![]() Louis to become one of the earliest African-American stars to "cross over" onto the pop charts. He grew up in the heart of segregated St. But despite decades of fame, countless high-profile covers of his songs, a biographical film and an autobiography, Berry himself is still difficult to pin down. "My little boy can't memorize the multiplication tables," he explained: "But he sings along with Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones.The history of rock and the history of civil rights have all kinds of intersections, and Chuck Berry's story is one of the most interesting ones. With simultaneous advertising and rock hits came a commission to set the multiplication tables to a back-beat.Īn agency account executive he knew came up with the concept. Their "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" was a hit. Little Brother Montgomery taught a young white singer named Elaine (Spanky) McFarland about the blues and she started the group Spanky and Our Gang, Dorough producing. One thing sure - he was taking orders from some sharp cats. He wrote the anti-Yuletide lament "Blue Xmas," which Miles recorded. Lenny Bruce was "a jazz lover but an autocrat too" and Dorough soon decided to stop spending "A Sick Evening With Lenny Bruce."Īfter hearing his vocalese adaptation of Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," Miles Davis called "out of the blue" and said: "I want you to write a Christmas song for me." Dorough took that as a command also. But they bombed in Paris ("Larry Adler stole the show"), and when Robinson and his retinue sailed back (second class), Dorough stayed in Paris to work at the Mars Club for the French franc equivalent of $11.65 a night. ![]() They sailed over first class (doing their act en route) on the Ile de France. Robinson took his revue, billed as "The Champ," to Paris with Dorough as musical director. Wearing a smile that somehow combined lechery with childlike enthusiasm, Dorough recalled: "Oh, all those beautiful dancing girls. "I toured our continent on Count Basie's bus, hung out in Louis Armstrong's dressing room, I met 'Fatha' Hines in Providence." When Le Tang said "play 'Green Eyes' for Sugar Ray," he knew exactly what to do.Īfterward, wiping his brow, Robinson said: "You're going on the road with us."ĭorough "took it as a command." They traveled with Robinson's hairdresser, valet and road manager playing theaters in Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia and the Apollo in Harlem on the same bill with attractions like The Dominoes. Tap dancers are like drummers with legs and Dorough liked playing with them. Le Tang introduced him to the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, who had retired and was building a song and dance act. One day, Le Tang said "I've got a five dollar gig for you." He ran jam sessions with people from Detroit, including Thad and Elvin Jones, in his East 75th Street four-flight walk-up.įinancially, Dorough had fallen on what he calls "evil days." He was working Henry Le Tang's Times Square tap dance studio for $3 a class. "In the old days," he says, with his old-days Arkansas Traveler twang: "I was a bebop student trying to learn 'Half Nelson' like everyone else." His voice has been compared to "Nat King Cole doing a Louis Armstrong impersonation."ĭorough somehow manages to wear his heart on his sleeve, laugh, wink, keep his tongue in his cheek, sing and finger two-handed bebop piano at the same time. With nothing urgent to go for in New York, it was perhaps a bit too easy to get into the habit of lying back with the philosophy expressed in a song he wrote with Fran Landesman: "I've Got a Small Day Tomorrow (and there's a car I can borrow)." He had been "scoring heavy advertising bread" recording jingles like "Sing a Can of Beer," so he bought it. The area reminds him of the hills, rivers and creeks near his home town of Cherry Hill, Arkansas. He likes to "harbor stray animals" on his farm in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, a 90 minute drive from the city. ![]() (Notable names dropped in, including the filmmaker Robert Altman, the artist Al Hirschfeld and the actor Gary Goodrow.) Dorough had worked regularly at the Village Gate and Bradleys, but they both closed. They elbow each other with nostalgia.Ī club called Birdland in the theater district on West 44th Street was packed two nights running late last month when Dorough made one of his rare New York City appearances. The kids who once loved his voice singing "My Hero Zero" over animated cartoons on Saturday morning television are now in their 30s happily paying music charges in the jazz clubs Dorough appears in. ![]()
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