On Hal David (1921-2012)

We talk all the time about a “Burt Bahcarach song” as if there’s any such thing. It’s so easy to forget that the only kind of songs Bacharach ever sang are Bacharach-David songs. Most singers smart enough to carry a tune are smart enough to hire someone to make it worth carrying. Bacharach isn’t unique in this; what makes him unique is the transcendent quality of his collaborator. Hal David wrote, with Bacharch, songs that went on to be covered by everyone from Average White Band to Marvin Gaye to the White Stripes. Isaac Hayes covered two of his songs–”Walk on By” and “The Look of Love”–and they are arguably the two most popular songs Hayes ever did. In the late ’90s, David’s work with Bacharach was delivered to, and readily received by, a whole new generation, in Austin Powers. In the years since, the songs continue to be covered. Not just the ones he did for Bacharach, either, but the ones he did for Tom Jones, the Carpenters, and Dionne Warwick, among others; to say nothing of his soundtrack work for ’60s cinema–Woody Allen, James Bond, Alfie–and beyond. If Hal David isn’t missed the way he should be, maybe it’s because so many of his labors occurred behind the scenes. Or maybe it’s because no one can tell that he ever left.