Search - Hoagy Carmichael :: Hoagy Carmichael Songbook

The Hoagy Carmichael Songbook

Robert | Boston | 09/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"About an hour of funny and romantic music performed by various artists, mostly from the past. Gives you a great "feel" of this wonderful, composer, singer (almost) and piano player's talents. You feel Carmichael's very human and gentle view of life. Leaves you whistling. I'm buying extra copies for friends because when they hear mine, they want it."

Hoagy's timeless tunes reinterpreted!

John Dziadecki | Louisville, CO USA | 12/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This review is for the Concord release, not the RCA. For some unknown reason Amazon is crossposting these reviews to both. They are two completely different releases differing in content and performers.Mostly lighthearted and breezy, these ten 'cool jazz' recordings from the contemporary Concord discography form a tribute album of sorts. This is a fun disc -- a real pick-me-up for overcast moods or days. A great mix of vocals and instrumentals. Quite enjoyable. Have no fear getting this one."

A Major Pop Music Contributor Of The 20th Century

John Dziadecki | 08/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"History will record that Hoagy Carmichael, born on November 22, 1899 (the same year as another great, Duke Ellington), was one of THE major contributors to pop music to emerge in the 2Oth Century. And no wonder, considering the classics he composed, among them Rockin' Chair, Lazy River, Two Sleepy People, Small Fry, Heart And Soul (the last three with lyricist Frank Loesser, How Little We Know (introduced by the sultry Lauren Bacall in To Have And To Have Not), Ole Buttermilk Sky (first sung by Hoagy himself in the film Canyon Passage), Lazy Bones, Skylark, and In The Cool, Cool Of The Evening (all with lyricist Johnny Mercer), and the oft-recorded Georgia On My Mind, immortalized in the 1960 rendition by the late, great Ray Charles.



At the top of this impressive list, of course, comes Star Dust (sometimes shown as Stardust), only the most recorded love song of all time. It didn't start out so renowned, however, as initially it was a 1927 up-tempo instrumental. Even when words were added in 1929 by Mitchell Parrish it failed to take off. That is, until both Irving Mills & His Hotsy Totsy Gang (# 20) and Isham Jones (# 1) added it to their respective band's repertoire in 1930 - again as an instrumental. After that it seems everyone wanted to record it, and by 1943 there had been no less than 15 hit single versions, with Bing Crosby having the first vocal hit with it in 1931 (# 5). That same year other hits came from Louis Armstrong (# 16), Wayne King & His Orchestra (# 17 instrumental), and Lee Sims (# 20 in a piano version).



In 1935 Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra, with vocal by Henry Wells, would take it to # 10 as the flip of his # 1 hit, Rhythm Is Our Business, and a year later Victor would release it with two different artists performing it on each side - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra as a # 2 instrumental, and Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra as a # 8 with vocal by Edythe Wright. Next up was Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra in 1939, a # 16 instrumental, following which came the early 1941 Artie Shaw version. Winding up at # 1, this instrumental version, voted the greatest record (and the song voted greatest song) of all time in a Billboard disc jockey poll, featured solos by Artie on clarinet, Billy Butterfield on trumpet, and Jack Jenney on trombone. That same year, Tommy Dorsey had another hit with a new recording of the song, this time featuring vocals by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers (# 7), while a Glenn Millerinstrumental hit # 20.



In 1943, Baron Elliot & His Stardust Melodies Orchestra took it to # 18, with vocal by The Stardust Trio, and in a re-issue of his 1941 hit, the Tommy Dorsey version went to # 23. Fourteen years later, versions by Billy Ward & His Dominoes, with lead vocal by Eugene Mumford (# 5 R&B/# 12 Top 100) and Nat "King" Cole with orchestral backing by Gordon Jenkins (# 70 Top 100) saw it return to the charts. And it did again in 1962 in a new recording by Frank Sinatra which, with backing by the Don Costa orchestra, finished at # 98. In 1964 Nino Tempo & April Stevens saw their rendition reach # 31 Hot 100, and in 1975 Johnny Mathis had his version top out at # 4 Adult Contemporary (AC). The last hit version (to this point) then came in 1993 when Harry Connick, Jr. finished at # 46 AC.



So, it would seem Hoagy Carmichael's firm position in pop music history would have been solidified on the basis of that one song alone. But, as you will see from this album, his talent didn't end there. Twenty great tracks by some of the most renowned artists to grace one CD, with excellent sound reproduction and two pages of liner notes written by John E. Quinn."