{"product_id":"stardust-melody-the-life-and-music-of-hoagy-carmichael-9780195168983","title":"Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael","description":"\u003cem\u003eGeorgia on My Mind, Rockin' Chair, Skylark, Lazybones\u003c\/em\u003e, and of course the incomparable \u003cem\u003eStar Dust\u003c\/em\u003e--who else could have composed these classic American songs but Hoagy Carmichael? He remains, for millions, the voice of heartland America, eternal counterpoint to the urban sensibility of Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Now, trumpeter and historian Richard M. Sudhalter has penned the first book-length biography of the man Alec Wilder hailed as \"the most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz-oriented of all the great songwriters--the greatest of the great craftsmen.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eStardust Melody\u003c\/em\u003e follows Carmichael from his roaring-twenties Indiana youth to bandstands and recording studios across the nation, playing piano and singing alongside jazz greats Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and close friends Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong. It illuminates his peak Hollywood years, starring in such films as \u003cem\u003eTo Have and Have Not\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Best Years of Our Lives\u003c\/em\u003e, and on radio, records and TV. With compassionate insight Sudhalter depicts Hoagy's triumphs and tragedies, and his mounting despair as rock-and-roll drowns out and lays waste to the last days of a brilliant career.\u003cbr\u003e With an insider's clarity Sudhalter explores the songs themselves, still fresh and appealing while reminding us of our innocent American yesterdays. Drawing on Carmichael's private papers and on interviews with family, friends and colleagues, he reveals that \"The Old Music Master\" was almost as gifted a wordsmith as a shaper of melodies. In all, \u003cem\u003eStardust Melody\u003c\/em\u003e offers a richly textured portrait of one of our greatest musical figures, an inspiring American icon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRichard M. Sudhalter\u003c\/strong\u003e is a widely respected jazz trumpet player and noted critic, broadcaster and Grammy-winning historian, who has performed and recorded Hoagy Carmichael's music all over the world. His \u003cem\u003eLost Chords\u003c\/em\u003e (OUP) won an ASCAP Deems Taylor Special Citation for Excellence, and was voted a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e Notable Book of the Year. He was co-author of the National Book Award-nominated \u003cem\u003eBix: Man and Legend\u003c\/em\u003e, still cited as the definitive Beiderbecke biography. A Challenge Records recording artist, he lives on Long Island's North Fork.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50318287077650,"sku":"9780195168983","price":44.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d85d9e4d-1175-4d33-9c4c-c4dce2802725.jpg?v=1727552483","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/stardust-melody-the-life-and-music-of-hoagy-carmichael-9780195168983","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}