The one performance Noel Gallagher said was “more stressful than the birth of children”
Noel Gallagher‘s enduring love of Burt Bacharach has been an unlikely source of inspiration for the Mancunian throughout his career.
In his mind, Bacharach earned his place among the all-time songwriting greats, and more importantly than that, Gallagher was also lucky enough to call him a friend. Despite the vast age gap between the pair, who were also from different corners of the globe, they found common ground via the universal language of music.
Following Bacharach’s death, Gallagher paid an emotional tribute to the singer-songwriter, posting on Instagram: “RIP Maestro. It was a pleasure to have known you. NGX.”
Their worlds collided unexpectedly in the 1990s while Oasis were on tour in America. Noel had been on a heavy drinking session in Los Angeles with John Lydon, and upon returning to his hotel the following day, he randomly met Bacharach at his hotel.
Noel, who hadn’t gone to bed, was initially unsure whether to approach Bacharach, but eventually plucked up the courage, and it didn’t disappoint. He later told ABC in Australia, “He was just a fucking Californian dude, and the reason he owned a bomber jacket with his initials on is because he owns racehorses which had just won the Dubai International Cup or some shit, and we were just scruffy fuckers from Manchester smoking.”
During their conversation, Bacharach managed to persuade Noel to perform a duet with him at an upcoming show in London, held at the Royal Festival Hall in 1996. In his drunken haze, this seemed like a great idea. However, once Noel returned home from tour and sobered up, he began to have second thoughts about the prospect of singing with his idol, Bacharach.
Despite attempting to devise an escape plan, Gallagher couldn’t bring himself to reject his hero and later described the day of the show as “by far, the most stressful day of my entire life.”
He added to ABC: “I still rank it as more stressful than the birth of children and all that or heavy lawyers meetings. If I can get through that day, I can get through anything.”
The song Gallagher performed at the Royal Festival Hall was ‘The Guy’s In Love With You’, written by Bacharach but popularised by Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass. During the same interview mentioned above, Gallagher described the creation as “one of my favourite songs of all time.”
Not only did he want to make Bacharach proud, but he also wanted to do ‘The Guy’s In Love With You’, adding of the song, I first became aware of this song roundabout the time of Acid House. When we used to go to the Haçienda, friends of mine who still work with me to this day, Phil Smith and Mark Coyle, who co-produced Definitely Maybe, whenever people were going back to flats and listening to dance music, we were going back to their house and listening to Neil Young and Burt Bacharach.”
Noel, who is unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, also admitted to ripping off the song’s introduction for ‘Half The World Away’ by Oasis. Thankfully, Bacharach declined to sue him, which might not have been the case if Gallagher had bailed out of the duet in 1996 as he had originally planned.
His performance at the Royal Festival Hall took place on June 28th, 1996, and although it was the same summer that Oasis made history at Knebworth, it was the source of much greater nerves.
Stepping out to play in front of 250,000 people in one weekend was just another day at the office with Oasis, whereas there was nowhere to hide at the Royal Festival Hall with Bacharach. It could have been a living nightmare; instead, Gallagher conquered his fears and created a memory that will live with him forever.
