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JazzWords > Bob Dorough
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I first heard of Bob Dorough in 1976, when I was "playing radio" at a public station which has since
grown up and sent a number of well-respected journalists into both public and commercial radio and
television ( KLCC in Eugene, Oregon). At the time, I was really interested in being hip, and Bob
Dorough made fun of the type of hip I wanted to be.
Songs like "I've Got Just About Everything" (sung by Tony Bennett and Tuck & Patti), "Yardbird Suite"
(which is best sung by Dorough), "I'm Hip" (which Dorough wrote with another hipster, Dave Frishberg)
are well-known by jazzophiles and over 50ish jazz hippies. But it's Dorough's work on two Miles Davis
recordings (Blue Xmas and Nothing Like You) and his seminal kid songs for ABC's "Schoolhouse Rock"
("My Hero Zero," "Conjunction Junction," "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverb Here") which have
defined his public career and kept him fed. I was pleased with his recent release on Blue Note,
if only because it may bring some of his older items back into circulation.
Part of nearly every vocalese collection worth its salt is Dorough's 1956 homage to Bird. Consider what
may be Dorough's crowning achievement as a lyricist - the following words set to Charlie Parker's
immortal "Yardbird Suite" (available again on CD from Bethlehem):
Hey Jazz Fans!
I sing this song, hopin' you'll all find out, the man who wrote the Yardbird Suite, leave you no doubt,
tell you about;
Charles Yardbird Parker was his name, the facts - he carved his fame in history, a sax for his ax.
His improvisation was miraculous, mastermind of rhythm was he, he blew notes that nobody'd ever heard
before until then, cause they'd never been;
So often true, as genius seems to be, he suffered his life through, but gave us the Yardbird Suite.
All because he never stopped blowin'...
So, if Miles liked him, Tony Bennett and Tuck & Patti sing him, and kids have dug him for years,
how come you don't know him? Well, some of his best albums never got around, he plays in Europe
often, and he is eclectic (but what true jazz musician is not somewhat of an acquired taste?).
To decide if you like Bob Dorough, go to the local music store and listen to "Right on My Way Home",
his new Blue Note release. If "I Get the Neck of the Chicken" doesn't make you smile and tap
your foot, send me an e-mail and tell me why. If they don't have it, call your local jazz-oriented
radio station and beg them to put on "Just About Everything" or "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (from the
1955 Bethlehem date).
Albums which are available include "Just About Everything" (Evidence), "Devil May Care" (Bethlehem), Songs
of Love (Orange Blue - French label Out of Print), and "Right on My Way Home" (Blue Note CDP 7243 857729 2 4).
He'd tell you "and so if you're interested listen to Bird." I'm telling you to listen to Bob Dorough, a
national treasure too fine to waste.
©1998 Dave Leonnig
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