Editing Hoagy Carmichael (section)

=== Later years ===
[[Ray Charles]]'s classic rendition of "[[Georgia on My Mind]]," released on August 19, 1960, was a major hit. (Charles received [[Grammy Award|Grammys]] both for Best Male Vocal and Best Popular Single that year.){{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=46}} In 1961, Carmichael was featured in an episode of ''[[The Flintstones]]'' entitled "The Hit Songwriters."<ref>[[MeTV]] website, [https://www.metv.com/lists/5-things-you-never-knew-about-the-flintstones-episode-the-hit-song-writers/ "5 things you never knew about The Flintstones episode "The Hit Song Writers"], retrieved September 2, 2023.</ref> [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] recorded "Hong Kong Blues" during his final [[Sun Records|Sun]] sessions in 1963, but it was never released.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hong Kong Blues |publisher=Rockabilly.nl |url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/lyrics2/h0057.htm |access-date=February 12, 2008}}</ref> In 1964, while [[the Beatles]] were exploding on the scene, Carmichael lamented, "I'll betcha I have 25 songs lying in my trunk" and no one was calling to say "have you got a real good song for such-and such an artist."{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=306}} (Beatles guitarist [[George Harrison]] released covers of "Baltimore Oriole" and "Hong Kong Blues" in early 1981.)<ref>Ginell, Richard S. "Somewhere in England–George Harrison: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2012.</ref> Royalties on his standards were earning Carmichael over $300,000 a year.{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=311}}

Carmichael's second memoir, ''Sometimes I Wonder: The Story of Hoagy Carmichael'', was published in 1965.<ref name=Sometimes>{{cite book |author=Carmichael, Hoagy, and Stephen Longstreet |title=Sometimes I Wonder: The Story of Hoagy Carmichael |url=https://archive.org/details/sometimesiwonder00carmi |url-access=registration |publisher=Farrar, Straus And Giroux |location=New York |year=1965 |oclc=1037498}}</ref> By 1967 he was spending time in New York, but his new songs were unsuccessful and his musical career came to a close. Carmichael took up other interests in retirement, including golf, coin collecting, and enjoying his two homes, one on [[Sunset Boulevard]] in Los Angeles and the other in [[Rancho Mirage, California]].{{sfn|Gugin|St. Clair|2015|p=49}}
[[File:Fred Rogers, Hoagy, and Hoagy B. Carmichael.jpg|thumb|right|Carmichael, son Hoagy Bix Carmichael and [[Fred Rogers]] in 1978]]
As he passed his 70th birthday, Carmichael's star continued to wane and was nearly forgotten in a world dominated by rock music. With the help and encouragement of his son, Hoagy Bix Carmichael, Carmichael participated in the [[PBS]] television show ''Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop'', which featured jazz-rock versions of his hits by [[Stark Reality]]. He appeared on [[Fred Rogers]]'s PBS show ''Old Friends, New Friends'' in 1978.{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=336}} With more time on his hands, Carmichael resumed painting, and after a long courtship he married [[Dorothy Wanda McKay]], an actress, in 1977.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}}

Carmichael received several honors from the music industry in his later years. He was inducted into the USA's [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1971, along with [[Duke Ellington]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hoagy Carmichael |publisher=Songwriters' Hall of Fame |url=http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C57 |access-date=December 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104000714/http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C57 |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1972, Indiana University awarded Carmichael an honorary doctorate in music.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Doctorate in Music |publisher=Indiana University |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~ceremony/honors/honorarydegrees.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613201700/http://www.indiana.edu/~ceremony/honors/honorarydegrees.shtml |archive-date=June 13, 2008}}</ref> On June 27, 1979, the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] honored Carmichael's 80th birthday with a concert titled "The Stardust Road: A Hoagy Carmichael Jubilee" in [[Carnegie Hall]].{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}} The tribute concert was hosted by former bandleader [[Bob Crosby]] and included performances by many major musical performers, such as singers [[Kay Starr]], [[Jackie Cain]], [[Dave Frishberg]], and [[Max Morath]], and musicians [[Billy Butterfield]], [[Bob Wilber]], [[Yank Lawson]], [[Vic Dickenson]], and [[Bob Haggart]]. [[NPR|National Public Radio]] broadcast the concert later that summer. "Piano Pedal Rag," a new Carmichael tune, was performed during the concert. Carmichael told host Crosby that he wrote it because he admired Beiderbecke's writing "so much that I didn't want to stop until I wrote something that was a little bit like something Bix might have liked."<ref>Recording of the NPR broadcast. The upcoming concert was mentioned in {{cite journal| author=Gary Giddins| title =Newport: Choices and More Choices |journal=New York |date=June 25, 1979 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOECAAAAMBAJ&q=hoagy+carmichael+at+carnegie+hall&pg=PA92 | access-date =December 6, 2016}}</ref>

On his 80th birthday, Carmichael was reflective, observing, "I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I know I could have accomplished a hell of a lot more... I could write anything any time I wanted to. But I let other things get in the way.... I've been floating around in the breeze."{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|p=338}} He spent his final years at home in [[Rancho Mirage, California|Rancho Mirage]], near [[Palm Springs, California]], where he continued to play golf and remained an avid coin collector.{{sfn|Hasse|1988|p=11}}

Shortly before his death in 1981, Carmichael appeared on a United Kingdom-recorded tribute album, ''In Hoagland'' (1981), with [[Annie Ross]] and [[Georgie Fame]]. Carmichael sang and played "Rockin' Chair" on the piano. His last public appearance occurred in early 1981, when he filmed ''Country Comes Home'' with country music performer [[Crystal Gayle]] for CBS.{{sfn|Sudhalter|2002|pp=341–342}}