Hal David, lyricist on three Bond songs, dies aged 91

04-Sep-2012 • Bond News

Harold Lane "Hal" David was an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick.

For James Bond fans, he will be lovingly remembered for his on "We Have All the Time in the World", written with John Barry and sung by Louis Armstrong for the 1969 James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Ten years later, David teamed up with Barry again for the title theme for "Moonraker" performed by Shirley Bassey. But his work with Bond began in 1967 on the spoof "Casino Royale" for which his song "The Look of Love" was Oscar-nominated.

He was born on May 25th, 1921, to a Jewish family in New York City. In 1957, David met composer Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. The two teamed up and wrote their first hit "The Story of My Life", recorded by Marty Robbins in 1957. Later that year Perry Como had a hit with their "Magic Moments". Subsequently, in the 1960s and early 1970s Bacharach and David wrote some of the most enduring songs in American popular music, many for Dionne Warwick but also for The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, B. J. Thomas, Gene Pitney, Tom Jones, Jackie DeShannon and others.

Bacharach and David hits included "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "This Guy's in Love with You", "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Do You Know the Way to San Jose", "Walk On By", "What the World Needs Now Is Love", "I Say a Little Prayer", "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", "One Less Bell to Answer", and "Anyone Who Had a Heart".

The duo's film work includes the Oscar-nominated title songs for "What's New Pussycat?" and "Alfie", "The Look of Love", from Casino Royale; and the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In addition, "Don't Make Me Over", "(They Long to Be) Close to You", and "Walk On By" have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

David and Bacharach were awarded the 2011 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song bestowed by the Library of Congress, the first time a songwriting team was given the honor.

David died in the morning hours of September 1, 2012, due to a stroke. He was 91.