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Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael is not only one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, he wrote one of the greatest songs of the 20th century. There have been over 1,100 recordings of “Stardust” to date, making it the second most-recorded song of all time, runner-up only to the Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
He was born Hoagland Howard Carmichael on November 22, 1899, at his parents’ modest home on Grant Street in Bloomington, Indiana. His mother, Lida, was a professional pianist who played the popular music of the day at silent movie theaters, to supplement the income earned by her husband Howard, an itinerant laborer. When he was 11, Hoagy learned the ballad “Little Boy Blue.” That inspired Lida to give her son lessons on the family’s golden oak piano, but she warned him it was no way to make a living. Hoagy also studied jazz piano with an African-American musician from Indianapolis, Reginald DuValle, who taught him how to play ragtime.
After completing high school in 1917, Carmichael worked in construction. He passed his physical to serve in the United States Army during World War I, but when peace was declared in November 1918, he didn’t have to do his military service. In 1919, Carmichael heard the Louisville-based band led by Louie Jordan, and that experience turned him into a “jazz maniac.” He traveled to Chicago and heard Louis Armstrong perform, which gave him even more inspiration to play jazz.
He attended law school at Indiana University and played piano at fraternity dances. He had his own jazz band, Carmichael’s Collegians. In 1924, Carmichael booked cornet player Bix Beiderbecke to play at a series of fraternity dances, and they became good friends. Carmichael composed his first piece of music for Beiderbecke, “Free Wheeling.” The cornetist recorded it with his band, the Wolverines, retitling it “Riverboat Shuffle.”
Carmichael completed his law degree in 1926 and joined a law firm in West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year, but didn’t think he was a good lawyer. When he heard Red Nichols’ version of his song “Washboard Blues,” Carmichael tended his resignation. That same year, he wrote an uptempo instrumental called “Stardust,” and recorded it at the same Gennett Studios where Beiderbecke had cut “Riverboat Shuffle.”
In 1929, Carmichael moved to New York City, taking a job in a brokerage firm while writing music at night. Carmichael found a publisher for “Stardust,” and lyricist Mitchell Parish added lyrics. But the song was not an immediate hit. In May 1930, a slower version was recorded by Isham Jones & His Orchestra, and that version helped establish the song as a classic. Within a year, it was also recorded by Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong.
While in New York, Carmichael met up-and-coming lyricist Johnny Mercer, and they began to write together. Their song “Lazybones” was a hit in 1933 for Ted Lewis, Don Redman, and Mildred Bailey. Carmichael became a recording artist himself, cutting 36 songs for the Victor label between 1929 and 1934, including “Rockin’ Chair.” After Ralph S. Peer heard “Rockin’ Chair,” he signed Carmichael to his Southern Music publishing company in 1930, just in time to publish “Georgia on My Mind.” In 1932, Carmichael became a staff writer for Southern Music. Two years later he wrote “Judy” with Sammy Lerner. Carmichael recorded the song himself. Up-and-coming actress/singer Frances Gumm thought the song was so beautiful, she borrowed the title for her stage name, Judy Garland.
In 1936, Carmichael relocated to Hollywood and composed songs for the movies. In 1939, he wrote “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” but forgot about it until he found it years later. Also in 1939, Carmichael made his only attempt at a Broadway musical; “Walk With Music,” written with Mercer, starred Kitty Carlisle and closed six weeks after opening night. That didn’t discourage Carmichael and Mercer; in 1942 they wrote another classic song, “Skylark.” Betty Hutton introduced “Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief,” which became her signature song, in the 1945 film “The Stork Club.”
In 1953, Carmichael hosted “The Saturday Night Revue” on NBC and in the 1959-60 season was a regular in the western series “Laramie.” A year later, Carmichael was back in the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100, as Bobby Darin took “Lazy River” to No. 14, besting the No. 19 peak of Carmichael’s own recording in 1932. In his later years, Carmichael published a collection of songs written for children, and was paid tribute in a Carnegie Hall concert in 1979. He died of a heart attack in Rancho Mirage, California, on December 27, 1981.
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