Hoagy Carmichael - The ARA Recordings

The great singer-songwriter-actor-pianist Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981) made a large number of recordings during his long career. Today we'll take up the 22 sides he recorded for the small ARA label in 1944-46 - fascinating both in and of themselves and because of the recording company, which turned out to be a Communist front.

Almost all the songs were written by Carmichael. Several were associated with the films he was making at the time - notably the Bogie-Bacall opus To Have and Have Not.

During this period, Hoagy used other singers on some of his records, when appropriate. Although his own vocalizing was inimitable, it also had notable limitations. He does the singing except where noted.

Comments on the songs follow. There's more about the ARA label and its Russian funding at the end of the article.

"No More Toujours l'Amour" is a entertaining war song about a soldier on leave looking for love (and not finding it). The lyrics are by Paul Francis Webster, a frequent collaborator: "The night is damp; he's overdue in camp / and it's 22 miles from town!"

"Vine Street Parade" is a Dixieland march that's a gloss on the "South Rampart Street Parade," transplanted to Hollywood. The number - the only instrumental in the set - was arranged by Hoagy.

To Have and Have Not: Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Bogie and Hoagy

On to the songs from To Have and Have Not, leading with "How Little We Know," a rhumba with a sophisticated vocal by Anita Boyer. (The key is a bit high for her, though.) Hoagy, Lauren Bacall and others sang it in the film. This is not the same composition as "(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" by Phil Springer and Carolyn Leigh, which Sinatra recorded in 1956.

The second song from the film is another one that was well known at the time. Carmichael first recorded the quirky and now badly dated "Hong Kong Blues" in 1938, reprising it for the screen. ARA's version became a hit. The words to both songs are by Johnny Mercer, another famed collaborator.

"Celestial O'Brien" in Johnny Angel

Hoagy sang one of his most beautiful songs, "Memphis in June," in the 1945 film Johnny Angel, not as well remembered as To Have and Have Not, although it was a success at the box office. The leads were George Raft and Claire Trevor. Carmichael's character is named Celestial O'Brien. Not sure why Memphis is name checked in the song - the film is set in New Orleans. Regardless, it's a superb number and Hoagy is persuasive in the ARA recording. Paul Francis Webster supplied the words for this one and the next.

"Billy-a-Dick" is another war song, with the singer expectantly waiting the return of his son, who seems to be named Johnny and who plays the drums. ("Billy-a-dick" is the sound he makes on said instrument.)

Next we have one of Carmichael's ventures into other people's songs. It's a revival of "Am I Blue," which Ethel Waters introduced in the 1929 film On with the Show. Harry Akst and Grant Clarke were the authors.

Carmichael and Webster combined again for 1945's "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief," written for the frantic Betty Hutton to sing in a film called The Stork Club. Hoagy's version is almost as hyperactive.

Billboard ad, October 27, 1945

Carmichael and Webster then got together with Furniss Peterson to prepare their entry in the holiday song sweepstakes, which unfortunately was not a winner. "My Christmas Song for You" is nevertheless a good piece that should be heard more often. The lead vocal on the ARA record is by Martha Mears, one of the most active vocal doubles in the film studios. She was perhaps chosen because she dubbed Marjorie Reynolds singing "White Christmas" in Holiday Inn.

ARA oddly backed up "My Christmas Song for You" with a kiddie number, "The Whale Song," which Carmichael wrote with a person named Dearman. It's good of its kind.

"Stardust" is perhaps Hoagy's most famous song. He wrote and first recorded it in 1927. Mitchell Parish, then working for publisher Irving Mills, soon added lyrics. The number went on to become hugely and repeatedly popular. It was a hit for several bands in the early 40s, which may have stimulated Carmichael's own recording for ARA. I love Hoagy, but his version is not the best way to hear this song, due to his vocal limitations. He doesn't sing the famous verse, instead assigning it to a violin.

I've been asked whether the song is properly named "Stardust" or "Star Dust." The answer is not clear. When first recorded, Gennett issued it as "Stardust." But when it was published with Parish's lyrics, the sheet music had it as "Star Dust." In my experience, it's most often rendered as "Stardust," as it is here.

"Stardust" was the lead number in a 78 album that ARA produced in 1946. It was backed by a touching end-of-war song called "A World of No Goodbyes," which Hoagy wrote with a "Gilbert," presumably lyricist L. Wolfe Gilbert. The vocal is by tenor Ray Hendricks, an able singer who did not have much personality. Hendricks sang with many bands and was on the radio, including on Carmichael's show.

"Sleepy Time Gal" is not a Carmichael composition; presumably it was chosen because it suited his vocalizing. It took four songwriters (Richard A. Whiting, Ange Lorenzo, Joseph Alden and Raymond B. Egan) to come up with the number in 1925.

The following selection was written by Hoagy, although he does not sing it, nor is it characteristic. "Somewhere on Via Roma" is another war song, with the vocalist hoping he will meet his inamorata on the road to Rome "when the world is free again." Singing is former Hal Kemp vocalist Bob Allen, who is suitably romantic. The lyricist was John Forté.

"Baltimore Oriole" - one of Carmichael's greatest songs - was written for To Have and Have Not, but only used in the background of the film. Hoagy himself didn't get around to recording it until 1946.

The final selection in the ARA 78 album is the old favorite "Sweet Lorraine" by Cliff Burwell and Mitchell Parish. It comes from 1928 and had become something of a standard by the time Carmichael made his ARA 78 in 1946.

Billboard ad, June 8, 1946

Another oldie is "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)," which Roy Turk and Fred Ahlert wrote in 1931. Its revival for the 1946 Donna Reed-Tom Drake comedy Faithful in My Fashion stimulated quite a few recordings, including this one by Carmichael.

ARA backed the above tune with another revival, Vernon Duke's "I Can't Get Started" from the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936. Hal Kemp and especially Bunny Berigan had hits with it back then.

Canyon Passage: Hoagy with his uke, guitars and concertina

In 1946, Carmichael wrote four songs for the Western film Canyon Passage, but only recorded one. Fortunately it was a great song - "Ole Buttermilk Sky," which he wrote solo and performed in the film. Some of the lyrics: "Ole buttermilk sky / Dont'cha fail me when I'm needin' you most / Hang a moon above her hitchin' post / Hitch me to the one I love."

"Ginger and Spice" is an peppy number with Hoagy trying to choose between Ginger ("a cutie") and Spice ("a beauty"). Yes, it's contrived.

Neither of the final two songs was written by Carmichael, nor are they remarkable in any way. "Walk It Off" comes from Inez James and Sid Miller and was also recorded by the Pied Pipers and the Delta Rhythm Boys.

"It Ain't Gonna Be Like That" was penned by two popular singers - Mel Tormé and Frankie Laine. The first recording was by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers with Charles Brown on vocals. Laine recorded it in 1947. It's a prefab exercise in misogyny.

The ARA Label

As I mentioned above, the ARA label was a front for the Soviets. As Allan Sutton wrote in a fascinating article on the affair, "Bosses and 'salesmen' [were] Russian intelligence agents… The stars, of course, had no way of knowing that they were being used as attractive window-dressing for an outfit organized to be a clearinghouse for spies throughout the United States, Canada, Central and South America."

"With extensive contacts in the entertainment industry, [label head Boris] Morros assembled an impressive artist roster that came to include Hoagy Carmichael, Frances Langford, Smiley Burnette, Phil Harris, Art Tatum, and Bob Crosby’s Bobcats."

The label only lasted from 1944 to 1946. Carmichael was the first to leave - he returned to Decca in August of the latter year. The label went into receivership in September 1946. Morros turned on his Russian handlers the following year, confessing to the FBI and becoming a double agent.

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