Burt Bacharach: I guess I'm not the Glastonbury type

The IoS interview: Burt Bacharach, songwriter

What's it all about, Alfie? Well, for Burt Bacharach it sounds pretty good when I speak to him at his house in Aspen, despite the fact that he's chewing on a sandwich and his nine-year-old son Oliver is listening in to our conversation. "Do you want to turn it off? Or do you want to do the interview with me, Oliver?" asks Bacharach. He doesn't ask sternly, of course. He asks smoothly, in that ever-so-slightly husky tenor voice.

That's the voice of a man who launched a thousand hits, although the name on the records, which include "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", "What's New Pussycat?", "The Look of Love", "Walk on By" and "I Say a Little Prayer", was not usually his. Tom Jones, Sandie Shaw, the Carpenters, Neil Diamond and most notably Dionne Warwick were among the artists who took the glory for the tunes he wrote.

There have been consolations, of course. Born in Kansas City, Bacharach grew up in New York, imbibing the revolutionary brew of bebop in Forties jazz clubs and studying with Darius Milhaud. Throughout his army service music continued to serve as the backdrop to his life, and after being discharged he scored his first top 20 hit in 1957, writing "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins. With a couple of low patches, the hits have kept coming ever since. Two years ago, aged 71, he was named one of the sexiest men alive by People magazine.

He will be singing, however, when the Bacharach show rolls into town later this month for a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo. He's coming from The Hague, where he will make his first appearance at the North Sea Jazz Festival. "I had to cancel doing Glastonbury last year," he says, "that place where there's lots of mud. Is Holland like that?" When I tell him no, Bacharach sounds reassured. This is a man who likes things clean. He eats healthily – "I try to stay away from dairy, the obvious things like that" – doesn't smoke – "I'd better get used to it coming to England" – doesn't go to Hollywood parties – "I did that in another lifetime with Angie Dickinson" – and still works out regularly with a trainer.

When I ask him what he thinks about the fuss over "Wives and Lovers", whose gloriously politically incorrect lyrics about how women should please their husbands upset the Radio 2 DJ Sarah Kennedy earlier this year, he falls over himself to repent. "She was totally right," he says. "I like the song, but it would be wrong if it was written now. It's unacceptable."

Given the closest Bacharach comes to excess is owning a string of racehorses, of which he says "they're eating well, that's about it", one has to ask: actually, what is it all about, Burt? The answer seems to be work. "Any place I stay, if I'm there for more than one night, there must be a keyboard," he says. "It doesn't have to be a grand piano, just a keyboard."

He plays every morning as he gets up for 10 minutes, and more later on. "It's like if you're a tennis player, you can't do it every 10 days. You can't take the time off." His unwillingness to take time off has exacted a toll on his private life (he's on wife number four). But his drive doesn't seem to come from a desire to tell a personal story and certainly not to make political statements. "You can be happy and write well, or down and write well. There are not specific experiences necessary to write a song. Often it's best when you're told: 'This is the situation, we need the music in two weeks.'"

Instead his drive is for recognition, which is why, though most people would find it hard to put a face to other great songwriters such as Richard Rodgers or Stephen Sondheim, they do know Bacharach's tanned visage, if only from his appearances in the Austin Powers films or the photo of him on the cover of Oasis's Definitely Maybe. Yet despite the worship of artists such as Elvis Costello and Noel Gallagher, Bacharach's fame is modest. This is something he's very comfortable with. "One night I was at Indianapolis, and the Jacksons had played the night before. They had 12 cops outside the dressing room – I sent them away. I like to get feedback, but I never had that hysteria. My fans are not invasive. You might have a mother and daughter enjoying the moment together, people who've been into my music since they were kids. If you look for a key in music, that's it – longevity, what still sounds fresh."

Even more so than in his home country, Bacharach's sound has always been appreciated in Britain, an affection he returns warmly. "Before they knew me in the States they knew me here," he says, going on to reveal a surprising interest in English football. "I felt very sorry that England lost," he says. "I felt very bad for David Seaman, but that goal by Michael Owen was stunning."

And with that my magic moment with one of the deities of lounge music is over. He has to take his children to see the new Scooby Doo film.

Burt Bacharach plays the Hammersmith Apollo, 27 July; King's Dock Arena, Liverpool, 28 July; the Edinburgh Playhouse 29 July

Biography

1928: Born in Kansas City, son of the syndicated columnist Bert Bacharach

1957: First hit with long-term songwriting partner, lyricist Hal David

1958: Toured Europe with Marlene Dietrich

1962-68: Wrote 15 top 40 hits for Dionne Warwick

1969: Won Best Soundtrack Oscar for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Best Song for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"

1981: Collaborated with his future wife Carole Bayer Sager on the Oscar-winning "Arthur's Theme"

1998: Three-disc retrospective album released. Honoured with all-star concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring Mike Myers, All Saints, Luther Vandross and Chrissie Hynde