Stardust Melody by Sudhalter
Hoagy Carmichael was one of that remarkable group of songwriters who created the American popular song in its great age from the 1920s to the 1930s. Unlike most of the other leading songwriters of the period - such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, among others, all of whom were strongly New York based and directed - Carmichael's origins were in the Midwest, and his music, as one writer describes it, reflected the 'sounds of summer in a small-town America that is long ago but still longed for'. The American popular song developed and reached its peak in the same years that jazz extended its hold on America's music. Hoagy Carmichael has the strongest jazz roots of all America's great songwriters. He was intimately involved with the legendary jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, who was the dominant influence on his music. He sang and played piano in jazz groups well into the 1930s, and many of his songs greatly reflected these jazz roots - among them, 'Riverboat Shuffle', 'Washboard Blues', 'Georgia on my Mind', 'Lazy Bones', and 'Skylark'. Carmichael wrote 'Star Dust' - one of the most famous and popular American songs - which could be heard everywhere in the 1930s. In the late 1930s Carmichael began composing songs for Hollywood musicals, among them 'Two Sleepy People', 'I Get Along Without You Very Well', 'Ale Buttermilk Sky', and 'In the Cool, Cool of the Evening'. Carmichael also had a successful career in Hollywood as an actor, singer, and piano player. He appeared in 'To Have and Have Not' (with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall), 'The Best Years of Our Lives', and 'Young Man With A Horn'. Throughout his career, Carmichael never lost his early affinity for, and deep love of, the dynamic jazz music of his youth. And some of the most majestic moments in the career of Louis Armstrong, jazz's preeminent figure, occur in performances of Carmichael's songs. And as Richard Sudhalter brilliantly reveals in this perceptive and moving biography, Carmichael and his music represent a special vision of America: 'open and decent, worldly but appreciative of simple pleasures, pragmatic yet principled, secular yet deeply moral.' Sudhalter understands Carmichael's music and its jazz roots, but he has an equally deep feel for this extraordinary man. He has written one of the great biographies of an American musical figure.
"Meticulous, admiring, perceptive and informative... A first-rate job of showing that Carmichael's mind was deeper and tougher than first impressions might suggest." --Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"A thorough, superb and evocative biography."--Tom Nolan, San Francisco Chronicle
"Musically knowledgeable and truly dedicated to his subject, Sudhalter writes for a general audience with passion, enthusiasm, and a fine understanding of the subtleties of the songwriter's craft."--Baltimore Sun
"An engaging bio."--US News & World Report
"An apt and able bio of a singular talent."--Kirkus Reviews
"Hailed by critics as the definitive look at the Hoosier songwriter."--Indianapolis Star
"Highly readable and thoroughly researched."--William F. Gavin, The Washington Times
"Sudhalter is a dedicated researcher who has to admit that his hero sometimes made a few things up, tricked cold facts into a wry story and generally saw himself in a smoky light akin to that of movies."--David Thomson, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Sudhalter's entertaining yet straightforward style propels the narrative forward, and the musical examples are a plus. The exhaustive research, including interviews with Carmichael's relatives and colleagues, makes this essential for all popular music, American culture, or Indiana collections."--Library Journal (starred review)
"Richard Sudhalter's new book is undoubtedly the most well-researched biography of Hoagy Carmichael available. Anyone interested in this fine American composer should get hold of a copy immediately." --Artie Shaw
"Sudhalter writes with the voice of a novelist, the eye of a historian, and the heart of the superb jazz musician he is known to be. Stardust Melody sets a new standard of literary excellence for all celebrity biographies to come." --Max Morath
"Richard Sudhalter has written an elegant, carefully etched portrait of Hoagy Carmichael, his life and music, with so much history and wealth of detail in every anecdote that each one comes alive for the reader. No one but a jazz musician could have shown such insight as Sudhalter does, revealing the many secrets of the man and his music and making Hoagy's songs glow forever in the mind and heart." --Marian McPartland
"With the instinct and insights of a discerning musician, Dick Sudhalter is a sensitive researcher, he's hip to how songwriters think, and he knows how to write about history and make it sing. Even Hoagy Carmichael, salty and critical as they come, would have probably pumped the author's hand and said, 'You got it, buddy.'" --Dave Frishberg
"A thorough, superb and evocative biography."--Tom Nolan, San Francisco Chronicle
"Musically knowledgeable and truly dedicated to his subject, Sudhalter writes for a general audience with passion, enthusiasm, and a fine understanding of the subtleties of the songwriter's craft."--Baltimore Sun
"An engaging bio."--US News & World Report
"An apt and able bio of a singular talent."--Kirkus Reviews
"Hailed by critics as the definitive look at the Hoosier songwriter."--Indianapolis Star
"Highly readable and thoroughly researched."--William F. Gavin, The Washington Times
"Sudhalter is a dedicated researcher who has to admit that his hero sometimes made a few things up, tricked cold facts into a wry story and generally saw himself in a smoky light akin to that of movies."--David Thomson, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Sudhalter's entertaining yet straightforward style propels the narrative forward, and the musical examples are a plus. The exhaustive research, including interviews with Carmichael's relatives and colleagues, makes this essential for all popular music, American culture, or Indiana collections."--Library Journal (starred review)
"Richard Sudhalter's new book is undoubtedly the most well-researched biography of Hoagy Carmichael available. Anyone interested in this fine American composer should get hold of a copy immediately." --Artie Shaw
"Sudhalter writes with the voice of a novelist, the eye of a historian, and the heart of the superb jazz musician he is known to be. Stardust Melody sets a new standard of literary excellence for all celebrity biographies to come." --Max Morath
"Richard Sudhalter has written an elegant, carefully etched portrait of Hoagy Carmichael, his life and music, with so much history and wealth of detail in every anecdote that each one comes alive for the reader. No one but a jazz musician could have shown such insight as Sudhalter does, revealing the many secrets of the man and his music and making Hoagy's songs glow forever in the mind and heart." --Marian McPartland
"With the instinct and insights of a discerning musician, Dick Sudhalter is a sensitive researcher, he's hip to how songwriters think, and he knows how to write about history and make it sing. Even Hoagy Carmichael, salty and critical as they come, would have probably pumped the author's hand and said, 'You got it, buddy.'" --Dave Frishberg
Richard M. Sudhalter is a highly respected musician and one of the outstanding jazz trumpeters performing today. He is a recognized authority on jazz of the period 1915 to 1945, especially jazz performed by white musicians.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780195168983 |
| ISBN 10 | 0195168984 |
| Title | Stardust Melody |
| Author | Sudhalter |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 2004-01-08 |
| Number of pages | 480 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |