Hoagy& Johnny-2 Country boys and " Skylark" Hoagy Carmichael from Bloomington ,Indiana and Johnny Mercer from Savannah, Georgia were country boys at heart. They let Gershwin, Arlen, Brlin and especially Cole Porter write about big city matters. They loved ,in an almost nostalgic way, the small town feel of bare foot boys going fishing or playing hooky. Their songs used quaint colloquial phrases like " everything is peacefully dandy" or " Couson Amanda making a bluebbery pie as the neighbours walk by." Inhabitants of Park Avenue would not use such countrified prose.
Even some of Carmichael's song titles such as " Lazybones" Georgia on my Mind" Baltimore Oriole" and " Up the Lazy River." reflect a langorous , easy going quality in so many of his tunes. .This is also true of the way Carmichael sings and plays ,often with a toothpick in his mouth.
In " Skylark" , Mercer asks the bird , in his lonely flight, to find out where his loved one can be.
There is a story about the writing of Sylark that, if true, is a remarkable tribute to Mercer. It is said that Hoagy played an unmamed melody a number of times for Mercer who said nothing. Almost a year went by until Mercer returned with the finished lyric you will now hear sung first by Cleo Laine and James Galway, the famous flutist who portrays the sound of that lovely bird while in flight.
Link: http://youtu.be/itk0FddtlbM
Don't Go Away: Please listen to Hoagy himself sing his own song. You never would guess that he started life as a lawyer but soon succumbed to the lure of Jazz both as a composer and performer in many movies and on records. Listen as he adds jazzy licks in the middle of the song, a man always comfortable with a laid back approach to a lengthy and notable career.
Link: http://youtu.be/j7HsGBJjilQ
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