Hoagy Carmichael born 22 November 1899

Howard Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for composing the music for "Stardust", "Georgia on My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.

American composer and author Alec Wilder wrote of Carmichael in American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950 that he was the "most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz-oriented" of the hundreds of writers composing pop songs in the first half of the 20th century.

Hoagland Howard Carmichael, better known as Hoagy Carmichael, was born on November 22, 1899, in Bloomington, Indiana. He was raised in humble circumstances, supported by an electrician father, and by the income his mother earned from playing the piano at silent movie showings and local dances. Growing up, Carmichael was exposed to music not only through his mother, but by listening to jazz artists in the African-American neighbourhood of Bucktown.

A move to Indianapolis in 1916 led Carmichael to an African-American pianist named Reginald DuValle, who became a mentor and an instructor in jazz. Carmichael worked to develop his own jazz skills, leading a jazz group while at Indiana University. During his time in college, he also hired a band that featured cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, who became a good friend.

Carmichael wrote his first song for Beiderbecke; originally called "Free Wheeling," it was recorded as "Riverboat Shuffle." Carmichael turned away from music to enrol in Indiana University's law school, graduating in 1926. However, upon hearing a recording of another of his songs, "Washboard Blues," Carmichael gave up on practicing law to pursue a career in music.

 By 1929, Carmichael was writing songs in New York City. That same year, Mitchell Parrish penned lyrics for a song that Carmichael had composed earlier, "Stardust," which became a hit in 1930. Today the song has been recorded more than 1,500 times—including by Louis Armstrong in 1931—and is a beloved standard.

Other well-known numbers that Carmichael worked on early in his career include "Rockin' Chair," "Georgia on My Mind," "Up the Lazy River" and "Lazybones." On "Lazybones," he worked with lyricist Johnny Mercer, who would become a friend and frequent collaborator. In addition to having other musicians interpret his songs, Carmichael also performed his own popular versions.

In 1936, Carmichael moved to California. The songs he wrote for various films include "Heart and Soul," "The Nearness of You" and "Two Sleepy People." In 1952, he and Mercer won an Academy Award for their song "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," from the movie Here Comes the Groom, starring Bing Crosby. Carmichael also made onscreen appearances in films such as To Have and Have Not (1944) The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and The Las Vegas Story (1952).

 

As the 1950s progressed, Carmichael continued to write and perform, but did not reach the same level of song writing success. Having written one autobiography earlier in his career, The Stardust Road (1946), he updated his memoirs with Sometimes I Wonder (1965). Carmichael took a break from adult songs to publish a collection of children's tunes, Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop (1971).

 

Carmichael was selected to join the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971. Divorced from his first wife—Ruth Meinardi, with whom he had two children—in 1955, he married Wanda McKay in 1977. His many popular songs gave him a steady income, so Carmichael was able to relax and play golf as he grew older. He passed away at the age of 82 on December 27, 1981, in Rancho Mirage, California.

(Info mainly from biography.com)