Hoagy Carmichael
Howard Hoagland Carmichael
BORN: November 11, 1899, Bloomington, IN
DIED: December 27, 1981, Palm Springs, CA
One of the great composers of the American popular song, Hoagy Carmichael
differed from most of the others (with the obvious exception of Duke Ellington)
in that he was also a fine performer. Such Carmichael songs as "Stardust,"
"Georgia on My Mind," "Up the Lazy River," "Rockin' Chair," "The Nearness
of You," "Heart and Soul," "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," "Skylark,"
and "New Orleans" have long been standards, each flexible enough to receive
definitive treatment numerous times. Carmichael, who was briefly a lawyer,
loved jazz almost from the start, and particularly the cornet playing of
Bix Beiderbecke. His first composition, "Riverboat Shuffle," was recorded
by Bix and the Wolverines in 1924, and became a Dixieland standard. Carmichael,
as a pianist, vocalist, and occasional trumpeter, eventually abandoned law
to concentrate on jazz, particularly after recording "Washboard Blues" with
Paul Whiteman in 1927. He led a few jazz sessions of his own in the late
'20s (including one that interpreted "Stardust" as an up-tempo stomp), but
became more popular as a skilled songwriter. By 1935, he was working in Hollywood
and became an occasional character actor, appearing in 14 films including
To Have and Have Not and The Best Years of Our Lives, generally playing a
philosophical and world weary pianist/vocalist. In the 1940s, Carmichael
recorded some trio versions of his hits, and in 1956, he cut a full set of
vocals while backed by a modern jazz group that included Art Pepper. After
that, he drifted into semi-retirement, dissatisfied with how the music business
had changed. His two autobiographies (1946's The Stardust Road and 1965's
Sometimes I Wonder) are worth picking up. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Actor/singer/composer Hoagy Carmichael was taught piano by his mother in
his native Bloomington, Indiana. Carmichael worked his way through the University
of Indiana law school by performing with his own three-piece band. His first
published song, written while he was in college, was "Riverboard Shuffle."
Even while trying to set up a law practice in Florida, Carmichael's composition
"Riverboat Shuffle" was being turned into a modest hit by the Paul Whiteman
Orchestra. Finally giving in to the inevitable, Carmichael began making records
as an orchestra leader; among his musicians were the Dorsey brothers, Benny
Goodman, and Carmichael's personal hero and closest friend, jazz trumpeter
Bix Beiderbecke. In 1931, Hoagy and lyricist Michael Parish cooked up a little
something called "Stardust," which soon became a standard and made Carmichael
a millionaire. He followed this with a steady stream of easygoing hit tunes,
including "Up the Lazy River," "Lazybones" and "Rocking Chair." His first
movie work occurred in 1936's Anything Goes; one year later he played an
unbilled cameo in Topper, for which he wrote an original number, "Old Man
Moon." His first "dramatic" role was in To Have and Have Not (1944), followed
by laid-back character parts in such films as The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946), Night Song (1947), Young Man with a Horn (1951) (an a clef version
of Bix Beiderbecke's life story) and Belles on Their Toes (1952). His bony,
angular on-screen presence made quite an impression on author Ian Fleming,
who in his first James Bond novel Casino Royale described Bond as closely
resembling Hoagy. In 1946, Carmichael received an Academy Award nomination
for his song "Old Buttermilk Sky" (from the 1946 western Canyon Passage),
and in 1952 won an Oscar for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (from
Here Comes the Groom). Carmichael's TV work included a regular role on the
TV western Laramie (1959-63), and a pen-and-ink "guest" appearance on a 1961
episode of the cartoon series The Flintstones, for which he contributed a
song titled (what else?) "Yabba Dabba Doo." Though he wrote his last hits
in the 1950s, Hoagy Carmichael lived in comfortable retirement thanks to
his song royalties and wise real estate investments. ~ Hal Erickson, All
Movie Guide