Paul Jacobs (musician)

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Paul Ross Jacobs is a multi-talented musician who has worked with such artists as Meat Loaf, Mel Torme, Amy Grant, Johnny Cash, Brian McNight, and India Arie, the National Lampoon team, and most recently in children's television, where he has written over 100 songs for such shows as Sesame Street and Between the Lions. A frequent collaborator is his wife, author/humorist/songwriter Sarah Durkee.

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[edit] National Lampoon

Jacobs' association with the National Lampoon came through Christopher Guest who had written a large chunk of the first National Lampoon album, Radio Dinner. Guest was working as a session musician and met Jacobs when they were both performing at the same session. Guest was developing his own songs at the time and asked Jacobs to contribute, and a musical association was born. When Guest was tapped for "Lemmings" in 1973, he brought Jacobs on board.

Jacobs' audition for "Lemmings" was literally an ad-lib performance of the five songs that he ended up co-writing for the show. Tony Hendra and Sean Kelly were impressed enough to name Jacobs musical director of the show and album, which co-starred John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Guest. As well as being musical director for the production, he played guitar and piano, and sang lead vocals on several songs.

Some of the songs co-written or performed by Paul Jacobs during his association with the National Lampoon were:

  • "Lemmings Lament" (the show's opener, a CSNY parody)
  • "Positively Wall Street" (a Bob Dylan parody, co-written with Sean Kelly)
  • "Papa Was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie" (the Communist Manifesto as performed Motown style, co-written with Tony Hendra)
  • "Lonely at the Bottom" (a Joe Cocker parody, co-written with John Belushi)
  • "Megadeath" (the finale of "Lemmings," a heavy metal parody designed to "kill any audience members remaining alive if they place their ears next to the speakers," co-written with Sean Kelly)
  • "Overdose Heaven" (an "Abraham, Martin and John" country parody about "Brian and Jimi and Pearl" performed on the National Lampoon Radio Hour, co-written with Sean Kelly)
  • "Goodbye Pop" (an Elton John parody co-written with Paul Shaffer and Sean Kelly)
  • "The B Side of Love" (a parody of a country ballad, co-written with Sean Kelly, Paul Shaffer and Christopher Guest)
  • "I'm a Woman" (a Helen Reddy parody co-written by Sean Kelly)
  • "Art Rock Suite" (a parody of ELP, Yes, etc.)

This is by no means a complete listing, but hits the highlights.

The tour of "Lemmings" was where Jacobs first met Rhonda Coullet, who sang "You Put Me Through Hell" (Joni Mitchell parody) and "Pull the Tregros" (Joan Baez parody) after Alice Playten left the show. In later years, they would meet again.

[edit] From Comedy to Rock

After serving as musical director and cast member of "The National Lampoon Show" Jacobs moved on from Lampoon related activities and did a stint in the often-intertwined worlds of musical theater and rock and roll. Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman, who performed in the show's national tour, befriended Paul and he helped both with their diverse endeavors. In 1977, when Steinman staged a workshop production of his life-work "Neverland," it was Jacobs who served as musical director and co-arranged the show's score, which featured such future hits as "Bat Out of Hell," "Heaven Can Wait," and "All Revved Up With No Place to Go."

A year later, when these songs were a massive hit on Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell album, and Steinman decided to bow out of the touring show for health and creative reasons, it was Jacobs who stepped in as replacement pianist and background vocalist. This began a career-spanning association with the larger-than-life entertainer, as musician, producer, songwriter, and collaborator.

In subsequent tours, Jacobs added his guitar playing skills to the table, and his songs followed on subsequent albums, including:

  • "Keep Driving" and "Priscilla" (on 1982's Midnight at the Lost and Found)
  • "Bad Attitude," "Modern Girl" (a top 20 UK hit), "Piece of the Action," "Jumpin' the Gun," and "Sailor to a Siren" (all for 1984's Bad Attitude, which Jacobs co-produced)
  • "Take a Number" (which was cut from Attitude and was the B side of one of the first singles from the album)
  • "Where the Rubber Meets the Road" (for 1995's Welcome to the Neighborhood, after an absence from the singer's band on the promotional tours for Bat out of Hell II)
  • In addition, Jacobs' wife Durkee contributed to "Runnin' for the Red Light (I Gotta Life)" on the same album

[edit] Children's TV? Really?

In 1988, following his departure from active live touring with Meat Loaf, Jacobs and his wife began the task of writing numerous songs for Sesame Street. As of 2008, they have written over 100, utilizing such talents as Mel Torme, Amy Grant, Johnny Cash, Brian McNight, and India Arie. Jacobs currently works as musical director for the PBS show "Between the Lions" alongside his wife (where they created the song "Sloppy Pop"), and they have won several Emmys for their work on that show, most recently the 2007 Emmy for "Best Original Song In An Animated Children's Series."

[edit] Personal Life, Recent Projects and Activities

In 2000, between commitments to children's television, Jacobs won the Van Cliburn Institute Amateur Piano Concerto Competition. Also, he recently finished producing the soundtrack to The Runaway Beauty Queen, the autobiographical musical written and performed by former Lampoon collaborator Rhonda Coullet.

Paul lives in New York City with his wife and two teenage kids.