Stardust (song)

Infobox Standard
title = Stardust
english_title =
comment =


image_size =
caption =
writer =
composer = Hoagy Carmichael
lyricist = Mitchell Parish
published = 1927
written =
language =
form =
original_artist = Hoagy Carmichael's orchestra
recorded_by = Glenn Miller
Louis Armstrong
Artie Shaw
Frank Sinatra
Billie Holiday
Dizzy Gillespie
Nat King Cole
Dave Brubeck
Mel Tormé
Connie Francis
Harry Connick Jr
Ella Fitzgerald
The Peanuts
Django Reinhardt
The Shadows
Barry Manilow
John Coltrane
Rod Stewart
Willie Nelson
Johnny Mathis
Billy Ward and the Dominoes
Charlie Spivak
Jack Jenney
Martin Denny
Ferrante & Teicher
George Benson
Tiny Tim
and many others
performed_by = .

Composition

"Stardust" (the song's original title was "Star Dust", which has long since been compounded into "Stardust" [cite web |url=http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/hoagy-idx.pl?type=itemlist&idno=ATM-MC2-1-13&size=First+30
title="Hoagy Carmichael Collection"
publisher=Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University
accessdate=2007-06-17] )was written at the Book Nook in Bloomington, Indiana (across the street from the Indiana University School of Law, where Carmichael had attended school ) on an old upright piano, and first recorded in Richmond, Indiana for Gennett Records by Carmichael's band in 1927 as a peppy (but mid-tempo) jazz instrumental. Carmichael said he was inspired by the types of improvisations made by Bix Beiderbecke. The tune at first attracted only moderate attention, mostly from fellow musicians, a few of whom (including Don Redman) recorded their own versions of Carmichael's tune.

Mitchell Parish wrote lyrics for the song, based on his own and Carmichael's ideas, which were published in 1929. A slow version had been recorded in October 1928, but the real transformation came on May 16, 1930, when bandleader Isham Jones recorded it as a sentimental ballad. [Richard M. Sudhalter, "Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael", Oxford University Press US, 2002, page 139 ( [http://books.google.ie/books?id=-kqle-66lCQC&pg=PA139&dq=stardust+%22Mitchell+Parish%22+1927+1929+jones&sig=RQhXrQOdpoVwpM_qal49cMFSqzo Google Books] )]

tructure

Like many other standards of the Great American Songbook, the verse is both highly melodic and musically sophisticated.

Covers

Jones' recording became the first of many hit versions of the tune. Young baritone sensation Bing Crosby released a version in 1931 and by the following year over two dozen bands had recorded "Stardust". It was then covered by almost every prominent band of that era. Versions have been recorded by Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey,Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Mel Tormé, Connie Francis, Harry Connick Jr, Ella Fitzgerald, The Peanuts, Django Reinhardt, Barry Manilow, John Coltrane, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, Billy Ward and the Dominoes, George Benson, and many others. Billy Ward and the Dominoes had a #13 hit with the song on the Billboard Pop chart. However, it has been the Artie Shaw version of 1941, with memorable solos by Billy Butterfield (trumpet) and Jack Jenney (trombone) that remains the favorite orchestral version of the Big Band era. Ringo Starr recorded a version for his first solo album, Sentimental Journey in 1970, after the break-up of The Beatles.

Frank Sinatra famously recorded just the verse on his November 20, 1961 recording, for his album "Sinatra and Strings", much to Carmichael's chagrin (although Carmichael is said to have changed his mind on hearing the recording).

Legacy

*"Stardust" is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with over 1,800 recordings, perhaps the last popular version by Willie Nelson in 1978.
*In 1956, a nationwide Billboard survey of disc jockeys showed that their number one favorite of all time was the Artie Shaw (1941) recording of "Stardust".
*In 1999, "Stardust" was included in the "NPR 100", [cite web| url=http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html| title=The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century| accessdate=2008-08-09| publisher=National Public Radio] in which National Public Radio sought to list the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.
*In New Year 2000 the Swedish music reviewers voted it as "the tune of the century", with Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife" as second.
*In 2004, Carmichael's original 1927 recording of the song was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
*"Stardust" is the very first music heard on the epic 19-hour PBS documentary "" (2001).

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/stardust.shtml Stardust] on "Sold on Song" (BBC)
* [http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/hoagy/stardust2.ram "Stardust"] (played by Hoagy Carmichael, 1933) [http://www.redhotjazz.com The Red Hot Jazz Archive]
* [http://www.redhotjazz.com/Songs/Louie/lao/stardust.ram "Stardust"] (played by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, 1931) [http://www.redhotjazz.com The Red Hot Jazz Archive]
* [http://www.redhotjazz.com/songs/waller/stardust.ram "Stardust"] (played by Fats Waller, 1937) [http://www.redhotjazz.com The Red Hot Jazz Archive]