Ep. 227 - ALAN BERGMAN ("The Way We Were")

Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters

Ninety-eight-year-old Songwriters Hall of Famer Alan Bergman chats with us about a wide-ranging career that started with Johnny Mercer and continues to today.
PART ONE
Paul and Scott talk about the Abba Voyage virtual concert and scare themselves with the possibilities of digital technology.
PART TWO
Our in-depth interview with Alan Bergman
ABOUT ALAN BERGMAN
Alan Bergman and his late wife Marilyn joined forces professionally in the 1950s to create one of the most successful songwriting teams of all time. Though both musicians, the pair are best known as lyricists, and they found particular success writing for the silver screen. The Bergmans earned eleven Grammy nominations, including four nominations for Song of Year. They won the Song of the Year honor for “The Way We Were” from the Barbra Streisand film of the same name. They received fifteen Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song, winning twice for “The Windmills of Your Mind” and “The Way We Were,” and earning a record-setting three nominations in a single year in 1982. The following year they won their third Oscar, for Best Original Song Score, for the Yentl soundtrack, which included Best Original Song nominees “Papa, Can You Hear Me” and “The Way He Makes Me Feel.” Other highlights from the Bergman catalog include “Nice ‘n Easy” performed by Frank Sinatra, “The Summer Knows,” recorded by Sarah Vaughn, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” which they wrote with Neil Diamond, “Someone in the Dark,” which Michael Jackson recorded for the E.T. soundtrack, and “I Knew I Loved You,” which was recorded by Celine Dion. Additionally, the four-time Emmy award winners were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and were recipients of the National Music Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award. The Bergmans held a number of executive positions in various organizations, including serving on the executive committee of the Music Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and as board members of the National Academy of Songwriters. From 1994-2009 Marilyn served as the president of ASCAP. Their songs have been recorded by Fred Astaire, Johnny Mathis, Sergio Mendes, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Stan Getz, Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Glen Campbell, Sting, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Norah Jones, and countless others. We’re thrilled to share this conversation with the now 98-year-old Alan Bergman, recorded at his home back in August.