After his military service, he found work as a composer and arranger as well as a piano accompanist on the club circuit.īacharach’s lengthy collaboration with lyricist, Hal David, began in 1957 when they met at the famous Brill Building in New York where many songwriters and music publishers were based. At McGill University in Montreal, Bacharach studied musical theory and later at the New School in New York. Early on, he learned the drums, piano, and cello and showed an avid interest in jazz musicians such as Thelonius Monk and Charlie Parker. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on, Bacharach’s father was a sports star and later a noted newspaper columnist, while his mother, Irma Freemann, was an artist and songwriter.
