On this day in 1960, Ray Charles had the #1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 list for his rendition of Georgia On My Mind, written by the late, great Hoagy Carmichael.
Hoagy Carmichael's work entered my musical awareness after hearing Rosemary Clooney's recording of I Get Along Without You Very Well on the 1993 album Do You Miss New York? I'm embarrassed to say it took me that many decades to tune in to the genius and poetry of Carmichael. I had no idea he was the same artist who composed Heart and Soul, a tune almost every kid I knew loved to bang out on the piano. My childhood friend Nicole and I must have played it together over a million times in our youth.
Now I'm adding Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael by Richard M. Sudhalter to my reading list and The Hoagy Carmichael Songbook audio cd to my Amazon wishlist.