MUSIC CLIP - OSCAR PETERSON, “MOONGLOW”

Welcome to Afterglow, [a show of vocal jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook], I’m your host, Mark Chilla.

On this episode, I’m exploring the work of the jazz singer and songwriter Bob Dorough [duh-ROW]. [Dorough would have turned 100 years old on December 12th of this year]. Bob Dorough was an artist that writers David Jenness and Don Velsey once described as, quote, “a nonpareil… off-beat funny, jazz-smart, eccentric in attitude, and [one who] obviously doesn’t obese about writing hit songs.” (end quote) This hour, I’ll explore his idiosyncratic vocal style and his witty and often poignant bebop-inspired songwriting, as performed by Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, and others.

It’s Boppin’ With Bob Dorough, coming up next on Afterglow

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "SMALL DAY TOMORROW"

An 82-year-old Bob Dorough, performing the song “Small Day Tomorrow,” a quaint musing over what to do with a mundane evening, and a song he co-wrote with oet and lyricist Fran Landesman in 1966. This is one of Dorough’s most celebrated and popular songs, recorded by over 60 artists over the decades, including singers like Irene Kral, Janis Siegel, and Nellie McKay. That particular version comes from the 2005 Bob Dorough album also called Small Day Tomorrow, featuring 12 songs co-written by Dorough and Landesman.

MUSIC CLIP - THE PHIL WOODS QUARTET, "I'VE GOT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING"

Mark Chilla here on Afterglow. On this show, we’re exploring the work of jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter Bob Dorough. [Dorough would have turned 100 years old on December 12th.]

Bob Dorough was a unique singer, to say the least. Jazz critic Will Friedwald put it so bluntly as saying, quote, “Anyone who’s ever taken a singing lesson resents the hell out of Bob Dorough for having the nerve to pass off as a vocalist.” (Ouch) But nevertheless, Dorough carved out a career for himself throughout the decades, showcasing his distinctive voice on many albums, palling around with the likes of Miles Davis and Allen Ginsberg, and writing hip and funny songs for people like Blossom Dearie, Mel Tormé, and Tony Bennett. Most famously, he took his talents to television, using his clever lyricism to help teach kids how to count on various songs for Schoolhouse Rock.

I’m going to give only the barest of overviews of his career on this episode—he released over 20 albums. Instead, I’ll play some samples of his work as a singer, and then spend some time exploring his songs, as interpreted by other artists.

Bob Dorough was born in Arkansas on December 12, 1923, and grew up in Texas. He entered the jazz scene when he was in graduate school at Columbia University in New York, playing in jazz clubs, and embedding himself in the cool jazz and post-bebop scene. 

His first album as a leader didn’t come until 1956, when he was already 33 years old. It was an album that included both jazz standards, sung in his inimitable style, plus a handful of originals, showcasing his distinctive flair for songcraft. If you can dig his voice, it’s an impressive debut album, and one of his most celebrated today. Let’s hear a bit of it now.

First up, here is Bob Dorough performing a version of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Baltimore Oriole,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "BALTIMORE ORIOLE"

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "YOU'RE THE DANGEROUS TYPE"

Two songs from Bob Dorough’s debut album Devil May Care, recorded for Bethlehem Records in 1956. That was his original song “You’re The Dangerous Type.” Before that, the Hoagy Carmichael and Paul Francis Webster song “Baltimore Oriole.”

Bob Dorough’s next album as a leader came a decade later in 1966. And this album, called Just About Everything and released on the Focus record label, was similar to Devil May Care, in that it was a mix of standards (both new and old) and his own original songs, all filtered through his peculiar vocal delivery and his bop-inspired piano.

Let’s hear a track from that album now, and I’ll follow this up with a few more tracks from other albums over the years, one from the 1980s and one from the 1990s. All three of the songs we’ll hear are standards.

First up, this is Bob Dorough in 1966 with the Jerome Moross [more-ROSS] and John LaTouche song  “Lazy Afternoon,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "LAZY AFTERNOON"

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "EXACTLY LIKE YOU"

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "OLE BUTTERMILK SKY”

Three standards, as interpreted by the inimitable Bob Dorough. Just now, we heard him in 1994 with another Hoagy Carmichael tune “Ole Buttermilk Sky.” That comes from the album Hoagy’s Children, an album he made with singer Barbara Lea and trumpeter Dick Sudhalter. Before that, the Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields song “Exactly Like You.” That comes from his 1986 album Clankin' On Tin Pan Alley, featuring bass player Bill Takas. And starting that set, “Lazy Afternoon,” from Dorough’s 1966 album Just About Everything.

Of course, Bob Dorough was not just an idiosyncratic interpreter of jazz standards. He was also a prolific songwriter himself. We’ll hear a number of songs from the the Bob Dorough songbook in the second half of this program, but first I want to feature the singer himself performing a selection from what’s probably his most well-known output, the songs from the children’s television program Schoolhouse Rock. 

As I talked about in my Schoolhouse Jazz episode of Afterglow, Dorough was the first songwriter hired for the project in 1973, and his quirky sensibility, clever lyrics, and musical pedigree were the perfect fit for this oddball educational project. He wrote all of the (now familiar) songs from the “Multiplication Rock” series, including “Three Is A Magic Number,” “My Hero Zero,” “Figure 8,” and “Naughty Number Nine.” He also returned to the series over the years to write more songs about Grammar, American History, and even Science.

Let’s hear the singer himself performing one of these Schoolhouse Rock songs live. This comes from his 2004 album Sunday At The Iridium. This is Bob Dorough with “Three Is A Magic Number,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - BOB DOROUGH, "THREE IS A MAGIC NUMBER"

Bob Dorough live at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in 2004 with his original song “Three Is A Magic Number,” a song from the Schoolhouse Rock series, originally produced in 1973.

We’ll have more songs from the Bob Dorough songbook, as performed by other notable jazz singers, coming up after a short break. Stay with us.

I’m Mark Chilla, and you’re listening to Afterglow

MUSIC CLIP - GIL EVANS, "NOTHING LIKE YOU"

MUSIC CLIP - QUINCY JONES, "COMIN' HOME BABY"

Welcome back to Afterglow, I’m Mark Chilla. We’ve been listening to the music of jazz singer and songwriter Bob Dorough this hour. [Dorough would have turned 100 years old on December 12th].

And now I want to spend the second half of the program focusing on Dorough’s work as a songwriter. Dorough contributed many songs to other singers over the years, many of which have become standards you probably didn’t realize were originally written by him. Although, given his bob sensibility and his penchant for witty lyrics, some of these songs that I’ll play clearly contain some of Dorough’s hallmarks.

One such song that you might not realize has Bob Dorough’s fingerprints is the 1962 song “Comin’ Home Baby” by Mel Tormé. “Comin’ Home Baby” was originally an instrumental song by Ben Tucker, and Dorough later added the lyrics. Tormé somewhat reluctantly was the first to perform it in 1962, and it became his biggest hit in years.

Let’s a hear a jazzier version also performed by Tormé a few years later for his 1966 studio album called Right Now. This is Mel Tormé with Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker’s “Comin’ Home Baby,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - MEL TORMÉ, "COMIN' HOME BABY"

MUSIC - CAROLE SLOANE, "DEVIL MAY CARE"

Carole Slone performing “Devil May Care,” a song co-written by Bob Dorough with lyrics by T.P. Kirk. That song was originally featured on Dorough’s 1956 debut album, and that performance from Sloane was from her 1992 album Heart’s Desire. Before that, we heard Mel Tormé in 1966 with “Comin’ Home Baby,” another song co-written by Dorough.

Bob Dorough’s songs have definitely resonated with a newer generation of jazz vocalists. Singers like Cecile McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, Jamie Cullum, and many others have performed their own versions of Dorough’s songs. In this next set, I’m going to feature a few of these performances.

We’ll start with a performance by jazz singer Veronica Swift. This comes from her 2019 album called Confessions, featuring pianist Emmet Cohen. The tune is one written by Dorough and fellow songwriter Dave Frishberg for their good friend Blossom Dearie, and a classic cheeky hipster anthem that contains many of Dorough’s signature wit.

Here’s Veronica Swift with “I’m Hip,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - VERONICA SWIFT, "I'M HIP"

MUSIC - CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT, "NOTHING LIKE YOU"

MUSIC - JAMIE CULLUM, "BUT FOR NOW"

Three songs all written or co-written by Bob Dorough, as performed by a few contemporary jazz singers. Just now, we heard Jamie Cullum from his 2003 album Twentysomething performing “But For Now,” a song written in 1966. Before that, Cecile McLorin Salvant live from her 2017 album Dreams and Daggers with “Nothing Like You,” a song Dorough wrote with Fran Landesman in 1962 and a song first performed by Miles Davis. Starting that set, Veronica Swift in 2019 with “I’m Hip.”

Bob Dorough’s music has been interpreted by some of the great jazz singers over the years. One such singer was Tony Bennett, who in 1964 popularized his song “I’ve Got Just About Everything.” It was featured on his 1964 album When Lights Are Low, featuring Ralph Sharon on piano, and it’s since gone on to become a minor jazz standard among some singers. Writers David Jenness and Don Velsey in their book Classic American Popular Song called this tune, quote, “a racing, bracing, constantly syncopated song… to hear it is like being under a confetti shower.” Bennett once described this tune as being about, quote, “how a singer feels when he sings a song everyone likes.”

To close off this hour, here is Tony Bennett in 1964 with Bob Dorough’s “I’ve Got Just About Everything,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - TONY BENNETT, "I'VE GOT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING"

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of Afterglow.

MUSIC CLIP - BOB DOROUGH, "OW!"

Afterglow is part of the educational mission of Indiana University and produced by WFIU Public Radio in beautiful Bloomington, Indiana. The executive producer is John Bailey.

Playlists for this and other Afterglow programs are available on our website. That’s at indianapublicmedia.org/afterglow.

I’m Mark Chilla, and join me next week for our mix of Vocal Jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook, here on Afterglow