Bobby Troup | |
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Troup as Dr. Joe Early on 1970s television show, Emergency! (with wife Julie London, in the role of nurse Dixie McCall) |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Robert Wesley Troup, Jr. |
Born | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
October 18, 1918
Died | February 7, 1999 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
(aged 80)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupations | Composer/Songwriter/Musician, Actor, |
Instruments | Piano |
Years active | 1941–95 |
Robert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. (October 18, 1918 - February 7, 1999) was an American actor, jazz pianist and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", and for his role as Dr. Joe Early, opposite his real-life wife's Julie London's character, in the 1970s US TV series, Emergency!
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Life and music
Bobby Troup was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics.[1] He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) fraternity and the Mask and Wig Club.
His earliest musical success came with the song "Daddy" which was a regional hit in 1941. Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra recorded "Daddy", which was no.1 for 8 weeks on the Billboard Best Seller chart and the no.5 record of 1941. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra performed "Daddy" on their radio broadcasts, and The Andrews Sisters also recorded the song. In the same year, Troup's song "Snootie Little Cutie" was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and the Pied Pipers.
Upon graduating from college in 1941 he enlisted in the US Marines, but did not receive orders until January 1942. After completing officer training, he was assigned as one of two dozen white officers to direct recruit training at Montford Point, recruit depot for the first African-American marines.[2] By spring of 1943 he became recreation officer, in which capacity he was able to spearhead improvements to the facilities at Montford, including building a recreation hall, basketball court, and outdoor boxing ring. He was even able to get a friend to install a miniature golf course.[1] During this time he composed the song "Take Me Away From Jacksonville" which was to become an anthem of sorts for the marines at Montford Point, and even other areas of Camp Lejeune.[3] By numerous accounts Troup was the most popular officer among the Montford recruits.[1][4] In October 1944 he was promoted to captain, given command of a depot company, and eventually deployed to Saipan where he served to the end of the war.
Bobby Troup's first marriage was to Cynthia Hare. They were married in May 1942[1] and had two daughters.
In 1946, Nat King Cole had a hit with Troup's best known song "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" which became a hit for Cole and then a popular standard (recorded by many artists including Chuck Berry (1961), The Rolling Stones (1964). In 1987, Depeche Mode combined the tune with their own composition, "Behind the Wheel", released it as the B-side of "Behind the Wheel" and it became a radio hit on KROQ 106.7 FM in Los Angeles. In 2006, "Route 66" was featured in the animated movie Cars, and the movie RV with Robin Williams.
Troup produced torch singer Julie London's million selling hit record "Cry Me a River" in 1955 and they married five years later, following London's divorce from actor Jack Webb, then directing and starring in the now-classic Dragnet TV show. He and London remained married until his death in 1999.
Troup's own recordings in the 1950s and 1960s were not commercially successful. He made recordings for Liberty Records and Capitol Records, many with musicians from the West Coast jazz scene.
Troup also wrote the title song (sung by Little Richard) in the classic 1950s rock and roll movie The Girl Can't Help It. An instrumental rendition of his song "The Meaning of the Blues" appeared on the landmark Miles Davis album, Miles Ahead. Troup's hipster interpretation of the fairy tale "The Three Bears" is often erroneously credited to "anonymous" and re-titled "Three Bears Rap", "Three Bears with a Beat", etc. This song was first recorded by the Page Cavanaugh Trio and later by Western Swing bandleader Leon McAuliffe.
Circa 1969 Troup collaborated with entertainer Tommy Leonetti, penning the lyrics for Leonetti's song "My City of Sydney".[5] Leonetti's original recording was used for many years in the close-down sequence for TV station ATN-7 in Sydney, and was also covered by Sydney punk band XL Capris.
In February 1999, Troup died at UCLA Medical Center of a massive heart attack, he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. His wife, Julie London died the following year, and her cremated remains were placed in the columbarium (Columbarium of Providence) niche, next to his.
Television and movies
In the mid-1950s, Troup was one of three regular panelists (along with Mel Blanc and Johnny Mercer) in the game show Musical Chairs, a Bill Leyden-hosted quiz program that aired locally on Los Angeles television for two years before NBC broadcast it in the summer of 1955. On the program, the viewing audience was encouraged to submit questions about music in an effort to stump the panel. The Troup Group provided much of the music in the game show. He also served as host of the ABC show Stars of Jazz featuring various jazz luminaries, particularly those working in Hollywood.
While he relied on songwriting royalties, Troup also worked as an actor, playing musician Tommy Dorsey in the film The Gene Krupa Story (1959). He played himself in the short-lived NBC television series Acapulco. Troup made several guest appearances on Perry Mason, and on two appearances, including "The Case of the Missing Melody," showed his musical talents. Later he had a memorable cameo as a disgruntled staff sergeant assigned to driving Hawkeye and Trapper John around in Japan in Robert Altman's 1970 masterpiece M*A*S*H. (His only line of dialogue is a repeated exasperation, "Goddamn army!", later modified to "Goddamn army jeep!") In 1972, Jack Webb, who had previously used Troup in a 1967 episode of the television series Dragnet, cast him opposite Julie London in the US TV series Emergency!.
Emergency! was created by Webb, who had recently starred in a revival of Dragnet and was producing NBC's popular Adam-12. London and Troup had remained on cordial terms with Webb, who had used Troup (and his daughter Ronne) in episodes of Adam-12 as well as the revived Dragnet. On Emergency! Troup played Dr. Joe Early, one of the two emergency room doctors featured on the series, while London played head nurse Dixie McCall. He also made a cameo on "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries", singing at the piano.
Selected compositions
- "Baby, Baby, All The Time" - Nat King Cole, June Christy, Diana Krall
- "Bran' New Dolly" - written and sung by Bobby Troup on RCA Victor some time between 1947–50
- "Daddy" - 1941, recorded by Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra, The Andrews Sisters, The Charioteers, performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
- "Girl Talk", lyrics by Troup, music by Neal Hefti - recorded by Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter
- "Hungry Man" - Louis Jordan
- "I See Your Bass Before Me"
- "I'd Like You For Christmas" - Julie London
- "It Happened Once Before" - The Four Freshmen
- "Jack 'N Jill"
- "Just the Way I Am" - June Christy, Stan Kenton
- "Lemon Twist" - Stan Kenton, Billy May, John Pizzarelli
- "Let's Keep Dancing" - Peggy Lee
- "My City of Sydney" (Troup/Leonetti) - Tommy Leonetti, XL Capris, Mary Schneider
- "One October Morning"
- "Out of the Shadows" - June Christy
- "Please Belong To Me"
- "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", 1946 - recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, Perry Como, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, and numerous others
- "Snootie Little Cutie", 1941 - recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines, The Manhattan Transfer
- "The Feeling of Jazz" - words to Duke Ellington's composition
- "The Girl Can't Help It", 1956 - Little Richard
- "The Meaning of the Blues" - Miles Davis (1957), Shirley Horn, Irene Kral, Buddy Rich
- "The Three Bears", 1946 - Page Cavanaugh Trio, Ray Ellington, Leon McAuliffe
- "Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring" - The Four Freshmen, Jimmie Rodgers, The Beach Boys, Sue Raney
- "There She Goes"
- "This October" - The Four Freshmen, Julie London
- "You're Looking At Me" - Nat King Cole, Don Fagerquist, Stacey Kent, Diana Krall, Cleo Laine, Carmen McRae
- "Walking Shoes" - words to Gerry Mulligan's composition
Discography
- 1955 Bobby Troup, (Bethlehem)
- 1955 Bobby Troup Sings Johnny Mercer, (Bethlehem)
- 1955 The Distinctive Style of Bobby Troup, (Bethlehem)
- 1955 Bobby Troup and His Trio, (Liberty)
- 1955 The Feeling of Jazz, (Star Line)
- 1957 Bobby Swings Tenderly, (Mode)
- 1957 Sings Johnny Mercer, (Bethlehem)
- 1957 In a Class Beyond Compare, (Audiophile)
- 1958 Stars of Jazz, (RCA)
- 1958 Here's to My Lady, (Liberty)
- 1958 Bobby Troup and His Jazz All-Stars, (RCA Victor)
- 1959 Cool, (Interlude)
References
- ^ a b c d Williams, Kenneth H. (2012). ""Route 66" Detour to Jacksonville, NC". Fortitudine 37 (2): 26-32.
- ^ Nalty, Bernard C.. "The Right to Fight: African American Marines in World War II". Marine Corps History and Museums Division. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003132-00/sec4.htm. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ^ Shaw, Henry I. and Ralph W. Donnelly (2002). Blacks in the Marine Corps. Washington, DC: USMC History and Museums Division.
- ^ Buckley, Gail (2001). American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm. New York: Random House. pp. 316. ISBN 0-375-50279-3.
- ^ National Library of Australia
External links
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