Mount Bethel, Pa. — Gen Xers and millennials may not recognize the name, but they'll certainly recognize the music and lyrics Bob Dorough wrote for "Schoolhouse Rock."
Children who grew up in the 1970s and 80s watching Saturday-morning television invariaby saw and can probably recite Dorough's "Conjunction Junction," one of the best-known Grammar Rock cartoons, or maybe "Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Abverbs Here."
Dorough died Monday from natural causes at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press. He was 94 years old.
Bob Dorough, the musical keystone of "Schoolhouse Rock!", died Monday afternoon at the age of 94. https://t.co/n5OWBKkLrM
— NPR (@NPR) April 24, 2018
Dorough was the artist behind the "Multiplication Rock" math series, creating all the lyrics and music for the series, which was part of ABC's educational "Schoolhouse Rock" series, according to USA Today.
He also wrote the song, "Devil May Care," which jazz legend Miles Davis recorded, according to Dorough's biography.
Dorough was born in Arkansas and raised in Texas, where he "immediately fell in love with music upon joining the Planview Texas High School Band," his biography said.
He gained musical experience after serving in the Special Services Army Band Unit from 1943-1945, playing multiple instruments, including the saxophone, clarinet and piano.
Dorough, a 1949 graduate of the University of North Texas, studied composition and piano and went on to perform in jazz clubs in Los Angeles and Paris, but it was a commission in 1971 to "set the multiplication tables to music" that led to his most well-known gig. Dorough became the musical director for "Schoolhouse Rock," and entertained and instructed unsuspecting children from 1973 until 1985.
Bob Dorough (1923-2018) "Schoolhouse Rock" singer/songwriter.
— Sony Movie Channel (@SonyMovieCh) April 24, 2018
He wrote and/or performed "Conjunction Junction," "3 Is A Magic Number," "The Shot Heard Round the World," Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" + many others in the educational series.https://t.co/T3WNxZ1EAG
In 1995, Dorough signed on with jazz label Blue Note Records and recorded three albums for the label.
Dorough’s funeral is scheduled for Monday in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania.
Cox Media Group