Bobby Troup

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Robert William "Bobby" Troup, Jr. (* 18th October 1918 in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , † 7. February 1999 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz - pianist of Swing , songwriter and actor . He composed the song "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" .

Live and act

Bobby Troup was the son of Robert William Troup, Sr. (1885-1936) and his wife Catherine Noble Reese (1894-1954). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania . In 1941 he was employed as a composer by Tommy Dorsey . His earliest success as a songwriter was with the song "Daddy," which was a regional hit in 1941. He served in the US Marines during World War II . He was the first white officer to command a unit that consisted only of African American soldiers. Troups unit created a night club and formed a basketball team, a jazz band and an orchestra. After 1946 Bobby Troup played in trio in Los Angeles clubs . His musical style was similar to that of the Nat King Cole Trio. Cole had a hit in the 1940s with Troup's most famous song, "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66," which became a popular standard. It was one of the Rolling Stones' early recordings in the 1960s .

From 1942 to 1955 Troup was married to the heiress Cynthia Gillou Hare (1917–1992), with whom he had two daughters, Cynthia Hare Troup (born July 9, 1943) and Ronne Hare Troup (born June 10, 1945) .

In 1954/55 he played in an expanded line-up with Howard Roberts and Bob Enevoldsen and recorded several albums for the small jazz label Bethlehem . Troup also produced an album by singer Julie London , who then had a big hit in 1955 with the song "Cry Me a River". He married her five years later after London's divorce from actor Jack Webb and accompanied her on tours such as Brazil and Japan in 1964. Troup's own recordings, which he made for Liberty Records and Capitol Records in the 1950s and 1960s, a. a. Recorded with well-known West Coast jazz musicians were less successful. With London, Troup had three other children, daughter Kelly and twin sons Jody and Reese.

In the mid-1950s, Troup was one of the regular pianists (as did Mel Blanc and Johnny Mercer ) on the TV game show Musical Chairs , which aired on NBC . From 1956 to 1958 he hosted the NBC Show Stars of Jazz , which featured jazz musicians who were working in Hollywood studios at the time. In the following years Troup worked as a singer for films, so he recorded the title song of the film That Darn Cat from 1965. He also worked as an actor; he played Tommy Dorsey in the film The Gene Krupa Story (1959). He later made a guest appearance as a sergeant in Robert Altman's 1970 MASH and starred in television series such as Emergency California .

Troup also wrote the song The Girl Can't Help It in the rock and roll musical film of the same name. His composition "The Meaning of the Blues" became a well-known jazz standard after Miles Davis recorded it with the Gil Evans Orchestra on his 1955 album Miles Ahead . Troup's other successful tracks include Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring, which was sung by The Four Freshmen and the Beach Boys ; "The Three Bears", "Lemon Twist", "Baby Baby All The Time", "You're Looking At Me" and "I'd Like You For Christmas".

Discographic notes

Filmography (selection)

  • 1957: Bob Girls of Calypso
  • 1959: Five Pennies (The Five Pennies)
  • 1959: Jazz ecstasy
  • 1959-1965: Perry Mason (TV series, three episodes)
  • 1960: Cowboys (TV series, episode 3x1)
  • 1963: 77 Sunset Strip (TV series, episode 6x07)
  • 1967: Shanghai Jack
  • 1968: Big Valley (TV series, episode 4x02)
  • 1970: MASH
  • 1972–1978: Notruf California ( Emergency!, TV series, 129 episodes)
  • 1978: Fantasy Island (TV series, episode 2x12)
  • 1982: The 25th Man (TV movie)
  • 1985: Simon & Simon (TV series, episode 4x21)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Troup, Bobby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Troup, Robert William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz pianist and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Harrisburg , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1999
Place of death Los Angeles , California