Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

and

cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...

vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The theme ...

'', as well as for his work with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Blossom Dearie Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusicDearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over ...

, and others.

Early life

Robert Lrod Dorough was born in Cherry Hill,

Polk County, Arkansas Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,662. The county seat is Mena. Polk County is Arkansas's 48th county, formed on November 30, 1844; it was named for James K. Polk, 11th P ...

and grew up in

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,194. Geography Plainview is located at (34.191204, –101.718806) and is located on the Llano Estacado. According ...

. During World War II, he participated in Army bands as pianist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and arranger. After that, he attended

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a Public university, public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private Normal school, teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 y ...

, where he studied composition and piano.

Career

From 1949 to 1952 Dorough was a graduate student at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and on the side played piano at local jazz clubs. He was hired for a tour by boxer

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

, who had interrupted his boxing career to pursue music. In Paris from 1954 to 1955 he worked as a musician and musical director, recording with jazz vocalist

. When Dorough returned to the United States, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he performed in various clubs, including a job between sets by comedian

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...

. His first album, ''Devil May Care'', came out in 1956 and contained a version of Charlie Parker's "

Yardbird Suite "Yardbird Suite" is a bebop standard composed by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker in 1946. The title combines Parker's nickname "Yardbird" (often shortened to "Bird") and a colloquial use of the classical music term " suite" (in a manner similar to ...

" with lyrics added by Dorough. Jazz trumpeter

liked the album, and in 1962 when

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

asked Davis to make a Christmas record, he sought out Dorough to provide lyrics and vocals. "Blue Xmas" appeared on the compilation album '' Jingle Bell Jazz''. During that session Dorough recorded another song for Davis, "Nothing Like You," which appeared a few years later at the end of the '' Sorcerer'' album, making Dorough one of the few musicians with a vocal performance on a Miles Davis record. In 1969, Dorough participated as arranger, choir vocalist, and pianist for beat poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

's 1970 LP ''

Songs of Innocence and Experience ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...

'', a musical adaptation of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

's poetry collection of the same name. From 1972 to 1996, and for direct-to-video releases in 2002 and 2009, Dorough wrote and directed episodes of ''

'', an educational animated series that appeared on TV. He got the job when advertiser David McCall asked him in 1969 to put the multiplication tables to music, with "Three Is a Magic Number" earning him the job as the series' musical director. Dorough wrote all the songs for ''Multiplication Rock'', the first of six eventual subject areas (the others being ''Grammar Rock'', ''America Rock'', ''Science Rock'', ''Money Rock'' and ''Earth Rock'', to which he also contributed songs and performances). With his friend

Ben Tucker Benjamin M. Tucker (December 13, 1930 – June 4, 2013) was an American jazz bassist who appeared on hundreds of recordings. Tucker played on albums by Art Pepper, Billy Taylor, Quincy Jones, Grant Green, Dexter Gordon, Hank Crawford, Junior Ma ...

, Dorough wrote the song "

Comin' Home Baby "Comin' Home Baby" is a song originally written as an instrumental by Ben Tucker and first recorded by the Dave Bailey Quintet in 1961, and shortly thereafter by Herbie Mann. Lyrics were added by Bob Dorough, and the vocal version became a US Top ...

", which gave Mel Tormé a Top 40 hit and two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations. He was a partner for many years with

Stuart Scharf Stuart Scharf (1941 – November 8, 2007) was an American composer, guitarist, and record producer. Scharf grew up in Crown Heights and attended Winthrop Junior High School. Scharf graduated, with honors, from CCNY in 1962 (mathematics majo ...

, producing two albums for the folk-pop band

Spanky and Our Gang Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s sunshine pop band led by Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' comedies of the 1930s (known to modern audiences as ''The Little Rascals''), because of the si ...

and adding jazz arrangements to their sound. Dorough was the vocalist for The 44th Street Portable Flower Factory, recording

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of popular music for Scholastic Records in the early 1970s. Dorough remained with the show from 1973 to 1985.

Later career

From 1985 to 1993 he toured Europe several times with the saxophone player

Michael Hornstein Michael Hornstein (born 1962) is a Munich-based saxophonist, composer and music producer. Biography Hornstein was born of a German father and an Italian mother in 1962. He started playing the piano at the age of 10 and later saxophone at the ag ...

, bassist Bill Takas and drummer

Fred Braceful Fred Arthur Braceful (May 2, 1938 – March 17, 1995) was a jazz drummer. Early life Braceful was born in Detroit on May 2, 1938. He played in his tenor saxophonist father's band early in his career. He served in the U.S. military in Germany, and ...

. Dorough worked with

Nellie McKay Nell Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is a singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera'' (2006). Early life and education McKay was born in London to an English father, writer-director Malcolm McKay, and an ...

on her 2007 album ''

Obligatory Villagers ''Obligatory Villagers'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Nellie McKay. It was released on September 25, 2007. Bob Dorough appears as a guest vocalist on several tracks. Many of the musicians on the album reside in the Poco ...

'' as well as her 2009 release ''

Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day ''Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter, Nellie McKay. Released in 2009 by Verve Records, it is McKay's first cover album, composed of songs previously recorded by American s ...

''. He continued to do occasional work intended for children. He wrote an illustrated book of ''Blue Xmas'' and three songs to accompany Maureen Sullivan's books about Carlos the French bulldog: ''Ankle Soup'', ''Custard and Mustard'' and ''Christmas Feet''.

Death

Dorough died on April 23, 2018, at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, at the age of 94.

Awards and honors

*In 1974, Dorough received a Grammy nomination for Best Recording for Children. *In 1998, Dorough was inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame. *He received Artist of the Year at the 2002 Pennsylvania Governor's Awards for the Arts. *In December 2007, Dorough was honored by

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) is a public university in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It is one of ten state universities that compose the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). History What today is East ...

with a Doctor of Fine Arts honorary degree. *In 2019, the ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' soundtrack was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". *In 2019, he was recognized as a 2019 Jazz Master by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Devil May Care'' (

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, 1956) * ''Just About Everything'' (Focus, 1966) * ''I'll Never Fall in Love Again'' (Music Minus One, 1970) * ''A Taste of Honey'' (Music Minus One, 1972) * ''Multiplication Rock'' (

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

, 1973) * ''Watch What Happens!'' (Music Minus One, 1974) * ''Beginning to See the Light'' with Bill Takas (Laissez-Faire, 1976) * ''An Excursion Through "Oliver!"'' (Music Minus One, 1963) * ''Devil May Care'' ( 52e Rue Est, 1983) * ''Hoagy's Children'' with Dick Sudhalter, Barbara Lea (Audiophile, 1983) * ''Sing and Swing'' with Bill Takas (

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, 1984) * ''Clankin' on Tin Pan Alley'' with Bill Takas (Bloomdido, 1986) * ''Skabadabba'' (

Pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

, 1987) * ''Songs of Love'' (Orange Blue, 1988) * ''This Is a Recording of Pop Art Songs'' (Laissez-Faire, 1991) * ''Right On My Way Home'' (Blue Note, 1997) * ''

Too Much Coffee Man Too Much Coffee Man (TMCM) is an American satirical superhero created by cartoonist Shannon Wheeler. Too Much Coffee Man wears what appears to be a spandex version of old-fashioned red " long johns" with a large mug attached atop his head. He ...

'' (Blue Note, 2000) * ''

Who's On First? "Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by American comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello. However, the players' names can simultaneously ...

'' with Dave Frishberg (Blue Note, 2000) * ''To Communicate'' (Vivid Sound, 2004) * ''Sunday at Iridium'' (Arbors, 2004) * ''Complete Recordings'' with Sam Most (Lone Hill, 2004) * ''Small Day Tomorrow'' (Candid, 2006) * ''The Devils Best Tunes: The Beatnik Scat of Bob Dorough'' (Fingertips, 2011) * ''Duets'' (COTAjazz, 2012) * ''Eulalia'' (Merry Lane, 2014) * ''But for Now'' (Enja, 2015) * ''Live at the Deer Head Inn'' (Deer Head, 2016)

Singles

* "Ankle Soup" (2011) * "Christmas Feet" (2011) * "Custard and Mustard" (2011) * "'P' is for the People" (2011) * “Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)” Columbia Records/Blue Vinyl/Record Store Day 2014

As sideman or guest

Sam Most Samuel Most (December 16, 1930 – June 13, 2013) was an American jazz flutist, clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, based in Los Angeles. He was "probably the first great jazz flutist", according to jazz historian Leonard Feather. Biography He wa ...

: ''Bebop Revisited, Vol. 3'' ( Xanadu, 1953) * Buddy Banks Quartet: ''Jazz in Paris – Buddy Banks/Bobby Jaspar – Jazz de Chambre'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

, 1956) * Sam Most: ''Sam Most Plays Bird, Bud, Monk and Miles'' (Bethlehem, 1957) *

: ''Facets'' ( Columbia,1967) * Miles Davis: '' Sorcerer'' (Columbia, 1967) *

: ''

'' (MGM, 1970) * Various: ''That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk'' ( A&M, 1984) *

Harold Danko Harold Danko (born June 13, 1947 in Ohio) is an American jazz pianist. Danko attended Youngstown State University. Among his credits are work in the big bands of Woody Herman and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, as well as smaller ensembles with Gerry Mul ...

: ''Alone But Not Forgotten'' ( Sunnyside, 1985/86) * Naked City: ''

Grand Guignol ''Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol'' (: "The Theatre of the Great Puppet")—known as the Grand Guignol–was a theatre in the Quartier Pigalle, Pigalle district of Paris (7, cité Chaptal). From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962, it spe ...

'' (

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

, 1992) *

: ''Innocent Gem'' (Enja, 1995) * ''Hoagy's Children, Vol. 1'' (

Audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

, 1994) * ''Hoagy's Children, Vol. 2'' (Audiophile, 1994) * Various: ''Jazzmass'' (COTA, 1995) *

: ''I'm Hip'' (Columbia, 1998) * Various: ''The Reasons for Christmas Project'' (PATH, 2003) *

: ''Obligatory Villagers'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

, 2007) * Nellie McKay: ''Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day'' (Verve Records, 2009) * Various Artists: ''Jazz Canto Vol. 1 (an anthology of poetry and jazz)'' (Righteous, 2009)

References

External links

* * *Albin, Scott
Essential Bob Dorough Recordings
at Jazz.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorough, Bob 1923 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century American pianists 21st-century jazz composers American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz pianists American male pianists American male singers American male songwriters American music arrangers Record producers from Arkansas American rock songwriters Bebop pianists Blue Note Records artists Cool jazz pianists Jazz arrangers Military personnel from Arkansas People from Polk County, Arkansas Red Records artists Singers from Arkansas Songwriters from Arkansas University of North Texas College of Music alumni Vocalese singers Animation composers Jazz musicians from Arkansas 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Arbors Records artists Candid Records artists Enja Records artists