Hal David, hit-maker with Bacharach

LOS ANGELES - Hal David, 91, who along with partner Burt Bacharach penned dozens of timeless songs for movies, television, and a variety of recording artists in the 1960s and beyond, died Saturday morning.

The cause was complications from a stroke, according to Jim Steinblatt, spokesman for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Mr. David was a longtime member and former president of ASCAP.

Mr. David and Bacharach wrote many top 40 hits, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "Close to You," and "That's What Friends Are For."

"As a lyric writer, Hal was simple, concise and poetic - conveying volumes of meaning in fewest possible words and always in service to the music," ASCAP's current president, songwriter Paul Williams, said in a statement. "It is no wonder that so many of his lyrics have become part of our everyday vocabulary and his songs . . . the backdrop of our lives."

Many lyrics and tunes from the Bacharach-David team continue to resonate in pop culture, including "Do You Know the Way to San Jose," "I Say A Little Prayer," and "What The World Needs Now Is Love." Among the singers who recorded their music were the Beatles, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and their longtime partner Dionne Warwick.

In May, Mr. David and Bacharach received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a White House tribute concert attended by President Obama.

Mr. David did not attend because he was recovering from a stroke. His wife, Eunice David, accepted on his behalf.

Obama noted that Bacharach-David music is still being recorded by such artists as Alicia Keys and John Legend.

Mr. David and Bacharach met when both worked in the Brill Building, New York's legendary Tin Pan Alley song factory where writers cranked out songs and attempted to sell them to music publishers. They scored their first big hit with "Magic Moments," a million-selling record for Perry Como.

In a 1999 interview, Mr. David explained his success as a lyricist this way: "Try and tell a narrative. The songs should be like a little film, told in three or four minutes. Try to say things as simply as possible, which is probably the most difficult thing to do."

The writer, who lived in New York, often flew to Los Angeles, where he and Bacharach would hole up for a few weeks of intense songwriting. Sometimes they conferred by long-distance telephone; "I Say a Little Prayer" was written that way.

The hit-making team broke up after the 1973 musical remake of Lost Horizon. They had devoted two years to the movie, only to see it scorned by critics and audiences alike. Bacharach became so depressed he sequestered himself in his vacation home and refused to work.

The songwriters sued each other and Warwick sued them both. The cases were settled out of court in 1979 and the three went their separate ways. They reconciled in 1992 for Warwick's recording of "Sunny Weather Lover."

Mr. David, meanwhile, went on to collaborate successfully with several other composers: John Barry with the title song of the James Bond film Moonraker;" Albert Hammond with "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," which Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson dueted on; and Henry Mancini with "The Greatest Gift" in The Return of the Pink Panther.

Mr. David was born in New York City and attended public schools before studying journalism at New York University.

He served in the Army during World War II, mostly as a member of an entertainment unit in the South Pacific.

Mr. David had two sons from his marriage to Anne Rauchman.