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07.09.12MusicWeek 3
LEGENDARY LYRICIST HAL DAVID (1921–2012) TO BE HONOURED AT UPCOMING ASCAP EVENT
Peers pay tribute to ‘brilliant’ David A
OBITUARY BY PAUL WILLIAMS
SCAP is set to pay a public tribute to its former president and US
songwriting legend Hal David at its forthcoming annual London dinner and awards. The organisation’s
international senior vice president Roger Greenaway revealed, as industry friends and admirers remembered the lyrical giant who with Burt Bacharach created one of the greatest songwriting catalogues in popular music. As president of ASCAP
from 1980 to 1986 and then continuing as a member of the board of directors, David – who passed away last Saturday aged 91 –made an immense contribution to fighting for the cause of songwriters with Greenaway suggesting he took the US society to another level. “He changed the
organisation greatly both from within and without, the perception of the organisation being a great writer as he was and a great communicator so he’s left an incredible legacy, not just his music but the way he steered ASCAP in those days. They were choppy waters and it is part of his legacy, too,” he said. Greenaway noted that
David’s contribution to ASCAP continued almost right up to the end of his life. “Literally the day before he
had the last stroke he was talking to [ASCAP CEO] John LoFrumento about a problem. He was never one just to sit back and enjoy his success; he wanted to contribute. That was the measure of the man. He was a great human being. He was a friend to me. I was a great admirer of his music, but I became an even greater admirer of the man. He was a real nice human being. He cared about other writers. It wasn’t just about himself.” But, while his contribution
to industry affairs was important, it is as a songwriter
“Hal David touched a nerve with everybody because he wrote
about things that people cared about. People felt his lyrics; they did not just listen to his lyrics” DON BLACK
music anymore and it didn’t compare with his day. He was always prepared to keep up with what was going on.” Oscar-winning lyricist Sir
Tim Rice described David as “very literate” and praised his gift for being able to tell original stories in three minutes. “Twenty-four Hours From
“When you look at the Bacharach-David catalogue it’s one of the greatest single catalogues in the world from two individuals. It was not just his talent but the fact he was so unassuming” ROGER GREENAWAY, ASCAP
where David became a giant, penning with Bacharach (right) countless classics, including I Say A Little Prayer, (They Long To Be) Close To You, The Look Of Love, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head and Walk On By. Greenaway, a writer
himself of such enduring songs as I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, said: “When you
“It was the genius of both Bacharach and David that made great songs, but unlike some combinations Hal David’s contribution was so obviously brilliant the lyricist was remembered as a crucial part of the song” SIR TIM RICE
look at the Bacharach-David catalogue it’s one of the greatest single catalogues in the world from two individuals. It was not just his talent but the fact he was so unassuming. “He was like the
guy next door and what he was great at was
listening to new things and listening to writers. I never heard him once say what was happening now was crap or wasn’t good
Tulsa is probably my favourite Hal David lyric and it’s an entire musical in two and a half minutes – brilliant,” Rice told Music Week. “But he covered all the bases in straightforward love songs, philosophical love songs like Alfie, which is perhaps my other favourite Hal David lyric, and people knew that Hal David was a vital part of those songs. “It was the genius of both
Burt Bacharach and Hal David that made them great songs, but unlike some combinations Hal David’s contribution was so obviously brilliant the lyricist was remembered as a crucial part of the song which doesn’t always happen.” Don Black, himself an Oscar
recipient as a lyricist, said David was a role model to him and was up there with the likes of Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim, Irving Berlin and Frank Loesser. “He was a fantastic lyric
writer who always found a fresh way of saying what people couldn’t express,” said Black. “He touched a nerve with everybody because he wrote about things that people cared about. People felt his lyrics; they did not just listen to his lyrics.
He was poetic and all his songs sounded spontaneous. They didn’t seem written, which is a gift of a great lyric writer. “They just seemed to flow
effortlessly out of him, although the craft was there. You’ll notice all his songs rhymed perfectly, he was a great craftsman, but he had great concepts in his lyrics.” Ivor Novello Awards
committee chairman and lyricist Gary Osborne noted that when the now-annual Special International Award was added in 1999 to an event otherwise celebrating British songwriters David was its very first recipient. “That’s an indication of the
respect the British songwriting community feel for him bearing in mind the people we’ve had since then - Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier- Holland, Stephen Sondheim, Benny & Bjorn.” “He was perfect,” he added.
“His rhymes were always in the right place and they were always true rhymes. He put his stresses in the right place. He just did it right.” David himself told Music
Week a few years back he could not pinpoint why his songs had stood the test of time. “I wish I knew because I
would bottle it and sell it,” he said. “The first thing I always try to do is write a terrific song and try to be a little fresh and original and don’t try to follow what is the trend of the moment, which I think a lot of people do.” Universal Music Publishing
head of film & TV licensing Tom Foster, whose company handles part of David’s catalogue, said: “The reason I started working in music publishing was because of people like Hal David. “A master lyricist and
collaborator, everyone from Aretha Franklin to the White Stripes has covered his songs and his words still sound as fresh and poignant today as they did when he wrote them.”
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