Reg Little enjoys a performance by the legendary Burt Bacharach at Henley Festival

You would be hard pressed to think of a more fitting venue for the legendary hitmaker Burt Bacharach to perform than the Henley Festival.

The relaxed atmosphere, gorgeous riverside scene, balmy evening complete with full moon, made for the perfect setting to hear those great songs penned by the sophisticated King of Easy Listening.

Henley was also home to the late Dusty Springfield who, along with Dionne Warwick, was the finest interpreter of the Bacharach song pto pay her the warmest of tributes.

But Friday was a night for the Henley crowd to celebrate being in the presence of a musical genius, with the 86-year-old performing with his young band, also joined by Eliza Doolittle for two numbers, including Baby It’s You, which she learnt from the great man was recorded by The Beatles.

Opening with What the World Needs Now, quickly followed by a medley including Walk On By and Say A Little Prayer, the audience were left to marvel how he could throw in such classics in the first five minutes. He can because he has penned enough great songs in a career stretching half a century to easily fill a 90-minute set.

Dressed casually — at least by Henley Festival standards — in blazer and open-neck shirt, he sits centre stage behind his Steinway watching his three singers breathe new life into love songs that perhaps only Lennon-McCartney can match in terms of quantity and quality.

Singers Donna Taylor and Josie James effortlessly meet the challenge of performing songs originally given to the likes of Aretha Franklin. It speaks volumes that they have been worked over years with this obsessive perfectionist — just ask Cilla Black, in the audience, who was required to perform 30-odd takes recording Alfie.

Making up the trio, John Begano provided highlights with his take on This Guy’s In Love and the Dusty hit I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself. Despite suffering from a heavy cold, Bacharach brought the set, and a medley of his great collection of film scores, to an end by taking over the vocals himself. His deep growl, now almost Dylanesque, invested the lyrics of Alfie with a gravity and wisdom few could have guessed at.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head performed as an encore inspired a noisy riverside singalong, led by a man who can be counted as the bridge between the “great American songbook” and the rock revolution. Burt Bacharach will be returning to Oxfordshire to perform at Wilderness Festival on August 9.

Last week Henley also saw main stage performances from Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone and the Jacksons. Friday night held a tremendous sec-ond stage performance from former Yes keyboards player Rick Wakeman. With his brilliant anecdotes the one-time prog rock man now Grumpy Old Man could easily make a career as a stand-up.

There were also reminders of his decisive contributions as a session man on the likes of Life On Mars and Morning Has Broken.