh-oh

# There's more to love

# I know

# Said I know

# Than making love

# And I

# Remember you...

# And making

# Love... #

# Hey, little girl

# Comb your hair

# Fix your make-up

# Soon he will open the door

# Don't think because

# There's a ring on your finger

# You needn't try any more...

# Hey

-# Little girl... #

-APPLAUSE

# ..Dim the lights Start the music

# It's time to get ready

# For love

# Time to get ready

# Time to get ready

# Time to get ready... #

-# What's it all about... #

-APPLAUSE

# ..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?

# And if

# Only fools are kind

# Alfie

# Then I guess it is wise to be cruel

# And if life belongs

# Only to the strong, Alfie

# What will you lend on an old golden rule?

# As sure as I believe

# There's a heaven above

# Alfie

# I know there's something much more

# Something even non-believers

# Can believe in

# I believe in love

# Alfie

# Without true love we just exist

# Alfie

# Until you find the love you've missed

# You're nothing, Alfie

# When you walk

# Let your heart lead the way

# And you'll find love

# Any day

# Alfie...

# ..Alfie... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Now, here's the toughest question of the night -

which of your songs is your favourite?

Do you have a favourite? LAUGHTER

Erm...I have to say it's hard to top that song,

because of what it says.

I mean, if you just look at a couple of those lines of Hal's,

you know, like, "What's it all about, Alfie?

"If only fools are kind, Alfie,

"then, I guess it's wise to be cruel."

I mean, it's just full of important information,

powerful information.

A House Is Not A Home is also right up there, isn't it?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Yes, I love it. I love the song and...

This is one of those songs that came to you as a lyric from Hal,

-didn't it?

-Yeah.

-It was prewritten.

As Alfie. Both of these songs, Alfie was...

"Here's a lyric." Said it. "A house is not a home." Same way.

And the arrangement that you originally created for this has been...

Most people who've recorded it again

have stuck to pretty much your arrangement, haven't they?

I mean, a good song should survive in any setting,

whether it's a guitar or piano.

I mean, it should really be...

I mean, Luther Vandross did pretty well with it.

-Luther Vandross...

-APPLAUSE

I have to say, Michael, I miss him so much.

What a voice.

Well, let's dedicate the next song to him.

Singing A House Is Not A Home, please welcome singer-songwriter

and West End star Shaun Escoffery.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# A chair is still a chair

# Even when there's no-one

# Sitting there

# Cos a chair is not a house

# And a house is not a home

# When there's no-one there

# To hold you tight

# And no-one there you can kiss

# Good night

# A room is still a room

# Even when there's nothing there

# But gloom

# Cos a room is not a house

# And a house is not a home

# When the two of us

# Are far apart

# And one of us has a broken heart

# Now and then

# I call your name

# And suddenly your face appears

# But it's just a crazy game

# When it ends

# It ends in tears

# Darling, have a heart

# Don't let one mistake keep us apart

# I'm not meant to live alone

# Turn this house into a home

# When I climb the stairs

# And turn the key

# Oh, please be there

# Still in love with me

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhh

# I'm not meant to live alone

# Turn this house into a home

# When I climb the stairs

# And turn the key

# Oh, please be there

# Still in love...

# Still in love...

# Still in love...

# With

# Me...

# Whoa-oh-oh-oh

# Oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh

# Still in love

# With me. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, Burt, I've got one last question for you.

Somewhere out there in the audience are some budding composers

full of music, looking to make a break.

What advice would you give them?

Ah.

It's a tougher music business now than when I was starting,

but if they have the ability to perform and sing,

as well as write, this would be a big advantage,

singer-songwriter, than writing a song and trying to get it

placed somewhere. It's more difficult that way.

So, singer-songwriter, it still is the best way that I see right now.

If all else fails...

go into another business.

What was the best advice you were ever given?

The best advice I was ever given,

I was studying with Darius Milhaud,

the great French composer, and he said to me,

"Never be discomforted,

-"ashamed of a melody that you can remember."

-Great advice.

I'm glad you took his advice. APPLAUSE

Well, we are, sadly, coming to the end of this extraordinary

musical feast, so would you mind leading us in the finale?

I can do that.

Of course, the biggest thank you goes to our guest of honour.

It has been an absolute pleasure spending time

with this remarkable man and listening to those touching,

spine-tingling songs, which will continue to make up the songbook

of people's lives for many generations to come,

not least, our last classic, That's What Friends Are For.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Burt Bacharach!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# And I never thought I'd feel this way

# And as far as I'm concerned

# I'm glad I got the chance to say

# That I do believe I love you

# And if I should ever go away

# Well, then close your eyes and try

# To feel the way we do today

# And then if you can remember

# Keep smilin', keep shinin'

# Knowing you can always count on me

# For sure

# That's what friends are for

# In good times and bad times

# I'll be on your side forever more

# That's what friends are for

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Keep smilin'

# Keep shinin'

# Knowing you can always count on me

# For sure

# That's what friends are for

# In good times and bad times

# I'll be on your side forever more

# That's what friends are for...

ALL: # Keep smilin', keep shinin'

# Knowing you can always count on me

# For sure

# That's what friends are for

# In good times and bad times

# I'll be on your side forever more

# That's what friends are for

-# Mm-mm-mm

-Ah-ah-ah

# Yeah

# And you can count on me For sure

-# You can count on me

-Count on me for sure

# That's what friends are for

# So keep smilin'

-# Keep smilin'

-Keep shinin'

ALL: # Cos that's what friends are for. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you all.

Thank you all very much.