MOUNT BETHEL, PA (AP/RNN) - The musician who taught thousands of kids about the function of conjunction junction died Monday.
Bob Dorough songs helped teach children about grammar and government on ABC's "Schoolhouse Rock."
His son, Chris, said his 94-year-old father died of natural causes Monday at his home in Mount Bethel, PA.
According to his biography, the jazz musician "set the multiplication tables to music" as musical director for the educational cartoon.
He also wrote the song "Devil May Care," which jazz great Miles Davis recorded as an instrumental version.
Dorough was born in Arkansas and raised in Texas. He headed to New York City after graduating from the University of North Texas in 1949.
While working with the likes of Davis, he did some work with advertising to make ends meet.
He told NPR back in 2013 that his boss approached him because his sons couldn’t remember “their times tables – yet they sing along with Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones, and they get their words.”
Dorough wrote “Three is a Magic Number” – which was supposed to be a project called “Multiplication Rock,” which eventually evolved into “School House Rock.” Dorough sang most of the “Schoolhouse Rock” songs.
Michael Eisner, who was an ABC executive in the 1970s, turned them into animated videos that aired from 1973 to 1985. The videos were re-aired again from 1993 to 1999.
He eventually settled in Pennsylvania. A funeral is tentatively scheduled for Monday in Mount Bethel.
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