Hoagy Carmichael-The Romantic Side

Hoagy Carmichael-The Romantic Side:  Hoagy Carmichael was a constant movie presence in the 1940' and fifties. He usually played a pianist in a bar or nightclub, smoking a cigarette and singing many of his own songs like " Old Buttermilk Sky" " Skylark" Lazybones" and " Georgia on My Mind."  Like lyricist Johnny Mercer, there is a small town, rural country feel about many of his songs like " Memphis in June. He was also immersed in the jazz world where he had played with some of the early jazz legends like Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbauer.
There was another side to his talents which he displayed in a song called " I Get Along WithoutYou Very Well" ( except sometimes). He had read a poem by a Jane Brown Thompson and set the words to a slightly melancholic tune that perfectly matched the sentiments contained in her poem.
The version you will see and hear is by Frank Sinatra in a 1971 London Charity concert. Princess Grace Kelly acted as MC . Sinatra was most respectful and charming in her presence since they had become friends while working together on the film " High Society " with Bing Crosby.
I have listend to hundreds of Sinatra performances but I have never heard him sing with such consummate sincerity and tenderness as he did on this song. Accompanied by a large orchestra and what sounds like a typically symphonic Nelson Riddle arrangement, this is Sinatra at the height of his interpretive powers performing a classic Hoagy Carmichael   song, one quite different than many of his more well known popular songs.

PERFORMANCE LINK:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcRZ2i_C6zo&feature=share&list=PLF2AE30649693E959