Celebrating Hoagy

DAVE ANDERSON tells Kenny Mathieson how Hoagy Carmichael’s autobiography provided the inspiration for his latest one-man touring show dedicated to the great American songwriter.

THE PERIPATETIC DAVE ANDERSON is currently engaged in celebrating the genius of one of America’s greatest songwriters in his one-man show Stardust. Hoagy Carmichael established himself as one of the greatest songwriters of the so-called golden age of popular song, from the “Jazz Age” of the Twenties through to the rise of rock and roll in the mid-Fifties. Those parameters define the major part of his own career, which slid into slow decline in a fast changing world.

Carmichael began his musical odyssey in jazz. An actor as well as a singer and songwriter, he created his most fully realised film role in another jazz context, the film Young Man With A Horn, which was loosely based on the life of trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, who had been a major influence on his musical development.

The Stardust project arose when Anderson’s long-standing collaborator from the early days of 7:84 and Wildcat Theatre, David MacLennan, picked up a copy of Carmichael’s autobiography.

“He was delighted by it,” Anderson explained, “and he knew I was really keen on the songs anyway, and had been for many years. He suggested we put a show together that would mix up the songs with some of Hoagy’s lovely stories from the book, and that is pretty much how we have done it – the narrative sections are basically Hoagy telling his own story, and we invoke quite a range of colourful characters, from his Grandma through to Irving Berlin and Bix Beiderbecke.

“The autobiography doesn’t take a neat biographical approach, it reads more as if he remembered one memory and wrote it down, then remembered something else and wrote that down, and so it went. The effect is quite charming, and we have taken a similar approach, which turned out quite well as a structure for the show.”

Carmichael became a success in Hollywood (although never on Broadway), both as a songwriter and as an actor, and evolved a trademark cameo role as a laid-back, wise-cracking musician. He grew up in the mid-west state of Indiana, and his greatest songs were rooted in an idealised, pastoral, timeless America.

They evoked life from a different perspective than the urban ethos of most of the other great songwriters of the day, and many of them established an imperishable role in the standard repertoire, including such perennial favourites as ‘Stardust’, ‘Skylark’, ‘Georgia On My Mind’, ‘The Nearness of You’, ‘I Get Along Without You Very Well’, and his last real hit, ‘In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening’, which arrived a full three decades before his death in 1981.

“He was basically a country boy at heart,” Dave agreed, “and never really lost that. He loved nature, and although he mixed with New York sophisticates later on, he was always close to his roots in rural Indiana. His songs are wonderful, and they are also surprisingly varied, which is great from the point of view of putting together a show. He came out of the jazz thing, of course, but his songs are so well known that they move beyond that, and are among the most famous songs of the century in any genre.”

Dave has a considerable track record in film and television as well as theatre, and has made something of a speciality of one man shows in recent years. Hoagy has proved to be an ideal subject for treatment. The advantages of that format over a bigger theatrical production are obvious enough.

“One huge advantage of it is that it can be done without subsidy,” he stressed, “and if there are any hitches or if something else comes up, you don’t have to keep a whole company hanging on in order to do it. The other big advantage is that I really enjoy doing it!”

He is no stranger to touring in the Highlands and Islands, an experience that goes back to his early days in theatre with 7:84 and Wildcat. He loves playing here, and is philosophical about the potential difficulties for a show which requires a piano, both as an essential vehicle for the music and as a prop.

“We carry an electric keyboard,” he admitted, “but it is really a fall back for dire straits, and we have hardly had to use it. The show does benefit from an acoustic piano, and most venues have a serviceable instrument. It certainly won’t be a problem at Eden Court, and although some of the other Highland venues won’t have as good as piano as that, it’s not usually a problem.”

Stardust can be seen at the following Highland venues:

Mill Theatre, Thurso, Friday 2 April 2004
Eden Court, Inverness, Saturday 3 April 2004
An Tobar, Tobermory, Tuesday 6 April 2004
Ceilidh Place, Ullapool, Thursday 8 April 2004
Corran Halls, Oban, Saturday 10 April 2004