"Doodlin'" is a composition by Horace Silver. The original version, by Silver's quintet, was recorded on November 13, 1954. It was soon covered by other musicians, including with lyrics added by Jon Hendricks. It has become a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

Composition

"Doodlin'" is a 12-bar blues.Cook, Richard (2004), ''Blue Note Records – The Biography''. Justin, Charles & Co., p. 73. Reviewer Bill Kirchner suggests: "Take a simple riff, rhythmically displace it several times over D-flat blues harmonies, resolve it with a staccato, quasi-humorous phrase, and you have 'Doodlin' '."

Original recording

The original version featured Silver on piano, with Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Doug Watkins (bass), and

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

(drums). It is played as a "medium-tempo blues with a two-beat feel".Rosenthal, David H. (1993), ''Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955–1965''. Oxford University Press, p. 38. Silver's solo is largely blues-based, with little influence from

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 (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

, and is formed around motifs. "Doodlin'" was released as a single along with " The Preacher"; the pairing "might be the first example of a jazz hit single going on to boost sales of its source album – or, as here, albums". They helped popularize hardbop.

Later versions

The song was soon covered by other musicians, including

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

(on his album '' The Great Ray Charles'', 1956). Jon Hendricks added lyrics, performed with Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; Hajdu, David (July 1, 2011)
"Hendricks and Ross: Doodlin' Again"
''New Republic''. after Annie Ross left the group in 1962, the song was also included on the 1963 Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan album '' Recorded "Live" at Basin Street East''.Yanow, Scot
"Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan – Live at Basin Street East"
AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Some other versions were recorded by

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

(on her album '' No Count Sarah'', 1958), Mark Murphy (on '' Rah'', 1961), Baby Washington (on ''That's How Heartaches Are Made'', 1963),

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

(on his ''Twenty-fifth Anniversary Album'',

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

SE4214, 1964), and

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

(on '' Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty'', 1965).

References

{{Authority control 1950s jazz standards 1954 songs Compositions by Horace Silver Jazz compositions in D-flat major