Texas Tech School of Music Hosts ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ Creator for April Concert

“Schoolhouse Rock” creator and former Plainview native Bob Dorough will play a mixture of his jazz and pop-culture careers during a concert at 7:30 p.m. April 15 at Hemmle Recital Hall.

Dorough, born in Arkansas and reared in Texas, fell in love with music after joining the Plainview Texas High School Band.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in music in 1949 at the University of North Texas, he moved to New York City where he attended Columbia University and immersed himself in the volatile jazz scene – the BeBop revolution.

He is known as “the only singer to record with Miles Davis.” While this may not be 100 percent true, he did record two vocals with Davis in 1962 – “Nothing Like You” and “Blue Xmas,” both of which he composed.

Davis also recorded an instrumental version of Bob’s classic song, “Devil May Care,” that same year.

In 1971 he received a commission to “set the multiplication tables to music.” This led to ABC-TV’s “Schoolhouse Rock” Saturday morning cartoons that entertained and instructed unsuspecting children from 1973-1985.

The impact of this media exposure was unpredictably immense. The show came back for another five years in the ’90s and is now enjoying its 30th anniversary with a DVD edition of the entire, five-subject series, for which Dorough worked as the musical director.

He has received the Governor’s Artist of the Year Award in Pennsylvania and is a member of the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.

Tickets to the event are $12, which does not include a $2 surcharge from Select-A-Seat. For reservations, call Select-A-Seat at (806) 770-2000.