8/15/2023 0 Comments Princesa margarita en new yorkIn his memoirs and in interviews, the slow-drawling Carmichael liked to spin yarns and say that the basic theme of Stardust had come to him during a return visit to his old university campus, the place where his love of jazz had taken root and where he had been jilted by an early girlfriend. It was a magical place which British singer Georgie Fame, a lifelong Carmichael devotee, christened Hoagland – after the Indiana-born composer’s full Christian name. His songs could not have been more different to the urbane, sophisticated fare being produced in New York they seemed to belong to the America of front porches, Main Streets, steamboats and girls-next-door. Before Stardust, he wrote Riverboat Shuffle and Washboard Blues, and after it he produced such atmospheric numbers as Georgia (On My Mind), Memphis in June, Rockin’ Chair and Lazy River, often inspired by his small-town upbringing. His compositions were self-contained little vignettes each evoking a particular scene. Whereas Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers filled the pages of the Great American Songbook with songs written for musical comedies, Carmichael did not have a Broadway background or brief. Stardust (originally Star Dust) began life as a musical composition rather than a song, and it was born out of inspiration. Woody Allen took the title of his film Stardust Memories from its lyrics and featured Louis Armstrong’s sublime interpretation on the soundtrack, while Martin Scorsese liked it so much he used it twice – the Billy Ward and His Dominoes rendition was featured in Goodfellas and Carmichael’s 1942 classic was used in Casino. Some of the 2000 recordings of it have already been used in films, ranging from Sleepless in Seattle (Nat “King” Cole’s version) to the Lady Gaga blockbuster A Star is Born (Artie Shaw’s million-seller). Each generation has its favourite Stardust – maybe this generation’s will be its originator’s 1942 version. It has been sung (with various degrees of success) by everyone from Willie Nelson to Ringo Starr, Bing Crosby to Frank Sinatra. Four years later, the same record company put out two recordings of the tune – by Dorsey’s band with Frank Sinatra on vocals, and Artie Shaw’s orchestra - in the same week. In 1936, RCA released a record with a version of the tune on each side: one by clarinetist Benny Goodman’s band and the other by trombonist Tommy Dorsey’s. That said, Stardust – like romance itself – has never really gone out of fashion. Shortly afterwards, they are physically reunited on the dancefloor as the band plays what The Crown clearly suggests is “their” song, and, later in the episode, Margaret gives her copy of the record a spin while reliving the romance via her stash of love letters.Īs “the stardust melody, the memory of love’s refrain” plays over the closing credits, and viewers find themselves either digging out their ancient LPs or scouring Spotify for the recording, the question arises: could Hoagy Carmichael and his most famous song be in for the same sort of revival as Kate Bush and her Running Up That Hill enjoyed after it was heavily featured in that other Netflix hit, Stranger Things? And couldn’t that be just what our current Annus Horribilis needs? Admitting that the song has “special meaning” for her but drawing a heavily loaded veil over precisely why, the Princess is then shown spending her own lonely nights pasting photos (of herself) into an album, while – as the song continues – Townsend, also listening to the radio programme in his French cottage, begins to compose a letter to her.Īs Carmichael reaches the climax of the tune and begins whistling a variation on the melody, the nostalgic lovers join in. “Sometimes I wonder why I spend the lonely night, dreaming of a song,” Hoagy Carmichael himself croons on the 1942 recording which is introduced as the final record on Margaret’s Desert Island Discs appearance at the start of the fourth episode. The tune is Hoagy Carmichael’s dreamy 1927 song Stardust and it pops up several times in the episode which offsets the dreadful year experienced by the Queen with a story about the reunion of her sister and her long lost love, Group Captain Peter Townsend, whom she had had to give up almost 40 years earlier at the Queen’s request. In the new season, a single song dominates the entire Annus Horribilis episode – and, once more, it is thanks to the Princess Margaret storyline. Jazz devotees have already been indulged by Princess Margaret’s (historically accurate) fondness for the genre, resulting in some choice tracks from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald in earlier seasons of the drama. One of the less controversial aspects of The Crown is the choice of music used to represent particular moods or moments in time.
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