[Dixielandjazz] RE: Stardust (was Verses)

[Hal Vickery]

Bill,

 

Good stuff!  

 

The section quoted in the Random House page addresses Carmichael's story of
its composition, and the author concludes that Carmichael was working on the
song as early as 1926 when he was in Florida trying to establish himself as
a lawyer.

 

I tend to discount stories of people who say songs were stolen from them,
particularly songs as complex as Star Dust.  Carmichael had already
published tunes.  Riverboat Shuffle was recorded as early as 1924 that I
know of.  

 

One thing I noticed about the Hank Wells story is that people say they heard
him tell the story, but there is no one who says that they (or their parents
or grandparents or whatever) actually heard Wells actually play the tune at
the piano.  Was there anyone at Indiana University who heard it?  Why didn't
Wells sue Carmichael?  When did Wells first tell the story?  All kinds of
questions come to mind.  

 

And it's not exactly like Carmichael never wrote a great song after that,
despite the conclusion reached in your quote.  Hoagy wrote Skylark, Georgia
on My Mind, and a number of other songs that may not "meet or exceed" Star
Dust but certainly aren't chopped liver!  He was certainly a prolific
writer.  Check out the site www.hoagy.com , a site his son Hoagy B.
Carmichael put together, which lists in alphabetical order everything that
Carmichael published.  Interestingly enough this gives the copyright date of
"Stardust" as January 5, 1928.  Perhaps the 1929 copyright date was the date
Carmichael assigned the copyright to Mills.

 

As for the question about the Sinatra "verse only" recording of Stardust (or
Star Dust), it appears in the "Sinatra and Strings" album from 1962 (source:
http://newsummer.com/mp3.shtml ).  Sinatra was with Reprise by that time.
I've heard it, but I don't have the record.

 

Hal

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Bill Haesler [mailto:bhaesler at bigpond.net.au]

Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 4:55 AM

To: Hal Vickery; dixieland jazz mail list

Subject: Re: Stardust (was Verses)

 

Dear Hal,

Looks like you've nailed it, with the quotes from Will Friedwald's "Stardust
Melodies".

The prior-composition claim I was trying to recall earlier is included on
the Amazon site as part of its publicity for Richard Sudhalter's book

'Stardust Melody' (2002).   (The similarity for the book titles is a bit

confusing, unfortunately. Both were published, independently, in April 2002.

I do not have either of them yet.)

Here is the Amazon site quote:

"  'Who really wrote Star Dust?', August 19, 2002 Hoagy Carmichael's college
roommate, Hank Wells, claimed all his life that Hoagy, consciously or
subconsciously, stole Star Dust from him. People in his home- town of Lake
Bluff, Ill., said that this "broke his heart." Wells visited back and forth
with the parents of a friend of mine, and she personally heard him tell this
story. He played piano at her wedding..

I have read Hoagy's own words about Star Dust quoted in a book and they are
cryptic. He does indeed imply that the song came out of nowhere into his
mind.

Two facts: (a) What if a man wrote one great song that was unusual and never
wrote another? Why is that?

(b) Why could one man write such a great song and then never equal or exceed
it in his long writing career. Why?

Only one set of facts fits that scenario. Hank Wells, heartbroken, never
wrote again. Hoagy couldn't write anything so good on his own.

Ccarf. "

This appears to be the basis of the article I had recalled, but which I have
yet to locate in my files.

This afternoon. I have also been looking at other books, including the
following, and find that the 'story' of who was involved, and when, has
become a mess.

1.  'American Popular Song'. Alec Wilder. 1972. Who mentions a 1929
composition date and claims that the verse was added when Parish wrote the
lyrics.

2.  'You Must Remember This...' by Mark White. 1983. Rehash of other known
information plus a story involving Harry Hostetter.

3.  'Tin Pan Alley' by David A Jason. 1988. Mentions that Mills Music
published [and presumably copyrighted] "Stardust" as an instrumental number
in Jan 1929. Parish added the lyrics in May 1929, but it did not become
popular until Isham Jones recorded it, as a 'dreamy ballad', in May 1930.

4.  'Poets of Tin Pan Alley' by Philip Furia. 1990. Who states that it was
composed in 1927 and that Hoagy's University of Indiana classmate Stu
Gorrell named it "Star Dust" (two words). However he perpetuates the story
that Carmichael added the verse when Irving Mills called Mitchell Parish in
to write the words. [Not true as we know that the verse is contained in the
first Carmichael & His Pals recording on 31 Oct 1927.] Mr Furia claims that
it became a hit when Cab Calloway introduced it at the Cotton Club in 1929.

[Calloway's recording of the song was not made until 12 Oct 1931.] 5.
'Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy.' by Rick Kennedy. 1994. A long and interesting
account of the tune on pages 129-132, including some quotes from
Carmichael's 1965 book 'Sometimes I Wonder' implying that Hoagy did not
really know where the tune came from!

 

>From the above it can be seen that the 1931 copyright date (initially 

>quoted

by me) and given by 'Kinkle' is obviously in error.

 

Mention has been made of the Frank Sinatra versions of "Stardust", including
a verse-only one (where did I read that, and is this the one Fred Spencer
referred to in the email which started this long thread?).

To save me time, can someone please provide details of when they were
recorded by Sinatra and with which record company?

Kind regards,

Bill. 

 

 

 

"Stardust"

Verse:

And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the meadows of my
heart High up in the sky the little stars climb Always reminding me that
we¹re apart You wander down the lane and far away Leaving me a song that
will not die Love is now the stardust Of yesterday The music Of the years
Gone by

 

Chorus:

Sometimes I wonder why I spend

The lonely nights

Dreaming of a song.

The melody haunts my reverie

And I am once again with you.

When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration.

But that was long ago, and now my consolation Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside the garden wall, when stars are bright You are in my arms The
nightingale tells his fairy tale Of paradise where roses grew.

Though I dream in vain, in my heart you will remain My stardust melody The
memory of love¹s refrain.