Dave Frishberg
David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Blossom Dearie, Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Michael Feinstein, Irene Kral, Diana Krall, Rebecca Kilgore, Stacey Kent, Bette Midler, John Pizzarelli, Jessica Molaskey, Bob Dorough, Judy Roberts and Mel Tormé. Frishberg wrote the music and lyrics for "I'm Just a Bill", the song about the forlorn legislative writ in the ABC Schoolhouse Rock!
Also recorded as David L Frishberg · David L. Frishberg · David Lee Frishberg
Dave Frishberg

Dick Sheridan · gallery0115a · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Dave Frishberg
- Born
- 23 March 1933
- Birthplace
- Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
- Died
- 17 November 2021
- Place of death
- Portland, Oregon, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician, composer
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- jazz
- Education
- University of Minnesota · St. Paul Central High School
- Honours
- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Blossom Dearie, Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Michael Feinstein, Irene Kral, Diana Krall, Rebecca Kilgore, Stacey Kent, Bette Midler, John Pizzarelli, Jessica Molaskey, Bob Dorough, Judy Roberts and Mel Tormé. Frishberg wrote the music and lyrics for "I'm Just a Bill", the song about the forlorn legislative writ in the ABC Schoolhouse Rock!
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Dave Frishberg (1933–2021) was a composer, lyricist and musician, among other activities, of American nationality. The composer was born in Saint Paul and died in Portland.
Dave Frishberg was educated at University of Minnesota. The composer lived in Saint Paul.
The work spans jazz. Languages used include English. Honours include Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q1173207 · wikipedia · Dave Frishberg
In this article
Biography
Biography
Series, which was later transformed into the revue Schoolhouse Rock Live. For Schoolhouse Rock! He also wrote and performed "Walkin' on Wall Street", a song describing how the stock market works, and "$7.50 Once a Week", a song about saving money and balancing a budget.
Dave Frishberg studied at University of Minnesota and St. Paul Central High School. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are jazz. Residence is recorded at Saint Paul. Distinctions recorded are Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dave Frishberg • Born — 23 March 1933 • Birthplace — Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. • Died — 17 November 2021 • Place of death — Portland, Oregon, U.S. • Genre — Jazz, vocal jazz, swing • Occupation — Musician, composer • Instrument — Piano, vocals • Label — Arbors, Blue Note/EMI
Biography
Biography
David Lee Frishberg was born on March 23, 1933, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Frishberg resisted learning classical piano as a boy, developing an interest in blues and boogie-woogie by listening to recordings by Pete Johnson and Jay McShann. As a teenager, he played in the house band at the Flame in St. Paul where Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, and Johnny Hodges appeared. After graduating from the University of Minnesota as a journalism major in 1955, Frishberg spent two years in the Air Force. In 1957, Frishberg moved to New York City, where he played solo piano at the Duplex in Greenwich Village. He first became known for his work with Carmen McRae, Ben Webster, Gene Krupa, Bud Freeman, Eddie Condon, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims. Later, he was celebrated for writing and performing his own, frequently humorous songs, including favorites "I'm Hip" (lyrics only, in collaboration with Bob Dorough), "Blizzard of Lies", "My Attorney Bernie", "Do You Miss New York", "Peel Me a Grape", "Quality Time", "Slappin' the Cakes on Me", "I Want To Be A Sideman", and "Van Lingle Mungo", whose lyrics consist entirely of the names of old-time baseball players. In 1971, Frishberg moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician, and where he also recorded his first albums. In 1986, he moved to Portland, Oregon. Frishberg cited songwriter Frank Loesser as an influence, and has said that Loesser's "Baby, It's Cold Outside", along with Willie Nelson's "Crazy", are songs he wished he had written. Like Loesser before him, Frishberg has also worked strictly as a lyricist, collaborating with composers Johnny Mandel, Alan Broadbent, Al Cohn, Blossom Dearie, David Shire, Julius Wechter, Dan Barrett, Bob Brookmeyer, Bob Dorough, Gerry Mulligan, and Johnny Hodges. Frishberg was nominated 4 times for Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocals. Rolling Stone India included two of his recordings for their series of jazz playlists in the category of "lyrics worth paying attention to": "My Attorney Bernie" (sung by Blossom Dearie) and "I Want To Be a Sideman" (performed by Frishberg). He was the co-recipient of the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song in 1981, having written the lyric to "Baby Talk" from the Burt Reynolds comedy film Paternity.
Personal
Personal
Frishberg was a longtime baseball fan, and had been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) since 1984. In addition to "Van Lingle Mungo", he also wrote "Matty", a tribute to an early 20th century pitching great, which was included along with "Play Ball" and several other songs with baseball references, on the 1994 CD Quality Time. Frishberg died on November 17, 2021, in Portland, Oregon, at the age of 88.
As sideman
As sideman
• Jimmy Rushing, Livin' the Blues (BluesWay, 1968) • Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, You Smile – The Song Begins (A&M, 1974) • Herb Alpert & The T.J.B., Coney Island (A&M, 1975) • Ray Linn, Empty Suit Blues (Discovery, 1981) • Dick Sudhalter, Friends with Pleasure (Audiophile, 1981) • Pee Wee Russell, Over the Rainbow (Xanadu, 1982) • Ben Webster, Valentine's Day 1964 Live (Dot Time, 2018)
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Saint Paul
Residences
Portland.
Death place
Discography
• Oklahoma Toad (CTI, 1970) • Solo And Trio (Seeds, 1974) • Getting Some Fun Out of Life (Concord Jazz, 1977) • You're a Lucky Guy (Concord Jazz, 1978) • The Dave Frishberg Songbook Volume No. 1 (Omni Sound, 1981) • The Dave Frishberg Songbook Volume No. 2 (Omni Sound, 1983) • Live at Vine Street (Fantasy, 1985) • Can't Take You Nowhere (Fantasy, 1987) • Let's Eat Home (Concord Jazz, 1990) • Dave Frishberg Classics (Concord Jazz, 1981) • Where You At? (Sterling, 1991) • Double Play with Jim Goodwin (Arbors, 1993) • Quality Time (Sterling, 1994) • Looking at You with Rebecca Kilgore (PHD Music, 1994) • Not a Care in the World with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 1997) • By Himself (Arbors, 1998) • Knäck Mig En Nöt with Vänner (Gazell, 1998) • Who's On First? with Bob Dorough (Blue Note, 2000) • The Starlit Hour with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 2001) • Do You Miss New York? Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Arbors, 2003) • Dave Frishberg at The Jazz Bakery: Retromania (Arbors, 2005) • Why Fight the Feeling with Rebecca Kilgore (Arbors, 2008) • House Concert with Karen Krog (Arbors, 2010) • Jessica Molasky and Dave Frishberg at the Algonquin (Arbors, 2012)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Dave Frishberg”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1173207: Dave Frishberg
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Steve Futterman. The Inimitable Dave Frishberg. The Washington Post. August 22, 2001.
- 2.Colin Larkin. The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz. Guinness Publishing. 152/3. 1992. 0-85112-580-8.
- 3.Singer, Barry. Dave Frishberg, Writer of Songs Sardonic and Nostalgic, Dies at 88. The New York Times. 2021-11-17. 0362-4331.
- 4.Don Berryman. Dave Frishberg at the Jazz Bakery Nov 29 – Dec 4. Jazz Police. November 27, 2005.
- 5.Andrea Canter. Getting Some Fun Out of Life and Music: Back in St. Paul With David Frishberg. Jazz Police. March 13, 2006.
- 6."Dave Frishberg Song Catalogue". DaveFrishberg.net.
- 7.Mike Joyce. Dave Frishberg. The Washington Post. July 24, 1989.
- 8.Stephen Holden. Her Voice, His Tender, Cruel Songs. The New York Times. October 19, 2006.
- 9.Dave Frishberg's Personal, Peculiar Compositions Songs of Himself. San Jose Mercury News. July 1, 1994.
- 10.Dave Frishberg: Long Bio. Davefrishberg.net.
- 11.Ketzel Levine. Intersections: Reviving the Art of the Witty Lyric; Dave Frishberg's Deft, Wry Wording Recalls an Earlier Era. NPR. April 19, 2004.
- 12.Sunil Sampat. Rolling Stone India's Jazz Playlist. Rollingstoneindia.com. March 22, 2019.
- 13.SABR Digital Library: Van Lingle Mungo: The Man, The Song, The Players, Sabr.org, accessed December 19, 2014
- 14.AllMusic review, by Scott Yanow, accessed December 19, 2014
- 15.Tapp, Tom. Dave Frishberg Dies: Jazz Musician, Writer Of 'Schoolhouse Rock' Tune 'I'm Just A Bill' Was 88. Deadline. 2021-11-19.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Balliett, Whitney (1988). American Singers: 27 Portraits in Song. New York, Oxford University Press. .
- Frishberg, Dave (2017). My Dear Departed Past. Milwaukee, Backbeat Books.
References
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