Hoagy

Carmichael ‘s Jazz

Years in Bloomington

Self-Guided Walking Tour

“Lady, if you don’t know what jazz is, don’t mess with it!”

Fats Waller

Monroe County History Center

202 East Sixth Street Bloomington, IN 47408

(812) 332-2517 mchm@kiva.net

www.kiva.net/~mchm

What is Jazz? Before beginning any discussion on Hoagy Car-michael’s life in Bloomington, a single word needs to be addressed—jazz. Jazz became an im-portant part of how Hoagy defined himself, but what is jazz? Jazz is music originally invented by African-American musicians in New Orleans. Ear-ly jazz evolved from a combination of African rhythms, African-American work songs and field hollers, the music of New Orleans’ parade, march-ing and funeral bands, as well as elements from European music including many of the instru-ments and some harmonic and melodic ideas.

Essential Elements of Jazz Swing The music’s relentless forward momentum, em-phasized by the rhythm accents falling slightly in front of or behind the beat—a phenomenon called syncopation.

Improvisation Jazz musicians invent a significant por-tion of the music on the spot, especially when they improvise extended solos over a song’s chords. Distinctive Voices Good jazz depends upon the indi-vidual voices of the players, distinguished by their selection and placement of notes, their tone, and their rhythmic sense.

Styles of Jazz New Orleans (early 1900s) Swinging, syncopated rhythms, collective improvisation, based in spirituals, blues, work songs, assorted European music.

Midwest Territory Bands (1920s) Precursor of big band swing featuring star soloists, battling horn selections, driving, bluesy rhythms.

Big Band Swing (1930s-1940s) Sophisticated ensemble jazz by bands with 12 or more members. Tight arrange-ments spotlight star soloists.

Bebop (1940s-1950s) Fast, frenetic jazz with complex com-binations of chords, melodies and rhythms.

Latin Jazz (1930s-1990s) Merger of jazz with assorted Latin influences—Cuban, South American, Caribbean.

Cool Jazz (1950s) Smooth melodic West Coast brand of jazz.

Hard Bop (1950s—early 1960s) Gritty, bluesy ‘50s de-scendant of ‘40s bebop, made by some of the same musi-cians plus several new ones.

Avant Garde/Free Jazz (1960s forward) Avant garde is experimental jazz that often has elaborate structure. Free jazz is where anything goes.

Fusion (late 1960s forward) Blend of jazz with soul, rock and funk elements, usually utilizing electronic instruments.

Contemporary/Smooth Jazz (1980s forward) Light, instrumental pop that some critics feel shouldn’t be labeled jazz at all—although some of its players have genuine roots in jazz.

Acid Jazz (1990s) A blend of 1960s soul-jazz with 1990s techno and hip hop, not really jazz in the traditional sense.

Jazz in Indiana in the 1920s Indiana was not a root-source of jazz, as were New Orleans, the rural South, or the great show business capitals of New York or Chicago. Its particular place was earned by its development of a style—its inter-pretation of music from other places. The style might be called for lack of a better name -”Midwestern Jazz.” Predating the well-known “Chicago” style by several years, it was an authentic “hot” style, so evident in the number and variety of college bands which embraced it, beginning about 1920. Carmichael’s contributions are many, but perhaps most important in this formative period was his intro-duction to campus music of what he (and others) called “sock–time.” Merrill Hammond gives a defini-tion of what this was: “Sock time was an expression used by musicians on the East coast as well as Indi-ana for a medium tempo with a heavily-accented first beat, with two and four light, and three some-where in-between.

Welcome to the Self-Guided Tour

This “tour” highlights just a few of the places related to Hoagy Carmichael’s life in Bloomington. Some of the buildings discussed are not open to the public or do not exist anymore, but were included to give a 1920s “sense of place.” A street map is included with each stop marked. The stops can be done in any order.

1. Childhood Home Hoagy was the son of Howard and Lida Carmi-chael. He was born on November 22, 1899 and he had three sisters. The family lived at 214 N. Dunn Street at the corner of Dunn and 7th. His mother had taken a fancy to the last name of Harry Hoagland, a railroad surveyor, who lived with Carmichael relatives, and named her son Hoa-gland Howard. His mother and grandmother always called him Hoagland. Hoagy‘s father was an elec-trician and did not like to stay in one area too long, so the family moved frequent-

2. Dunn Meadow From Hoagy’s autobiography: “Played baseball with the Dunn Meadow Demons. Game rained out one day. While sitting in the parlor disconso-late, I heard Mr. Foley tolling Indiana Franjipani on the student tower bells. When Mr. Foley had fin-ished I went over to the piano and with one finger started picking out the notes. And suddenly I was amazed. I was picking them out correctly. I hadn’t thought about doing it but I had done it. The Dunn Meadow Demons lost an incompetent sixty-pound third baseman that day. Baseball was gone. The piano had me.”

ly. While in Indianapolis, the family lived in the Lockerbie area and were neighbors with James Whitcomb Riley. Young Hoagy also lived in Mis-soula, Montana and Bedford, Indiana. No matter where he lived, Hoagy always considered Bloom-ington home. Hoagy started his freshman year at Bloomington High School, but was kicked out for saying “something” to a little girl. The family moved back to Indianapolis in 1916 and Hoagy started to at-tend Manual High School. Unfortunately he did not like it and dropped out. Skinny but strong, he la-bored on a construction crew (he helped build Un-ion Station), at an assembly line making chains, at a slaughterhouse, at a cement mixer, and on an adding machine for an insurance actuary. Hoagy inherited much of his musical talent from his mother, Lida, an excellent pianist. During the 1910-1920 period, at various times she had a small band, which played for IU fraternity dances. She also accompanied silent movies, first at the Vau-dette Theater and Wonderland Air Dome, and later at the Princess Theater on North Walnut.

First band in 1919, Hoagy (at the piano) was still in high school.

3. Ma Robison’s House

Hoagy tried several times to get into the Army dur-ing World War I. He was finally accepted on No-vember 10, 1918, but it was too late, as the armi-stice was signed the next day. In January of 1919 he went back to Bloomington to live with his maternal grandparents Alex and Mary Robison. He re-entered high school and lived at 907 E. Atwater.

4. Beard House The single most common memory Bloomingtonians have of Hoagy Carmichael involves his obsessive piano thumping. Typical is the story told by Russell Beard. Beard’s mother took in student boarders during the 1920s at the family house (523 E. Smith) at the corner of Grant and Smith streets. Hoagy was one of the boarders for about a year; he want-ed to be near his girlfriend, Katherine, who lived nearby. “My mother had an old upright piano. He would thump on it for hours. Mother got sick of it. He was not playing tunes, just improvising, fooling around.” The house site is now an apartment complex.

The house site is now the Atwater parking garage.

5. Kappa Sigma House Hoagy lived in the Kappa Sigma house while he was in law school. It was located at 720 E. Third. His nickname among his best friends was “Hogwash McCorkle.” Hoagy graduated from law school in 1926. He received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Indiana University in 1972. Fraternity building is no longer there.

6. Limestone Fence and Star Dust Some sources state that Hoagy and his friend William Moenkhaus started working on Star Dust in the early 1920s, but they could never get it right. Eventually, the effort paid off. One evening in 1926, Hoagy was sitting on the lover’s wall at the college thinking about his lan-guishing relationship with Katherine Baker, who would shortly marry a trumpet player in his band. He began whistling the “Star Dust” tune and as he put it “the demon of creation became stronger than love.” He ran to the Book Nook and asked owner Peter Costos if he could use his piano. Lover’s wall, also known as the “spooning” wall refers to the low stone wall on the south side of campus. It runs along E. 3rd St. near the corner of Indiana St.

Hoagy’s own lyrics to Star Dust (no pick up notes) Stardust melody, you hold a charm Through the lonely years; Stardust strain, beautiful refrain I hear you ringing in my ears, But the world goes by, paying no attention to you; To me you’re everything in life and in love I know, ‘deed it’s so, (wa ba do dah….”doodling” for 8 bars) Stardust melody, I love you heart and soul I do-o-o ‘Deed I do. Star Dust was finally published in New York with lyrics by Mitchell Parish (as we know them today). It’s in-teresting how much of Hoagy’s original lyric still remains.

Hoagy is sitting in front of the Kappa Sigma House with his fraterni-ty brothers. He is in front of the second column from the left.

7. Law School—Maxwell Hall Seeing first hand the rough-and-tumble jazz life, Hoagy was torn between his love of music and the secure, respectable, and obviously more prosper-ous profession of law. A suitcase of bootleg cham-pagne allegedly financed his law school tuition. Law classes were held in Maxwell Hall. In 1926 with a law degree in hand, he headed to West Palm Beach, Florida to open legal practice with Wilbur Cook. One day sitting in his office, he was astonished to hear his own tune coming from across the street. Pat Nichols had recorded his “Washboard Blues,” a song Hoagy had sold on his way to Florida. According to friend Bud Dant, Hoagy locked the door of his law office, put the key under the door, and headed back to Bloomington to resume his career in music. He came back to Indi-ana and for a short while was with the law firm of Bingham and Bingham in Indianapolis. Then he returned to music for good. In 1927 Hoagy formed another campus band which played for fraternity dances and also performed during intermissions at the Indiana Theater and the Princess Theater. During those days he acquired a topless Model T roadster and a snub cornet, which he tried to learn to toot. For a while, he carried the cornet with him just about everywhere he went in town. He always wore a crushed felt hat or a Sphinx Club beanie. People remember seeing Hoagy driving down Fifth Street and along Indiana through snow and howling winds encased in a raccoon coat and holding his hat on with one hand.

8. 9. Other University Spots Hoagy frequently played in Assembly Hall. This building was located just east of Owen Hall. The building was built in 1896 and used as a theater. Many of the spectacular annual Jordan River Re-vues, staged by the fraternities and sororities, were presented in this building. It was razed in 1938. Sorority Row was also a favorite spot of Hoagy and his friends. They would frequently serenade the girls. There were four sororities on E. Third St. and another four on Forest Place. Forest Place and its houses were removed for the construction of Bal-lantine and Jordan Halls.

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10. Book Nook later known as The Gables

On a normal afternoon at the Book Nook, Hoagy played the piano with Batty DeMarcuse on saxo-phone. His other friends Wad Allen would watch on, while Monk Moenkhaus composed poems. Hoagy was friends with the owner Pete Costos and the chef, Klondike Tucker. At the Book Nook, Hoagy was a star member of an irreverent, prankish club of students, some of them musicians, all of them avant garde thinkers. The group called themselves “The Bent Eagles.” Some of the booth debates they had and the capers they pulled at the restaurant and elsewhere were clas-sics. Hoagy is reputed to have written Star Dust at the Book Nook. When asked how to write a song, Hoagy said “If you knew how to compose you wouldn’t be a composer. You don’t write the melo-dies. You find them. They lie there on the keys waiting for you. They have been there for centuries and you are a composer or a writer if you know when you’ve found one.”

Map and List of Stops

1. 214 N Dunn Childhood home 2. Near Woodlawn and 10th Dunn Meadow 3. 901 E Atwater Ma Robison 4. 523 E Smith Beard House 5. 720 E 3rd Kappa Sigma House 6. 3rd St and Indiana Spooning Wall 7. Maxwell Hall Law School 8. East of Owen Assembly Hall 9. East Third and “Forest Place” Sorority Row 10. 114 S Indiana Book Nook/Gables 11. 205 S Walnut Elk’s House 12. 114 E Kirkwood Indiana Theater/Buskirk Chumley 14. Princess 206 N Walnut 15. 207 N Walnut Stardust Bar and Grill 16. College and 7th Wonderland Air Dome 17. Register Parking Crescent Theater 18. 120 W 6th Neeld’s Hardware 122 W 6th Breedens 112-118 W 6th Wicks 19. 121 N College Howe’s Candy Kitchen 20. 105 W Kirkwood Vaudette Theater 21. 910 W 7th Irene Campbell’s House 22. 4th and Elm Rosehill Cemetery 23. 6th and Washington Monroe County Historical Society

12. Indiana Theater Here Hoagy and his friends, sometimes provided mu-sic for the comedies and newsreels. Students would gather in the front row and would pelt the good musi-cians with peanut shells. Harry Vonderschmidt who owned the Indiana Theater and the VonCastle in Greencastle conceived of a pro-motion, a contest between the orchestras. The follow-ing ran in the Greencastle paper. “Mr. Vonderschmidt says it was the biggest stunt ever attempted in his Bloomington theater and was a grand and glorious success. He says that the Bloomington people, with all due respect to the splendid music of the Carmi-chael orchestra, simply ‘went wild’ over the local musi-cians (The Black and Gold Collegians) and they were asked to play at five dances before they returned home. In the grand finale, both orchestras played the closing number together, and as the last note died away the audience nearly ‘ tore the house down,’ to

11. Elks House The Elks House is one of the few venues where Hoagy played that is still standing. The Elks House is located at 205 S. Walnut. It is currently a law office.

Book Nook in the 1920s

15. The Stardust Bar and Grill The Stardust Bar and Grill (or Café) opened in 1936 at 205-207 N. Walnut St. It was across from the Princess Theater building and was the only business named in honor of Bloomington’s favorite son. It closed about 1959.

14. Princess Theater The Princess Theater opened in 1913. Both Hoagy and his mother, Lida, played piano here. Lida played along with silent movies and occasionally Hoagy’s band performed energetic jazz. The Princess Theater was down the street from the Harris Grand Theater. The main band of the Princess Theater was the Crim-son Serenaders. Hoagy Carmichael’s crew (Bill Moenkhaus, Wad Allen, Art Baker, Chet Decker, Bridge Adrams, and Billy Little) would usually be found at the Indiana Theater. In the late 1920s, Hoagy and Bill Moenkhaus were partners in an unusual taxi venture, calling it the Hook, Line and Sinker Cab Company. The Ford road-ster was their only car, and they accepted no paying passengers. Their favorite operation point was the Harris Grand Theater at Seventh and Walnut. There they would yell “all aboard!” then jump into their cab and clatter east on Seventh, laughing deliriously.

quote Mr. Vonderschmidt. The judge of the contest pronounced it a tie, which pleased the crowd mighti-ly.”

Caption reads The “Open Job”, Indiana U. 1922. Hoagy is in the driver’s seat.

18. Kappa Alpha Phi—First Job Above Neeld’s Hardware

In Hoagy’s earlier years, he would often go to the Kap-pa Alpha Phi rooms above Neeld’s Hardware (120 W. 6th) on the Square. This was Hoagy’s high school fra-ternity. Sunday nights were spent in the Kappa rooms playing cards or shooting dice in the Observatory.

Hoagy made his first money from music when the president of the KAP offered him and his friends $5 each to play for a dance. The KAP hall was 20’ x 40’, and the dance went so well, they had to turn cou-ples away. Other popular dance halls were above Breeden’s at 122 W. 6th and Wick’s at 112-118 W. 6th.

17. Crescent Theater Hoagy’s high school gang often went to Crescent Theater “a romantic place” to watch movies, but more to hear the five piece band led by Hank Wells’ “hot” fiddle. Later they would follow Hank to his Beta frater-nity and on to the Candy Kitchen where a nickel would start the music box.

Movie Tidbits: Hoagy had roles in nine films including Canyon Pas-sage, Johnny Angel, To Have and Have Not with Bo-gart and Becall. He often played a honky-tonk piano player. Among the little know facts about Carmichael is that author Ian Fleming had his sculpted visage in mind,when he developed his legendary character James Bond.

16. Wonderland Air Dome From 1900 to 1930 Bloomington was a boom town for theaters. At one time there were over 10 theaters in the downtown area. The Wonderland Air Dome was opened on May 16, 1908 and closed September 15, 1911. It was located at the corner of College and 7th (currently the Justice Building). Hoagy’s mother played at the Air Dome.

19. Howe’s Candy Kitchen This was a popular hang out for young people in the 1920s.

20. Vaudette Theater The Vaudette Theater was one door north of the old Turner Hotel at the northeast corner of 4th and Col-lege. Among the other early theaters (not already men-

tioned) were the Rex, Star, Theatorium, Nickalo, Men-delsohn Hall, Bloomington Opera House, the Armori-al and another in the basement of the old Monroe County Bank.

21. Irene Campbell’s

House and Jazz Hoagy was inspired to write the lyrics for “Rocking Chair” by Irene “Granny” Campbell, a black woman from Bloomington whose homemade beer inspired a good many things. It became a theme song for Mil-dred Bailey, who sang it, and Louis Armstrong, who played it. This house was currently renovated by Bloomington Restoration, Inc.

Additional Tidbits: While living in Indianapolis, Hoagy discovered a won-derful new kind of music from Reggie Duval, a black pianist. Reggie demonstrated the dazzling sound from New Orleans and taught Hoagy more than key-board tricks. “Never play anything that ain’t right, “ Duvall told Hoagy. “You may not make any money, but you’ll never get mad at yourself.” Indianapolis, because of its central location, attracted black jazz bands traveling from the South to Chicago. Hoagy frequented the dingy clubs where they played so he could listen and learn. It was in Indianapolis that Hoagy first talked to jazz men and thrilled to the emerging sounds of this new form of music. He ab-sorbed all the jazz education Indianapolis had to offer. He would then return home to practice the exciting new techniques. Hoagy’s open relationship with the black communities of Bloomington, Indianapolis and elsewhere was very much against convention. The 1920s were turbulent and highly segregated, but Hoagy often visited the black communities of Bloomington and Indianapolis and his music reflects it.

Movies in Which Hoagy Carmichael Appeared

To Have and Have Not (1944)

with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall. “Hoagy meets Bogey” - and they did meet at Bacall’s dressing room. Humphrey didn’t appreciate Hoagy hanging around. Carmichael’s character was named “Cricket.” Included Hoagy’s songs “Hong Kong Blues” and “How Little We Know.”

Johnny Angel (1945)

with George Raft, Claire Trevor, Singe Hasso. Hoagy played a singing cab driver. Included Hoagy’s song “Memphis in June.”

Canyon Passage (1946)

with Susan Hayward, Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy. Hoagy ap-peared as Hi Linnet, wandering minstrel and friend to all. Hi sang “Ole Buttermilk Sky.” Other Hoagy songs included “I’m Gonna Get Married in the Morning” and “Rogue River Valley.”

Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

with Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell, Teresa Wright. The movie won an Academy Award for best picture of the year. Included Hoagy’s song “Lazy River.”

Night Song (1947)

with Merle Oberon, Dana Andrews, Ethel Barrymore. One of the best scenes had Hoagy teaching Ethel Barrymore how to play gin rummy. Included Hoagy’s “Who Killed ‘Er?”

Young Man with a Horn (1950) with Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day. One of Hoagy’s favorite pictures, it was partially based on the life of his friend Bix Beiderbecke, who died at age 28. Hoagy played the character “Smoke.”

Belles on Their Toes (1952)

with Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Jeffrey Hunter and Debra Paget. The film was a sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.

The Las Vegas Story (1952)

with Victor Mature, Vincent Price and Jane Russell. For this pic-ture, Hoagy learned a croupier trick of flipping two silver dollars with one hand. Vincent Price told him to stop stealing the scenes. Included Carmichael songs “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and “My Resistance is Low.”

Timberjack (1954)

with Sterling Haydon, Vera Ralston, David Brain. While ifilming n Montana, Hoagy visit-ed the area where he had lived briefly at age 10. Song by Hoagy, “He’s Dead but He Won’t Lie Down.”

Hoagy Carmichael wrote over 650 songs.

Below are some of the songs that made him famous. Star Dust (1926)

There are many contradictory stories as to the where and why this song was written. Despite the origin of the idea, Star Dust is one of Hoagy’s best known songs and its beauty endures even after nearly eighty years. Georgia on My Mind (1931)

Stu Gorrell, Carmichael’s IU schoolmate, composed the lyrics. Pro-claimed the state song of Georgia in 1979, Hoosiers swear it was really written about Hoagy’s beloved sister, Georgia Carmichael Max-well. Ray Charles receive a Grammy for his version, and Willie Nel-son recently sang it all the way to the bank.

Rocking Chair (1929)

Hoagy wrote the lyrics for “Rocking Chair.” Inspired by Irene “Granny” Campbell, a black woman from Bloomington whose home-made beer inspired a good many things. It became a theme song of Mildred Bailey, who sang it, and Louis Armstrong, who played it.

Lazybones (1933)

Composed in 20 minutes by Hoagy and lyricist Johnny Mercer, “Lazybones” became an instant hit, selling 15,000 copies a day in the middle of the Depression. Rudy Vallee popularized the song.

Wedding Waltz (1936)

This song was written for Hoagy and Ruth’s (Meinardi) wedding. Ruth walked down the aisle to it. Bud Dant has written the new lyrics for this never-released tune.

Little Old Lady (1936)

Composed for the Broadway revue, The Show Is On, it brought down the house. Inspired by Hoagy’s grandmothers, Mrs. Taylor Carmi-chael and Ma Robinson.

Washboard Blues (1925)

The lyrics were written by a local stonecutter, a poet named Fred Callahan. A friend said the tune sounded like a woman washing clothes, and Hoagy soon arrived at the title.

Riverboat Shuffle (1924)

Hoagy’s first composition, which he called “Free Wheeling.” Written at the Book Nook, it was first recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and the Wolverines. Fourteen years later, Mitchell Parish, the “Star Dust” lyricist, wrote the words.

Hong Kong Blues (1938)

Modern college students may be surprised by sly references to drugs in the lyrics. Hoagy sang it in the movie To Have and Have Not, alt-hough he had composed it six years earlier.

Two Sleepy People (1938)

Bob Hope and Shirley Ross sang the song in their movie, Thanks for the Memory, and “Two Sleepy People” became an instant hit. Frank Loesser composed the lyrics.

The Nearness of You (1940)

One of Hoagy’s most enduring hits.; veteran lyricist Ned Washington wrote the memorable lines. “It’s not the pale moon that excites me...oh no, it’s the nearness of you.” It was written for the movie, Romance in the Dark, but for some reason dropped before produc-tion.

Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind (1940)

Kate Smith turned this tune into a best-seller in 1940. Hoagy wanted to write a song to honor his native state. Texan Robert DeLeon sup-plied the lyrics.

Ole Buttermilk Sky (1946)

This song was nominated for an Academy Award, but did not win that year.

In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening (1951)

This song was sung by Bing Crosby and it won the Academy Awards’ Oscar for “Best Song” in 1951.

22. Rose Hill Cemetery

Hoagland Howard Carmichael who was born in 1899 in Bloomington , died in Rancho Mirage, Cali-fornia on December 27, 1981. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery on January 4, 1982. He was buried beside his parents and younger sister. He married to Ruth Meinardi and they had two sons—Hoagy Bix and Randy. Hoagy Carmichael left behind an incredible legacy. He wrote over 650 songs, several of which are timeless classics: he acted in nine movies: he starred in his own CBS ra-dio show and in two TV shows and he won the Os-car in 1951 for “Best Song.” The entrance to Rose Hill is at the corner of 4th and Elm Streets. The star designates the site of the grave mark-er.

For a list of references and

sources of photographs used

in this brochure please contact

the Monroe County History

Center.

Tapes and CDs of Hoagy’s music are sold in the Museum Store.

23. Monroe County

History Center The Monroe County Historical Society collects artifacts and offers exhibits related the county. The History Center consists of a museum and store which is open Tues-Sat, 10 am—4 pm, Sun. 1-4 pm. The genealogy library is open Tues and Sat., 10 am—4 pm , and Wed-Fri. 1-4 pm. Stop by and check out the museum’s special exhibit on Hoagy. We hope you have enjoyed this self-guided tour. If you know of additional stops that should be added, please let us know.