Friday, April 9, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.
The 75-year-old musical genius, who will perform at The Orleans Thursday through April 18, has produced 48 Top 10 hits, nine No. 1 songs and more than 500 compositions.
At his concert in Vegas, he will only perform his own music, which should please fans.
Bacharach has won three Academy Awards: best song in 1969 for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," best score in 1969 for "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" and best song in 1981 for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)."
Bacharach has won five Grammy Awards, among them a Golden Globe for best original song for "Alfie" (1967).
He has been pianist, arranger and conductor for such vocalists as Vic Damone, Steve Lawrence and the Ames Brothers.
Bacharach was musical director for Marlene Dietrich.
His songs have been recorded by such legends as Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Aretha Franklin, Marty Robbins and Gene Pitney.
He and collaborator Hal David, between 1962 and 1968, created 15 Top 40 singles for Dionne Warwick, including "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Walk on By," "I Say a Little Prayer" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?"
Bacharach also composed the music for Steve McQueen's first movie in which he played the lead, the 1958 cult classic "The Blob" which also happened to be Bacharach's first film score.
Surprisingly, Bacharach says as a youngster he never thought of music as his destiny.
"I was not driven by music," Bacharach said recently during a telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles. "I don't think I was destined for music at all.
"I aspired to play football, because dad had been a football player, but I wasn't big enough, or talented enough."
Bacharach, who will turn 76 on May 12, was born in Kansas City, Mo. His family moved to New York City when he was a child.
The son of the late syndicated columnist Bert Bacharach credits his mother with recognizing his latent talent.
"She kept pushing me," said Bacharach, who started taking piano lessons in elementary school. "I was doing it for her, practicing when I got home from school, not really liking music that much.
"But she didn't want me to be a musician, just to play the piano and have an appreciation."
Things changed when he entered high school.
"Then I got interested," Bacharach said. "We formed a little band in school. I started hanging out with friends and making music, occasionally playing at a party or dance or some function."
His musical tastes began to mature.
"I heard some music that opened my eyes," Bacharach said.
Jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker caught his ear.
"These people were so exciting," Bacharach said. "They were playing music I never knew could exist."
Still, he didn't think he was particularly talented.
"But my mother thought so," Bacharach said. "I certainly didn't have the interest, or the desire, to push it.
"I think some people recognized that I had some talent, and that was invaluable. But I didn't see it myself."
His grades weren't particularly good when he graduated from high school.
"When I finally decided to go to college, to music school, my marks had been so bad that I couldn't get into the schools that I wanted," Bacharach said.
Instead of a prestigious school of music, he attended McGill University in Montreal.
McGill was noted for its medical school, not for music.
Eventually, he also studied at the New School for Social Research and the Mannes School of Music, both in New York City.
After college he served in the Army between 1950 and '52.
When he was discharged from the service he started picking up jobs playing piano and conducting for different acts, a job that led him to Las Vegas in the mid-'50s.
"The first time I was in Vegas, I was conducting for Vic Damone," Bacharach said. "It was pretty exciting in Vegas. The El Rancho was still around back then."
In '56 he became musical director for Dietrich, a job that began when her own director couldn't make a gig she had.
"He referred me to her," Bacharach said. "We played at either the Sahara or the Sands."
He said he became close friends with Dietrich during their two-year business relationship.
"She leaned on me a lot for support," Bacharach said. "She was not the greatest singer in the world."
He was working with Dietrich when he met lyricist Hal David.
In 1958 he and co-composer Mack David wrote the score for "The Blob." Mack introduced his brother, Hal, to Bacharach, and the duo proceeded to compose dozen of hit songs over the next 20 years.
In 1958 Bacharach composed "Magic Moments" in collaboration with Hal David. The song was a hit for Perry Como.
That same year the team of Bacharach and Hal David created "The Story of My Life," a Top 20 hit for Marty Robbins.
There have been many highlights in Bacharach's illustrious career. He says one of the brightest was working with Warwick.
"We did so many songs together, " he said. "There was such a powerful connection."
Bacharach continues to write and perform.
In 1998 he and Elvis Costello collaborated on the CD "Painted From Memory." They also performed a rendition of "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for the soundtrack to the Austin Powers sequel "The Spy Who Shagged Me" that same year, and made a cameo appearance in the film.
His most recent CD release is "Here I Am: Ronald Isley Meets Burt Bacharach" (DreamWorks/Interscope).
"I'm really proud of it," Bacharach said. "It's one of the best albums I ever did. It's great."
Although Isley, of the Isley Brothers fame, won't be at the Las Vegas concert, he and Bacharach are making some appearances together around the country.
And Bacharach is working on another album.
Bacharach could easily retire and rest on his past successes, but he doesn't see himself quitting.
"I just don't want to," he said. "Even though it's harder to travel these days, harder to get around airports now.
"But concerts are a great way to meet the people that appreciate the music. Otherwise, I don't get to meet them."
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