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Bob Dorough

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Bob Dorough
Background information
Birth nameRobert Lrod Dorough
Born (1923-12-12) December 12, 1923 (age 100)
Cherry Hill, Arkansas, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
InstrumentPiano
Years active1940s–present
LabelsBethlehem, Music Minus One, Capitol, 52e Rue Est, Red, Blue Note, Arbors, Candid
Websitewww.bobdorough.com

Bob Dorough (born December 12, 1923)[1] is an American bebop and cool jazz pianist, singer, composer, songwriter, arranger and producer.[2][3]

He is perhaps best known as composer and performer of songs from Schoolhouse Rock!, a series of TV cartoons that appeared on Saturday mornings in the 1970s and 1980s. He worked with Miles Davis and Blossom Dearie, and his adventurous style influenced Mose Allison.

Musical career

Dorough was born in Cherry Hill, Arkansas and grew up in Texas. During World War II, he participated in Army bands as pianist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and arranger.[4] After that, he attended North Texas State University, where he studied composition and piano.[5]

From 1949–1952 Dorough was a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, and on the side played piano at local jazz clubs. He was hired for a tour by boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, who had interrupted his boxing career to pursue music. In Paris from 1954–1955 he worked as a musician and musical director, recording with jazz vocalist Blossom Dearie.[6]

When Dorough returned to the U.S., he moved to Los Angeles, where he performed in various clubs, including a job between sets by comedian Lenny Bruce. His first album, Devil May Care, came out in 1956 and contained a version of Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite" with lyrics added by Dorough. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis liked the album, and in 1962 when Columbia Records 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.

From 1972–1996, Dorough wrote and directed episodes of Schoolhouse Rock!, an instructional cartoon series that appeared on TV.[6] He got the job when advertiser David McCall asked him to put the multiplication tables to music. Dorough contributed "Three Is a Magic Number" for the series, which was first called Multiplication Rock.

With his friend Ben Tucker, Dorough wrote the song "Comin' Home Baby", which gave Mel Tormé a Top 40 hit and two Grammy Award nominations. He was a partner for many years with Stuart Scharf, producing two albums for the folk-pop band Spanky and Our Gang and adding jazz arrangements to their sound.

Bob Dorough at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, California in the 1980s

Dorough was the vocalist for The 44th Street Portable Flower Factory, recording cover versions of popular music for Scholastic Records in the early 1970s.[7] Dorough remained with the show from 1973 to 1985.

From 1985 to 1993 he toured Europe several times with the saxophone player Michael Hornstein, bassist Bill Takas and drummer Fred Braceful.

Dorough worked with Nellie McKay on her 2007 album Obligatory Villagers as well as her 2009 release Normal as Blueberry Pie – A Tribute to Doris Day.

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.

In December 2007, Dorough was honored by East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania with a Doctor of Fine Arts honorary degree. He has received the Pennsylvania Governor's Artist of the Year Award and was named to the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.[4]

Dorough is related to Howie Dorough, a member of the group Backstreet Boys.[4]

Discography

As leader

  • Devil May Care (Bethlehem, 1957)
  • The Medieval Jazz Quartet Plus Three (MMO/Classic Editions, 1961)
  • An Excursion Through "Oliver!": Songs from the Hit Show (Classic Jazz/Inner City, 1963)
  • Just About Everything (Focus/Evidence, 1966)
  • A Taste of Honey (Music Minus One, 1972)
  • Multiplication Rock (Capitol, 1973)
  • Beginning to See the Light with Bill Takas (Laissez-Faire, 1976)
  • Devil May Care II (52e Rue Est, 1982)
  • Sing and Swing with Bill Takas (Red, 1984)
  • Clankin' on Tin Pan Alley with Bill Takas (Bloomdido, 1986)
  • Songs of Love (Orange Blue, 1988)
  • Skabadabba (Pinnacle, 1987)
  • To Communicate (1987)
  • Formerly Not for Sale (1987)
  • This is a Recording (Laissez-Faire, 1990)
  • Memorial Charlie Parker with Bill Takas (Philology, 1992)
  • Right on My Way Home (Blue Note, 1997)
  • Too Much Coffee Man (Blue Note, 2000)
  • Who's On First? with Dave Frishberg (Blue Note, 2000)
  • Sunday at Iridium (Arbors, 2004)
  • The Houston Branch (CD Baby/Dees Bees, 2005)
  • Small Day Tomorrow (Candid, 2006)
  • Duets (COTAjazz, 2012)
  • Eulalia (CD Baby/Merry Lane, 2014)
  • But For Now (Enja, 2015)

Singles

  • "Ankle Soup" (2011)
  • "Christmas Feet" (2011)
  • "Custard and Mustard" (2011)
  • "'P' is for the People" (2011)

As sideman or guest

References

  1. ^ Dorough, Bob (November 2003). "A St. Louis Sojourn". BobDorough.com.
  2. ^ Bob Dorough Filmography at The New York Times
  3. ^ "The Voice Of 'Schoolhouse Rock' On The Series At 40". NPR.org. National Public Radio. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Bob Dorough: Bio". BobDorough.com. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  5. ^ Giddins, Gary (9 May 2000). "Bob Dorough Endures". Village Voice. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b Hatch, Marty; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 172. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  7. ^ The 44th Street Portable Flower Factory at discogs.com
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