Howard "Hoagy"Carmichael 
(November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981)
In January, 1929, Mills Music Company of New York published Carmichael's Stardust, still a wordless instrumental. In May of that year, the piece was published as a song, with lyrics by Mitchell Parrish, a New York lyricist working for Mills. But still the song went nowhere. In May, 1930, bandleader Isham Jones recorded the song, slowing the tempo and now the song began its skyward ascent, as more and more musicians were attracted to its dreamy, romantic qualities. Carmichael was now writing folksy songs that would become jazz standards-notably Rockin' Chair (copyrighted in 1930) and Lazy River (1931). During the five years from 1929 to 1934, Carmichael made 36 recordings for the Victor company-the nation's leading record label. He was rubbing elbows-and recording-with some of the great talents in jazz: Louis Armstrong, Henry "Red" Allen, Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Mildred Bailey, and Jack Teagarden. In 1931, he was admitted to membership in the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), signifying his arrival in the songwriting fraternity . . .
Tormented by her past my momma drank to release whatever demons tortured her. When she drank, she would play songs on the record player. Her favorite was Saint Louis Women and anything by Hoagie Carmichael and of course Hit the Road Jack (daddy's name was Jack). She would turn the volume up so high that Lee Ann and I could hear it when we would get off the bus. We lived on top of a big hill and if I heard music, I would just go to the creek at the bottom of the hill and play. Lee Ann handled momma better than I did she would just go home and do things to keep out of mommas hair. The creek became a refuge for me. What time I wasn't at the creek or Lula Mays I would be in one of three trees I like to climb. I would just sit and wonder what life was like in other peoples home. I wondered if all families had the hell we lived in. I didn't think so because I saw other people with their kids, they were not like ours, they seemed happy . . .
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| Tobacco Hanging To Dry |
There was always a place for me with Lula May. We would find something to do. During a tobacco season the farm hands would harvest the tobacco and we would be allowing to pick up leaves. We would tie some leaves together and put them on the trailer. On the other hand we were not allowed to go to the barn where they hung the tobacco to dry. The tobacco is hung from the rafters of the barn. One day I went to the barn, Lula May wouldn't go with me because she knew that she'd get a whipping. I was not supposed to either and I knew it but didn't care. I was amazed at them climbing the rafters. I figured I was good at climbing tresses and I thought that I could climb up there too. Well they were busy and I started climbing and sure nuff I fell about fifteen feet down and landed on a hog feeder and cut my leg at the pantie line all the way to the bone. The gash was about four inched long. Mr. Sullivan threw me across his shoulders and ran all the way to my house about a mile and momma was not at home so he took me to Mrs. Lankford and she took me to a hospital. There was blood gushing out I wasn't scared until I would look at it and then I would scream. It took ten stitches to close it up. It took a long time to heal. I didn't get a whipping because of the cut. That was the last of me ever going back to the tobacco field. That was when I was in the first grade. Mrs. Denny was my teacher. She was a kind and gentle soul. She was very patient with me. I now know I was a hand full . . .
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| Mrs. Penny (L) My First Grade Teacher |
The only friend that I had was Lula May. She was like a sister to me. We would spend hours together talking and playing. Planted behind the barn was a strawberry field. When the strawberries would get ripe, she and I would just lie down in the rolls. She on one side and me on the other and shimmy on our backs down the roll and eat strawberries off the bush talking in between bites. We would talk about the world and what it might be like outside of Hartsville. We would also talk about how different our lives were. She lived in a four-room plain plank house with a porch on it. She had a pie safes and an old refrigerator and ladder back chairs and they drank out of mason jars. They always had good food and I ate there almost every day. I lived in a new trailer and had lots of stuff and nice furniture. I would tell her how much I wish I could live with her and she didn't understand that and neither did I till I grew up and look back on it . . .
What time I wasn't playing at Lula Mays, I would just pretend play by myself. There was a barn in back of our house and there was a line of apple trees in the barnyard and I was forbid to go to the barn yard because there was a bull that stayed in the barn. That didn't scare me. I was young and stupid. The bull and I became good friends I just got some apples and gave them to him. That’s how I got him to like me. I got to where he would let me ride on his back. He acted like he kinda liked that. I would go get some apples and get in the loft and eat them. I almost always fell asleep. I could hear momma yelling for me at dusk and I would go home only because I had to . . .
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| Hereford Bull Stock Photo |
I was a daredevil, and I would try anything. I once took a twenty two bullet and kept throwing at on rocks till I accomplished what I wanted, it went off. Mr. Sullivan came quickly and boy, did I get a whipping. Lula May and I were in the hollow once and a Canadian goose was down by the corn crib. We decided (well I decided) that we were gonna catch the goose. I went to one side and Lula May went on the other and we cornered it. I jumped and caught it around the body and it flapped its wings but I held onto it. We took it to her daddy and asked him to keep our new pet for us. He took it all right. The next day when I went to see our pet duck I couldn't find it. I ask Mrs. Sullivan where it was and she said "Albert (Mr. Sullivan) dress it." I said "what, why did he put a dress on my duck?" She went on to tell me what dressed was. I screamed I hate you and I stayed mad for a while about that. I could not stay away too long though it was the only place by this time that I had any peace and she treated me more like a mother than momma did so I apologized to Mrs. Sullivan and she hugged me and said "Oh that's all right baby," she almost always was a soft-spoken lady . . .
I didn't have many toys because of the fire. I had a drawer full of toy plastic Indians and horses and tepees and cowboys and my Lincoln logs before the house burnt down. I got dolls after the fire I guess that people thought girl and bought dolls when I would rather have my Lincoln logs back. I had a big imagination and I made lots of things to play with. I'd take a good strong straight stick and some twine and hands make a bow which I became good at making. I would use smaller sticks to make arrows or I would find a stick in the shape of a gun and put it under my belt as a gun and I was set. I played cowboy and Indians, ducking behind trees as if there was someone shooting at me. At one point momma bought me a BB gun and a real bow and arrow . . .
One day momma heard a ping, ping on the trailer and came out to see what was happening, Lee Ann and I were shooting at each other, her with the B.B. gun and me with the bow and arrow. It was so funny. I was behind one tree and Lee Ann was behind another and that was the end of my B. B. gun. Momma took it away and I pouted for a week or so and she finely gave it back to me. I don't remember me and Lee Ann playing together much but there was a time we were playing ball and she was batting and threw the bat and hit me square in the fore head. It cut a big gash and was gushing blood till this day I have a scar on my eye brow. She swears that she didn't do it on purpose . . .
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| Not Always |
I would escape into those TV shows that every life problem was solved in thirty minutes or less. Captain Kangaroo, Father Knows Best, Dick VanDyke Show, I Love Lucy or Bonanza and of course Superman and then there was Liberace the piano player. Don't ask me why I just liked his soft and gentle voice, momma liked him too that is one of the things we did together. Once momma and daddy got into a big fight and momma ended up throwing a cast iron skillet at daddy and it hit the TV. I would have rather it hit daddy. It broke the screen of the TV and that was the end of watching TV for a while. I had to live in the real world . . .
By this time in my life I was in the second grade. I had a drill sergeant type teacher her name was Mrs. Martin. I hated her because she was mean to me. I had a talent for making people like me, but it didn't work with her. I can remember that when our house burnt down, she both me a new dress. Most everyone else gave used clothing to me. That was not good for me because the kids would say," look she has my dress on today."The boys would make fun about the shoes I wore. It just gave them more fuel to pick on me. I was in the lunch line one day and said that I hated Mrs. Martin to a kid in line and she was behind me. She yanked me out of line and took me to the principles office. She made the rest of the second grade almost unbearable. I always felt different from the rest of the kids from the first day that I went to school. I wasn't sweet and gentle and cute like all the other girls. The boys hated me because I would try to do all things they did and do them better and faster . . .
Momma played the piano and accordion. That is probably why she liked Liberace. She loved music and she even played at the church she went to, Yes! She went to church. She stopped going because daddy would not go to church with us. A lady of the church made mention that momma was wearing sandals and that was a bad thing because women were not suppose to show their legs at all it was in the bible. So momma quit going to church because she was gonna do what she wanted and not what she was told. That was momma not liking people to tell her what to do kinda like her and grandma, so thats when Lee Ann and I started going to church with Mrs. Lankford. I hated it because I had to ware dresses . . .
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| Lee Ann Don't Look To Happy |
Back to momma going to church. Daddy refused to go to any formal church. In our town there was a section of town that was called "Black Town ", and we had to go through it to get to town. One day we saw a bunch of cars on the side of the road and we sorta slowed down to see what was happing. Sure nuff there was a revival going on and it was on the friont porch of a black families house. There was a place to park on the side of the road and so we parked and listened. We found out that it was a week long event and we came every night and listened. Early on one of the worshipers came to our car and said why don't you come over and sit with us and maybe you can hear better the word of God. Daddy accepted and well it was something to watch. There was some lots of clapping and hallelujahs. He must have heard something that he liked because he followed her for a couple of months. We even went to the black church one Sunday. They were having an, on the ground dinner. He really enjoyed it and so did we. He would not go to any other church white or black. When my daddy died in 1996 that little black preacher that he met at that revival, spoke at his funeral. That was a life long friendship even when we moved to Nashville we would go and see The Little Preacher as my daddy called her . . .
Next chapter I talk about how hard I had it in school and I tell about something that happened to me in the sixth grade and how it affected me and how hard I had it after that . . .